Christmas Barn and Update

Does anyone have any pictures of their barn? I'd love to see them :) I ran across this picture today. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside for some reason.

This is my h/j barn, Crosswind, during the holidays this year:

Main barn center aisle

Johnny is doing as well as can be expected. He seems to be enjoying his turnout:

He got a new turnout sheet since his Baker turnout is MIA. I loved that sheet, but I decided to try the Smartpak Deluxe Turnout Sheet. I will let y'all know how it holds up! Generally he doesn't mess his clothes up too much.

Hope everyone is doing well and the weather is holding up!!

Life is Rough

Sleepy Ponies. 

Enjoy the cuteness :)

 

Romes after dressage at Poplar Place HT

Johnny after the A/Os at Brownland Farms

Riding a Dragon

Riding a dragon in the hunter ring, and making this so-called dragon look good, is much harder than it appears.


This is how it usually goes:

Dragon is groggy and sleepy and cuddly when you arrive at 7 am.

Dragon must have a bath because he is grey and therefore green.

Then you tack Dragon up and take him for a brisk hack to try to "drain" any excess energy.

There was no excess energy. Shucks.

So you untack, re-tack (yes, I'm serious), and go back to the ring to school.

While schooling, Dragon is calm. In fact, you must beat him to make him go faster. You beat and beat and beat, and nothing happens.

You lower your spurs to go into the ring, because you never know what is going to happen.

Happy Dragon? Scared Dragon? Manic Dragon? You have a mild panic attack wondering which version will emerge.

Enter ring.

First jump goes well. (Could it be happy Dragon??!)

Then you turn the corner, Dragon sees a sign 10 feet from the ring, and this happens:

Look at the beautiful hunter! So calm and majestic.

What is the beautiful hunter looking at?

Could it be...a WHITE SIGN?!!??

And then you get Dragon. *insert scary music*

 So basically, that happened every time I went in the ring that day. Which was at least 3 times.

I love my horse...I love my horse...I love my horse. I just need to keep reminding myself that, right?

Most imporant of all...

I hate wearing my hair behind my ears. There, I said it. I think it looks horrible...but I do it anyways during the dressage portion. A lot of people at events ask me why I wear my hair over my ears (well during SJ and XC). I never have much of a good explanation besides the fact that I am a hunter barbie. I think it feels nice, looks nice, and most importantly, looks nice.

My name is Reagan. I'm 21 and am a student at Mississippi State University, where I am majoring in Animal and Dairy Science (aka pre-vet). The only english barn near MSU is an eventing barn.

Let's back up about 10 years. I was 11, and desperately wanted a pony. The only sale horse in our entire barn (that we could afford) was a feedlot horse who had "jumped" out of his feedlot and therefore they thought would like to jump. I use the term "jump" lightly because he didn't even make it out in one piece. He got a nail stuck in his side and came to the barn on antibiotics.

I leased him for that summer, and we definitely had a love/hate relationship. I loved him when he wasn't bucking me off every other time I rode him. He also had some food anger issues because he was a) in a feedlot and b) starved at some time...which I consider a feat for anyone to do because he gets fat just looking at food.

Meet Romeo (Bulletproof):

Okay...how cute is that. I was little...and I was little for a long time. I showed him on the A circuit...kind of successfully (not entirely) in short stirrup, eq, and pre-children's until 2005. I put changes on him, took him fox hunting, did jumpers, and a bunch of other stuff. He always tried hard for me...but then I grew. I'm 5'7'' and he is 14.3 on a good day. I eventually leased him out in 2007, and in 2008 I "retired him."

In 2006, I got a "speshul" thoroughbred named Johnny. Note: I did not want a grey horse or a thoroughbred. I got a grey thoroughbred. He needs his hand held frequently, but he is incredibly athletic. He has a great dressage background, but I had to completely erase all his knowledge of jumping and start from scratch. So basically...his brain is a little short-circuited. He will go in the ring and be perfect (I do the A/Os for anyone who knows what that is), or he will go in and have a nervous meltdown...which must judges don't appreciate.

as a 3 y/o

as an 11 y/o