Recent Articles in ~Guest Bloggers~

Guest Blog post # 22: "Streeeeeetch" by Amanda Tamminga
Streeeeeeetch

In my travels through the horse world, I often encounter people who whine about one of two things in regards their horse or horses. Or occasionally they whine about both things at the same time.
  • Whine #1: "My horse has no topline. What can I feed him to help his topline develop? I've done EVERYTHING."
  • Whine #2: "My horse's back is sore! So I am going to spend GOBS of money on new, custom fit saddles, fancy pads, chiropractors, etc. But his back is STILL sore!!! Why?" (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog post # 21: "How Did I Know I'd Find You in Self Help??!!" by the famous Bad Eventer!

"How did I know I'd find you in SELF HELP??!!"




Yes, yes that was me. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog post # 20: "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" by the famous Bad Eventer!
                         One Step Forward, Two Steps Back  


Forget eventing...........



this looks like more fun!

Well......that's how I'm starting to feel these days. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog post # 19: "Writing Goals in Concrete, and Plans in Sand" by Jennifer Shattuck

The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry . . . 

(Though most people associate the expression with the 1936 John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men, it actually originated in a 1786 poem by Robert Burns entitled To a Mouse which he wrote as an apology after turning up the mouse’s nest accidentally while ploughing a field)

Literature lesson aside, the expression stands true. 

It’s been a pre-season of foiled plans and wallet hemorrhage. My credit card is still licking its wounds and my checkbook is asking about an exit strategy. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog post # 18: "The Rest of the Story" by the famous Bad Eventer!
                                         The Rest of the Story...



I know the Area III eventers are completely used to it........



but I was a bit star struck walking around warm up last weekend.... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog post # 17: "The Watcher" by Amy Wright



Standing by the door to the indoor, leaning over the fencepost, "She needs to lower her hands," "That bit is way too strong for that horse," "Those two are not a good match,"  "That horse is just plain dangerous."

Many, probably most, of us have either been the one leaning on the fence or the one riding haplessly around the ring  trying to maintain some semblance of control, or both.  And if we haven't said the words out loud, we've probably thought them, knowing that we shouldn't, knowing that the rider is doing her or his level best and that perhaps that combo of horse and rider is not one of choice, but of last resort for either or both of them.

The most loathsome Watcher, though, is the one inside our own heads... (Click on Blog Title above to read full entry)
Guest Blog post # 16: "Remember, it's OK to Make Mistakes" by Grey Brook Eventing

Remember, it's OK to Make Mistakes


First of all, if you hadn't noticed, I recently added a new page to the top of my blog called 'Nostalgia' with lots of old pictures of my bigger, more badass competition days. Check it out if you haven't gotten a chance to!

Yesterday Robin and I went on a little adventure up to beautiful north shore horse country for a jumping lesson with Jane Hamlin. I hadn't had a jumping lesson since the last timen, especially since the start of the season seems to be getting closer and closer!  Jane came down to Massachusetts back in November, so I was definitely very eager to see her again, especially since the start of the season seems to be getting closer and closer! (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog post # 15: "This Little Piggy" by Jennifer Shattuck

This Little Piggy


This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy was all jacked up and had to have surgery which leaves me in the Frankenboot for 4 lousy weeks and now I’m mad at the world.
This little piggy cried wah wah wah all the way home.
Guest Blog entry # 14: "Back to Basics" by the great Bad Eventer!

 

Back to Basics





The season was ending.

I had just done my first Prelim with the most difficult horse I've ever started under saddle. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 13: "Jane Hamlin lesson with Ky" by Katherine Erickson

Jane Hamlin Lesson with Ky

 

 

Yeeeeeeeeee this pony is so awesome!!! We had a jump lesson today with Jane Hamlin in my continuing quest to get back some of my lost jumping confidence and start feeling ready to maybe head back out into the eventing world again. I haven't taken a lesson with Jane in a looooong time, but it was great to see her again. She loved Ky (how could she not??) and he was absolutely foot perfect. I finished up my lesson a very happy girl!! (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 12: Bad Eventer gets 5th place at her first Intermediate Event!
Red Numbers



I wasn't really worried about my dressage test.........




(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 11: "The Horror of Prelim B" by the famous Bad Eventer!
The Horror of Prelim B



Do you think it's wrong that my absolute #1, most important reason to get to Intermediate with haste is so that I never EVER....... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 10: "Rolex (Okay, not Rolex, but it felt like it)" by: Jennifer Shattuck
Rolex (Okay, not Rolex, but it felt like it)


Righty tighty, lefty loosie.

Loosie? Loosey. Loosee? To make loose.

Note to self – (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 9: "The Secret to Winning" by Cherie Chauvin

The Secret to Winning...

 

Jim Wofford loves to tell riders that he's found the secret to winning every event!  He leans in close, with a twinkle in his eye and a smirk on his face, and he whispers... "The secret to winning every event is [pause for dramatic effect]... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 8: "Cross Country and the Learning Curve" by Becky Rickly

Cross Country and the Learning Curve

 


As opposed to the last time I was here, the Cross Country day dawned beautiful, sunny, and breezy. We gathered at the start box (did I mention that David and Laura have made a really wonderful set of jumps, from pre-BN through Intermediate? Well, they have!), and we started out once again by showing Jimmy our galloping positions (only this time, he said "do not 'post' the canter, or you will not like what I will do!"....my guess is that we'd be sans stirrups, so I'm glad none of us did!). One woman was leaning quite a bit to the right, so Jimmy motioned her over and took away her right stirrup, leather and all, then asked her to jump three times over a small tire jump. She got the point. Apparently, this was something she'd been working on.
(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 7: "How Bad Eventer Found Her Sitting Trot" by the great Bad Eventer!

How Bad Eventer found her Sitting Trot

 



Bad Eventer found her sitting trot this weekend.........
(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 6: "Attitude is Everything" by: Top Flight Farm

I am a big believer that a positive outlook and positive thinking can transform your riding and your life. If your first reaction to that sentence was to roll your eyes and considering closing the browser, think about it this way: (Click on Blog Title above to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 5: Take THAT Ditch and tarp... Kapow!! by: Holly Breaux

Take THAT Ditch and tarp... Kapow!!


It's a start!!! Go pony :)
Today we had a XC lesson at Ashland. It was fun. We had some good parts and some not so good parts, but overall it was a big success. I worked on my hands and hugging Fleck again while keeping my shoulders up. I also worked on my "landing gear", although apparently not on every jump.

Egads!! I promise this was the worst one!

(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 4: "Beat the Confidence Monster But Took a Stupid Pill" by Jennifer Shattuck

Beat the Confidence Monster But Took a Stupid Pill


What was I thinking? Seriously.

What on God's Green Earth was going through my head when I set out on XC in the North Carolina heat slash humidity with bare hands? I've done plenty of stupid things in my life (trust me, plenty) but that ranks right on up there.  No gloves? Honestly, Jennifer (as my dearly departed mom used to say).

I started to realize I was an ignoramus in warm-up. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 3: "Let There Be Light!" By: Suzanne Adams

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

And God said, "Let there be light: and there was light."

GMHA- back field coming home... neither of my jumps
I so want to keep this as simple as possible but, then...  why have a blog?  So, we completed GMHA, did not fall off anywhere on or off the course AND for the first time since we hit the tree at Groton House Farm Horse Trials, Sugar and I had fire in our bellies! (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 2: "Fitness (aka I am NOT Tired!!!!)" from the great Bad Eventer!

Fitness (aka I am NOT Tired!!!!!!)

I'm having a bit of a rough week on the eventing scene.




That's not exactly a new problem, seeing that my entire blog is devoted to how BAD I am at eventing...... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
Guest Blog entry # 1: "Battling the Confidence Monster" by Jennifer Shattuck

Battling the Confidence Monster


I loath him.

I despise him.

He’s an evil, sneaky, beady-eyed beast that lives in every nook and cranny of your mind.  He’s 50, 100 years old. He makes the villagers pick up pitchforks and torches and march the square stomping and yelling; “Burn him!” “Tear him from limb to limb!” “Run him to the woods!” (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)
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