The Collegial Equestrian

The Frugal Foxhunter is live!

2014-09-04T20:29:00.001-04:00

Enjoy!

The Frugal Foxhunter

While of course all writers (me included) love the ego boost that comes from high pageviews, this new blog is going to be pretty low-key. No blog hops, no contests, etc. But there are not a lot of foxhunting blogs out there so I hope you'll enjoy!

New blog!

2014-08-21T13:56:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone (all two of you crickets),

I'm still here, still riding, and now having exciting adventures foxhunting with Potomac Hunt and watching Byron learn to ride.

Unfortunately the lease with Polly ended and I was sad about it so didn't feel like posting for a while. Plus I've WAY ramped up the number of articles I do for Horse Nation...and on top of that, the Collegial Equestrian moniker just doesn't quite seem to fit anymore--it's always felt a little stuffy, but especially so since I'm not in college anymore and I'm not really posting much about community/collegial topics. However, I DO want to keep a hunt journal so I can track my progress and look back on it one day.

What's your favorite potential blog name?

The Frugal Foxhunter: Alliteration, and true. Hunting has a reputation of being a rich man's sport but I have no horse, no trailer, and limited funds. It can be done!
The Liberal Foxhunter: Many hunt people are conservative politically. I am not...and I also hope to foxhunt "liberally" as in "a lot." Though writing about politics isn't really my thing, it might be interesting to write sometimes on how one walks the line of loving animals yet having no problem hunting cute little foxies. I have yet to really figure out how to explain this to most of my non-horsey friends.
Hunt Monitor: The Hunt Monitor is a phone hotline you call for weather cancellations and other last-minute changes. Kind of a boring name but the blog will sort of "monitor" my progress.
Grab Mane, Kick On: Many other things are changing (positively) in my life and this encompasses everything. And it feels pretty evergreen too.

Vote here! And if you've got any other suggestions, feel free to share in the comments.

BABY ALERT BABY ALERT

2014-05-03T19:28:00.002-04:00

So I am alive! I've been riding a lot, with lots of trails on weekends. I've also been writing and working and trying on wedding dresses and interviewing photographers and florists...hence little time for blogging.

In any case...this weekend was supposed to be my first hunter pace, which unfortunately was canceled due to the wet ground. Bummer :( Hopefully we will get to go off the farm and do something soon!

But I wasn't too bummed because we have a new baby on the farm as of 12:50 a.m. this morning!!! He is a TB colt, bred by a friend of the farm who is a racehorse trainer at Charlestown, WV.
Interestingly, the owner of the farm (who foaled him last night) thinks he will mature to be gray with black points rather than bay like he is now.

Sort of hard to see but he has eye "makeup" and adorably fuzzy ears!!!

Meeting Sally the old Jack Russell

Everything is fascinating on Day 1

Well, it's OK if we snuggle.

BABY BABY BABY

AND more exciting news...Byron's first riding lesson is tomorrow. Should at least be entertaining because he bought this insect-like monstrosity to put on his head:

Uvex Perfexxion

He thinks it looks like a skateboard helmet. Sigh...

Polly Pictures! Plus, Foxhunting Attire Haul.

2014-04-08T21:30:00.001-04:00

Had a friend come out to the barn this weekend to meet Polly and I finally have PICTURES!

Pretty girl got to show off her stuff!

We did a little bit of everything--started off with our routine of walk-trot transitions and cantering in the ring (slowly but steadily improving there with promptness and balance), and then we headed through the creek to the XC field where we played with some of the lower logs.

Nice push there Pollywog!

It was only our second time jumping in the XC field, and these jumps were new to me, so I led Polly up to them for a good sniff.

She said, "What, do you think I'm stupid? I know what to do with logs!" Took me by surprise so I just flung my hands forward not-so-gracefully, but my friend and I were cracking up!

And we got a little video of jumping the logs the other way.

The pictures revealed that I am pinching with my knee at some times and getting into a chair seat at others. I'm going to have to work on that!

I've also been slowly picking up hunting clothes...some used/on sale, some not...

For my birthday a few weeks ago, Byron won fiancé of the year (again) for buying me a brand new Melton at the Tack Box in Middleburg (despite my protests to get one used)! It is very warm, like a peacoat, but not as heavy as I expected it to be. I cannot WAIT to wear it this winter!

Foxy buttons

And even though I already have a navy show coat, that isn't quite proper for cubbing. I doubt anyone would care since I am new to the sport, but I did feel a little out of place when I went hilltopping and everyone else was in their beautiful earth tone tweeds and I looked like I was doing a hunter-under-saddle class. So...I caved to my weakness...Facebook tack trader groups. I found a jacket for $50 and a patterned stock tie for $10!

The stock just arrived today, and now that I see it with my jacket, I'm not 100% loving the combination. I think blue might go better with a gray jacket, so I may just make my own stock with more of a green-tone fabric.

Aaaand that's not it. The tack shop closest to me is on my way to the barn. Can we say temptation? So on my way back home this Sunday I saw they were having a tent sale...and picked up a NEW canary vest (normally $160) for $60. I'm just telling myself that I haven't taken lessons regularly for months...this is just making up for it cost-wise. Right?

Byron was giving me prompts for modeling. This is my response to "Foxhunt for me baby!"

And, I may be able to actually use the informal coat for a hunter pace in a few weeks! It's kind of unnerving me that you have to register for hunter paces the day of, since I have to rely on others for transportation and I'm semi-worried that something might happen where they wouldn't want to go. Crossing my fingers that I will get to wear all these new things sooner rather than later! (Well, except the Melton.)

In the meantime...I do NOT need new breeches, I do NOT need new breeches...

First lesson

2014-03-30T23:15:00.000-04:00

OK, so our first lesson together was actually LAST weekend, but various projects have meant I wasn't able to write it up until now.

Are you SURE that was the last carrot?

So the instructor at this barn is the daughter of the owner (who also teaches lessons, and helped bring another boarder I've been hacking out with to First Level dressage scores in the 70s...not too shabby!). The daughter is a Pony Club graduate (not so long ago, since I think she is about my age) who has gone Prelim eventing, and she also foxhunts and plays polo (her polo pony is Guacamole/Guacapony if you remember from Byron's interpretation). I told her I was basically looking for help getting Polly fit over the summer and getting her to actually canter in the arena, and I was pleased that in the lesson we mostly worked on stuff I'd already been working on--lots of walk-trot transitions to get her in front of my leg. We also worked on attempting to bend in the corners, with only moderate success (remember, Polly is a draft X who hasn't been asked to do anything but trail ride and hunt in her entire 9-year-old life). At least Polly is very willing about trying to find the right answer.

So the big challenge for Polly is picking up the canter inside the arena (as opposed to just going into a giant carthorse trot). This is something I've encountered a LOT from my days volunteering and teaching at Gentle Giant Draft Horse Rescue--when a big horse is unbalanced and out of shape, they want to run into their gaits rather than picking them up promptly, and since they are so big, by the time they've got their groove going, then there's a corner and it all sort of falls apart.

Prior to the lesson, I had gotten to the point where I could get a canter transition in a corner, and maybe a step or two of canter before we would get disorganized and fall into a trot. That was OK with me, since apparently she just didn't canter inside before that! But in the lesson, the instructor recommended sitting on my outside seat bone when I asked for the canter--something I wouldn't have figured out on my own. Presto--after all that walk-trot work, we got a prompt transition, and we got maybe 5 or 6 strides of canter on the long side!

I like to think of her as a tall pony.

Steering, not so much--so I brought her back to a trot before we careened out of the open end of the arena. That will come later. This week I did try cantering down (most of) the long side, trotting the short side, and then picking up the canter again on the long side. That seemed like a good exercise to keep practicing.

And I imagine transitions outside in the big gallop field would be good too since she would be a little more naturally forward...if it would stop snowing/raining/sleeting! Seriously, what the heck! But other than weather...so far, the first month with Polly has been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to both of us getting super-fit this summer.

She's too big to get all of her in a wash stall shot! It will be interesting to compare photos each month.

Non-riding significant others say the darndest things...

2014-03-22T00:19:00.001-04:00

Ok, so this is a topic I've already covered in a meme-tastic post for Horse Nation a couple months ago...but Byron just keeps supplying me with excellent new material. (Though of course, he would never say something boorish like "the horse does all the work." He is better trained than that.)

Me: I just met a polo pony named Guacamole today. Isn't that the best name ever?
Byron: Would've been better if it was named Guacapony.

Me: The lady I trail rode with today had these awesome rubber boots. Not like the cheapy ones I have--they looked like real dress boots, but you could wash them off with a hose.
Byron: So why don't you buy them?
Me: Because then I would have to admit to myself that I'm a secret tack ho.
Byron: Oh sweetie. You are undoubtedly a tack ho. And what's worse, you hate spending money, so you're like a $5 tack ho.
Me: :( I know...

Not that kind of tack ho (via)

Clerk in tack shop: So do you ride too?
Byron: Not yet...my first lessons are in May.
Clerk in tack shop: How great!
Byron: Yeah, you'll see me in the next Olympics. (signs receipt) You should probably save that autograph.

Draft Horse Heresy

2014-03-16T19:16:00.000-04:00

Our first "real" trail ride yesterday (as in, actually on a trail and not just around the farm) was frankly...disappointing. But the good news is that I was able to figure Polly out a little more which made our second trail ride today AWESOME.

Yesterday I went out with Polly's owner and another boarder, both also on draft crosses (much smaller than Polly though!). We walked, trotted, cantered, jumped--but Polly was stronger than I expected, and was ignoring my half-halts and attempts to create some space in between her and the horse in front of her. Steering? Not so much.

Polly's owner told me to just get after her when she wasn't listening--stronger half halts, booting her to move off my leg, etc.--and for last quarter or so of the ride I had a lot more control, which was good.

So for today's ride, rather than meandering around for the walk warmup, I insisted that Polly stay straight and march on. We also did a few 20m circles in the arena before we went out, and I think that helped to set the level of responsiveness for the whole ride. And it also helped that I had some idea where we were going since we went on the same trails. Mostly trot today, but we did have a little bit of canter after we hopped over some logs! Tearing around the woods is my new favorite thing! I'm hoping I might be able to borrow a GoPro camera from my dad or Byron's dad to record our adventures.

She roots at the bit a fair amount, which is annoying but I just bridged my reins and let her do whatever she was going to do with her head. My upper back is going to be REALLY strong from riding her!

Yesterday was also a spa day for Polly. Like many drafts, she has issues with scratches on her white feet, and the feathers do not help with keeping her skin free of mud and moisture. So I bought myself some Andis 2-speed clippers as a belated birthday present to myself, and committed draft horse heresy. The feathers are no more.

Before/After:

Before/After:

It took me a while to figure out how to make it look neat, but she was an angel for clipping and practically fell asleep. Aesthetically I think she looks much better with feathers, but it's impossible to find where the scratches are with all that hair. With spring rain and mud ahead, I'd rather get a jump on it before it gets too bad.

Poor girl. I don't think anyone was really managing her skin so her pasterns are like...lumpy. It's really weird. But I'm cleaning with Betadine, drying, then rubbing on Desitin to keep the moisture out of her lumps and bumps.

In other news, it is currently snowing in MD and it's the middle of March. WHY?

Because this is what I think about at work.

2014-03-15T00:33:00.001-04:00

So I work as an editor at a financial media company.

There have been many, many times when I've come across some financial term and thought, "Wow, that would make a good name for a horse."

Which is your favorite? (If you're curious, I've linked them to their Investopedia definitions, but I didn't want to bore those who just want to look at random horse pictures from Wikimedia Commons and fantasize about names.)

via

Silver Futures

Called Away

Depreciating Asset

via

Black Swan

Volatility Spike

Welsh Cob for my cob-loving readers! via

Gold Bug

Dead Cat Bounce (OK, maybe this would not be the best name but it wins for strangest chart pattern)

Liability Swap

Seeking Alpha

via

Foreign Exchange

T-Note

Takeover Artist

via

Return on Investment

Tangible Asset

What about the rest of you? Does oddly specific work terminology inspire you to think of horse names? Or am I just that nerdy?

Viva Carlos: What's in Your Name?

2014-03-12T22:43:00.000-04:00

Because L of Viva Carlos wins at equine blogging, and because I can't get enough of this weird-ass unicorn.

Everyone has a story to tell and in blog land, most of us have stumbled upon each other mid-sentence, so to speak.

What is the story behind your blogname/url?

I started this blog as part of a blogging class I took my final semester of college. I wanted an easy class I would have fun with, and that would hopefully keep me in the habit of writing even after I was done with school. At the time I had just started to pay for lessons again after several years of just riding on breaks from school, and it had just dawned on me that if I just told people my situation--that I was a poor college student--then they were willing to help me figure out ways to ride, or work off lessons and things like that.

The name Collegial Equestrian was sort of spurred by that gratitude for others, the collegial atmosphere of the class, and also the fact that I was involved in horse rescue through Gentle Giants and I exercised horses for a therapeutic riding center--hence "collegial" to invoke a sort of volunteer community. And what better way to become a better horseman than to come together and share our knowledge?

Truth be told, though, I sort of wish I chose something that wasn't so simultaneously dorky and ostentatious. But why fix it if it ain't broke?

For giggles I looked up my final assessment from my blogging class professor...would you give me the same grade?

Presentations, In-Class Assignments, and Blog Community-Building: 30%

You performed exceptionally well in this category. You attended class 27 times (in a 3-way tie for first in the class) and did all four of the in-class writing assignments. You got an A- (blog tracking), an A (blog roots), and a B (blog theorization) on the group presentation. You were also an exemplary citizen of the class blogging community, through comments left on other students’ blogs, posts to the class blog, participation in blog challenges, and conducting a tutorial for the class on Photoshop. You went above and beyond the call of duty and so earned an A+ in this category.

Learning Analysis: 20%

Your learning analysis essay is also exemplary of the genre. It’s a well-designed essay and an incredibly thoughtful reflection on the practical and theoretical components of the work we did throughout the semester. You never strain to make the connections between those two realms, as writers of such essays tend to do. You make them smoothly and purposefully. Excellent work. A.

Blog Building: 50%

You came into the class with a clear sense of what you wanted to do, and you set about doing it with considerable skill and discipline. You set the class record for quantity of posts and a very high standard for quality as well. Collegial Equestrian is well-written, well-designed, knowledgeable about its subject, and savvy and generous in its efforts to make connections with like-minded others. You prove well Blood’s claim that great blogging is fueled by passionate interest. You also prove that writing about oneself doesn’t have to seem self-involved or self-aggrandizing. In your case, precisely the opposite is true. You draw upon your own experiences as a way of informing and connecting with your audience. You do it very well. I look forward to seeing where you and the blog will go from here. Thanks for your hard work and your generous participation in the class. Keep riding, and keep blogging! A.

COURSE: A

Not like it's that hard to get an A in blogging class if you just do the assignments though...lol!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2014-03-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I'm way late to the Snapchat party.

KITTENS inspired by PONIES

Midnight's cooler is now Polly's quarter sheet

Big sexy tail got cleaned and Show Sheened this weekend

And something bizarre and hilarious from the barn bathroom

Viva Carlos' Magical Blog Hop: 7 Deadly Sins

2014-03-06T23:38:00.000-05:00

This drooling unicorn cracks me up. Thanks L for such a fantastically weird logo for the blog hop! (And I mean that in the best way.) On we go!

Pride

Seven great things/strengths in your riding life

Ability to figure out when things aren't working (though I don't always know the solution right away!)
Body awareness continues to improve (Why is my right shoulder in outer space? I don't know, but at least I know where it is)
Exciting new goal--foxhunting
I do my homework from lessons and use those exercises in my practice rides
I'm good at keeping calm in a crisis
I have a good seat
I am lucky to have a really fun freelance gig at HorseNation

I also want a magical white unicorn.

Envy

Seven things you lack or covet for you or your horse

A time turner for more hours in the day. Anyone have one that works?
My own saddle (that fits) but it is SOO far on the "want" end of the spectrum that it's not on my radar for a while
Plaid things
More money for less work (ha, well this is all hypothetical, right?)
Would like to learn about equine photography
Would like to live in a Florida climate but not give up the culture of DC
A collie to be my barn dog :) I don't have time or space for a dog though.

When we chip a jump, apparently

Wrath

Seven things that make you angry

Unsolicited nonsense advice
People who blindly worship a bad trainer (because I've been there, when I was a kid!)
When I have to stay late at work and can't ride on weeknights
Horses with bad or dangerous ground manners
Too many people in the arena (doesn't make me angry so much as stressed out)
When people backtalk the judge, the instructor, the show steward, etc...there's no need for sass!
When people blame the saddle for their bad position. You shouldn't need the saddle to suction you into correct position!

Sloth

Seven things you neglect to do or cut corners on

Taking pictures
Horse shows
Cleaning tack in the winter. Normally I enjoy it, but in the cold...no thanks!
Blogging (working to fix that though!)
Consistently making time for the barn so I'm not on a time crunch. Hoping I can change around my work schedule though.
Watching and analyzing videos of other riders. I always MEAN to do this on Youtube but never do.
Horse laundry

Yes Beckett, you look fabulous.

Greed

Seven most expensive things you own for your horse/riding

The damn Passier saddle that doesn't fit and I haven't sold
Charles Owen helmet
Show jacket--bought new, so it was pretty expensive, but I've had it for...ten years at this point. Wow.
Ariat boots
Monthly lease fee
Stupid stock tie that really should not have cost almost $40. It's just a piece of fabric!
XC safety vest

Gluttony

Seven guilty pleasures or favorite items

Leasing a horse, and realizing this is the most comfortable option for me now
Barn book club from my last barn--I have not gone yet, but plan on going to the next meeting to keep in touch with my friends there
Blogging (at least when the going is good!)
Trail rides
Relaxing and cleaning tack
Getting all dressed up in my show clothes and doing stuff--whether it's a show, foxhunt, whatever
Pulling manes. I don't know why I enjoy this.

Lust

Seven things you love about horses and riding

You can always improve
It makes you more patient and fair
The style
Horses do silly things
Being able to talk to horse people and feel totally comfortable, when normally I am pretty shy
The smell of horses and leather
It's fun!

First Rides on the Polly-wog

2014-03-02T19:05:00.000-05:00

So...Polly had not been ridden since I tried her in like...December.

And she was totally fine this weekend. :)

Now, her owner was not kidding when she said that Polly is an absolute PILL to catch, but now that I'll be getting her back into work, she's being moved to a smaller paddock. Hopefully a combination of that, treats, and being in regular work will help.

Saturday's ride:
Under saddle she was perfectly quiet and easy, if a little stiff to the right and a little "wobbly" in that she wanted to drift one way, then the other, one way, and then the other, so I had to keep "catching" her with my leg to keep her straight. I think more balance will come as she gets fit though.

I didn't even try cantering in the arena since I know that is hard for her to balance (it's a small arena). We cantered a little outside and the brakes still work, which is nice!

Sunday's ride:
I was all ready to head to the arena when I tacked up, but one of the boarders intercepted me and took me on a long hack around the farm (her cool-down, our warm-up). I saw a lot to like--even more than I realized when I tried Polly! There are two outdoor arenas, one with dressage letters and one with stadium jumps, plus an indoor and an XC field with a nice stretch alongside it for galloping. That will be fun when she's in shape and the ground is less mushy!

There was a little bit of excitement when some horses in an adjacent field started galloping. I got a little nervous about what Polly would do, but she just jigged and tossed her head...if that's the worst she's got in her when she's freaked out, I don't think we'll have any problem!

We also tested how Polly does with water crossings. No big deal.

After our hack I went back to the outdoor arena and did a bunch of walk-trot-walk transitions. Attempted canter both ways, and got it, but it's still pretty messy. I think it will be better to have just a few correct steps of canter at a time until she can really get herself balanced in the arena.

Who knows if I'll be able to ride this week with the snow. Planning on getting a rope halter to put under her bridle for lunging...my general plan is to do short lunge sessions, or stuff from 101 Dressage Exercises on weeknights since time is limited. Then on weekends we can jump, have lessons or hack out...maybe even go roading if I can tag along with other boarders!

The New Barn

2014-03-02T18:42:00.002-05:00

If you are like me, you like to live vicariously through other horsey bloggers and see how their barns compare to yours. If you're not like that...well then why are you reading horse blogs?

This is the loooooong driveway in. I like farms that have long driveways--not only does it keep the horses well back from the road, but it gives me a chance to slow down and leave the rest of the world behind.

The upper barn where Polly lives has a really cool layout. There's this big storage area hub in the middle with brick walls (I guess it could also be a small arena if it was cleared out), and it has an aisleway branching off each of the four walls.

After my wedding venue searches, I'm pretty sure that if they wanted to, they could convert this into a place to have weddings to make some extra money! I certainly saw some that didn't look as interesting. Here's one of the aisles closer up so you can see the bricks:

A different aisleway, with lights on and Polly tied. I am excited just to have a horse who doesn't FREAK OUT in the crossties!

The saddle they're letting me use is an old, no-frills Stubben. It fits her really well but doesn't have a padded knee roll or thigh blocks. It does have a small knee block so you can sort of "set" your knee when in two-point. It needs a good cleaning and conditioning, but I like it!

Goats!!!

The indoor arena. The ceiling is kind of low, so if Polly decided to try some airs above the ground I would be in the rafters. Hopefully that won't happen!

The outdoor arena, since it was in the 40s today! There is also another outdoor arena with jumps in it.

Hacking around the farm

Awesome lake on the property (hard to see, but it is fenced off from the paddock)

And just for kicks, a picture of Beckett being his usual weird cat self. He sat like this for about 10 minutes.

Why, Beckett, why?

Want...or Need?

2014-02-27T13:49:00.002-05:00

When I was little my mom had all kinds of little catch phrases for different situations.

Say we passed someone smoking on the street. "What happens when you smoke cigarettes, Carli?" she would ask.

"You get cancer and then you DIE," a wide-eyed little Carla would respond.

Say I was being bad. "I'm going to call 1-800-GYPSIES on you!" she would say.

"NOOOOOO!" I would say.
(side story: When I went to Madrid, a Roma woman chased me on the street trying to get me to buy something, and kept yelling, "NO TENGAS MIEDO DE LA GITANA!!!" at me. By that point I had gotten over my gypsy fear though.)

And whenever I saw some amazing thing on TV that I NEEEEEEEEEDED MOM PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE, she would say, "Well do you need it or do you want it?"

In hindsight most of these catchphrases were pretty bizarre, but the last one definitely stuck, and since Little Bay Horse brought up the topic, I thought I would get up on my soapbox about needs vs. wants in the horse world too. Not that I'm qualified to do so, but hey, that's what is so great about blogging.

Also I am home sick and Dr. Gato has recommended I lift my spirits by reading or writing

Of course, unless you rely on horses for your livelihood, they are always going to be more of a want rather than a need. But once you give in to the "want" of having a horse, all of a sudden so many "needs" start piling up. Shoes, vet, shelter, feed, tack that fits. These are pretty basic things I think anyone would agree are "needs" (at least for a horse who is rideable). But what about other things? Supportive boots? Supplements? Lessons? Shows? What divides a need from a want, when objectively they're all really wants when it comes to horses?

Although I love horses, I do see it as a hobby, not an all-consuming force that takes over my life. Through trial and error I've realized I don't really want to ride 4-5 days a week, or train up a completely green horse, or even have a set schedule of hacking Mondays, dressage on Tuesdays, jumping Wednesdays, etc...I just do what's fun for me on that particular day, and what I can afford. Even as a kid, it sort of baffled me that some of the girls at my barn were showing at rated shows practically every weekend. When it comes to special wants like shows and clinics, I think that they need to be just an occasional thing so you have some time to look forward to them! (Don't get me wrong, though--I was WAY jealous of those girls.)

And today as an adult, I kind of scratch my head when I see people struggling to make ends meet for themselves, but they have a $2000+ saddle, brand-name everything, and board at a super-expensive barn. It's like, don't they know life would be SO much easier if some of those costs (and in some cases, debts) were reduced?

I'm not trying to point at anyone in particular, since I've seen so many people this applies to, and I'm not trying to say you shouldn't ride if you have limited means. There are lots of ways to ride for free, or to work off some of the costs! However, I do think it is so tempting to justify crazy spending just because your horse is your baby and you want to take the best possible care of him. There is an article on a sort of related topic on Horse Nation today--and although it is blasphemy to say it in equine bloggerland, I do think it is possible to love your horse too much if it's at the expense of the rest of your life!

I know from experience that it's not fun to have to say no to going out for lunch with barn buddies because you have perfectly good groceries at home, or to skip the XC schooling day along with all of the hauling, coaching and other fees. But it's also not fun to subsist on peanut butter sandwiches, and only drive to absolutely necessary places because you bought a saddle on a whim and literally have no money until your next paycheck!

Anyway, to avoid ending on a know-it-all note, I thought I'd make a list of some of my top horsey wants right now:

Joules everything. I don't own anything by Joules, but I drool over everything by them in the Dover and Smartpak catalogs every time they arrive! Their clothes are the perfect mix of preppy and weird. And so springy!

I like all these patterns, so why not wear them all at once? Oh yeah, because it's a $90 polo.

Straightforward stripes on the outside, party on the inside.

Fuzzy Mountain Horse boots! Well, now winter is HOPEFULLY over (though there might be snow on the ground for my birthday next week, which has never happened in my entire life). I would totally pick these up if I found a really good deal used...but I just can't see the sense in buying them full price when ridiculously cold winters like we just had are the exception rather than the rule in MD.

If the dog was included I'd pay full price.

A Melton coat for hunting: Now if the whole thing with Polly works out as planned, and I end up hunting during the formal season, this creeps closer to a "need" on the spectrum. Of course those are a lot of "if"s, so when I meet with her owner, I'm going to ask if it's something I should shop around for in the meantime...or ask Byron to shop around for me as a birthday gift :)

A cubbing jacket for hunting, and 10,000 patterned stocks: You may have gathered from the Joules stuff above that I like pattens...the more the better. Tweed cubbing jackets and patterned stock ties simply enable my love of matching different patterns together. Some call that mismatching, but where's the fun in that?

What are your horsey wants?

TWO Posts in ONE Weekend. WHAT?!

2014-02-23T17:41:00.001-05:00

Remember when this used to be the norm? Ha--well I'm trying to be better about blogging, and the fact that I am excited about spring and my new lease helps too.

So I have a question for you all--especially those of you who take on extra hours or part-time/freelance work to support your horse habit. I keep butting up against the annoying fact that the hours in the day are finite. I like to get my work done before I go out to do something fun, but if there's an additional non-horsey thing to do, like visiting family or fixing up something in the house...well, there goes my whole weekend, and I'm at the barn at 6pm on a Sunday!

I'm trying to fit freelance writing in on weekday mornings (alternating with writing/exercising in the AM, depending on whether I'm going to ride after work) but it doesn't always happen. Theoretically I could write in the evening, but usually I'm tired from work and expending more brainpower is the last thing I want to do.

I used to write in the morning all the time in college, actually, when I had a writerly roommate. We had a really nice routine of waking up, making tea, and then retreating to our desks to write overly serious poetry (me) and a novel (her) for an hour or a half hour before classes. Of course, "early morning" had a different definition in college (8 or 9 am) than it does now...

So, discuss: How do you make enough money to ride, while also having the time to ride?

HorseNation posts this week:

The 7 Types of Boarders at Every Barn

Share with your friends! I feel like this one could break 10,000 views!

9 Horse Ads From Back in the Day

Featuring Vigor's Horse-Action Saddle to cure gout, obesity and female hysterics...yeah we know what that means...

NEWS: A Gene That Determines Your Horse’s Personality?

Pretty interesting study. I was really tempted to go all sarcastic with Parelli Horsenalities but I wasn't sure if that was a copyrighted term that would get HN in trouble. Anyway I hope they do more of this genetic research to figure out its training implications.

A cool Valentine's gift

2014-02-22T00:40:00.001-05:00

So with the Snowpocalypse last week, Byron's Valentine's gift to me got delayed in the mail. He is good at taking a hint when I find cool things on English Tack Trader...

It's a belt! It's a martingale! It's both!

It's on the smallest hole when I wear it with jeans so unfortunately I don't think I can wear it when I ride--I don't have any low-rise breeches. But it's definitely fun for just wearing around, like a little secret...everyone else sees it as an asymmetrical belt, but only I know it is a horsey thing!

Pay no attention to the cat perching in the background...

Maybe one day I'll have it altered to have it shortened. No more room to punch holes, sadly. But still pretty cool!

I actually had a surprisingly good ride with Midnight on Thursday, even in a slightly crowded arena with a jump lesson going on--rather than fussing about whether or not he's round and nagging him with my leg, I just sort of stopped worrying about it, did my regular warmup with a lot of leg yields and spiral in/out, and it happened. Of course. I am still 100% certain I would like to end the lease though, and I've broken the news to a few other barn friends. It's kind of awkward, like those last few days at a job when you're in limbo.

Now that winter is (mostly? hopefully?) over and I feel like less of a sloth, I'm getting into waking up early and exercising again. Indoors with yoga and cardio barre videos (from Yogamazing and here), but still! I'm looking forward to feeling fit again, and to doing fun new things with Miss Polly. The list of MD hunter paces is out...

Yeah wine.

2014-02-18T21:46:00.001-05:00

That is all.

Moving Ahead--With Wedding and Horses

2014-02-15T14:54:00.002-05:00

Yes! Hillary of Equestrian at Hart guessed it. I will be having a library wedding. We just booked the Peabody Library in Baltimore and I am SO EXCITED to have my wedding there in the spring of 2015. Byron and I met when I tutored him at the UMD Writing Center, and his family and my friends are all very bookish. It just seemed perfect.

So gorgeous!

A book nook as you enter

And the whole place smells like books!

So that is very exciting--one major planning item down. And in contrast to all of the other places we were looking at, all of the details just seem obvious to me with this venue. For example, we are going to go meet the caterers in a few weeks and while I'm down in Baltimore I plan to visit the Book Thing. It's a warehouse with no AC or heat in a semi-sketchy area where you can donate books and take as many as you want for free.

Can we say used books as party favors? Yes, we can. Because really, who wants little knick-knacks with the date someone else got married on them? Or candy that guests will forget to take home? Even if not everyone takes a book, I have NO problem taking the leftovers. I know it's early to be thinking favors, but whatever, I'd rather get little piddly details out of the way sooner.

On the horse front--snow. So. Much. Snow.

Not much riding has been happening, with over a foot of snow this week (not a big deal in some places, but in MD it's crazy!). And there is NO chance the foxhunting thing I planned for next week is going to happen...Betsy at Hunter's Rest in VA said the snow is up to the second rail of her fences! Terrible conditions for riding, trailering, or doing pretty much anything.

Oh well. Money saved I guess...

And on the new horse front...I came to a decision, without really hemming and hawing about it publicly on my blog. Basically, what I did was call several hunt clubs in my area and ask if they knew of any members who had horses for lease--very old school since I'm much more accustomed to being able to search online!

One of the farms I went to was Pleasant Prospect. OH MY GOD. The place is amazing. I didn't take pictures but there's a turf track, ALL kinds of different jumps built into the paddock fences, and everything is absolutely immaculate, from the white fences to the tack room to the grooming supplies. I had seen their ads in the Equiery (our MD horse classifieds magazine) for years and thought I would never be able to afford to ride there. The country club is literally just down the road.

It turned out, though, that the barn manager was really willing to work with me and figure out something that would work for my situation. She put me on a TB named Chapel to see what I could do, and we went on a really fun trail ride, WTC, but no jumping since it was pretty wet. I got mud ALL over my boots, which I had meticulously cleaned since I was meeting her...ha!

She also added something new to my trail-riding toolbelt. With all the dressage I've been doing lately, I had sort of un-trained myself from looking too far ahead. With Midnight, if you're off looking in the distance, he loses focus and reverts back to the attention span of a squirrel. But of course, if you're reacting to hills and dips in the trail just a few strides ahead, it's too late, and you don't have time to half-halt your horse's legs under him to prepare to go down a hill, or put the leg on to go through a water crossing positively. Very good to keep that thinking-ahead mentality in mind.

Ultimately I decided not to go with that farm though. She said that she would be willing to allow me to ride several different horses as part of my lease until I found one I liked, and she would let Byron to ride once he had some lessons, but I think all of her horses (mostly hot, fit Thoroughbreds) would be a bit much for a complete beginner rider. And frankly, I don't think that is exactly what I need as I'm trying to regain confidence and learn a new sport. Maybe down the line I'll return to her when it comes time to buy a horse...

But for now, I went the complete opposite direction.

Meet Polly, the 8 year old Shire cross. Crossed with what, you may ask? Most likely another Shire, going by her size.

She clips. She bathes. She stands tied. She lets you mess with her scratches without trying to kick your face off. Miraculous, compared to (ahem) some horses!!! I'm not the one riding in this picture, but when I was up, we jumped that barrel in the background there, and I took her on a little mini-trail ride around the farm. I got on and off multiple times, made sure she would stand still at the halt, and tested the brakes at the canter. She passed with flying colors as a safe, steady mount. Her owner said that most of her life (aside from the time spent as a PMU mare) has been foxhunting, and she often uses Polly as a guest horse/husband horse.

Of course there are tradeoffs. Her canter is more thunderous than it is smooth. Her carthorse trot is probably never going to approach Midnight's floaty dressage one. She isn't fit right now, so she's reluctant to canter in their indoor arena (something I'm very familiar with from the drafts at Gentle Giants!). And I don't think this barn has a designated "beer:30" area to enjoy a cold one with barn friends.

It does have a very cute puppy though.

But the price is right, and there are lots of other foxhunters at that barn to tag along with. The owner used to whip in for the Potomac Hunt before encountering some health problems and said I could go car-following with her husband (also a former foxhunter) next time the weather isn't completely awful. Her daughter, who is a racetrack trainer, also foxhunts and events, and gives lessons, so there will be some sort of help as I get started with Polly.

So that's starting in March! Hopefully good weather will come along with it. With this new lease my expectations have been tempered somewhat too. I don't expect Polly to be a horse I would eventually buy (though who knows), but I do have a specific goal I think I can achieve with her--foxhunting second field.

On a Whim

2014-02-01T02:24:00.002-05:00

I set up another day to go foxhunting! This time on a weekday so it will be cheaper.

So excited. I have a day off work I need to use and so I emailed my connection with Old Dominion Hounds to see if we could go trail riding...you know, to kick off getting my butt in gear for spring riding again without spending much money? Schedules changed and I ended up having to take off on a day the hunt is supposed to meet...and wellll...she didn't exactly have to twist my arm. Almost without thinking about it, I said sure, I'll go hunting in the dead of winter! Hopefully there will be NO MORE SNOW!

[Wikimedia Commons]

So many of my riding exploits seem to happen that way--a barely thought-out email or call, and all of a sudden things kick into motion. This blog actually would not exist, and I might not even have picked up riding regularly again, if I hadn't been procrastinating on some paper my junior year of college. I honestly don't know what sparked the idea to call up the nearest farm to campus to ask if I could take lessons as I could afford them and work off practice rides. But I did, and this blog was born not long after.

Midnight--same thing. I was sort of in a rut with riding, and had some extra cash burning a hole in my pocket, so I started cruising DreamHorse. There was seriously no plan or anything--and somehow I ended up learning the basics of dressage and eventing.

Now, a $55 pair of tan windproof breeches is in the mail from Amazon for hunting (the Romfh Scandias--because for some reason, I still insist on buying breeches online even though it only works out half of the time). Just like last year, I'm in a riding rut and while there is no real plan, I do know that I had a BLAST in October and I can't get foxhunting off the brain. I'm reading about it like crazy (currently on Siegfried Sassoon's Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man). It's always something I've dreamed of, so why not work in that direction?

Byron is also a big fan of me foxhunting. He did not like the dressage days when I would come home basically unenthused and wrapped up in a vicious cycle of what I could have done wrong, could have done better, why do I suck, blah blah blah. Dressage definitely scratches the same obsessive itch that editing does for me--but it's not necessarily a positive one all the time!

Recently I have gotten SERIOUSLY out of riding shape though, what with work, winter blahs, Midnight injuries/my issues with him, and the freezing cold and snow. When I have ridden I definitely feel it the next day! This weekend is supposed to stay above freezing though so I'm optimistic that maybe the snow will finally be gone and I can ride outside. And I may contact the hunt near me to see if they're going out Sunday and if I can go car following--something I've wanted to do for a long time, but weather and work have not cooperated.

So...stay tuned on that front!

And although I had some extreme grump-i-tude going on about wedding planning, Byron, my mom and I are going to visit what will (hopefully) be THE venue in a few days. Originally I thought it was WAY out of reach financially but my mom gets a discount through work and is practically begging for me to go with this place. Here's a hint: I would use something like this for save-the-date cards.

Any guesses?

[Etsy]

SWOT, since I wrote about it on HN

2014-01-19T13:12:00.002-05:00

I have to say I am nowhere near as organized in my goal-setting as someone, like, say, L from Viva Carlos, who inspires us all to be super overachievers.

However, I still like doing little surveys and things, and the SWOT analysis (which I just wrote about for HN, and which is getting an abysmally low number of pageviews) feels fun like a survey, but is also productive (kind of?).

From the coupon book Byron made for me: "We can make fun of others while we ride."

Strengths

Have a horse to ride and stay in shape
Improved body awareness since last year
Figured out exclusively doing dressage does not make me happy
Supportive significant other

Weaknesses

I've been a super chicken with riding in cold weather and snow even though we have an indoor.
Midnight is limited to light riding since he has a boo-boo on his leg. God knows what he did but apparently light exercise will keep the blood flowing and healing.

Opportunities

Money! I now have more money than I used to so riding is easier financially.
Great connections
Foxhunting opportunities
Finding a new horse

Threats

Waiting for Midnight to find a new leaser (before you ask--I know I don't have to do this, but I'm sticking around as a favor to the owner)
Time crunch: my 'real' work schedule changed so I can't get to the barn till late, and weekends are semi-taken up with Horse Nation

I won't lie and pretend I'm going to review these quarterly or whatever. Who knows what I'll be up to with my riding in a year? But here are some goals I think are feasible with where I am right now.

Foxhunt at least once in 2014.
Trail ride a bunch to get excited about riding again.
Keep up with dressage but also get back into jumping more once I get the new horse.

Also Byron will be riding at some point this year so I'm excited about that, but that's really more his goal than mine.

Ok, off to a 40% winter inventory clearance sale at the tack shop before I go ride!! I hope to score some tan winter breeches since the only ones I have are blue.

ALSO because you all love click candy...right? My articles from HN this week:
9 Pesky Life Lessons Learned from Horses
FB Groups You Need to Know About

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

2014-01-02T23:27:00.000-05:00

So…this comes as no surprise to most people who know me in real life, since I've been thinking about it for months now, but I wanted to wait until it was said and done before I broadcast it out to the world.

I ended the lease with Midnight.

I was torn because as I've mentioned, I LOVE this barn. No drama, lots of fun events and trails on-site, and a great group of laid-back, friendly people. They even have tack swaps and a book club for goodness sakes. But I just was not having fun riding Midnight, and his terrible ground manners were adding stress to my life. It took a pit crew just to medicate his scratches, and if no one was there, I did my best but wore a helmet juuust in case. And riding--he is an athletic horse who can do anything, and I did learn a lot, but he was just not the quiet dressage horse I was hoping for. And I do think he needs a better rider than I am when he's jumping, since he's green and I am out of practice. I knew that going in, but I think I underestimated how green he was, and what interesting evasions he could think up...

Due to work/winter/excuses, I've mostly been just riding on weekends, after all the "chores" are done (writing HN articles, doing dishes, laundry, whatever). Of course that means no one is there to socialize, and it was just me spiraling in and out and doing transitions, not really having all that much fun. There were times when Midnight would just annoy me so much grooming (he doesn't tie) that I would just leave because I knew I was too frustrated to ride.

It came down to: would I rather do chores, or go ride? When the answer is chores, something is wrong.

His owner was completely sweet and understanding about the whole thing, though I had myself worked up into a nervous tizzy because I was specifically putting the conversation off until after the holidays. It felt like I was breaking up with someone, and after I called her I was just emotionally drained even though she took it well. I drank box wine. I watched The Life Aquatic (Wes Anderson is my go-to movie guy when I am sad) and laid around with the cats. Really though I just needed to sleep on it and I felt like a weight was lifted off me.

We are remaining friends though and others at the barn are gunning for me to stay. More on that later when I run down options for other horses to lease. I considered just taking a hiatus from riding to save money and do wedding planning but Byron said HELL TO THE NO, that I needed my hobby. Considering that wedding planning is stupid, I didn't need much convincing.

So here is my new wish list for a horse to lease:

able to foxhunt a handful of times a year: If I do end up leaving the barn where I am now, foxhunting has that built-in social atmosphere. Plus I have been itching to go again ever since I hill topped in October.
Good loader
Stands tied
transportation available to hunt or do little fun shows, hunter paces, etc
steady-eddy, willing temperament
not too old, not too young
safe enough (and owner willing) to let Byron ride occasionally, after he takes lessons this summer. Surprisingly he is actually excited to learn…or maybe not so surprisingly since he saw what fun I had foxhunting :)
Same price that I was paying for a 2-3 day/week lease. Cheaper is good too of course.

I thought it would be really different from my last list, but I was surprised to see how much overlap there was. And how many traits that I learned do not come standard.

This time around I no longer care if it is a gelding or mare, since I learned that geldings can be temperamental too if they are gelded late. Don't care about the color either, though if I found a good gray it would be icing on the cake! Temperament and transportation are my two new priorities. Dressage and eventing--whatever. I just want to get my confidence back, do fun stuff, and start to be excited to ride again.

And #1 lesson learned? Take the time to find the right fit!

How Not to Train Your Horse

2013-11-17T17:37:00.004-05:00

I love old books.

Especially old horse books.

But this one...not so much. I was on Wikimedia Commons, looking for interesting pictures I could write horse haikus about for Horse Nation...and instead found this:

A useful guide if you like to live dangerously. Very dangerously.

‘The Horse’s Friend’ or, ‘How Not to Train Your Horse’

Going to try to write more HN articles this week as I have time...we'll see if I can actually make it happen. I've also got an interview in the hopper that I hope people will like.

Other recent HN articles:

7 Ways to Get Your Parents to Buy You a Pony for Christmas

(note: none of the strategies worked for me as a kid...hmm)

Let's Discuss: Do Horses+Weddings=Disaster?

(in my opinion, absolutely, unless you have a completely bombproof horse, which not everyone does)

Also, though things have been pretty quiet here on my blog (only so many hours in the day!), and not commenting much on other blogs I'm still reading voraciously!

The Queen of Clicks

2013-11-03T14:55:00.002-05:00

I've decided to start posting links to my HorseNation articles here every Sunday...partially as a way to remind myself to actually write here on Collegial Equestrian, and partially as an evil ploy to get you to click and boost my ego when I see the click count going up. Everyone wins.

And by everyone, I mean me.

First off...my much-awaited foxhunting story! The photo below is a bigger version of the picture I used for HN -- if you click this one you can actually see that it's me, but it's not cropped or color-corrected. I was so positively GIDDY to get this picture. Byron is blowing it up to like 30 inches across and framing it for me. Soooo happy and I can't wait to go again, though at $250/pop for the cap fee and use of the horse, I can't manage it very often.

However, Byron said that of any horse sport, he would be the most interested in foxhunting. So maybe one day when we win the Power Ball.

The Suburban Girl's Guide to Foxhunting

Let's Discuss: To Blanket or Not to Blanket

7 Horses With a Headstart on No-Shave November

The blanket one turned out...interesting. I came across that Chronicle article about a fake study that's making the rounds on FB, and I tried to stay neutral in my writing, since I was hoping I'd get a lot of responses going back and forth since people's opinions differ so vastly on blanketing and clipping. (Full disclosure: I really don't have strong feelings one way or the other. Whatever makes sense for you and your horse.)

Well, I did get a LOT of responses, especially on Facebook...unfortunately it doesn't seem most people bothered to read the article, since many of the comments were about how that CSU study is fake. Duh. That's what the whole article was about!

Oh, the unwashed masses of the Internet...

PS -- If anyone ever has article ideas you think HN should cover (and you don't feel like submitting a piece yourself) PLEASE shoot me a note (collegialequestrian@gmail.com) or comment somewhere on my blog! I am terrible at coming up with ideas so usually Friday rolls around and I'm like...hmm...I guess I'll look on the Chronicle forums for ideas! Then I just lose hours and hours of my life.

Sorry for the radio silence! But good news...

2013-10-29T01:01:00.001-04:00

The good stuff is on its way, don't worry! Just waiting on pictures from my AMAZING, TOTALLY HOOKED NOW foxhunt and the Murder Mystery trail ride to post to HorseNation.

Not much new going on with Midnight. Just the usual slowdown in riding with icky weather. He has turned quite fluffy for a TB which I quite enjoy. I might go watch his other leaser do an event with him this weekend.

And...because for once, my equine pursuits are not the most exciting thing going on in my life...

I GOT ENGAGED! I proposed to Byron on our third anniversary this weekend and he said yes. I did it in a very private, quiet way at the fancy restaurant where his family celebrates every special occasion, and it was perfect.

But it's only been four days and I am already unnerved and annoyed by all the expensive nonsense that comes with weddings. Preferably I would like to fast forward, have everything magically organized and paid for, and simply show up and be married (while I'm at it, would someone paint and decorate the house for free?). I'm also quite peeved at how the first thing people immediately ask is about my ring. Doesn't anyone care about Byron's white gold band that I got him one day when I said I was "at the barn"? I seriously do not care about diamonds. Seriously. Do not care. I'm more concerned that I'm going to ruin such an expensive piece of jewelry somehow. A simple, modest (and conflict free) diamond ring is coming tomorrow; keep your pants on, people. Totally missing the point of the whole engagement thing.

</rant over>

How annoyed will everyone be if, in addition to sporadic riding updates, I post occasionally about the stupidity of the whole wedding prep process? Because I'm going to do it regardless.

Aww. Manchego knows how to make it better. He just came up to snuggle with me and his Green Dangly Thing (a green felt cat wand thing that he has an unnatural attachment to).

(Pre)Foxhunting Fun

2013-09-22T00:42:00.000-04:00

So the mysterious woman who piqued my interest in Midnight's pedigree was none other than Betsy of Hunter's Rest in Virgina--a bed and breakfast and barn in the heart of Virginia foxhunting country (three hunts are within 10 minutes).

His orange rubber reins were GIANT compared to my hand

Last week, just on a whim (like many of my riding exploits), I took off work and went riding with her to get a little intro to the terrain and obstacles one might encounter while foxhunting. I rode Unexplainable, or "X" as he is known around the barn, her horse who is a distant cousin of Midnight's...and who bears no resemblance to him whatsoever in appearance or temperament. Which was a good thing, since I was feeling rather frustrated and down on myself about Midnight's atrocious behavior. Trying something new, and riding different horses for a while was exactly what I needed.

Basically my lesson consisted of learning some position changes for riding long distances. Here's the synopsis:

To avoid fatiguing yourself and your horse, it's better to perch and ride more off your thighs and knee. Funnily enough, this is how I learned to ride as a kid, but to an extreme degree--pinching at the knee, flinging my lower legs every which way, and laying on my horse's neck. Now with the dressage I've been doing, I've gone to the opposite extreme, with my leg on more than I realized, which led to 22-year-old X SPRINTING up the first hill we cantered...because I was asking him to, whether I meant to or not!
To stay tight in the tack at speed and over jumps, keep your center of balance by thinking about the hip-to-knee joint ratio. I think instructors have tried to explain this to me before, but it never clicked until just now. When you fold at the hip, your knee needs to straighten a bit to keep your leg under you and at the girth. And vice versa--when you sit up straight, your knee can have more of an angle in it.

Horsenation's own Lila Gendal was one of the best examples I found

But you see the same idea with steeplechasing

Since you are more perched in the saddle for long distances, rating your horse comes more from the seat than the leg. So we did some exercises lengthening and shortening the canter uphill, and X was quite cooperative.

I also jumped my first coop -- yay! I think it was maybe 2 ft, not sure. But it was kind of funny because Betsy gave me a lead and jumped it first, and I just sat there quietly waiting for her to turn around and give me permission to go. She looked back at me and yelled, "Come on, this isn't the riding school!"

She said that if she could just watch me ride once more she'd be comfortable taking me hunting, and it turned out that the only really easy time that worked for both of us was that Sunday...so I drove out again for another lesson on Remus, a nice, forward Percheron (now those aren't words you often hear together). This lesson was a semi-private, with someone who hadn't been riding long, but had hunted a few times. The lesson was mostly shortening and opening the trot, then jump exercises in and out of the ring.

Then we went to the Landowner's Party at the GORGEOUS Marriott Ranch in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Not the best picture as I was leaving around dusk, but there are better ones on their website

I met about a bajillion hunt members and the only one whose name I'll remember is Melvin Poe because he's 93 years old, still hunts and apparently is a living legend.

Unfortunately I think I did something to my over-flexible ankle since it's still a bit sore. It may sound like a fake problem -- "oh poor you, your heels are ALWAYS down"-- but I've sprained them several times over the years, especially when I'm tired and my weight just goes down in my heels rather than me holding myself up with my legs.

In any case...it's not that big a deal and I am going cubbing with her in October!!! Originally, I intended to just feel out the B&B as a potential mini-vacation to save up for next year during one of her foxhunting clinic weekends. But with my new income from Horsenation, I can do a day of cubbing pretty easily. Who knows...I live very close to 3 hunts in Maryland, so if I like it, foxhunting might just turn out to be my new thing.

By the way, in case you're counting, this will bring the number of disciplines tried this year to a record high of four: reining, dressage, eventing and foxhunting.