A Story of Addiction, Dysfunction, Codependency… and Horses
I've competed before, up the yard, but never with my white jodhs on. The addition of them, for the first riding club competition of the year, seemed to make a huge difference to my attitude. Previously, I had simply rocked up in my usual whatever, but the degree of planning required to ferry the white …
Continue reading "A Competition Is Not 100% About The Competition"
A couple of weeks ago, after I turned Connell out following our Wednesday night hour, I stood around and watched while the rest of my lesson mates brought down their trusty steeds. It was hot, hot even if it wasn't Ireland, like the kind of hot you might find as normal anywhere else in the …
2017 was a wash-out regarding showjumping. I entered the three day event again, in the minis class, again, went clear in the cross country, crashed and burned in the showjumping, and crushed the dressage. I tried another round, later in the summer, and once again, no luck: couldn't even get round or stay on. In …
Here's Many Brave Fools in a nutshell! *** Keeping an Open Heart I was talking to a pal the other day, about a bunch of things that are going on for me at the moment, and in conclusion I said, 'Well, I'm keeping an open heart.' The thing is, I know I was going to say that …
I am delighted to have found this post, because in the intervening years, I've only gotten chattier with my mounts, and yes, I still do think it makes a difference to the way things go between myself and the horse. I remember one time Delilah (*sniff*) swung her head around and towards the stereo when …
Continue reading "‘That’s A Really Good Thing About You…’ [A Post from 2010]"
I had a hard time choosing just one post from 2009. It's interesting, because that's the year I spent (possibly wasted) writing the proposal for my horse book. Okay, not wasted, because the time I spent writing and re-writing it brought me to the true point of writing it at all. It wasn't about my …
Continue reading "Personal Growth Opportunity [A Post from 2009]"
'Maverick' figures largely in my book, which is based on many of the events I recorded on this blog. This is one of many crop posts — there's an entire category called The Crop Chronicles; none of those anecdotes made it into the final draft, but as I toy with ideas of what the next …
I went on a horseriding holiday very early on in my career, which, now that I look back, was fairly daring. I'd do one again in a heartbeat and while I have successfully pitched feature stories about cattle driving in Montana, I have yet to have a tour operator snap me up... This post is …
I reckoned something was wrong when she didn't turn around in her stable to come say hello. Delilah stood facing the back wall, and when she slowly swung her head around to look at me, she looked like there was a world of hurt in her eye. She picked up a hoof and put it …
At the Dublin Horse Show this past August, I saw a bee-yoo-ti-ful pair of jodh boots by Ariat, which had a good heel and a lovely rounded toe and a zip. Loved them at first sight; at second sight, after a fumble for the specs and a discovery of the price tag — €279 {!} …
