Alberta Equest

It's been quite some time since I have done a "Learning Sierra" post.  I did a few when I first bought her back in June. I essentially used them to highlight things that I learned about her in those first few weeks.  I feel like every day I get to know her a little more but I began this blog to track and document my riding journey - with that, comes times where reflecting on past lessons learned is beneficial.. and I can't reflect if I don't remember to archive the good, the bad, and the ugly. Farm Life has had me busy, and it's always even crazier during the cold snaps! Sierra has had a week off, and my last ride was a walking ride so we didn't expel a tonne of energy.  As the Weather has continued it's ridiculously wavering path in addition to various appointments and personal engagements, I wasn't able to do much with her until yesterday (Monday).  I ventured to the barn after work and took note of the ominous and daunting ice-fog that ...

As predicted in my January Goals post, riding has gone out the window for various reasons.. but for the first time in a long time, I can proudly say it has nothing to do with just not wanting to do it .  I also had some issues with my Equilab App that required technical support and reset a bunch of stuff so any rides prior to last week are gone (boo!). In terms of minutes/hours, I will have to estimate at the end of this month.  I am roughly half way to accomplishing my January goal of spending at least 4 hours in the saddle, but due to an onslaught of reasons, I'm feeling a little bummed that I may not hit it.  Perhaps i'm getting a little ahead of myself considering I still have nearly two weeks, so I suppose this isn't a complete Fail.. not yet, anyway. After turning her loose for 10 min, my saddle moved forward about 3".. Saddle Fitter can't come soon enough!! In November I heard on the radio to expect two weeks of frigid temperatures, followed by two...

Unlike Kidd and Kai, Sierra has been fabulous to own in the sense that she’s very easy on her body.   Knock on Wood, but Sierra has yet to injure herself.   Additionally, we have seen an Osteopath once and she was shocked at how structurally and muscually (I don’t think that’s a word) balanced she was, “especially for an OTTB and a Jumper” as she put it.   Since then, I have done PEMF on her once just as a ‘just cause’, but that’s about it.   Given our slowly developing Canter issues, and my absolute love for this darn mare, I decided to invest a little bit of money to rule things some things out before I lay the boots to her and tell her to get over it.   On this list of priorities, there is the usual.. Structural Concerns, Teeth and Saddle Fit... you know, pain!   While I don’t necessarily believe in babying horses, I do recognize they’re athletes and at any point can hit the ‘eject’ button, so I feel it’s my job as both their rider and primary caretake...

I live nearly 20 minutes from town and when the weather is poor it lengthens my daily commute considerably, often leaving me pondering odd things in my half-awake, pre-caffeinated daze.  Lately, I've been compiling a mental list of things I feel were/are crucial to developing me into the person I am and while I don't think people are ever done growing in a mental sense, I began researching various posts such as " 30 things to do before you're 30 " or " books to read in your 20's " and it has inspired my own list.   For the record, I'll be 27 at the end of February and with an upcoming birthday I have been pondering growth.  I still have time to scratch some of these things off my list but they really resonated with me.  This post involved a lot of self-reflection as well as estimated prediction and while it's not all horse related, sit back and mull over how these can apply to your life - even if you're in your 30's or beyond! ...

As the 1st of January has come and gone many of us feel the call of an ironic paradigm; ready for change and improvement much like New Years past.  It's this feeling of rejuvenation or the untouched pages of a new 12-chapter book that have us lost in the development of becoming our best selves, eager to get back to the grind.  While we are lost in a trance of conquering the predicaments of Christmas Past, Present and Future we easily lose sight of the journey we're on each and every day. I'm not talking about the journey with your old car that's on its last legs, the hand-me-down saddle and array of stacked pads to improve its fit, or even your current mount and their respective quarterly or annual goals.  The journey I'm talking about, is life. Science teaches us every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  This well-versed theory (also known as Newtons Third Law) explains that a force is a push or a pull, and this force is the result of its intersect...