Although I
didn't grow up with horses, they're in my blood. My mom moved to Hawaii
at the age of ten when my grandfather, a meteorologist for the Air
Force, was stationed on the island of Oahu. She was an avid pony
clubber, competing in everything from western pleasure to 3-day
eventing. She moved to Missouri when she married my dad, where she
bought and trained a Quarter Horse by the name of Mr. Ranger Rick.
Although she sold him when I was born, we kept in touch with his new
family and some of my first rides were on his solid, steady back.
Growing
up, I begged, borrowed and stole rides wherever I could find them. I
showed in lots of local fun shows, ribboning in everything from halter
to English and Western Pleasure, with a lot of trail riding in between.
Although I had very few formal lessons, I spent every moment I could in a
barn - so it was no surprise to anyone when I spent every last dollar
of my graduation money on an 11 y/o OTTB named A.J.'s Steel (who I
promptly renamed Jack).
Calling
Jack "broke" would have been a generous leap - and in retrospect, it's
probably a miracle that neither of us died in my first year of
ownership. He was a stubborn, rude horse who had gotten away with murder
with his previous owners, and never had much training beyond his
initial track training. He spent 6 months in boot camp with my mom, and
then headed off to William Woods University with me, where I boarded him
near campus. Although I didn't ride in the WWU equestrian program, I
did get lots of help from my classmates, and Jack eventually turned into
a mediocre jumper. He never really got to a point where I would
consider him broke, but we did have a lot of fun, and he taught me
everything I needed to know about sticking in the saddle and being
prepared for anything!
During
my time at WWU, I met my Dear Husband (DH) Myles - although he took
some lessons and rode in the occasional show as a kid, he hadn't been
around horses in years. I promptly changed that, introducing him to Jack
and my second horse Jasper, a lovely NSH who had fallen on hard times.
With two horses, we decided keeping horses at home would be cheaper than
boarding, so we purchased 17 acres of pasture and proceeded to start
turning it (slowly) into a horse property, acquiring a nice gelding named Trigger for DH along the way.
The summer I
graduated from WWU, I had the opportunity to purchase two Iberian
mares, and my life was forever changed. Topaz and Tres opened up a whole new world for me, and I never
looked back. Both mares showed an affinity for dressage, so I retired my
jumping saddle and headed for the world of black and white - becoming a
dressage junkie along the way!
Currently,
I work in communications for a state agency - I'll never be rich (Missouri boasts the lowest paid state workers in the nation), but it
does offer me plenty of time off in the form of state holidays, and
generous vacation time (which I obviously spend on horse-related
activities). I keep my four horses at home, where my riding schedule is frequently dictated by Missouri's variable weather shenanigans.
The
name of the blog is entirely tongue-in-cheek, in case that wasn't
glaringly obvious - my farm colors are black and teal, so I jump at the
chance to outfit my girls in those colors at shows, clinics, and
everyday life. At a dressage schooling show a few years ago, the show manager
referred to me as dressage Barbie (my mare and I matched very nicely in
entirely teal and black attire) and the nickname seemed perfect for my
foray into the world of blogging.
Glad you commented on my blog because I'm going through yours and I LOVE it already! Definitely adding to my reading list. Look forward to learning more about you as I go. :)
ReplyDeleteAwww thank you! I'd been lurking for a bit but decided it was time to start commenting! I love all the long distance riding you do, and the great photos!
Delete