As the title says, it’s hard to blog right now.
I mean, what can I possibly write here now? With all the insanity going on right now, what can I possibly contribute? I know I only have a few readers anyway, and I’m not sure what they might be interested in right now.
So, what would you all like to see more of? Horse content? Art content? Videos? Product reviews? Please send me your suggestions for what you think would be interesting right now!
The past few months have been rough on the entire world as a whole. People are dying, people are getting sick, losing their jobs, losing time with their friends and family, unable to celebrate birthdays, weddings, or even have funerals. Schools are closed, shops are running out of supplies or their workers are being assaulted for enforcing purchase limits. People are stuck at home, trying to make things work while also terrified they’re going to be the next statistic. Hospitals are overcrowded, short-staffed, and under-supplied. I’ve seen stories of people who haven’t seen their beloved lesson horse, lease horse, or boarded horse in weeks and are desperately missing their time with these calming animals. The world seems scarier now than almost any other time I can remember, probably right up there with the 9/11 attacks.
I am blessed that I’ve been able to go to the barn every day and see my horse, spend time with her, brush her, feed her, give her a kiss on the nose. I think about the people who can’t see their horses and my heart breaks. I wish every day that this crisis would pass so that life can go back to “normal”- or at least as normal as it could possibly be after what we’ve been through in this awful time.
The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful for me and I haven’t been handling the trauma well. I spent two weeks worrying that my best friend had the virus, waiting desperately for her test results to come back, taking over the duties of caring for the horses every day, and also taking over walking dogs that needed care. I was also making store runs for her and for other families we know who couldn’t go out because of health issues. And though I’m happy to help out those who need it, every trip to the store came with a bucket-load of stress.
What if this is the time I get sick? What if I come into contact with something and take the virus back to those I’m trying to protect? If I get sick, who’s going to take care of the horses?
A simple grocery run turned into paranoia. I already don’t like crowds, now I’m turning into a germaphobe on top of that! Every time I have to go to a public place, I worry about if I have enough hand sanitizer (I don’t, I’m nearly out and can’t find any in our area) or if I’m going to accidentally touch my face before I can get somewhere to wash my hands. I’m an anxious person anyway, but all the uncertainty has added heaps of stress onto my shoulders- to the point where I’d lay down at night and have to force my shoulders to un-tense so I could actually get comfortable and fall asleep.
And during this time, because of my best friend being in isolation, I’ve only ridden my horse a handful of times. But I have ridden, and every time I tack up I feel immensely guilty for it. There are people out there not able to see their horses, and who are forgoing riding so that they don’t have an accident and end up in the hospital and taxing more of the resources that are needed for the sick. I’ve read the articles about not riding, I’ve seen the sacrifices other riders are making, and I have intense guilt for saddling up and getting on.
But I do it anyway. Because being with my horse, getting in the saddle and riding is the only bit of “normal” that I have right now. Because horse time is my therapy time and right now I desperately need it. Because the time spent brushing, tacking up, and riding is the only time I’m not thinking about getting sick. It’s a much needed mental vacation right now that I probably shouldn’t be taking but I feel like I’m going to lose it if I don’t.
So, yes, I know that I shouldn’t be riding right now. I know that other equestrians are making the sacrifice of not putting themselves in danger so they don’t potentially make things harder for the doctors and nurses that are fighting right now. But I also know that without riding I’m going to be an incoherent ball of anxiety in a padded room before April is over. Besides, I could slip and fall in the shower and end up in the hospital, but you’d better believe that I’ve been washing my hair. I could walk to the mailbox that’s fifty feet from my front door and get hit by a car. I could be in my kitchen cooking dinner and cut my own finger off by accident.
I’m going to continue doing the one thing that still feels somewhat normal because without a bit of sunshine in my life my mental health is going to be worse than ever. If it makes anyone fell any better, I’ll be wracked with guilt about it the entire time before I ride, because I’ll know that I should be making that sacrifice.
I truly hope that soon those who are separated from their heart horses will be reunited with them, and that all this madness will be a bad memory. Until that time, do whatever will help you make it through, so long as you do that thing as safely as possible. Make sure you’re washing your hands, covering your mouth whenever you leave the house, and staying home as much as possible!
Hey all! The world is ending, so I’m changing my plan for today’s blog. I created a set of coloring and activity pages that you can download and print for free. To get them, just click on this link and download whichever ones you want!
Also, I have a new design available on RedBubble, one that is a timely reminder to keep your hooves clean! Click the photo to go to the RedBubble page to get stickers and more.
Hi everyone! I was going to wait to post this tomorrow, on Friday, when I’d normally post a blog, but I’ve decided to post a day early. In these uncertain and dark times, I wanted to do something that could bring a little light, hopefully, to a few lives. I had started this drawing based on Lavender and thought that this plant was a good symbol for easing the anxiety of these troubling times. So I came up with two completely FREE printables you can download and use. You don’t need to sign up for an e-mail list, or pay anything. Just click on the links below to download these free PDFs. Feel free to save them, print them, and display them – just don’t use them for commercial purposes, please!
For those who suddenly find themselves trying to work from home, or trying to plan activities for their children, I am offering this completely free Daily Task Manager printable. It includes a place to schedule out the day, a place to list out the important tasks that need to be completed, space for calls/emails that need to be made, and a space for daily gratitude. In these times, being grateful for the things we have is very important! Click the image below to download and print this PDF.
This PDF is of a 5×7 Printable of Lavender that you can print and display for a bit of beauty where you need it most. Click on the photo to download!
I really hope these can bring some joy to at least one person. Be safe and well, my friends! Please share this blog link with anyone you think might need these freebies!
I began riding horses when I was 30 years old, which means that I was far, far past the time period in your life where you are not only fearless, but you also bounce when you hit the ground. This has made learning to ride a struggle, especially when you have to contend with an anxiety disorder on top of being fragile. The struggle is real, but that doesn’t mean the struggle isn’t relatable. So, here are some problems that only people who began riding when they were already an adult will understand.
When I started riding lessons, I was the oldest person in my class by about 20 years. That made things pretty awkward…
My best friend and I took a trip to Milwaukee this past February, and on the way we stopped at a Dover Saddlery store (because there isn’t one near us). We wanted to buy all the things, but we have bills to pay and no disposable income. 🙁
Kids fall off and bounce. They giggle and get back on the horse. When you’re over 30, you fall off and need weeks to recover. (Especially if you’ve spent most of your life with a messed up back already!)
I got the impression from horse movies and TV shows that you just jumped on a horse and in minutes you were cantering and galloping down the beach, wind in your hair, enjoying life. No one told me that every. single. thing. about horseback riding was way harder than that! It took me nearly 4 years to get to the cantering stage, and I still haven’t ridden down the beach in the sunset, wind in my hair! Also, you can’t just get on a horse and start jumping in ten minutes.
When you start in adulthood, you have so much more to learn. I feel like I’m constantly “catching up” with my friends who have been around horses their entire lives. I’m constantly learning something new about horses, whether it be about tack, training techniques, feed, or a new barn hack. And that is amazing. I love to learn and I feel like I’ll never run out of new things to learn and do, which means that horses are always a fresh subject that I can’t get tired of!
How long have you been riding? What equestrian problems have you had? Let me know in the comments!
Horseback riding is dangerous, and there is no way we can ever make the sport completely risk free. Even with increased technology in helmets, body protectors, and even jump set-ups, accidents happen. Horses are huge prey animals who can spook, have a bad day, or even just trip over their own feet and fall on their rider. Even the best rider and the most well-trained horse can make a mistake, whether that be over a cross-country jump, running a barrel race, or even walking on the flat in a schooling arena. Aside from never getting on the back of a horse or ever coming near a horse at all (since accidents can also happen during groundwork, or even just while feeding a horse in a stall), there is absolutely no way to guarantee the safety of both horse and rider.
That being said, there is a lot we can do to make the different branches of our sport safer. Western disciplines are beginning to require riders to wear helmets – a welcome change, if you ask me, dressage is doing away with top hats and also requiring helmets for competition, and even Eventing has come a long way in the past few years to reduce rotational falls.
And Eventing is what I want to talk about today. Now, I’ll preface this by saying that I am NOT an Eventer. I have never taken a cross-country jump at a gallop. Hell, I’ve barely jumped a cross-rail, to be honest. So I’m basing my opinions on watching videos, reading about the sport, and from the experiences of my friends who do cross-country and eventing. If I have a fact wrong in this blog, please let me know! I like to learn as much about the many areas of horse sports as I can!
So, let’s talk about Frangible Technology. Frangible Technology is responsible for the drop in rotational falls in Eventing in the past few years. Frangible pins can be added to cross-country jumps to make them collapse when a certain amount of force hits the jump (i.e. from a horse not clearing jump and hitting it). One of the biggest problems with cross-country jumps is that they are usually solid, and so if a horse or rider makes a mistake, the jump isn’t likely to move easily. Instead, the horse and rider hit the jump and fall, usually resulting in a rotational fall where the horse lands on top of the rider. These types of falls are more likely to result in serious injury or death.
The difference between cross-country jumps and show jumping is that arena jumps collapse much easier. Only the slightest tap is required to knock a pole off a jump cup, and poles and jump standards fall if a horse and rider crash into them, making it less likely that the jump will become a pivot point and cause the horse to flip over. (LESS likely, not completely impossible. See opening paragraphs about horse activities being inherently dangerous.) Also, there has been lots of talk in the past few years about cross-country in Eventing getting more and more challenging, with course designers making courses that have too complicated of jumps simply for the “Wow factor” and to fit the demand of spectators for more excitement in watching the sport.
Personally, just watching a Go-Pro video of someone doing cross country jumping is enough to make me wet myself, I wouldn’t want to actually be galloping across a field toward a wooden table that drops down into a pond five feet below the jump. No thank you!
So, yes, Frangible technology can help with safety in the sport of Eventing, and some courses have updated some of their jumps with frangible pins to make the jumps safer. But it’s not enough, and converting jumps is expensive, up to $1000 per table jump. The United States Eventing Association allocates about $26,000 a year for grants for competitions to make their jumps safer, which is not enough to implement the technology at a fast enough rate. Aside from being cost-prohibitive, there is no reason to not put frangible technology on every Eventing course across the country.
Jon Holling, Chair of the USEA’s Cross Country Safety Division, has put out a call to make Eventing safer, at a faster rate. He is proposing a 3-year timeline to make any fence that can be converted to frangible technology in some way to be converted, at the Preliminary level and above. The cost of this project is a minimum of $500,000, which is a LOT. But if we spread it out among everyone who loves, participates in, watches, or knows someone who participates in the sport of Eventing, it makes the cost much more manageable and makes that number attainable.
There is currently a campaign active on GoFundMe for this project. At the time of this blog post, over $82,000 have been raised.
Even though I’m not an Eventer, I’m sharing this information because I have beloved friends who are. I don’t want to go to a funeral for any of them because there was an accident and their jump didn’t collapse. Frangible pins can be the difference between needing a hospital stay and needing a casket, and I don’t want any of my horsey friends to end up dead- even if they died doing something they love.
Please give to the campaign if you can, or share it to the horse-lovers that you know!
(Featured image from Wikipedia. Most research for this blog post was taken from this Horse Nation Article.)
Cleaning your horse grooming brushes is very important, but can be such a pain. Soaking, scrubbing, rinsing, drying- it’s not a chore I usually look forward to! However, my best friend and I recently started making brush-cleaning fizzy bombs that contain natural ingredients that don’t leave residue and make the process a lot easier! It’s almost fun now to clean my brushes! Below is a video of me cleaning my grooming gear with one of my favorite scents of our brush fizzies. Watch the video below!
Want your own set of brush fizzies? You can order from the Equisthetics web-site here!
Want to know what gear I keep in my grooming box? Read my previous blog post here!
Today I finished the second of the “Poisonous” series, Poison Ivy! Below is a process video of me doing the colors on this piece.
