Ride 1.1

On Wednesday I took my second lesson on Missy and my first ride in 2016.
Because of all the snow and nasty weather we have been getting here, the horses haven't been able to go out like they normally do. So I had one very fidgety thoroughbred mare in the crossties!
In all honesty fidgety is an exaggerated word for it. Missy is actually a superbly well behaved horse and never worried me at all. She was very good for grooming and tacking up and mostly just looked for attention. Quite people oriented this girl is!
Lindsey lunged her for a few minutes before I got on, but it almost wasnt even needed.
So far the lessons have been about improving my strength. We started with a lap of walk to the left and then I had to pick up twopoint. Being off of a horse for two weeks nearly killed me here. I think I lasted two laps at the walk before my right leg was burning.
I will say here that I tend to be quite uneven in my body and it gets frustrating. Even though I feel straight and square in the saddle, I actually put a fair bit more weight in my right stirrup than in the left. But I have such a hard time feeling it except for the fact that my right side tires out faster. So I consciously make an effort to weight my left stirrup in the hope that it might help.
Anyways. After just murdering my calves at the walk, I had to pick up the posting trot and obviously my tired legs were not helping with the rhythm. Missy wasn't naughty about anything but she did tend to rush and slow down as she felt like it. For this we went back to the exercise that we did in my first lesson on her - using mt core muscles to control my posting in order to control her rhythm. I'm fairly good at posting but this is hard for me, especially when I'm relying solely on those core muscles and not adding any leg or rein to assist. But WOW, when it comes together and I can feel her trot smooth out and get so much more even, its fantastic!
Of course, I can usually only get that feeling for a few strides and then I lose the rhythm or my balance and have to start over.
We've also been doing twopoint at the trot but I'm slowly getting my hands off of Missy's neck and balancing properly. I know for some of you this is easy but not for me. Not yet! Lindsey keeps telling me to just move with her and I'm slowly getting the hang of absorbing the motion with my knees and ankles but I still end up falling forwards or backwards quite easily. Core muscles again, right? Someday I'll get it.
So basically after she turned my legs into jelly and gave me a few exercises to stretch out my hips (much needed!) we were done.
And then I had to halt Missy, drop my stirrups and just sit there for a few minutes before I could safely get off.
Ride 1 of 2016 is in the books!

Twenty Things

For whatever reason, this post seems to be in the vein of new year, fresh start posts. Or something along that line.
Anyways, today I'm going to do my ultimate best to lay out twenty things about me that have not been revealed on this blog before. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure I can make it through since I've talked about all sorts of things on this little corner of the blogosphere in the almost two years it has been live. So here goes!

1)  Way deep down inside, I really really want my equestrian discipline to be eventing. Mostly just because it terrifies me and that is enough to make me want it. Yes, I'm young and crazy.

2)  I actually have pretty decent hands while riding. I know how to keep them still and soft and quiet. (Is this bragging?) Holding them too low is about my only real fault here.

3)  I love Disney movies. Every. Single. One.

4)  I'm actually very intimidated by the bigger horses as well as the hotter types. 

5)  I am not capable of giving away/throwing away/removing from my possession any book, dvd, or other form of media. I collect them and no matter what, simply cannot get rid of them.

6)  I can sew. Not knit, crochet, or anything fancy, but I can sew my own clothes. Or wedding dresses, when required. *clears throat meaningfully*  Side hobby, I guess you could say.

7)  When I was younger, I wanted to have a equine breeding and training farm. It is possible that I still want this. I'm just a bit more reasonable with my dreams now.

8)  Even though I write on an almost daily basis and have done so for over ten years now, I am still very self-conscious about my writing. I get nervous whenever someone new discovers that I blog.

9)  I really really want to have a wedding, but I don't actually want to get married. I just love weddings!

10)  If you present me with a chestnut mare, there is a 0% chance I will turn her down, no matter what. My first horse was a chestnut mare and I'm still very much in love with the combination.

Not chestnut, definitely mare. :)

11)  I discovered 1.5 years ago, that I actually really love dying my hair. Since then I've been three different shades of red, blue (which faded to green), and brunette. I'm a natural blonde. 

12)  I don't voice it very often, but I'm a big advocate for bitless riding. Yes, I ride with a bit, but I wholeheartedly approve of every option.

13)  In spite of #12, I love bits and would like to collect every variety in existence, even if I never use them.  Is that weird?  I just have an obsession with bits, whether they are on or off a horse.

14)  I am majorly scatterbrained. In just about every aspect of life.

15)  Every since I moved out on my own, I have eaten nearly exclusively organic food. Obsession of mine, if you must know.

16)  I work in food service and can actually be a really good server. The work just makes it difficult to support a horse habit, sadly.

17)  My wonderful mare, Lady, made me realize not too long ago that it is possible to have fun with horses without having a long term goal. It only took her 6ish years to teach me that.

18)  Unlike a lot of equestrians, I do not indulge in expensive riding clothes or boots because in my mind, that is still something for me, not for my horse. The horse doesn't care what I wear. That doesn't mean I don't want the nice things though!

19)  I've started three different horses under saddle, and restarted two(?).

20)  Ever since visiting the Spanish Riding School, I've fantasized about working super hard at my riding skills and then applying. I mean, wouldn't it be awesome? 

Ouch. I'm not even going to re-read everything I've written here. I'm just going to publish it and hope it isn't as awful as it seems.
Tomorrow, I'll do a lesson recap.

Bad at Titles

Its nearing two years since I started this blog and I was thinking about how I came up with my title a few days ago.

When you first get to know me I'm a very quiet and reserved person. You get to know me further and you'll find out that I'm majority scatterbrained. I always have some new project or goal that I need to work on and I rarely finish what I start  (but I'm fiercely proud of what I do finish). I remember the strangest things and forget important details.

If you get past that part of knowing me then you'll see that I like to dream exceptionally big. I don't mind if I don't reach those dreams but I need to have them as part of who I am.
Because deep down inside I'm a child-like soul who sees everything in romanticized, whimsical, fairy like way. I need to have room to experiment, try new things.  I need room to grow, to fly. Flying Free was a phrase that made me happy and created a sense of home.
You'll notice that my actual web address is jumpthestars. Another phrase that I formulated that I liked and felt described me.
Both phrases could be used in reference to my love for jumping, which directly ties it into thr horse side of things.
And there you have it. A random look into why I chose this blog's name.

Side note: I have a lot of these random posts planned.

Happy New Year!

     Technically, I'm a few days late on this post, but after working late on New Year's Eve and being super stressed out from driving in the snow and ice that is all over the place right now, I decided to postpone it until after the weekend.
     2015 was a fantastic year, it really was. I did a lot of things that I never thought I would actually do in my life, and came out the other side a totally different person. At least I think so. You may want to check with some of the people that knew me the whole time though.
     I'm a little terrified and also really excited about 2016. There are the big scary things like starting university, making ends meet all on my own while attending school, etc.  There are the exciting things, like going back to school, having so many more equestrian opportunities at my fingertips, and being more independent.
     I've put up most of my 2016 goals on their own page, so you can go read them there if you want to.  I don't feel the desire to write up a whole post about them right now, but maybe later on in the month I will expand on a few of them in their own posts. Maybe.
     When it came to making monthly goals this time around, I ended up with more of what seemed like a checklist than goals to achieve.  And that was okay with me, for whatever reason.  I think this year, I'm going to focus more on writing about what I achieved, instead of what I want to achieve.            Although both sides are important, of course.
     But, here are a few items from my January list:
- Pounce on the first week and a half of school and own it!
- Take at least three riding lessons.
- Start volunteering at the animal shelter.
- Do a sketch of one of my story characters and actually show it off.
- Finish two books that I have already started reading.

     There are several others, a few financial related, or just next steps to projects that are already started, but you get the idea.
     I also have ideas for blog posts for at least the next month, but they don't all involve horses since they aren't exactly something I do every day now, but I'll try to tie things into horse matters somehow as often as I can.
     One of these days I'll get caught up on everyone else's blogs and start commenting here and there again. Until then, I'll try to write as often as I can get to a computer with internet access.

The Past Year in Review

I'm a day or two early but whatever.

Originally, I didn't even want to write this post. I mean... I already know that I did horrendously awful with completing the goals that I set for 2015. Really, really bad.


1.  Go to Europe for six weeks in February/March and have a safe, enjoyable trip. Come back with lots of great memories and experiences and ride at least one horse during that time.
2.  Move to Lubbock, settle Lady and myself in, and enroll in classes for January.
3.  Ride 120 times.
4.  Ride 5 different horses while I scout out a barn for Lady.
5.  Take 10 riding lessons.
6.  Get my energy back and stick to a proper, healing diet.
7.  Enjoy a balanced and organized lifestyle.
8.  Continue writing on both of my blogs, as regularly as possible.
9.  Improve my riding ability.
10.  Bring Lady back up to health and a proper work schedule.
11.  Work on the trailer issue and go to an event.
Bonus: Write a second novel.

Not too great at all, I think I'll say.  But I wanted to put this on the blog for future reference.

Now, on to 2016!

Holidays

I'm back in East Texas with family for Christmas, which means I've been experiencing the intensity of the rain while back at my place everything is snowed under.
Yeah. Prayers and good thoughts to everyone who has been affected by this nasty weather. I head home on Wednesday if everything clears up and lines up properly. Because work on New Year's Eve.

Despite the rain, I've had the chance to spend a bit of time with my girls while I'm up here. After the horses I've been riding in Lubbock, Lady felt like a tiny pony. Made me giggle.  But I love her so much, and I have the best friend in the whole world watching out for her right now and making sure she stays at the proper weight and health.

I'm feeling a bit caught up right now between what I want Lady's future to be. She is so happy to get ridden every so often and just wander around having some fun, where she doesn't really have to work. But I really want to follow what I'm pursuing right now and do some showing next year, which would not be very possible with her. Do I keep her in her semi-retired lifestyle, or do I try to bring her up to fitness and health levels where I could possibly do a few dressage shows with her? Somehow I just see her being so happy with her life right now that I don't want to change anything.

Missy, from our ride on Tuesday.

The Tuesday before Christmas, I got to go out to the Tech Center and meet with the trainer/equestrian team leader to see if she thought Missy and I would go well together. It was a good ride and I really enjoyed getting the feel of L, the trainer at this barn. Missy was a sweetheart. Seriously, I'm holding my breath for when she decides to have a bad day. Such perfect manners and training. Her owner has done a very good job with her.
When I get back from vacation, I'll take an actual lesson on Missy with L. I would also like to see her go over a few fences, but her owner and I are 75% agreed on a partial lease for right now while I settle into school. I don't know that I would want to hold onto the lease for the long term but right now I think Missy is exactly what I need to really improve my own riding skills and gain some valuable confidence and experience.
2016 is almost here!  Whether we are ready or not.

December already?

Christmas is less than a week away.  Just throwing that out there.

With no proper internet access at my house, and I absolutely cannot stand to write on my phone, I'm now sitting in the mall, at Starbucks, trying to focus on writing this blog post, while trying not to think about all the bazillion other things I have to do this weekend. At least the coffee is good.

And my cat is cute. Yes, he sleeps like that.

Since this is primarily a horse blog, I will attempt to update you on what I have been doing lately.  

About a year ago, when I first started planning this move, I vaguely entertained the idea of leasing a horse, then decided not to because of wanting to move Lady with me, and so on and so forth. Keep that in mind.

Now that I have been here for nearly six weeks (how did that happen?) I can say that my perspective has changed on a lot of things. I focused on work for the first few weeks, then slowly got irritated with my life, really frustrated with a lot of things, etc, etc.  And I really really missed my horse.

During the first week of December, I decided on a whim to go visit some barns again. It didn't look like Lady was going to be joining me out here very soon (still doesn't look that way) so I figured I might as well start meeting people and trying to get into the horse world in some obscure way. Good plans, right?  Haha....

I hit up my favorite barn from the last time I visited barns and arranged a meetup lesson with the trainer who is going to go by Liz for right now.  I got to ride this lovely lesson pony named Mojo and we did about an hour of flatwork and getting-to-know-each-other-stuff. I had a blast, we got along really well, and I decided that this was awesome.

Mojo. Adorable, perpetually grumpy, gets lots of  kisses from me.

Immediately following this lesson, I decided that I was interested in a lease again. Tasting the horse world and riding again made me so happy!  So, of course, I hopped online and took a look around the horses for sale/lease in the area. Almost right away I ran across an ad for a lovely little TB mare up for lease. On a whim, I decided to text the owner and set up a time to meet this horse.

Last Sunday, I met R, the owner of Missy, the mare. She is at the Texas Tech barn, so different barn than I had started taking lessons at.  In order to have the lease, I would have to be in a lesson program at the barn, and would probably end up on the school's equestrian team. The horse, Missy, is a very sweet girl, and I really liked her. Her owner has done a fantastic job with her. I'm still trying to set up a lesson with the coach at the barn in order to find out if we're a good fit and if I could work things out with the team and so on.  That portion of things is still up in the air, so no answers for you!

Missy! Very pretty, well trained, easy to ride!

This last Tuesday, I had another lesson with Liz, again on Mojo. She started me over jumps, and suddenly I'm really addicted to it.  Somewhere near the end of the lesson, she mentioned that there was a horse on the property that I could probably ride and maybe even lease.  So after my lesson, we pulled this horse out and put him in the round pen so I could see him move.
Winston is a very handsome warmblood gelding that I instantly fell in love with. I've hacked him twice, taken him over some poles, and overall been very pleased and happy with him. Once again, the lease is being funny to work out, so I have no answers there either. But I really do like Winston, and if all works out, I will be leasing him and possibly showing on him in the spring.

Probably no answers or finalities until the new year, but there you have a basic overview of what I've been up to in the horse world.
If I don't get another post up before then, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Me and Winston.  Huge, handsome, perfection.