I had the best time in Saratoga!!! I will fill you all in as soon as I get the chance. Trying to clean house so here so here is a very cool award that I need to pass on!
In accordance with the award rules I have to let you all know who gave me this award, 10 things about me you didn’t know before, and pass it along to 10 other blogs.
So first, let me tell you about the cool blog that I got this from. Back when I was leasing X the one good thing about that barn was that EVERYONE was really nice. Including 2 other 20 something boarders that I really enjoyed riding and talking with. They both love their ponies almost as much as I love mine and were just really cool people. One is “Boomerang” and the other is Marissa. Months after Marissa had left the not so great farm the three of us were at dinner and I gave them the link to my blog. And gave Marissa the blog bug as the story goes. I LOVE reading her blog! She is such a good writer, and an AMAZING horse woman. She worked at a breeding farm and feel in love with her horse Tucker as a baby and has raised him herself to be a fantastic 3 foot hunter! She also just bred herself her next show horse (who is a yearling now) so it is amazing to read about this foal who I saw at only a few days old! Can you tell I cannot say enough good things about this blog. You should all check out Marissa’s blog...I can promise you will be hooked on it like I am!
So now onto the 10 things about me that you don’t know…
1) I have this weird pipe dream of buying a yearling someday, sending them to a trainer on the racetrack, having them be a race horse and then when they are going to be retired (of all of 4 years old) re-training them myself to be a dressage horse. I know I could NEVER afford it, nor do I know if I would really want to own a horse running their legs off at 2, but I just have always wanted to do it.
2) I was by far the worst rider on my college’s dressage team, and yet I am one of the only ones still riding! It does go to show that I am one persistent person and that I don’t give up even when I suck at something! My two good friends, Giggles and Ktlyn615, are both WAY better riders then I am, but they have put their horse habit on hold while I am still plugging along! So it is not all about talent people…someday my perseverance will pay off.
3) For these hunter shows I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a new clothes so this summer I put on my old pony club clothes praying that they would fit. I quit ponly club at 13 years old…before I had boobs! Needless to say the breeches were fine, but the tops…not so much. I cracked and bought a new shirt, but I am riding in a navy jacket I have had for well over a decade and that was before I had boobs…I look like a stuffed sausage at the hunter shows! The pictures were hysterical! It looks like all 3 buttons are going to shoot off and hit the camera. When I am rich I will buy a new one right?
4) Even though I use the boring browband that came with my bridle that doesn’t fit Phoenix, I have many others to replace it with. And yet I don’t do it. I have a brow band collection going! Every time I order from dressage extensions I buy a new one from the super sale section, yet they are all on sale for a reason and most have huge stones and I don’t think they are show appropriate (I am very conservative in the show ring) and I get them anyway! It is such a bad habit I need to break. I promised myself that if I don’t order another browband between now and Dressage at Devon I am allowed to splurge and get one of the crazy expensive ones that I will actually USE!
5) I love Texas. There I said it. I have not felt so strongly about a horse since I got my own! I know I grump about his color, and what a pain in the ass he can be, but I LOVE him. I even bought a new stall plate for him so he wouldn’t be jelous that all the other horses have one and he does not. I could not imagine my life without my fat spotted pony anymore. He doesn’t come close to taking Gen’s place in my life, but I have found myself going over to Ridge farm to just say hello to him! I NEVER thought I would be so attatched. The baby horse was like mold…he just grew all over me with his big personality until I couldn’t help but be smothered to the point of love. I don’t know what I would do without him, lucky for me I wont have to find out.
6) I already know my big show goal for next year. I want to go to the Great American Insurance Group USDF Regional Championships (GAIGs for short) for my region next year. Considering qualifying for THIS YEARS championships isn’t even over yet I am really weird for looking so far into thr future. I can’t help it though. Going to GAIGs is a dream of mine and so I have already set my sights for 2010. I know a lot can happen in a year and a half, but a girl can dream right?
7) I get a little germaphoic at the barn…I wont eat at the barn unless I can wash my hands, twice…and ensure that the food has not been exposed to horse germs. I have said no to amazing food over the years, even though I was hungry, because I cannot eat it with dirty hands. Even with silverware. It just grosses me out. When I would work 12-14 hours at a barn with no sink and had no breaks I would just not eat all day. Or pee…but that is a whole different level of ewwieness. Needless to say I used to feel like crap on a regular basis because of my OCD. I hope that I am not alone on this one…anyone else out there have some germ issues when it comes to eating at the barn?
I have always wanted to do a hunter pace, but have never had the opportunity. For those of you not from around here a hunter pace is a trail ride with little jumps that is timed in secret and you as a team (you cannot go out alone) have to try and ride as close to the unkown optimum time as possible. I love to trail ride and have helped out at hunter paces, but I have never gotten to go myself! Maybe this fall?
9) I am the queen of grand ideas of projects that I don’t have time to do. I have a stack of 5 horse related books and 2 horsey DVDs that I have been meaning to review for you all, but I have not gotten around to it. I wanted to train one of the mini horses, but haven’t had time, I have 2 horsey crafts I have been meaning to do and write about, and about 30 ideas for blog posts that I have never started. My only comfort is that at least I don’t give up a project because I never start it!
10) I have a secret. I did something very dangerous yesterday. I hadn’t seen my pony in 2 whole days and I was going nutty without him, so when I got back from vacation I went right to see him and he was taking a nap…and lying down. When I went in his stall he wouldn’t get up. So I went over and layed over my pony! I got off before he got up, but it was so nice to lie on his back again! Shhh…don’t tell anyone what a bad horse person I was. I just coulnd’t help myself.
And now to pass it on…I tried to pick 10 blogs that have NOT gotten this award before, but I could be wrong so if you already got it I am sorry!
1) Solitare Mare over at A Good Horse
2) Jackie over at Ace’s Journey
3) Standardbred Excellence
4) Mary over at Yet Another XCrazy
5) Campin’ Horseluvr
6) Dressage Rider over at Confessions of a Struggling Dressage Rider
7) Michelle over at Homeschooling, Horses and Motocross
Now That’s A Trot
9) wolfandterriers from Ponies in Med School
10) Laura from Little Keebler
Cool!! Thanks!!! Guess I’d better get a post going to accept this baby.
That is a good 10 things list – I think it is great that you have show goals and you pursue them with alot of passion…
I try to wash my hands before eating at the stables, but sometimes I’m so hungry I have to relinquish myself to a baby wipe to wash up! Normally I wear gloves around the yad, so I keep the worst of the dirt off
To totally gross you out. I have (at least) tasted every food item that any of my animals have ever eaten. I’ve tried lots of types of grain, oats, beet pulp, bran (which is very good), hay; even my dog’s rawhides. I want to know what they like so much about their food. I am OCD, but its more about making sure I’ve locked the car door or turned off the oven or remembered to pack my saddle for a horse show, etc. No problem with germs here (and remember, I’m a quasy medical professional, so I know germs).
I also have to admit that I’ve hugged Speedy while’s he laying down and layed over his back to scratch his itchy spots. Yes, its dangerous, but we horse people know our horses and know when they are going to get up. It’s only dangerous if a plane was to crash outside the barn while we’re doing it – meaning in OUR ordinary worlds, we know what we can do and can’t do and we know our horse’s reactions to the world around them.
Awwwww! Thank you for saying such nice things about me and my horses and my blog! You are so sweet! And Tucker and I would love to do a hunter pace with you and Texas in the fall and I bet Boomerang could be convinced with minimal arm twisting as well!
Thanks so much for the award! Especially since I’m still so new at this blogging stuff!
Your 10 things were interesting – I love learning odds and ends like that about people. I have a friend in Virginia that does Hunter Pace and loves them! I’m not big on jumping so not something I’d want to do but it LOOKS fun. And alas, I’m not a germ phobe at all. Have eaten many times at, in, around the barn without washing. I do usually wash up before I start fixing dinner for my family if I’ve been in the barn or playing with the dog…does that help?
Thanks for tagging me! I even did my post already. You should be very impressed.