Cob Jockey

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US-based readers!  Connor and I have so much to be thankful for this year.

A continued healthy, happy and sound pony


Enough pennies saved to find and buy a saddle that works for both of us



TWO amazing trainers for twice the fun

GP trainer at USDF Finals this month, on her $1 GP horse

A whole lotta miles on the ol' rig this year without any trailering incidents

I will knock on wood for that

Blog friends to share the journey with <3



And speaking of blog friends, one of you has won the Dressage Rider's Journal giveaway!  And the winner is...

Rafflecopter hath spoken

Congratulations!  And thanks to everyone who entered - it was so fun to see everyone's goals for next year, whether they were just having fun with their horse or competing.  I encourage you to go back and read everyone's comments sometime, it's encouraging to see what everyone is working on.

I don't accept free things to review anymore, but I make an exception for friends!  There's nothing I love more than honestly reviewing good products my friends are involved in.  So when Emilie messaged me and asked me if I wanted to do another giveaway with the new-and-improved 2020 edition of The Dressage Rider's Journal, I emphatically said yes!  The 2019 edition ended up being a great tool for me over the past year, and she told me the 2020 edition was even better.

If you need a great Christmas gift idea, here's one!

Guess who did the gorgeous cover art this year?!

Mary also outlined the flow of energy and how it relates to "aiming your beardown" on the cover of my 2019 book during one of the workshops #fangirlsquee

After the workshop, that girl sidled up to me and asked where I got my Dressage Rider's Journal, saying it looked like a great way to work on her weakness.  That "you are only as good as your weakest detail" thing has stuck with me though, and I've since doubled down on my journaling.

While I wasn't 100% good at remembering to journal my rides, when I did, I was much more effective.  Journaling made me sit down and think through my weeks - does it make sense to do a super hard ride the day before a lesson, no it doesn't, I should hack on Monday, that sort of thing.  Great for both planning and documenting my weeks.

It also gave me a great place to put clinic audit notes, and helped me track the ebb and flow of riding progress that otherwise can get lost, even when you're blogging a lot of your rides like I do.



The basic format of the 2020 edition is the same as the 2019 (First) edition.  The first section is full of personal exploration, goal setting and desired award documentation exercises that will be great to do over the cold winter months when we're all (except the Texans) dreaming about the spring show season.


It then moves into a section where you can plan which shows you want to attend this year.  One of my criticisms from last year is that there weren't enough slots for this, especially since it's designed to be a future-looking "I may or may not attend this but it's on the list" exercise.  I'm happy to report the 2020 edition has twice as many slots!



The biggest change by far this year has been the way the daily journals are structured.  Last year, the bulk of the journal was big open blank slots for each day, plus a massive section at the end full of arena diagrams for practicing figures and remembering exercises that was separate from the daily journal.

In the 2020 edition, each month opens up with a big two-page calendar, and then each week is broken down more granularly, with daily priorities, ride tracking and arena figures right there mixed in with the daily journal entries.



Contrast that to the way the 2019 version looked:


One of my other favorite new features?  They've added edge tabs for each month so you can flip right to that month.  Huge time saver!


Bottom Line: I had some valid complaints about the 2019 version but still found it exceptionally useful, and the 2020 version is hard to fault.  Every serious Dressage rider would benefit from this, and even casual riders will find a lot of value in journaling their rides.  This would make a great Christmas gift!

Price: $29.95
Where to Buy It: Amazon

Now for the giveaway!  One lucky reader will win a copy of the 2020 edition of The Dressage Rider's Journal (and I will not accidentally write in it this year, sorry Carly!).  Just leave a comment below describing what horse-related goals you have for 2020 - and they can be anything, not just competition goals.  After you've commented, make sure you enter the RaffleCopter giveaway below.  Contest opens 11/20/19 at 12am EST and closes 11/27/19 at 12am EST.  Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a copy of The Dressage Rider's Journal 2020 for free, but reviewed it openly and honestly.  All opinions are my own.

One contest ends and another begins.  Congratulations to Blaire, who has a private blog, on winning the Noble Outfitters Giveaway!

In a lesson the week of December 14 in which Connor skittered sideways for no good reason approaching a tiny crossrail, my trainer suddenly asked, "How old is he now?"

"He'll be ten in May."  We both laughed, and she said something to the effect of, "He's just taking the slow track."

On the one hand, it's been a while.  I've owned him for four years.  We've been with my trainer and at this barn the entire time.

On the other hand, we've come a long way.

Before I owned him, our first show together, 2011.

May of 2015

I started this blog before I even had Connor, and also before I met my trainer, if you can believe it.  I started it at the only period in my life that has been 100% horse free: the few months between getting married/moving to a new city/being unemployed for six weeks and beginning lessons with my trainer, whom I have been with five years in January.


So now, 1,000 posts and five years in, it's now a chronicle of my entire "Part II" of my riding career.  It takes me from being so afraid to jump, I never thought I would jump again.  I came to my trainer as "probably a Dressage rider".  The blog chronicles the process my trainer took me through when I first came to her, which was to completely rebuild my riding as if I was a beginner.

Lesson on Mac in 2011.  Man I look small on a full-sized horse.

It takes me from learning to jump again on the saintly old Dillon, without whom I would definitely still be a Dressage-only rider.  It takes me from first laying eyes on Connor, his breeder offering him to me, and agonizing over whether to take him or not.

January 2012

It takes me from going XC for the first time, jumping a show jump course for the first time, doing a rated show for the first time, learning to ride a ditch, learning shoulder in, riding a Dressage test for the first time, bodyclipping for the first time, moving up a level for the first time, winning an event for the first time...in short, it takes me through everything that has made me the rider, and Connor the horse, that we are today.

April 2012

Blogging is an interesting journey sometimes.   The community is amazing, the people I met through it are the greatest.  JenJ and I are like long lost twins or soulmates that never would have met if it wasn't for blogging (seriously, we share a name, one of us owns a real Haflinger and one of us owns a wannabe Haflinger, both own mutant Malamute mixes, and both work in tech.  Twins).  The blogger meetup last year was AMAZING.  And I've bought/sold/won/been given/gave away so many things through blogging, so while it doesn't actively make me money, it has definitely been financially worthwhile too.

Simon selfie with Genny!

All that is to say, I have no intention of stopping despite slowing down a bit in 2015 for the house.  Here's to another 1,000 posts and five more years.  Maybe Connor will have stopped overjumping ditches by then...maybe.

Um, we're just, playing it safe.  Really, really safe.  Penny Oaks, 2014.

To celebrate having written 1,000 posts over five years and two months, I'm giving away a $50 gift certificate to blogland's favorite equestrian retailer, Riding Warehouse.  Enter by leaving a comment and then entering the Rafflecopter giveaway (and sorry if my Rafflecopters seem awkward, Rafflecopter has made almost every feature paid-for since I did my last contest).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is giveaway 1 of 2 over the next week - be on the lookout for our 1,000th post next week!  Merry Christmas from Jen and Connor!

A while back, Noble Outfitters contacted me about reviewing a head-to-toe outfit for them and then offering that outfit in a contest for my readers.  So, full disclosure, I received a free outfit in exchange for doing this review, and so will one of your guys!  Read on for more details.

I had never tried on their breeches before, so I asked to review their Balance Riding Tights, and also the Lauren Quarter Zip shirt that Amanda also reviewed.  First up, the Balance Riding Tights.


Sorry about the pictures, I had to recruit my husband for these:


Most of you know my go-to tights are the Irideon Issential tights.  In that, I am a child's size L, which is not even the largest child's size in those tights.  Those things wear like iron and last for years, but my one complaint is that they don't have belt loops.  I was pretty excited to see that the Balance tights have belt loops.  Classy looking outfits, here I come!


I also really liked the thick, wide waistband, although after I put them on, it ended up being kind of a problem for me.


I looked at the sizing chart when I asked for the XS, but I really should have sized up.  They fit better than most pants on me - the waistband actually doesn't gap in the back on me like most pants do when you have a 35" hip and 24" waist - but they also threatened to cut off my circulation.

I'm not sure if it's because of the waistband, or the stiffness of the fabric, but if you get these - SIZE UP.  I couldn't wear them with anything underneath them, even my tiny microweight Smartwool, so these will be warm weather-only tights for me.  I really should have gotten a small.

But as far as everything else goes about them?  I really like them.  They clearly put a lot of thought into what would make these attractive every-day riding-wear.

Pocket - not big enough for my Droid Turbo, but definitely big enough for the knife I always have on me at the barn.  And maybe a smaller cell phone.

Attractive and not ostentatious logo on the back, and a nice euro-cut seat.

One of my favorite things about them is definitely the "lightweight stretch hem" bottoms.  They really do reduce bulk under the boot like Noble Outfitters says they will.  They're definitely my favorite hems of all of my riding pants.
a Rafflecopter giveaway