Podcasts

I'm trying to be a more educated individual, however most of my free time is in a car. I don't intend to maim myself by reading a book and driving so I've thought about podcasts. I know there are some super interesting and awesome ones out there. Fill me in, what are your favorites and where do you find them? Both horsey and non-horsey work just fine!

December 10 Questions

Because I'm still struggling to find time to write up a yearly recap and goals post so here is some filler in the meantime ft. pictures of me and my pony Shiloh showing in July 2008.

Does your horse need shoes? Ugh yes. Riesling has princess shoes. Crossing my fingers baby Z won't need them.

What do you think of the barefoot vs shoes debate? Every horse is different. Id prefer to have a horse barefoot but that just isn't possible with all horses.



Favorite season for riding? I love fall. The mosquito are dead, it is still warm, no rain, ect.



How many shows do you think you've gone to? Oh I'd say probably 20 or so on the local hunter jumper circuit growing up. Since high school I've attended 2 rated USDF shows. I've spectated at many many more.

Do you consider yourself a good rider? Far from it. I'm about average probably depending on the day. I'm working to be a great rider.




Have you ever gotten into a fight with your trainer? I've gotten in a few with past trainers. One was just a bitch who took my money but ignored me in lessons. But my version of a fight is where internally I think I'm badass but really I just hide from her and avoid all interaction.



Describe your dream horse. To be honest, there are so many I want with different qualities. At this point in my life, I would like a tall black mare with a lot of chrome. She will have no mareish behavior. Her feet will only require trims and her tail will be long and gorgeous. She would be a thoroughbred X warmblood. She will have natural ability to do high level dressage and be totally amateur friendly. She enjoys trail rides and jumping occasionally. She will also be nearly immortal and never be hurt or sick. I'm hoping to find her in a few years via a Winndeco baby. Her name shall be Winzerkeller. Barn name: Princess Majikal Unicorn



Does anyone in your family ride? Mi Madre! I'm so happy that after her long hiatus she took back to it again.

If you could ride any horse in the world, which one would it be? I don't think I could narrow it down to just one if we have to go with my wild dreams. At this point, the realistic horses I really want to ride would be Zeitgeist and Winntalker. If I could steal a bloggers horse? I'd love to be able to ride Rico from A Enter Spooking in his prime.

Winter Busy Bee

Happy Holidays y'all! Ive been busy with finals and travel but Im back and have a whole boatload of stories to share with you! I hope everyone is enjoying their December

Through Red Tape

Here is a school update for y'all!

Snow Pic from last winter bc I haven't taken any yet 

Remember all that red tape I had to get through to continue on my degree? I have finally gotten through it. I passed that Calc class I kept failing, failed that dumb one credit again last semester but just last night passed out, financial aid is going steady, and I'm ready to take the last of my pre-reqs and apply to the college of business and economics next spring! I don't know how much longer it will take to graduate, but I'm taking the scenic route. 

I have finals on Monday and honestly this semester was so great. This is the first time in my entire education that I've enjoyed classes, and I've actually entertained the thought of getting an MBA. Like what did I turn into? I don't know, but I love it. I am on the track for two A's in my classes and was able to really live my life this semester (minus the whole broken foot). 

The year didn't go as planned by any means, but I am really really happy with how it turned out so far. I'll be doing a year wrap up and goals here in just a few days, stay tuned! 

WW: Winter is here

A Gift

As the holidays approach, I've come to realize my true specialty in life. Losing everything. And it is always important stuff. And instantaneously.

After the house sitter from hell, I was suddenly paranoid that some hooligan stole my passport. I mean, how else do 17 year olds get away with buying alcohol??

I had left my passport on my desk and I swear to god I cleared it like three separate times and it wasn't there. But somehow, last night, when I just barely glanced at my desk, it was sticking out from the pile of crap. Like..what the hell?

So that was nice..but strange. I also finally got my new driver's license in the mail last night. Guess what I literally just lost? My drivers license. HOW?? WHAT IS MY LIFE???

And as a final "lets make you feel crazy, Micaylah" from the universe, I put a dog blanket on one of the dogs I was house sitting on Sunday before I left him in the kennel and went to dinner. When I came back, it was gone. Just gone. Not even shreds of a blanket somewhere?? I'm losing my mind.

Holiday Travel

This past weekend, BF and I went up to Spokane to visit his family for a late Thanksgiving. Now that I am on a farm, I had to hire a house sitter for the first time. One of my trainer's students also house sits from her when I can't so I decided to call her up. Shes only 17, but she rides horses and I know her personally so I could really make amends if she screwed me over.

And unfortunately, that is what I am having to do. She thought it would be fun to throw a party at my little farm house in the middle of nowhere. Because she is stupid. I came home to find all my alcohol bottles emptied, dog piss and poop in the living room, an uncleaned litter box, and a shitty cover up 

job on the damages. 

I mean it wasn't that bad, but when I am paying someone top dollar because I care that things get done well, and see that they haven't been done and my house is fucked up, I'm pretty pissed. She did not supervise Belle very well which explains the dog pee aroma and dried dog poop by the couch. My couch had stains and wet spots covering 2/3rds of it. All of my paper towels, hand towels, and half the TP was missing. A lot of personal items had been put away incorrectly. It just makes my skin crawl knowing my stuff was messed with and they couldn't even put it back in the general vicinity. 

At that point, I was tearing through everything to use as evidence. I went through my trash and found a ridiculous amount of empty alcohol bottles that weren't even mine. It appeared something red must have spilled somewhere (or everywhere) and that's why all the absorbent materials were missing. 

I've spoke with both my horse trainer, her, and her mom. I'm glad I didn't leave her any money and now I'm going to be sending her mother a bill for the cleaning and missing alcohol. Stupid bitch.

Seriously?! You can't even bother to make sure you don't leave any HUGE red flags???

Gambler's Route

Inspired by Emma's Post I decided to dig up Riesling's pedigree again. I tried to do research on his sire in the past, and reached out to the current owner but never heard anything back. I looked a little closer and was actually surprised at something I never realized before.

Riesling's is pretty foreign! I never noticed that on his sire's side that most of the horses are not from the US. Regular pedigree followers probably find this super boring, 

Also a cool note, it looks like Fabulous Champ was originally from Idaho! I suck at digging anything up though, so I'll definitely need some tips! 

Vogue

Next Wednesday I scheduled a photo shoot with Riesling! I've been wanting a picture of him with the black background for awhile now and a local photographer was having a discount to build her equine portfolio. 

I've started saving some pins on pinterest of shots I want to mimic, but tell me, what are your favorite looks? Yes I will be going against drs orders and be riding and out of my boot. But realistically I'll just be bareback and probably only without my boot for like 15 minutes. #diditforthegram

P.S. Enjoy these ~magical~ pictures from when I first got Riesling and thought I was a photography master

Woody & Buzz

These guys are bffs. Sherwin the kitten and Belle the pupper. So cute I can't handle it. Time for the weekend! 

November 10 Questions

Thanks again to L for sharing!

How old is the youngest/greenest horse you’ve ridden?  I was thrown on a BUNCH of fresh off the track thoroughbreds when I was like ten. I was in a round pen and have NO idea how anyone thought this was ok. This was when my mom and I were looking to buy a horse.

How old is the oldest horse you’ve ridden? I'd probably say Czoey (because I have terrible memory) and she is 23.

Were you scared of horses when you first started riding? Not initially, but basically when I started getting more serious (wtv, weekly lessons). I cried 24/7 and I have NO idea why I was still so obsessed with wanting to ride and being around horses.

Would you say you’re a more nervous rider or a confident rider? Recently I've turned into a confident rider, but BY FAR most of my life I've been the nervous rider. Probably within the last few years and riding some problem horses I've gained confidence.

Biggest pet peeve about non-horse people around horses? The fact that they just don't get it. They don't see how hard it is and what makes it so worth it. A lot of people I know compare it to golf because it appears easy and is super expensive. Or explaining to people why you still take lessons. Sigh.

A time you’ve been scared for your life? (horse related) I'm thankful I've mostly forgotten all of them but the one that sticks out in my mind is the accident I had with Blondie. I was so terrified constantly. Other than that, I'm sure there was some but I don't remember what they were.

Have you ever fallen off at show? What happened? At first I didn't think I had, but one I remember distinctly was at a schooling show. I was riding my mom and I's new mare, Scarlette. She was a HUGE, GORGEOUS thoroughbred mare. Unfortunately she just was too much horse for me, and absolutely terrified of shows. Couldn't figure out why. We had constant schooling shows at the barn growing up so I was getting ready to enter a class and was standing outside of the arena. We had borrowed an old girth from someone because ours were all too small. Out of nowhere one of the elastics snapped and she LAUNCHED into the air. I fell HARD on the nicely compacted dirt outside of the arena. It hurt like hell. She bolted and ever since that incident I REFUSE to use old girths. I just don't trust the elastic. I had a friend get on her and try and take her into the next class and she at least made it a few strides into the arena before the mare reared and crowhopped her off. We sold her after that.

What’s a breed of horse you’ve never ridden but would like to ride? I really want to ride like a cob or Fjord or something. I've also never ridden an Arabian.

Describe the worst behaved horse you’ve ridden?  Well that would be the mule-headed-thighmaster. It isn't that he is super hot or flighty, he is just SO DIFFICULT. The first few rides were absolute torture. He has so many aids and is so lazy and dead-sided. I was trying to pick up a canter the first time I rode him and ended up doing tempi changes for a few strides. He always requires a whip and the rowel spurs. But now that I am more schooled, he respects me and is fairly easier.

The most frustrating ride you’ve ever had? This whole year I had a lot of really frustrating rides on Riesling. He was super flighty and wanted to buck. He was nearly always pissy about something. The other half of the rides he would be lame. They were by far the hardest times for me. But the most frustrating ride I had was my first USDF show two summers ago. We were really well schooled and I was PSYCHED to be showing off my guy. We even hauled to the arena a week prior to school and he was fantastic! The Friday before the show he was super hot and I couldn't lead him or ride him. We switched up his tack and tried checking for body soreness. He just could not horse. I gave him bute and had body work done the morning of the show and he seemed calm as a cucumber when I walked him to the warm up arena. However, as soon as I got on he went straight up with me. This horse had NEVER reared before this show. I instantly dismounted and cried. I was so devastated that we couldn't show after all that hard work. He spent the weekend just hanging out at the show (we already had paid for the stall) and relaxing. I did manage to get a quick catch ride so I only lost one test entry! Overall the weekend redeemed itself but that definitely was the most frustrating ride for me.

Nose sniffs

Ries says shes alright. Happy Tuesday y'all! 

Belle

I'm so obsessed.

Mini Me

My ohone died when I started taking pics so expect more on the horizon!! 

Coping

I had a post written 100% about being whiny and having feelings but that is super lame. So instead I want to share what makes me happy and helping me get through not being able to do jack shit.

1) Knowing Riesling is sound and that I put so much effort into his happiness has paid off. It'll be a little while before we are back into work unfortunately, but at least I know he is happy and sound. 

2) Reading. I'm always trying so hard to do things that when I can't I have so much beautiful time to read on theories and applications. I am so eager to apply this in the saddle.

3) Online shopping. I love good deals and I'm relatively poor right now so saving money and getting things are a double whammy win for me. 

4) PUPPER. It is seriously killing me waiting to go pick her up. Plus, I should be able to get a leg up and get to hack around bareback on Merlot! Also I can sit in the baby horse pasture and force them to love me. Animals really are my entire life. Tomorrow is going to be epic (either fail or win..regardless entertaining).