Blog Hop: 10 Questions for September

I can't believe it's been more than 5 months since I last posted. It's not that I haven't been doing blogworthy things, in fact I have been riding lots, have gone to multiple events and have more media than ever.

I fell off the blogging train because of being super busy with work in the spring (like being at work from 6am-1:30am kind of busy), something had to give so I gave my notice and went straight into a new job but adjusting to a new role in a new company has been a different kind of busy. Things have somewhat settled now but being away from blogging is a vicious cycle, the longer it has been since my last post the harder it is to know where to start again.

I have so so many things I want to share but I'm going to start simple, with a nice and easy blog hop courtesy of L.Williams.


1. Favorite quirk your horse (or a horse you’ve spent time with) has?

I know it's not really a good thing and I have been working on having other people handle Kachina but part of me kind of loves how Kachina will walk up to me but is almost uncatcheable for other people. 

2. Three adjectives that perfectly describe your horse?

Hardworking, sensitive, submissive

3. Plan your next ride. What will you do/work on?

I want to do some work on canter transitions and cantering in general where I focus on keeping my seat in the saddle and my upper body back and centered. This has been a focus for the last while and it is helping a ton so I want to keep at it. I also want to go back and reinstall the fundamentals for lengthenings, this is likely to make Kachina over-reactive initially and things will probably get worse before they get better so I wanted to wait until after my last show.  

My go-to canter position: tipped forward, seat out of saddle, lower leg forward
I am working really hard to not do these things

4. Have you ever trained an OTTB? If yes, what was the biggest challenge?

No, though I have ridden a few while horse shopping. They were all quite different from each other. 


5. Have you ever groomed or worked for a professional rider?

No, I think it would be an amazing experience and part of me would love to do it, but a bigger part of me likes the stability of my current non-equestrian career and realizes that what I am doing now is more capable of financially supporting my amateur horse-habit. 


6. Favorite horse and rider combination?

My favorite riders are generally ones who can recreate the same kind of harmony with multiple types of horses.


7. Have you ever ridden a horse at the beach?

I did a beach ride on a horse in Mexico once but I always feel a little awkward riding in those type of tourist trail rides. I would love to ride my own horse on the beach but the 1300km separating us from the ocean makes that unlikely. 

Does a riverbank count as a beach lol?

8. If you could experience the equestrian community (i.e. ride and compete) in another country, what country would you choose and why?

I would ride in Ireland. My family is Irish and I like connecting with that part of my heritage. Plus riding out in the country there is so physically different from here (no snow, no gopher holes, entirely different kind of grass, higher density of horses, etc). I would be scared to encounter traffic on their narrow twisty roads though. 

Who wouldn't want to ride in this idyllic place

9. In your opinion, what is an item of tack that is given unnecessary hype?

Horse boots or wraps for dressage. I understand that some horses benefit from them due to interference etc. but I do not understand why they are so ubiquitous. 

10. What was the first horse you rode called? Are they still alive?

The first horse I rode (sat on would be a more apt description) was one of my cousin's broodmares. I don't know her name. She would not be alive anymore considering that was 24 years ago and she was not a young horse.