My Hobbies

Horseback

Riding and being around horses started very young for me because my paternal grandma owned herself a horse barn. She had many many horses and many of the buildings were built by my dad and his father. All of my older sisters would ride at the stables, but in the end it was my middle sister who stuck through with it the whole time to now having her own stables and horses

Blue and I

Me(17) riding Blue in an indoor arena.

November 2022

Western Riding

I grew up using primarily western saddles due to them being easily to teach children with, but focused on English reign work. I have dabbled in western riding primarily with another aunt of mine when I have been trail riding on her horses.

More specifically, western riding focuses on having long, loose reigns while using your legs and seat to primarily communicate with the horse so that your hands can be far more free. With the western saddle you sit back and it is meant far more for comfort and to support you. With this discipline it can be easier for riders to get too comfortable and reliant on the saddle to support them and their balance.

Western Saddle Support

My sister’s kid(<1) in a helmet being held on top of Blue for a picture as she holds onto the horn of the Western saddle for added support.

English Riding

This has always been my focus when riding horses. It is the primary discipline of riding that I’ve used my whole life.

English riding as a discipline is focused far more on balancing in your seat and with your reigns they are usually tightened up more with an importance for your hands to be soft and understanding to the horse’s mouth. This does not rid the rider of the usage of their seat and legs and in fact the better you get at English riding it’s expected that you are communicating from just your seat and legs with far less contact is put onto the mouth.

In this discipline it’s more likely for riders to be harsh on the head and mouth of the horse. In the end, similar to full stack developing, it makes a better rider to learn both disciplines thoroughly.

English Saddles on a Trail

Group trail ride during hunting season in our English saddles.

Fall 2022

Dressage

The focus of my grandma’s barn was always competitive dressage and my sisters and I each competed in competitions for it. Even now my sister continues to compete and work with her horses in and out of the show ring on dressage.

My first show that I competed in was when I was about 7 years old and my middle sister lead me around for the leadline class. Leadline dressage is an introductory way to get kids interested in learning and showing off their skills that they’ve learned so far for dressage.

Left to right:
Chris(7?), Amanda(15?), Alex(16?).
Foreground left to right:
Alex(16?), Chris(7?).

Show Preparations

Amanda shortening the stirrups on my saddle to fit the length of my legs while I spoke to Alex and she held onto the horse.

Show Ribbon

Alex and I after they leadline class at a Dressage show posing with my participation ribbon award.


More recently I have gotten back into horseback riding and participated in 2 schooling shows hosted at my sister’s barn.

Blue and I Warming Up

Warming up with Blue before one
of our dressage tests.
October 2022

Frank and I

Me the night before with Frankie. This was after my first ever time riding this horse and deciding that I would do my entries with her in the show instead of the original horse we planned on me working with.
September 2023