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2015-12-15: Hi! You're probably here because you did a Google search for 'plus sized horseback riders' or you saw my content quoted elsewhere. There are a couple of things I'd like you to know.

I am still here! But I am living away from my horses and not riding often. I could tell you a lie and say that I am, but I have always endeavored to give you the truth here. As a result, I'm not feeling terribly motivated to write blog posts and I feel out of touch with the community.

I'd love for you to stay a while and look back through the archives. Visit the links listed below. We still have an active forum community and I post on the Facebook page from time to time.

I have tentative plans to try to get more involved in the horse world in 2016, and I will absolutely share whatever that adventure becomes with you, so keep checking back!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Logic & Circumstance

As many of you know, I was scheduled to go to a show this past weekend to expose Bronwyn to the hustle and bustle of the show grounds and perhaps show her in the walk-trot class. I decided about a week prior (and just haven't had time to blog about it!) that the venue was not ideal for a slightly-squirrely horse that tries to take a jump out from under me at least once per ride - between the barn and the arena, nothing but pavement. Also, the arena just had hockey boards with no plexiglass, so easy for a horse to go over (not that I imagine she would have gone over it, but you never know!). I think the best show venue for us is by far and away an outdoor arena for our first try, with lots of grass to stand on while waiting at the gate.

I didn't chicken out - I made a decision to help my horse succeed. I know I, personally, would have been so uptight that I wouldn't have been able to relax, and neither would she, as a result. It's almost funny how in tune to my emotions she can be sometimes. If I'm feeling pigheaded, so is she. If I am feeling the zen, so is she. Our rides tend to be direct reflections of my emotions, funny as that sounds.

Either way, I made that decision - which was MAJORITY influenced by venue, and partly influenced by finances as well (and procrastination) - since I have been putting off buying breeches.

Nonetheless, I went to the show and cheered on the one adult in the walk-trot class with her big green horse (she was up against two or three kids and everybody got first place ribbons!), talked to some Friesian people at length, tended my mother's booth and had a great time catching up with some of the horse people in the area. One thing it made me realize is that I absolutely, absolutely miss the camaraderie of showing.

(I do have to take a moment to side commentary on the youth classes... holy moley - it must be exhausting to be a horse show mom... when the other girls start buying chaps, you have to too - when this kid gets a great big horse, you have to too... It felt like some kind of contest to see who could outdo who. I was pleased to see a few kids in there who DIDN'T have big fancy horses or Hobby Horse show clothes doing well - in fact, the little girl who won the Sportsmanship award was riding a pony that was as wide through the chest as he was tall and looked like a little gray Bronwyn... I cheered her on in every single class!

The open classes were smaller (I might have even gotten a ribbon in the open/adult English pleasure, as long as I had stayed on!) and a lot more laid back, it seemed. I could have seen myself fitting in there.)

Either way, this show made me more and more excited to get back into the showing world. I have been absent for about 7 years - between finances and lack of a horse that would be able to handle that kind of thing. Another (miraculous) thing that this show did was get my sister excited about showing.

I don't think I've written too much about my sister, but she is a natural with horses. She is confident and fearless and seems to have an instant rapport with horses. Wonderful, right? Unfortunately, she would rather spend her time in an agility field or training a dog to do tricks like ride on a skateboard or roll a basketball with their nose than work on round, balanced movement on a horse. She also has an amazing little paint mare, Jesse, who has the most beautiful little pleasure lope and natural head carriage. The two of them would rather just rip and tear the once or twice a year that they actually ride together. It's funny because they're a wonderfully matched pair - both a little crass and stubborn and absolutely hilarious.

We came home from the show last night with Shay asking me to instruct her in riding and showmanship so she could show with me. We are aiming at a show for the end of August that is a show on Saturday and a clinic with the judge the Sunday. I think it would be beneficial to the both of us and a lot of fun since we're so close anyways and have so much fun. She had her little mare all squared up and looking sharp last night in absolutely no time - the riding lesson was beautiful... I hope that we can stick with our plan of riding at least twice a week (she doesn't know it but I'm going to get her riding at least four days a week, I think!). She even rode bareback (I don't think she has ever ridden bareback on her mare and she's been riding her for 8 years or so!), and finally got to experience that great "zen" feeling I get.

I have had a couple of wonderful rides on Bronwyn over the last couple of days, too. She had a couple of weeks off there when things were just absolutely frenzied between work and 4H and everything else that I have on my plate at this time. I think with a buddy planning to ride with me (and willing to video tape my rides), I am going to be a lot more inclined to get out there at least four nights a week myself. And if the rain quits before I get home, I'm going to ride my little horse, Ari... I wanted to last night but ran out of light!

(Also, as a side "squee!!", I bought a Lucky Bucky hoodie in Ladies XL and it fits me. :-D)

5 comments:

  1. You lost me at "hockey boards with no plexiglass" ... I've never seen an arena with plexiglass. Where would it need plexiglass?

    But I'm glad you had a good time :D

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  2. Or an arena with hockey boards, for that matter. I'm confused! (which, considering recent events, is not surprising).

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  3. It is actually a hockey arena, not a horse arena so that's why it has hockey boards. The plexiglass would be there so that the pucks don't go up into the stands during a game, but they are removed for summer events that don't have pucks.

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