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Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

December Blog Hop!

My friend Aarene is hosting a Blog Hop over at Haiku Farm!  Yay for fun things to write about when nothing exciting is otherwise occurring in my horsey life!  :-)

Here's the directions:

  • Answer the questions (below) on your own blog, and leave a link to that post in the comments here.
  • In your post, invite readers to answer the questions on THEIR blogs, and link those blogs to yours AND to here.
  • Let's see how far this can travel!
  • Pictures!  Let's see lots of pictures of people and horses!

*  Introduce yourself!

*  Introduce your horse(s)!

*  What's your favorite horse sport?  Do you cross train in other activities?

*  Who else in your family rides?

*  What's your proudest equestrian accomplishment?

*  What was your lowest moment as a horse owner/rider?

*  What's the most important small thing you ever learned in a lesson?

*  Do you have any riding rituals or superstitions?

*  What are your short term goals for yourself/your horse?

*  Long term goals?

*  If time and money were no object, what is your dream equestrian vacation?

*  What kind of horse activities were you doing 10 years ago?

*  What kind of horse activities do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?

*  What is the quirk about your horse that you like most?

Introduce yourself!
Hi!  I'm Elizabeth and I am an adult amateur dressage/event rider.  In an effort to support my horsey habit, I am a teacher. I taught high school English from 2001 until recently, as I switched positions within my district to become the gifted and talented teacher.  I am married to a GREAT guy and we have two children.

One of my most favorite photos of me with my oldest son
Introduce your horse(s)!
I own two Standardbred mares: Dreamy Starlet and Snap Dancer.  Dreamy will be 25 this coming year and has been with me since 2003.  We have done everything together, from showing all over New England, to giving demonstrations at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, to winning just about every ribbon and award possible.  She is the Very Best Mare.
Dreamy Starlet - photo taken at Popham Beach by the insanely talented Barbara Livingston
Snappy will be 17 this coming year and was honestly never supposed to become mine.  I met her in 2012 in order to get my Racing Under Saddle license and next thing I knew, her owner gave her to me haha!  We had a fun and successful first year of showing and I look forward to 2017!  You can read more about each mare here.

Snap Dancer - our first dressage test, photo taken by Elena Raymond and posted with purchase
What's your favorite horse sport?  Do you cross train in other activities?
Even though I have often wondered, am I am dressage rider who also events or an event rider who also shows in dressage, I would say my most favorite horse sport is EVENTING!  I do cross train my horses to do a little of everything and I have successful enjoyed eventing, dressage, showmanship, in-hand, equitation and pleasure classes, trail riding, western pleasure, hunter under saddle and over fences, roadster under saddle, sidesaddle, racing under saddle, foxhunting, and team penning!  I even tried saddleseat with Reva one year!

A collage of some of our disciplines I made years ago when the blog name was still "Standardbred Excellence"
Who else in your family rides?
It's just me!  My oldest son has a natural seat and balance, but really isn't interested and my grandfather raced and trained Standardbreds (but never rode them).

Six years ago on Dreamy in the snow!
What's your proudest equestrian accomplishment?
There are so many things I have accomplished with my horses that it is hard to choose just one.  Probably I would have to choose either Dreamy's USDF National Championships or our trip to the Standardbred demos at the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

One of our WEG demos
What was your lowest moment as a horse owner/rider?
I think losing my first horse, Sparky, was my lowest moment.  There is nothing like the first time you have to put down a horse, never mind the first horse you ever loved as your very own.
One of my first shows with Sparky in 1993
What's the most important small thing you ever learned in a lesson?
"Don't think of what could go wrong, think of what could go right!" is something my instructor has said to me a million times, especially in the tough days of trying to perfect Dreamy's canter.  
The best it ever got ~ summer 2014
Do you have any riding rituals or superstitions?
I own millions of riding socks (OK, maybe like 12 pairs) but for some reason if I do well early in the show season while wearing a certain pair, I can only show in those socks for the rest of the year.  WEIRD.  But I cannot help myself!  At least I wash them haha!

Uhhhh, I don't have a photo of my socks, and Aarene demanded photos, so here is my youngest at seven months old being adorable.  Because who doesn't love adorable children?!?!
What are your short term goals for yourself/your horse?
Short term goals for Dreamy are to keep her healthy and happy in her well deserved retirement.  With Snappy I hope to continue her solid dressage training, give her more cross country jumping experience, and improve her canter.

Video still from August 2016 as we are battling to improve that canter!
Long term goals?
I always just want my horses to be healthy, happy, and sound.  I want to enjoy taking care of them and have fun riding and showing.  Eventually, I will add a young horse to the herd (probably a Morgan), but with just two stalls that means that there will be a Sad Day before that can happen.  And right now I am not ready for any of my horses to pass away, soooooo I am hoping this is a reaaaaaallllly long term goal!  Or if a young horse is not in the cards, I can see myself leasing a schoolmaster for a season to event at Beginner Novice/Novice level. 

If time and money were no object, what is your dream equestrian vacation?
I am dying to ride in Ireland!  I also think a mule trip in the Grand Canyon would be amazing.

Pretty leaves just because.
What kind of horse activities were you doing 10 years ago?
Hmmmm, ten years ago would have been the end of 2006.  I would have spent the year showing my Morgan, Sparky, in dressage and combined driving (she was 24 that year).  It was her last year of competition and we had a blast!  I had sat on Dreamy for the first time that year (in anticipation of Sparky's retirement) and we went on to have a super successful first show season in 2007.

Sparky at Granite State Morgan
What kind of horse activities do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?
Geez, I really hope I am still riding and showing in ten years!  I feel as though by then I will have a young Morgan that I started myself (since I am sure I can only afford a yearling haha) and am enjoying in dressage/eventing.

I'm sure I will still be doing dressage.  And being a dork.  Mostly being a dork.
What is the quirk about your horse that you like most?
Most of my horses' quirks are annoying haha, so I had to give this some thought.  I like how Snappy will let me scratch and scratch her ears after I remove the bridle after a ride (since this is a horse who WOULD.NOT.EVER let me touch her ears at first and even now just tolerates it).  But for some reason, she is itchy after we ride and trusts me enough to scratch her.  Dreamy always drops her head for her flymask to be put on and it is just the sweetest little gesture.
The day the horses came home to our new house/barn, December 1, 2015!

Comments

  1. Beautiful pictures, especially the baby!:-) Your older son looks pretty happy on horseback as well.

    Thanks for playing!

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  2. Hope that sad day is a long, long ways off but when it comes yay Morgans! Even though your Standerdbreds are gorgeous.

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  3. Blog Hop: http://racknaboutstable.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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