Weekly Round-Up: August 30, 2019

It’s the last week of August! The air is already getting colder, and fall is approaching. Time to bring out the pumkin spice lattes! 

Just kidding, those things are gross. If I wanted hot sugar water, I could easily make that myself. Does anyone actually like those things? Or is it just something all woman are supposed to like?

I’ve decided to make a weekly post on Fridays of all my random thoughts. Sometimes I have thoughts that don’t justify a post on their own, but yet I still have this urge to share them. Here they are:

Best Article:

Be the Sport We Wish to See by Jennifer Baas, really spoke to me. Most, if not all of us, starting riding with a simple love and fascination with horses. I rode because I loved it, and any competitions were tiny, local, and mostly an after thought. My goal was just to have fun, and be the best, but measured by my own acomplishments in training Vintage, not by a competition. Not that I ever really thought of it that way, my thoughts were very linear – ex. to go cross country schooling with my barn, Vintage needs to be able to ride out on her own. So that’s what I did. And the purpose behind the schooling? Literally the fun of it. It was different and new. No shows involved.

As I got older, I met new horse people, and the measurement of who showed where and when would begin. I went from feeling like I had a great experience as a teenager to feeling like I was a failure who knew nothing. The prepetual beginner because I didn’t show as much as my friends did, despite owning, training, and maintaining my own horse, by myself, for years. 

Even now I feel the pressure. I got Stu to … show at big shows? Am I actually motivated to show? Honestly? I’m not. I really don’t care. The truth is, a lot of my desire to show came from wanting to prove myself to my peers.  I like riding, and I like new experiences, but my main motivation is not spending all day sitting around to ride for three minutes. My kicks come from galloping through a field, trying a new trail, and jumping. I was probably meant to be a foxhunter.

Reading this article was a bit of a kick in the pants. I don’t want to pretend I’m interested in showing anymore when I’m not. That’s not to say I dislike showing, or I’ll never show again. I’m sure I will, and I love watching other people show. I have a lot more thoughts on this, but I am still working on formulating them. I really love this article though!

What I’m Reading:

I just started a new book, Hiking Through: One Man’s Journey to Peace and Freedom on the Appalachian Trail, by Paul Stutzman. I like hiking, although if I was confronted by a hiking enthusiast, I would run away to avoid embarrassing myself with my own ignorance. I have a fasination with the Appalachian Trail. I’ve hiked on it a little in Virginia, and spent even more time reading articles about it. They range from peaceful and adorable to utterly terrifying. Luckily there aren’t too many terrifying stories. Most of them are incredible stories of connecting with nature, and gaining a new understanding of one’s self.    

I haven’t gotten very far in this book, but it’s already drawing me in. It does seem to have a religious theme, and I don’t usually read books like that, but I’ll give it a shot.

In Horse World:

Great Meadow International was last weekend, this week is Warrenton Horse Show. I haven’t made an appearance yet, though, I’m unsure if hunter horses are as forgiving of baby strollers as event horses. I suspect they are a bit more sensitive to things like that. But I believe Sunday is hunt night, and boy am I excited for that one!

On my own farm, I’m trying to find the time to finish the fencing around my barn. Once it’s complete, I’ll have a little yard around the barn, and I’ll be able to bring Bridgette down and not have her get harrassed by the horses. I’m pretty excited about the possibilities that will open up! 

Right now, all the posts are in the ground. I’m going to be putting up wire no-climb horse fence, and then a top rail. I would have liked to do three board, but it would be harder to put up, take longer, and be more expensive. There’s always the possibility of converting in the future though!

My New Clothing Brand Obsession:

Gal Meets Glam. I hate spending money, but I love pretty clothes. Truly a dilemma. But I can justify clothes that I will actually wear. I feel like this brand has actual classic styles that aren’t going to be quickly discarded and actually be useable for many years. I really like the quality of the dresses, too. I don’t know that I’d pay full retail, but I do like a good sale. And truth be told, I love dressing up. I feel like it’s not a “horse girl” attribute, we are all supposed to be filthy, mud splattered messes who don’t care about appearances, but I’ve never cared for sterotypes anyway. Puts people in too much of a box and there’s too much pressure to conform.

The trick is to actually wear the clothes, though. I guess that’s where the sterotype comes into play – no one shows up to the barn in a dress (well, most people, anyway). But I’m going to make an effort, and not just get dresses to keep them in my closet like some kind of weird dress museum.

Bridgette Life: 

She’s still obsessed with rolling over to her tummy. She does it everytime she gets a chance. One time, she went all the way back over to her back, but I think it was on accident. I’m trying to encourage her to learn how to roll to her back though because she frequently gets upset when she’s on her tummy. She needs to be able to figure out how to get herself out of that situation.  Still no crawling yet, despite our best efforts to force it upon her. She’s extremely active in any other possible way that doesn’t involve her actually making forward movement. She’s always flailing about, kicking those legs and pumping those arms. Her nickname is “kick-it” because she’s always kickin’ it.  She getting more and more chatty, although her words are still not words. She makes a series of squeaks, raspberries, squeals, and then those almost words. She will have conversations with us, although who knows what it is we are actually talking about.  She’s also happy almost all the time. Hard to believe she went from seemingly the saddest baby in the world to the happiest. It’s the sweetest thing to say something to her, or approach her, and her whole being just lights up, from smiles and squealing to flailing. It certainly makes me feel very important!

That’s all for this week. Wishing you all the best weekend! Hopefully your weather is as beautiful as it has been here!