Haiku Farm Blog Hop

Thank you to Aarene at Haiku Farm for the excellent content!

*  Introduce yourself!

I'm T (Teresa,  my friends call me T). I'm originally from the Vancouver area. Hint: TV producers would have you believe I was born in Storybrooke, Maine ;)  When I was 11, I managed to trade barn work for riding. By then we were living in a small town further up the coast, so I learned to ride in the backcountry with no real instruction. And, continued to strictly trail ride for many years.  As an adult with a bit more opportunity, I'm now trying to learn to ride "for real" !

*  Introduce your horse(s)!

Ginger, 9 year old 15.3hh Welsh D. I've owned her for just over 4 years.

Bridget, 7 year old 14.1hh Welsh D. She's been my buddy for 2 years.

I bought both pretty green, Bridget had 30 days driving training, Ginger had some ground work done. I started this blog as a way to document Gingers training.  Both now event and are good all around horses.

Bridget aka Midge

*  What's your favorite horse sport?  Do you cross train in other activities?

I'm at an eventing barn. I love eventing, but I love dressage equally. I still love hitting the trails as well, and we attend a few hunter/jumper shows throughout the year too.

*  Who else in your family rides?

No one! My parents truly thought I'd  grow out of it. I have a super supportive husband, G, who loves my horses and enjoys barn time even though he doesn't ride,  and an honorable mention goes to my step-dad who has happily fed the horses for me before.

*  What's your proudest equestrian accomplishment?

Honestly,  this is kind of cheesy, but just getting out there and having fun as an adult trying a new sport on my not overly suitable pony. Completing our first event with a decent score also made me very happy.

*  What was your lowest moment as a horse owner/rider?

I was given a starved foal, and just fell in love with him right from the start. He made an amazing recovery and I kept him for a number of years hoping he'd grow big enough to be my riding horse. It was a sad day when we all finally admitted his growth was always going to be quite stunted and he was never really going to fill out, nor be suited/stand up to much in the way of competitive horse sports. He's a kids trail horse now, so my sad moment turned into someone else's happy one. It still makes me really sad that someone let the poor guy nearly die and despite our best efforts left him with issues for life.

*  What's the most important small thing you ever learned in a lesson?

Reward even the smallest try.

*  Do you have any riding rituals or superstitions?

Nope.

*  What are your short term goals for yourself/your horse?

First level dressage this winter 60%+ Put in a really solid 2'6" round at schooling show next month, don't look like an idiot at 2'9"

*  Long term goals?

With Bridget: Novice 3 day at Rebecca Farm. PSG dressage.

*  If time and money were no object, what is your dream equestrian vacation?

One of those riding ones where you spend most of the day in the saddle travelling from place to place. I've seen interesting ones advertised in South America, but the UK would be neat too. Or anywhere, really.

*  What kind of horse activities were you doing 10 years ago?

I had the foal mentioned above and was doing a ton of trail riding, mostly getting babies out on the trail for a local barn owner.

*  What kind of horse activities do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?

Dressage. Maybe eventing. Definitely trail riding. Hopefully by then I'll be riding a Cardi baby.

I want him to be Ginger's baby daddy

*  What is the quirk about your horse that you like most

Bridget's really, really opinionated. I like it because she's quite intelligent so it's fun to check her take on things.
Ginger is super tuned into you and very sensitive. I like that,