Dividing Time

Hello, dearest readers!  A lot has been happening since I last updated, but I have not been riding.  I imagine I will be incredibly sore after my next lesson.

I cannot remember if I mentioned this before, but I am a creative writing for entertainment student and also an independent filmmaker in addition to pursuing my equestrian interests.  I was asked in my last blog post how I can juggle it all.  I haven't even mentioned the fact that I am also a sideshow performer that travels the country for shows on occasion!

So how do I do it?  I honestly don't know.  I have to be constantly busy or else I fall into a deep depression, so unless my schedule is packed full of interesting activities, I'm probably contemplating suicide.  That probably isn't a very funny joke considering my history.

I am grateful that often my interests and pursuits collide.  I was filming the demo for fellow circus performers last year and while I was at the festival they were performing, I also filmed things around the festival (lots of horses, as it was the Old West Festival), and this year that turned into the commercial for the festival that aired on television.

Then also, this past week I was working on an assignment for which I was able to film my trainer's day as research for a film treatment that I'm writing for class.

I created a business combining my love of media and horses this past year and my husband and I are still working to build it up.  We offer media services to horse people.   (Obligatory website plug)  Combining my interests definitely helps keep me going and able to do all the things that I love.

I think the fact that I am going to school online is a big help for my crazy lifestyle, too.  I also do not have a regular job that I must be at everyday as I currently earn my money by grooming for the polo club (although not now because it is the off-season), house-sitting, and my occasional performances and media gigs.  However, because I don't have a regular or consistent income, I have to say no to going out often and I have to barter for the things that I want.  For example, I have to work in exchange for my dressage lessons.

My life is really complicated because of the things that I do or do not do, but I get by.  It's a constant struggle trying to get on my feet and be a self-sufficient adult when I have such strange standards and cannot stand doing anything that I do not enjoy.  I'm hoping to move later in 2013 to somewhere that is more friendly toward the foods that I eat, the type of work that I do, and everything else (Portland, Oregon, if you're wondering), but it's going to take a lot of work to get there... and all I do is work, even if I don't get paid for it.

So those of you that are pursuing your equine interests, but also want to pursue other goals, it is possible to do more than one thing.  I'm proof.  It just takes a lot more work than normal to get good at anything because you're dividing your time.

In somewhat related news, I was voted best groom of 2012 for the Cincinnati Polo Club.  :D

Dressage Progress and barn dilemma

I think I have had five or six dressage lessons now and my husband, Christopher, finally came to my lesson yesterday and took some video for me.  I have improved so much.  I love documenting my progress and my coach said I could probably start competing in the spring.  Unfortunately, however, my dressage coach is moving barns to a barn farther away from where I live and I haven't decided if I'm going to follow or not.  I know that if I don't, it will be near impossible for me to find another coach to take me on as a working student so close to my house.  I am still not earning much money and if I want to seriously pursue equestrianism to the degree that I dream, then I think I should follow my coach to the new barn.  At least for now.  She's moving barns in about a week, so I only have one more dressage lesson before it happens.  I'm mostly worried about affording the gas to get there.

I don't want to quit now as I can see myself improving so much and I just got back into horseback riding seriously.  Horseback riding has been saving my life for the past few months while I fight depression and suicidal thoughts.  It's been very therapeutic.  Horse Junkies United posted my story on Halloween.  I have fallen in love with dressage and it has been helping me so much.

I don't normally add copyrighted music that I don't have permission to use to my videos, but Emilie Autumn's "A Cure" strikes a chord with me and is just too fitting of an instrumental piece for me to pass up.

Without much further ado, here is my most recent progress video.

Dressage update!

I've had four or five dressage lessons now and I can really see myself improving.  Today was my first time with the canter in the lesson and for some reason, I felt off-balance and like I was going to fall off or Maxi was going to topple over.  Maybe it was just because of my lack of sleep last night, but it was really weird.  I canter the polo horses all the time no problem!  Other than that, the lesson went really well and I hope I am good enough to compete come spring!

Polo season is over and I've just been hanging out.  Last weekend, I house sat and horse sat the polo horses.  They all behaved very well and there was nothing exciting.  I rode once and jumped Allie a little bit (a very, very, very low jump that she could walk over, but she acted like it was really high at first.  Goofy horse).

With lack of anything else to say, here are some photos.

 Me "jumping" Allie in a polo saddle

 Me hugging Allie.

 Oprah, who is an ex-polo horse that has arthritis and is looking for a new home.

 Allie

 Allie

 Foxy, Nicole's dog.

 Aussie, one of the cutest horses I have ever met.

 Maxi, the horse that teaches me dressage... She's a saint with my bad riding.

Nicole working with her horse.

First dressage lesson

I had my first dressage lesson yesterday.  Nicole had me work on keeping the horse on the bit at a trot and stopping my feet from turning outward.  My legs are used to doing whatever is comfortable, so turning my knees inward for the lesson made me sore pretty quickly.  It was a good feeling, though.  I hope I improve enough so I can start competing by next spring.

When I rode as a kid, I don't think I fully understood what I was doing.  Since I started riding when I was 8, I probably took everything I learned for granted.  Now that I'm doing it again as an adult, I'm fully realizing the things I am doing that affect the horse and how we are communicating.  When I ride for the polo club, I admit to just being a passenger rider, but now I can start being more than that.

Needless to say, I had a really good lesson even though we didn't do much and I was on a lunge line.  It was an incredible feeling to notice the changes in the horse with half halts, leg yields, and playing with the reins to get the horse to be more round.

It was amazing!  I can't wait to do more.

I found this video of my instructor on one of my favorite horses at the barn.  Unfortunately, the horse was recently sold and will be leaving us soon... He's such a cutie.

Jojo, you're not cute anymore.

Occasionally, I do stupid things. Today is one of those days. First, my confidence in my riding is at all time low lately and I really do not know what I was thinking at the time.

Story time!

I exercise ride for the polo club and the owners of the horses that I ride were going to be out of town today. They told me to be at their house at 4:00 if some other people were going to ride so I can help tack up and stuff. Silly me, I assumed that one of the responses of who was going to be there was from people that needed help. It turned out to be the mother of someone that did not need help-- and so I went out there for nothing. So I decided, "Okay... I brought my helmet and I'm wearing my boots... I'll ride- even though the horse I really like to ride is not here anymore. I'll just try to find myself a new favorite."

So I went out to the paddock with the other girl to pick a horse. My first choice was so covered in dirt that I did not feel like spending 45 minutes brushing her, so I went with the stupid choice.

Now, I've ridden Jojo before- NO PROBLEMS. He's known to be kind of crazy during polo matches, but I thought, "Hey- no one is actually playing polo today, he'll be fine." He likes to rear up and spin around.

I started walking him around the field and just telling him how cute he is with his winter coat growing in.

Then the other girl picked up her mallet and started hitting the ball. As soon as Jojo heard the mallet make contact with the ball, he perked up, got antsy and was suddenly completely uncontrollable for me. So I decided to get down (I didn't want to have a stupid accident and break a bone when 1. I don't have health insurance right now and 2. the owners weren't around)-- except he wouldn't stop. He just kept walking and throwing his head. He wanted to go, go, go and I kept saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

So I ended up emergency dismounting and walking him back to the barn (of course, he stopped as soon as I jumped off). I untacked him and set him free. He said, "Screw you!" and galloped off to be with the other horses.

So I was stupid for picking the horse that I knew I couldn't handle. I don't know why I thought I could even when I know I'm back to being a beginner rider again. Though, I don't know why he was completely awesome for me once or twice and now he's scary.

Lesson learned.

Dressage Working Student Day 1

Today was my first day working at the dressage barn.  The horses are gorgeous and when we put them out, they ran around and bucked.  It was a beautiful sight.  There is a grey Andalusian that I fell in love with, but he has been sold and will be leaving the barn in about a month.

I had to quit my other stall cleaning job at the main polo barn because it is so far away from where I live, but I think being a working student is going to be a great replacement.  I cannot wait for my first lesson.  I get a lesson after two morning shifts are completed.

So this morning I woke up and went to the dressage barn, came back home briefly for a break and lunch, and then I headed out to the polo barn for my last day.  It's been busy and I'm glad I made the decision to not work at two barns in one day regularly because that would have been too much and I don't want to get burnt out.

In this blog, I will be writing everything that comes to my mind about horses, not just what I've been doing.  If you have any questions for me (I might be able to answer them) or any topics you would like me to cover, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

I don't have any pictures from today's horse adventures, but here is a video that I love and never gets old for me.

Equestrian blog intro

Hello! Welcome to my new equestrian blog. This blog is to follow me throughout my riding endeavors and to document my progress as I try to become a top level equestrian.

Here is a little background on me: I am 26-years-old and I currently groom for the Cincinnati Polo Club. I exercise their horses and haven't taken a riding lesson since I was 16. I rode a little bit of Western, and a lot of English (eventually focusing on hunter/jumper) from when I was 8 until 16 and I just came out of a 9 year hiatus a few months ago. Now I want to ride and compete seriously.  I was recently taken on by a bronze and silver medalist from the USDF as a working student and I am really excited. I start Thursday.

I am quite busy outside of the horse community as well. I am an independent filmmaker and photographer. I recently had my first commercial air on cable TV. I am going to school online at Full Sail University for creative writing as I want to be a screenwriter and director. I have my associate's degree in electronic media and animation and I can speak French and Spanish moderately well.

I'm a broke equestrian and sometimes a starving artist, so I am looking for sponsors. If you would like to donate to help me buy gear, there is a donate button on the side. I'm currently in need of a new helmet as my helmet is over 10 years old and before my hiatus, I fell in it. You're supposed to replace your helmet every 5 years or after any fall.

 Here are two videos documenting my progress so far:

 



Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for updates about my riding adventures!