STFS blog hop: Why I Do What I Do

Thanks to Jenn for the great idea! (And all the great comments. She is seriously the best instagram follower of all time. Holla Jenn!)

Hunters?

I have loved reading though everyone's editions of this blog hop and learning about all of you, but I didn't think I could participate, because I don't really "do" anything. I don't have a trainer that I pay money to. I don't have a show that I'm aiming for. Hell, I've only been to one show this whole year and it was hardly a stunning success.





And then my favorite 900fbpony did a hop and I was like "Well, I'm not quite as scattered as she is," so here goes.

Courage and I are a bit between disciplines right now. The only thing he's 100% solid at is racing and he doesn't want to do that anymore.

And me?

Eventers?

I grew up in 4H, which is basically breed showing on mutt horses. I wasn't very good.

I transitioned over to eventing. I only ever took two XC lessons, didn't know what a trot set was, and couldn't afford to join USEA, so BN only. I was ok, not great.

Then I did some dressage. I was not the best at it, though I'd guess perennially riding green horses didn't help much.

I spent too long trying to get my wildly unsuitable mare going and killed all the confidence I had as a kid that made me a solid rider.

We had something special

And then I met Cuna, the eventing machine, and we were KICK ASS in the most kick-ass-ing-ist way possible.

And that was awesome.

But all Courage knows is he doesn't want to be a racehorse. We tried doing XC, but my heart is just not in it. It still scares me (thanks bitch mare) and without Cuna there to be my rock, there is just no point.

10 jump. Or something.

So I told Courage he was going to be a hunter. I told him his ideal event horse conformation was not a big deal and he would just show off his 10 jump and wow everyone in Kentucky at the Derby in a couple years.

Or you know, we could just do jumpers.

I like that idea. I like jumping. I like things that fall down. I like the idea of having more than one chance to win a ribbon. I like the idea that if I screw up, I don't have to wait til the next thousand dollar show to try again. (Srsly how do you eventers do it? So expensive.)

who knows. why pick?

But I like other things too. I love trail riding. I really do want to hit a mini endurance ride and see how it goes. Courage and I need to play with cows just for funsies/and/or win a belt buckle.

So yeah, we aren't really showing now because I think Courage needs more miles before we can be competitive and I don't feel like flinging down money to go suck at shows this year.

I do plan to get back in the ring next year (I know, the universe laughs) and maybe then we'll at least look like we have a discipline to define ourselves with. Until then, we're just having fun.

I'm ok with that.