Oh My Gosh!

Hello all!

I CANNOT believe it has been 2 years since I posted anything on this blog!  So much has happened since then.  I guess I will have to update you all.

It has been an eventful two years, that is for sure.

I continued to ride Pacifico up until early January 2015.  Then, my family turned over the full lease to Ellen, a rider from Sweden who was part leasing him from me at the time.  We were not ending the lease because anything had happened to Pacifico; I still loved him very much.  We ended the lease because Kerry had died following an accident in turnout, and the loss was so tragic that coupled with the heavy burden of schoolwork, it was very hard to function.  I would rather not go into further detail about Kerry, so I will leave it at that.

We took a break from riding for a few months to heal.  After we had learned to cope with the loss a little better, my mom did some more research into an eventing training barn in the South Bay (Flying Tail Farms) that we were originally planning on relocating Kerry to before his untimely death.  So technically, our switching of barns and horses had been anticipated for a little while.  I have to thank my mom for pushing me to start riding again and helping set me up with the new trainers.  I would not have been able to do it on my own, especially because at that point in time I would crumble inside when I thought of riding around without Kerry under me or by my side.

I think I took my first lesson with Kelly or Dayna in June.  I think?  Who knows.  But it was definitely awesome to be be back on a horse.  I mean, it just felt like the best medicine ever.  It is a bit counter intuitive to get over the pain of losing a horse I loved by riding another horse, but it was the best thing for me I think.  To realize that Kerry would not have wanted me to go into a slump and never ride again was very important.

I went to Quebec for a month to learn french in an immersion camp.  It was fun!  I came back at the end of July if I remember correctly.  Then, I proceeded to go into full training with Kelly and Dayna.

Kelly and Dayna were amazing instructors.  Actually, amazing is an understatement.  I felt like I was riding in a clinic every time I had a lesson.  Tiring, I admit, but so worth it.  I felt pretty upset that I had taken such a long break from riding.  If I had maintained my previous skill level I am sure I would have been able to progress much faster once I started riding with them. Well, what's done is done.

I started to feel a bit competitive once I started riding at Flying Tail Farms.  I saw everyone competing with their horses all the time and it looked like so much fun!  I needed a horse to ride though.

That's when Michael came along.  Exactly at the moment that I needed a horse to ride, an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came up.  Michael, or Forgotten Emblem, was in need of someone to lease him while his owner studied abroad in Scotland for a few months.  Michael is a true eventing veteran.  He has competed up to the 2** level and gone to young riders.  He is an amazingly clean jumper, and loves XC.  He fit the bill too well.  I started leasing him as soon as I could.

Michael is a spectacular horse.  He has such an "older brother" type vibe coming from him, and he was super forgiving whenever I made mistakes.  Good Boy!  He is super quiet on the ground, and I worked really hard to earn his friendship (at first I think he was sort of indifferent towards me).  Building up a partnership between us was super rewarding.  I love him to bits.

After a lot of hard work, we got the okay to go to Galway Downs for an event in November!  Man I was excited.  I hadn't been to a competition in ages,and this was going to be my first novice, first show with Michael, and my first show with Flying Tail Farms!  I was lucky to have my sister come and groom for me.  She had just started a full lease on an Oldenburg gelding called Hoagy, so they were not yet ready to show.
Galway Downs was a super positive experience for me.  I learned a lot by watching other people (including many Olympians), got to enjoy the showgrounds with Katie and my sister (we went trick-or-treating too), and I think my parents had a fun time as well (added bonus :))!  I got to spend a lot of time with Michael and give him lots of love as well.  We got seventh place and ended on our dressage score.  There were many things I could have done better but for our first event together, the most important thing to do is to have fun.  I most certainly did!

Winter was quite laid-back in my opinion.  I spent a lot of time with my friends and worked on my dressage and jumping while staying inside the indoor arena.  Michael lost some weight in the winter which worried me, so I upped his food intake and luckily that put some weight back on :).

FTF went to school at FCHP early in the new year, and that was a lot of fun.  We were blessed with good footing.  I got to use my gopro too, and I caught Dayna swearing on the recording LOL.

FCHP HT came quickly  in late February.  It was a great learning experience for me.  I had an error in my dressage test and I had a panic attack in SJ, but now I know what I have to fix and prepare for next time around.  Michael was such a good boy for not holding anything against me.

That's sort of the summary of my horsie life since I last posted.  Sorry about the length!

Hello!

Well, I've been gone for a while, sorry guys.  Wanted to let you all know that I have not given up on this blog.  I will have some thoughtful content to post later.  ♡

Recently

Hello all!

I am very sorry I haven't been on very much, I've been having an extremely busy summer. I hope you have been having a fantastic one too!

I just had a very productive clinic with Ellen Eckstein, a fantastic dressage trainer! She gave me pointers on my position, and helped me straighten out Pacifico's hindquarters, since he likes to brace against my legs while tracking right. Once She taught me how to correct this, Pacifico felt even better than before, it was amazing. 

I also just got my own dressage saddle, a  Custom Revolution seventeen inch. It fits me PERFECTLY and puts me in a very nice position. It is made of Buffalo, which helps me grip the saddle very well on the sitting trot. I don't think I will ever be able to ride as happily in another saddle again. Like the old saying goes, once you go Buffalo, you never go back.

I highly recommend this saddle to anyone with the same body type as me. So if you are around 5'6'', have long legs and relatively narrow hips, you should check out this saddle, it will be well worth your time.

Anyways, I will try to update more regularly, and I hope to make a mini horse care lesson soon.

Thanks for reading!

Snowmochan 

Pacifico

Pacifico has been great lately. If u want more updates on my life, follow my Instagram @candycornhorns.


Thx

Hi!

Hello everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time, but I have been super busy with various things like
-school
- high school applications
- holidays
-etc
Once again, sorry about the wait. I hope you didn't feel abandoned. ;)
Anyway, lots has been going on!
1st of all, I did my first pony club rally. We got second place overall, and it was a lot of fun! Pacifico and I had a blast. It was at the Ram Tap horse trials too, and it was a great experience.

The holidays were fun. My family came over to our house and it was great!
I got an iPhone too, so that was cool! :)

Pacifico and I have been practicing lots of dressage also. Shoulder ins, lengthenings, smaller circles are what we are working on. At my next show, we are going to be doing training level test 3 and first level test 1! I'm psyched!

More later,

Snowmochan

Pacifico and clipping!

Hello readers!

Yesterday I clipped Pacifico.  It was extremely exhausting, but it was worth it!  I gave him a blanket clip, banged his tail to the correct length and clipped his mane.  I think Pacifico will be very happy about the clip, since he has been very sweaty the past few rides.  This was my first time clipping a horse's body, mane, and banging a tail.  Pacifico was a real confidence booster!  He was very well behaved.  Good Boy!

Making a face for the camera!  =]

"I'm just gonna take a nap now"

In the round pen

Hollow pony

I bet that camera is delicious

Is that a camera or an apple?

Fine, I will trot

I see the light!

I know I'm cute

Cookies?

Zzzzzz

Here are a few pictures.  I know my outfit is ridiculous, but I needed something that I didn't care about being covered with hair (which did happen).

Goodbye for now!

Snowmochan

D3 rating

I am officially a D3 Pony club member!  I participated in a rating yesterday, and it was a blast!!!  Ihad the most fun was the jumping.   Pacifico was very well behaved, except that he had some minor hiccups for trailering, but that was to be expected.

Soooo Much fun!!!