“I could have done better.” My daughter said it after a local derby where she finished fourth. In fact, I’ve heard that phrase a lot from her lately. At first,...
By the time you read this, my first horse show in nearly 30 years will already be over. As I write this, it's three days away. I'm excited. I'm nervous....
Not every rider leaves a barn because of something big. Sometimes, they just slowly disappear. They stop asking questions. Then they stop lingering after lessons or feeling excited to go...
It’s been a long while since my horse and I had a truly epic miscommunication. But—as wont to happen in this sport where future kings hit the dirt just as...
Being a horse-kid mom is different than most sports. It’s not just carting your kid to a few practices a week or a game on the weekend. It’s all-consuming. It’s...
Owning your own farm sounds like a dream. And it is… just not always in the ways you pictured. For instance, you might imagine yourself walking out in the morning...
For the 25+ years I’ve been involved in horses, my mantra had been “Never give up.” There’s always a way. Find a different job for the horse. Let him tell...
We talk a lot about the big problems in the horse world. Cost. Horse welfare. Ethics. Lately, I’ve been thinking about something smaller, but just as important. The little kindnesses...
There have been times I’ve wanted to quit the horses. Sell everything: the blankets in every size, bits in every shape. I’ve even imagined selling our farm, the one I...
Raising my daughters around horses has shown me that horse-life is equal parts joy and heartbreak. They’ve grown up in dusty barns and sun-drenched rings, learning, falling, and climbing back...
Last winter, I bought a pony for my kids, sight-unseen from Florida (I know, I know). He was cute as a bug. His little face had already stolen my heart...
If you want a blog post from a young, hot, equestrian mom who has her crap together, keep on scrolling. You know the type… They’re the ones on social media who...
Horses are expensive. Like, nauseatingly expensive. And unless you’ve got a bottomless bank account (spoiler: we don’t), keeping your kids, or yourself, in the tack without going broke takes time,...
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....
