New Arrival

Today at the barn we had a new arrival all the way from Germany. One of my favorite boarders at the barn just bought a 6 year old Hanoverian from Germany, and he finally arrived! I couldn't help myself, so i watched her work him this morning. Seeing her ride him reminded me of why I love Dressage.. he has the most beautiful movement i have seen in a long time and the two of them together create quite the picture.
She got on and did pirouettes, tempis, half passes, you name it, with absolutely no fight from her new boy. It is so unfair really... I get on my guy and i fight and have to earn every movement that he gives me but that's why i love him i guess! :)

We get imported horses all the time at the barn, but we have not had one in a while so i can only imagine that this will start a buying frenzy from everyone because heaven forbid someone has a more expensive horse then them haha
Hopefully he settles in with ease and i will keep you updated on the new foreigner :)

happy riding!

Product Chat #1

I thought in addition to sharing some of the funny stories I encounter on a daily basis, I would share some of the amazing products that i find, or that i am introduced to by the women at the barn. I am in NO WAY telling you to buy this, or trying to be a commercial, I just that it would be nice to share some of my favorite products.
The first one I want to tell you about isn't new but it is definitely worth checking out. It is from the Back On Track line, and it is the quarter back pad. For those of you who are not familiar with this line, the Back On Track stuff is a therapeutic tool that uses ceramic fibers to naturally heat up. So in the case of the back pad that I mentioned.. I put this on my horse every time i bring him in and it stays on until i put my saddle on. While i am tacking him up, his natural body heat begins to heat up the ceramic fibers in the blanket, and then the blanket further eats his back and it is a cycle. By the time i take it off, his back is all warmed up and ready to go.

The first time that I tried it was like night and day! My warm up took half the amount of time, and he was through his back and his haunches came under him with ease and i just knew that he was a happy boy. I am not saying that everyone will have results like mine with it because all horses are different and respond to things like this differently, but i do think it is worth looking into. :)

Happy Shopping Everyone

locker blowout

The barn that I am lucky enough to board at is an amazing facility, and my horse could not be anymore spoiled living there, and frankly I thought I could not be any more spoiled riding there, but apparently i was wrong.... When i showed up at the barn this morning for my daily training session, I opened up the barns door to the sound of one of the usual culprits for drama ( we will call her Ms. K) complaining that the lockers are not big enough for the amount of stuff she has at the barn.
Now these lockers that she is talking about are HUGE! I am about 5'10 and i can stand straight up inside of mine, so she is not talking about a tiny little locker that is just big enough for your saddle to fit into. So Ms.K is complaining for a good 20 min about how everyone should have at least 2 lockers,or why not just get rid of the lockers all together and have talk stalls right next to our horses. While she is going on and on about how we are not spoiled enough, all I could think of was don't bring me into this lady! Before the owner of our barn could even get a word in, the other DQs (dressage queens) of the barn were right there by her side. Now all of these women were actually believing that they deserved MORE then what was already being provided.

I just don't get it. I am more then happy with the fact that i don't have to carry my stuff aroud in the back of my car, let alone have a locker that I could sleep in if needed. The most facinating part was as soonas they were done attacking the owner, they scattered and that was the end of it. People acted like nothing happened, and they went about there business, and rode there horses with big content smioled on there faces. Amazing how fast those claws can cmoe and go.

why don't you take a look

My goal is to give you a look into the world of a top dressage barn and the funny, scary, and ridiculous stories that come along with it. The ladies that I ride with are rich, powerful, and talented women that always give me a good laugh from time to time.

I am the youngest person at my barn by probably a good 20+ years or so, but that is the way it goes when you are in an equestrian sport that is dominated by the older generations. Not only is Dressage usually dominated by the older generation, but it is also dominated by the wealthy, and when i say wealthy i mean wealthy! These ladies don't blink an eye when it comes to spending hundreds of dollars on a riding vest that happens to be the latest trend in horse world.

Now don't get me wrong.. I love my barn, I love the sport of Dressage and this blog is in no way meant to make fun of anyone, or give the impression that I am trying to be mean to anyone, but when you put this many rich powerful women in one barn.. the claws can come out and with them come some great stories.

So.. I hope you enjoy the look into my world, and I hope you enjoy the stories and the rants from yours truly that come along with it.