I know what it’s like to love this sport so much it hurts. It hurts that you want to show off all of the hard work you’ve put in to it, to enjoy the weekend with your friends, and to soak in the horse show life. But you know you can’t afford to pay for stabling, training, hauling, or even entry fees, so in the meantime, you’ll happily be the groom for all those who can. But that’s all about…
Felicia is a 33-year-old horse girl with a lot of grit. Her love of horses began at the age of 5, and ever since, she has done just about every equestrian sport there is: eventing, pleasure driving, exercise riding, show jumpers, dressage, barrels, poles, foxhunting, and steeplechase. Now, she works for the Department of Defense, runs a nonprofit 4-H club, and owns 3 beautiful horses on her North Carolina farm. Two of her horses came to her as a pair.…
Ashleigh is a mom in her thirties, a loving wife, a full time worker, and a passionate equestrian. Unfortunately for her showing career, she is also a resident in a very rural part of Ontario Canada where most dressage shows are 1-2 hours away. Her horse-crazed journey started about 25 years ago when she was a little girl. She’s always loved horses and animals in general, but when her best friend started taking riding lessons, it was time for the begging to start. She bothered her parents for…
We have a wonderful pair to feature this month: Kim and her dressage Clydesdale, Gracie! We asked Kim about her super cool ride and here’s what she had to say: “Gracie is a 6 year old registered Clydesdale. I’ve owned her since the spring of 2017, but it feels like much longer! I woke up one day and I decided I needed to buy a Clydesdale. It was like I had draft horse fever. I was in love with their…
We’d have way more money if our hobby didn’t cost us an arm and a leg, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t penny pinch even within our sport! In honor of that, here’s 12 things broke equestrians say: “This can be fixed with duct tape.” Ahh, yes. The magical cure-all to life’s problems. Busted boot? Duct tape it. Cracked bucket? Duct tape it. Needs a dash of color? Add pretty duct tape. The options are endless. “This still has…
Written by: Erin of Dressage Talk Not much is known about the origin of dressage trainer Kimberly Mitchell’s horse, Oso Grande or “Big Bear” as his name is translated in English. Like many treasures on Craigslist, Bear’s history is a mystery. Mitchell has only been able to make assumptions about things like the gelding’s breed and age, explaining, “Our best guess is Percheron/Thoroughbred based on pictures of other Percheron/Thoroughbreds we’ve seen.” Mitchell knows so little about her horse’s start that…
So, as fun and as preferable as jumping is to many people, dressage is and always has been and always will be the foundation of literally anything you do on you horse. It’s something I think about often. I’ve taught many different students who ride at a variety of levels, and the best way I could find to better them as riders and their horses as athletes was through the foundational aspects of dressage. Western riders can still benefit from…
If you’ve ever seen Extreme Couponing on TLC, you probably feel like couponing is an overwhelming task where you end up with products you don’t use and no place to store it all. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Here are some helpful tips to start you on a coupon journey that will help you save money that you can use towards your horse! Start Small If you think you’re going to coupon like the experts on TV…
Horse shows aren’t as easy to come by as we’d all like sometimes. Most of us have limited shows to attend and they’re usually spread far apart. It doesn’t exactly give your horse the best schooling when you only get to show once every three months. Even if we did have lots of showing opportunities, not all of us can afford to do it every weekend! I’m a broke grad student living in Louisiana. I want to show all the…
Horses, lessons, showing, tack, etc…all so costly! But it doesn’t always have to be that way, sometimes we just need to get creative. So head over to the Dollar Tree for these awesome finds: #1: Bungee Cords: To keep our horses cooled off, we need fans, and to hang fans, we need bungee cords! #2: Hair clips: When you’re braiding and your horse’s mane keeps getting in the way, clip it back with these! #3 Hair Spray: You could use…