Antares Dressage Show

This blog post is a little bit different from the other ones, because this is about me and there are even some pictures OF me in it. (Gasp). Every now and then I manage to get out from behind the camera and get in front of it. But- just like in this post- it’s usually on the back of a horse. In one of my other personas I am a dressage rider/trainer/instructor, in case you didn’t know. Well, on Saturday I took 4 students and one green adorable little pony baby to a local schooling show. We managed to do 7 rides in roughly 2 hours and everyone got plenty of warm up and there were no catastrophes. Amazing really. I have an amazing group of students. Partly, I think because I have limited my teaching to just students that are a perfect fit not only in my life but each others. These girls are all the best of friends, they hang out together outside of the barn and really love hanging out together. This is a requirement to ride with me. Everyone must get along really well and be each other’s biggest fan and supporter and Second Chance Farm is hands down, not negotiable a drama free barn. Period. And that’s exactly how I want it. I love these girls like they are my own, they stay at the farm and are working students for majority of the summers, as well as most weekends and holidays throughout the school year. Hailey loves them, and Kevin doesn’t know how to act when the farm isn’t overrun by teenage girls. They really are a part of the family. So, you can just imagine how proud I was of all of them at this show. Emily has been working so so so hard all summer long working up to this show, and I was so proud of her as she rode down the center line looking so poised and confident with all her hard work. She rode great on a tough horse and really shined. She ended up with a 3rd, and 5th place rides. The future is so bright for this girl, and I am glad to be a part of it. Isabelle came to me as a shy, quiet (so much so I could not hardly hear a word she said in her lessons for about the first 4 months I taught her) but incredibly natural young rider 3 years ago. Now she is a far cry from shy, confident, giggly, amazing young rider. She works so hard and is such a great young lady. Her and Emily basically took care of everything on my farm for me last summer when I was so sick and still trying to work, with little guidance from me and they were invaluable. She is lucky enough to ride Sutter, who at 21, is my first true love, and will always be my most favorite horse ever. We’ve been together for over 12 years now, and he was my first FEI event horse and FEI dressage horse. As proud as I am of everything I accomplished with him it makes me so proud to see her learning and excelling with him too. She went in that ring yesterday like she owned the world and rode a phenomenal test. I knew when I watched her ride that she had just won her class and sure enough, I was right!!!! Made me so beyond proud of her. Farrin is a new student to the group, but she is a lovely rider with a lovely mare. Just my type of ride, a hot, sensitive, thoroughbred. She went in the ring and put in 2 solid, relaxed rides which was our number one goal for 2nd and 4th places. A great start for a team with a very bright future. I met little Emma (featured in the post The Calm Before The Storm) severial years ago when her sister started taking lessons. Long story short- Casey doesn’t get to ride too much now, amazing how life tends to get in the way, but Emma is a die hard. She lives a couple hours away so I don’t get to see her a ton during the school year, but during the summers, look out! She has been here a ton this summer working hard and learning so much. This was her very first show, ever, and she was so nervous. But- like I knew she would, she went in the ring and did a great job. And her future is so bright. She got a fantastic 3rd place and was hands down the cutest thing there, on the polkadotted princess, with her long blonde pigtails with teal bows that matched her shirt, bridle and even braces. They were adorable and I was so proud she was mine! I showed this little pony, Skylore, I’ve had in training for the past month or so too. He just turned 4 years old, and is the most adorable thing ever. Not even kidding here. He went to his very first show, and one of his first times off the farm and acted like a seasoned pro. He was textbook perfect, scoring a 74% and not only winning his class but getting the high score of the whole show. His owners are so excited, and I know they can’t wait to get him back home tomorrow, but the rest of us- we are seriously going to miss his cute little face. Ok, well, if you made it through this entire post maybe you now have a little more insight into another aspect of my life and one of my other true loves. It is even more incredible to me when I can combine photography and horses like I was able to do here. I hope you enjoy the pictures of my girls and all my proud trainer bragging! 🙂 <3B