Cob Jockey

 July

My barn officially became a co-op using a hybrid plan I came up with, and I became the "ringleader." I sent Connor off for a two-week tuneup with CGP before National Dressage Pony Cup, and NDPC was a freaking blast with friends from all across the country coming to support me. We won my first ever neck ribbon!

Family, friends and framily!

August

I went trail riding with my new barnmate, Mary and I discovered my CWD's tree was compromised, and I showed at Lamplight for the first time ever!

One of my favorite photos of me and this horse ever.

 

September
I bought a bunch of Jump4Joy jumps from my Aunt Paula, Connor gave pony rides to my gym friend's autistic son, we freaking brought it to win the Second Level IDS Championship title for 2021, and my saddle finally arrived...but it was missing some features.

October

The fitter decided to completely re-make my saddle to fix her errors at no cost to me. I bought Annie a baby saddle, and Connor showed with all three of us, me, Mary and Annie at the Welsh North Central Regional. Disco won literally almost everything, and was Champion C/D Colt, C/D Grand Champion, and was Supreme Champion all ages/sections/sexes under one judge, and Reserve Supreme Champion under another. After that show, I sent Connor to CGP's for flying changes training.

I had no idea that I'd get not only my first, but also my second and third neck ribbons ever in 2021!

November

My CWD came back, repaired! I brought Disco home, and cleaned up at our GMO's year end awards. CGP made incredible progress with Connor.

December

I only posted five times this month as I struggled with a period of growth in not only horse ownership and riding, but also at work. Disco was a good baby for everyone at the co-op, and Connor made lots of progress with CGP but less with me as I struggled mightily with some imbalances in my body. Connor came home on December 26th.

Disco's geriatric best buddy

 January

I brought Connor home from CGP's and had to learn how to ride my new horse! It turned out all that Dressage gave him newfound confidence over fences. I decided to keep Aeres for one more month and got to experience owning two riding horses for the first time. Also, sigh, I realized (again) that my saddle didn't fit.

 

 February

The story this month was what I didn't post about: the lady flying out to try Aeres, falling in love with her, and then Aeres getting desperately sick. I only wrote six benign posts, including one about my truck stranding me at the worst possible time, but privately I was dealing with a LOT.

Love you too, jerk

March

This month, I finally wrote up the Aeres medical saga, and at the time I wrote it, I thought she was out of the woods, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, so I ended up basically live blogging the last few weeks of it. We spent a solid two weeks keeping her alive on feeding tubes without knowing if she would ever be able to swallow again, and the day before we were going to make the call, she began swallowing again, and eventually made a full recovery. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Final Thoughts. Outside of that, this was also the month I started virtual lessons, which were such a game changer.

April

I showed 2-3 for the first time at Heartland, got my amateur status back, hauled my mom's geriatric donkey from Illinois to Tennessee, and...a very special colt was born on April 28th, which just so happened to also be the day I got my second shot, something that made the entire show season ahead of me actually feel possible after everything was cancelled in 2020. I didn't speak for him immediately, but I had a feeling that I might.

"Why yes, hello world."

May

I officially bought Dyma Hi's colt, who I named Disco (Castleberrys Deja Vu). I rode with my trainer's trainer, who was the non-traveling reserve for the Olympics this year, and showed twice: once schooling, and once rated, for the first time with my trainer and her crew. I also rode the now-healthy Aeres one last time before she left, and tried a Bua.

June

Holly from Party Pony Eventing came to visit and rode Connor, I bought a Western saddle, and then I (finally) bought a Dressage saddle (that I still don't have as I write this post!). I showed at Waterloo for the first time, again with CGP's crew, and had a blast.

It was, um, wet.

 July

 I started to explore 'sitting heavy' with my home trainer with great results. Connor colicked for the first time ever, just a mild gas colic. And my PT friend helped me further explore and fix my asymmetries.

 

August

Mary moved 40 minutes away from me and started jumping Connor once a week. I found a way to make Pilates fit the budget long term after realizing how much it had helped my riding, and my home trainer announced she was closing her program September 1 to focus on her family and her crazy successful TruTex footing business.

Wouldn't be where I am today without her <3

 

September

Buckle up, this month was big! I announced my big plan to send Connor off to full training with my GP trainer and lease Castleberrys Aeres from their breeder while he was gone. I started doing stalls twice a month mostly for fun, sent Connor to Cincinnati, brought Aeres home, and Mary and I dyed her forelock. Aeres got treated for foregut ulcers with Esomaprazole, and Connor got treated for hindgut ulcers with Misoprostol. I put my heart dog down and showed Connor at both a WPCSA show and a Dressage schooling show.

 

October

I clicker trained Aeres to stand at the mounting block with huge success. Connor made flat out amazing improvements in his canter with CGP and got his first flying changes at the end of the month! Mary bought me my first glitter saddle pad as a birthday present (foreshadowing, lol) and we adopted the newest member of the family, Meatloaf. I took Aeres to Cincinnati for a lesson with CGP, and came to the tough realization that I had to do a lot better for my "new" pony after all he'd learned.

November

We made a sale video for Aeres even though she's not really for sale. Mary gave me a lunge lesson on Aeres, Aeres "jumped" for the first time under saddle, Connor started going in a nathe and loved it, and I started seeing results from buckling down hard on Pilates and my position over the last month.

December

I had to quarantine for two weeks in late November/early December after close contact with a COVID-positive person. I learned I have an incredibly weak right glute med and what that's been doing to my riding. Meatloaf solidified herself as my first good barn dog ever, I crashed a jump lesson for Dressage ladies at CGPs while wearing a sparkly teal saddle pad, we blew up my posting mechanic (again), I became a fancy stirrup iron convert, and I drove to Cincinnati every day for a week to take four lessons before I brought Connor home. And I brought Connor home on New Years' Eve <3

 I got a pair of Dubarrys for $50, and took so.  many.  lessons. with CGP. This was also the first time she ever rode him.

Ten years and one day ago today, I hit "Publish" on this blog for the very first time, so it seems especially appropriate that I should join in on the "Decade in Review" posts. Here are the top three things that happened each year over the last 1,547 posts.

2010

1. Got introduced to Welsh Cobs when the chair of the equine department begged me to break her Castleberry pony, Shae, in the Training and Handling II class because "you're small and you have a sense of humor"
2. Met Shae's breeder, kicking off a lifelong friendship
3. Graduated with my Equine Studies degree, eloped to Italy, got the job that kicked off my career, and moved to my current city

That's Brown Recluse bite aftermath on his neck and shoulder

2011

1. Started taking lessons with my current trainer
2. Started doing CrossFit seriously, mainly because my trainer was on bed rest with a pregnancy and I was bored
3. Connor became mine <3

2012

1. Went to our first Dressage show
2. My husband lost his job and wouldn't be fully employed again for another couple years
3. Rode Connor's sire, *Tuscani Dundee, in the Hoosier Horse Fair Parade of Stallions

2013

1. Went to our first event
2. Jumped 2'6 for the first time
3. I took a deep breath and full clipped for the first time

Used with permission, PC: Suzanne Fischer

 2014

1. Moved up to rated BN
2. Showed in Chicago for the first time
3. Started meeting bloggers in person! 

The max height/width BN table he jumped from a standstill, marking the beginning of the end of his eventing career, lol

 2015

1. Visited JenJ for the first time.  And the second time!
2. Bought my CWD, a truck, my first trailer (thanks to JenJ), and a 125 year old house.  It was an expensive year, lol
3. Did what would be Connor's final rated BN, finishing with 33.5 after a rail in stadium

Also thanks to JenJ, this badass XC outfit

 2016

1. Our first full season of Dressage
2. Hung out with JenJ at a jousting event in Indiana that involved drinking Scotch in full medieval costumes under the stars, impaling cabbages on tent spikes under the cover of darkness, sleeping in my truck and sending some strangers home to Texas with a taxidermied buffalo head
3. Got a Pixio

 2017

1. Moved Connor to a barn 3 miles from my house, and then my trainer followed me four months later
2. Rode Mr. P!
3. Went to National Dressage Pony Cup

Also hung out with these degenerates <3

 2018

1. Rode Jen's Taran and learned quite a bit about myself from him
2. Flew to Colorado with Connor's breeder to watch Erika and Gavin and another Castleberry pony compete in the RMDS championships
3. Rode with KPG thanks to Karen winning an essay contest!

A fellow Welsh Cob-lover gushing over my Welsh Cob.  Also, an Olympian

 2019

1. Got our first Second Level score toward our Bronze
2. Rode with Mary Wanless twice, which led to riding with CGP
3. Went on the Great Saddle Search

I was already thinking this year I wouldn't do my usual year-in-review on the blog - this was a transitional year full of things that, frankly, make for boring blogging.  Spending as little money as possible on horse things, not showing, over-analyzing biomechanics and hardly going anywhere fun?  I won't make you sit through that a second time!  So I'm joining in Amanda's blog hop.

Favorite Show Picture

PC: Karen

This year was H-A-R-D in a lot of ways.  But we made a great deal of progress, and our second and final show of the season proved that to me.


Favorite Non-Show Picture

PC: Leah

I still have to pinch myself sometimes and remind myself that this really happened.  I'm still so grateful to Karen for including me in her contest winnings.  Sidenote: KPG came back to our area to clinic recently and the prices reminded me I definitely could not have done this if it wasn't for that contest!


Favorite Thing You Bought



Due to my spending freeze, I have a short list of 2018 purchases to choose from.  This saddle was a 2017 purchase, but having it professionally fitted in July is definitely my favorite purchase of 2018.  Especially after discovering Connor is exceptionally hard to fit in a Dressage saddle, seeing how well this one sits on his back now just feels like a miracle to me.


Favorite Moment on Horseback


This whole clinic.  How could it not be?!  This photo is KPG gushing over our shared love of Welsh Cobs.  She may not be competing one in the Olympics, but once a Welsh Cob lover, always a Welsh Cob lover.


Favorite Moment out of the Saddle



Moment?  How about weekend?!  Flying to Colorado with Connor's breeder to meet Erika, and to watch both Castleberrys Dillan and Castleberrys Gavin go in the RMDS Championship show was so amazing.  It was so cool to watch Connor's breeder watch her "kids" go, and and to understand that dreams 15 and 13 years in the making were realized for her that weekend.


Favorite Between the Ears Picture



On one of the last warm fall days this year Connor and I wandered the open field at just the right time of day, just enjoying each other and the warm sunlight and the beautiful surroundings before winter set in.  This picture is my cell phone background now, and I get a little zen every time I look at it.


Favorite Horse Book or Article



It's not a horse article, but nonetheless, Simone Giertz's TED talk had a profound impact on my horse life.  And then shortly after that, Matt Brown's CoTH series dialed in on the same ideas.


Favorite Horse Ridden Aside from Your Own



I only rode one horse that wasn't Connor this year and it was a great one!  Riding JenJ's T in January (then Second Level, now Third Level) was incredibly enlightening and really shaped my whole 2018.  He helped me realize I was as crooked as a pretzel and as tense as a vice, and that sparked a quest to fix all of that, even if I didn't initially understand what was happening.


Favorite Funny Picture of Your Horse



There was LITERALLY NO REASON for this!


Favorite Movement That You Conquered



I wouldn't call mediums 'conquered' yet, but this is the first year in which I actually felt some lengthening at the trot.  Such a simple thing, but so much went into that from a biomechanics, strength, feel, and straightness perspective, it feels like an achievement (in progress).


Favorite Horse Meme



You have to have a sense of humor to own a Welsh cob, as Dr. Marks said so many years ago!

For January-June's review, click here.

Connor got his first real injury days before Pony Cup, because of course he did.  He got his permanent pony card at a surprising 14.1hh, and we had an absolute blast at NDPC, where we also met Katlyn and Emilie, and Connor met his sister for the first time.  NK gave me some tough love in a lesson, and we survived 2-1 at a schooling show with a 60.000%.  I finally pulled the trigger on a PS of Sweden bridle, and JenJ introduced me to Franklin Balls. I also continued to wax poetic about how much better my life got after I moved Connor.

Still the straightest canter stride this horse has ever taken in his life.

My trainer moved her program from my old barn to my new barn.  I had kind of mixed feelings about this after I realized that I made a lot of progress when I started riding more outside of lessons.  Things were just good, every ride left me with a huge smile on my face.  NK fixed my leg aids in a lesson and I did a side-by-side comparison of my scores from the same test at the same show two days in a row.

We also photographed someone that's not for sale!