Impulse Buys and Brand Loyalty

Well, I have done a bad thing. You would think that a recent college grad with no real job and no horse of their own would find no need to purchase a SECOND saddle.Well, oops. A boarder posted two dressage saddles on Instagram and my heart almost stopped when I saw one. It was a Stubben Tristan, basically new (purchased new last year for over $2,000 I believe), 17.5" seat, medium tree, and $500.

*Swoon*

I guess some background is in order: I own an older Stubben AP saddle and it's held up remarkably well and has fit every horse I have put it on so far. My trainer had an old Stubben Genesis dressage saddle for awhile that he bought a LONG time ago but still looked pristine, and was lovely to ride in. I know it's not a trendy brand, and its design is pretty simple, but I like that. Rambling over...

The other saddle was a Jaguar. It was definitely fancier-looking, but it didn't fit the boat AT ALL, and I had my heart set on the Stubben so I was glad that it didn't. The Stubben had no gaps, a perfect amount of room between it and his back, and looked great!

I rode in it, it was comfy, and after spectators left and we were alone he gave me the best dressage work we have had since I moved back... so no complaints from him! I could go on about it forever, but will refrain. I am riding in it again today and getting my trainer's opinion tomorrow in a lesson before I make the decision, but I love it and am happy for it to join the family if all goes well. 

Awkward picture so I could see how I fit in it.

The Boat being incredibly bored while I took pictures of it.

This leaves me with one question (if you made it here). Are there any brands that you have loyalty towards? What are they, and why?

First Day Back At The Lease

Today (May 16th) I started my lease back up... and I went in with a PLAN for my ride. It's always hard going from 2 lessons a month to 3 days a week because it's hard to decide WHAT to do and how to structure rides at first.

The photo may be deceiving, but he was covered in dry mud when I arrived.

My plan was to work on walk/trot transitions to get his lazy little brain listening, then move into working on our weakest points from dressage tests in the past (free walk, resistance, bend, etc.). To be blunt, if he weren't awkward over fences he would be more suited as a hunter... he HATES anything dealing with dressage, and lets me know by being a giraffe and resisting any sort of contact. 

This is 2-year-old photo, but it shows how he likes to carry himself 100% of the time. Gross, huh?

Needless to say, it's been a huge struggle. Pair that with the fact that I have been riding only 2 times a month for the entirety of my 4-year college career, and he hasn't improved much. To be fair, he has NO muscle because of his lack of work, so it is REALLY hard for him anyway... but we will be working on that now that I am done with college. 

So we started with the plan I mentioned above... then I worked on sitting trot (because he's giant and it's hard to sit the trot on him so that's a work in progress) and did some bending exercises. We tried to work on him stretching down at the walk instead of flipping his head and only ever offering a walk like this:

It's a long process, and I would LOVE to hear some exercises to help him figure out how to stretch down (WITHOUT widening and lowering my hands a ton and applying pressure to the bars of his mouth like a lot of people like to do). 

Then, toward the end of the ride, all of the horses got let out into the grass pasture at the back of the property, and Mr. Boat lost any tiny amount of focus that he had because, well, HE WANTED TO GO OUT WITH THEM and I was tortuously trying to make him do his least favorite thing (I'm so rude he's convinced he's retired already). 

So, it wasn't a great first ride back... but we did have a few good moments, and that's the important part! That leaves me with a question: How do you structure your rides, and what are your favorite ways to help build proper muscle on your out-of-shape horses?

"Giving me treats and not making me work builds muscle!" - Otis, probably

Welcome!

Hello everyone, my name is Emily, and welcome to my blog!

I'll start off by saying that I'm NO writer... at all... but I have been journaling my rides for a few months now, and think that doing so in an online format will be fun to track my progress over the summer and beyond.

So a bit about me... I'm a recent (broke) college grad with a BFA in New Media Design Practices. Sounds fancy, but I assure you it's not. I am 22, and have been riding (off and on) since my early teen years, and every moment I wish that I could just ride and not have to adult ever.

Semi-recent image of me and my cool horse in a lesson.

And above is the star of the show... my perfect little dude. He's my trainer's horse, and I've been riding him for about 5 years. His name is Otis Township and he's a 2001 OTTB... but we call him Boat because he's giant and slow like a cruise ship. Yeah, that doesn't sound ideal for an eventer, but he LOVES cross country (except water, and mud, and basically anything wet... hold your laughter please).

And now for a couple pics of him on XC.

Can you spot the excited horse? I sure can!

I am back to leasing him again, with the hopes of purchase once I get this whole adulting thing figured out. He's a super awkward ride, and still has a ton to learn, but we have learned a lot together over the past couple years, and we hope to get to Training before it's time for him to retire.

So back to the blog: it will feature posts about rides, lessons, shows (lol next year... post-graduate me can't afford to show this year), budget-related musings, etc. 

Because I haven't figured out a good way to end a post yet!