Picture this: You are working on your horse show entries and, for each show, you check off the category of adult amateur. Not junior or young rider. Not open or...
When asked what kind of horse I dreamed about, I rarely answered an Andalusian, Friesian, Buckskin, or Blue Roan. I turned and said, "a broke one." When I finally bought...
The barn was always my sanctuary, my space to breathe. Horses were supposed to equate to my happiness. But so often, that peace was overshadowed by stable drama or discontent....
There’s a famous Rolling Stones line that’s been ringing in my head these days: “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you get what you need.” Life...
Winter comes but once a year, but every year, it takes horse people hopelessly by surprise. We are shocked by its sudden vigor, its lack of pity. The absolute relish...
There is no one on earth with more optimism than a horse girl on Christmas morning. I happen to know this firsthand. For many years in my early life, I knew that...
Full disclosure. I’ve been trapped inside my hunter bubble. In my younger years, I dabbled. I dipped my toes in dressage, hunter paces, and eventing. I attempted Western. Fun fact:...
There’s a downed branch in the back field. It’s just a little thing. You could barely call it a log, really, but it serves our purpose. After weekly lessons, my...
In my junior year of college, I was given a piece of advice that would change my life forever. It was the final day of the Collegiate Horsemen's Association's Annual...
Dear 15-Year-Old(ish) Me, How’ve you been? I suppose it’s summertime in Upstate New York, now, which means you’ll likely be at the barn all day, every day. You won’t come...
Dearest Gentle Reader, This author was among the 45 million who inhaled the newest season of Bridgerton on its opening weekend. While there is less horse riding than I would...
It didn’t take long into the drive to feel that familiar catch of a lump in my throat. I felt queasy, paranoid. I was bracing with white knuckles against the...
I hate looking at photos of myself. So when equestrian photographer Laurie Thomson posted a candid picture of me and a Gypsy Vanner on Facebook last year, I picked myself...
It was the worst possible time to buy a new horse, in retrospect. Late March 2020, the world was in a very uncertain place. But for me, with the doors...
I should start by saying, I’m not mad. That’s not to say I wasn’t mad. I’m only human. A normal, human, female just trying to go about her day, find...
“I’d like to buy a horse,” is a phrase that would rattle any frugal parent, especially my father. He worked three jobs to keep my family comfortable and happy. Perhaps...
Fear, rising prices, and the pressure to maintain an adequate work/life/sport balance is leaving many amateur equestrians feeling the burn. So how do you know if it’s time to hit...
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, November is far from the most heinous month of the calendar year. February, for instance, is arguably much worse with its modest...
Having ridden my fair share of young or newly started horses “just back from the cowboy” in my youth, I thought I’d come into parenting my toddler with a few...
