A Decade of PONY'TUDE

It's wild that we're beginning a whole new decade, isn't it!? I've loved walking down memory lane with other friends and bloggers as they recap the last 10 years, and I wanted to share my past decade, too. Be forewarned, it's mostly ponies.

2010
I was two years out of college, working for the USEF in Gladstone, NJ and still firmly entrenched in that hunter/jumper life. I was taking weekly lessons and showing in the jumpers on the most fabulous thoroughbred in all the land, Shady:

I freakin' loved this horse. I'd jump anything on him! 

That November, however, my life changed forever. Dino came home with me after flunking out of college, and Michael and I got engaged on the same day. I had no idea what I was in for, but November 13, 2010 would change my entire life trajectory, and make this blog a reality!

First day back to work after Dino came home! If only the two of us knew what we were getting into...

2011
This was a big year! I started putting Dino back to work, and unearthed all of his various and sundry issues, including Cushing's, frequent tying-up, anhidrosis, copious hoof abscesses, and the inability to cope with frozen ground while barefoot, not to mention the incredible amount of mental and emotional baggage he brought with him. Oh, and I got married, moved, and started a new job.

This picture  makes me laugh so, so much. 

So young!

2012
My mom saw a flyer in the grocery store, and then a couple weeks later we took Max home! He was an absolute nightmare to train, but thankfully turned out to be the Best Dog Ever.  Dino started responding very positively to Pergolide, and I started jumping him more, including schooling 3'6 for the first time. We made our debut in the local puddle jumpers, and I, for the first time, enjoyed showing my very own horse.

2013
This was a rough year. I put a Big Nasty Stop on my pony, fell off a lot, killed both our confidence, and decided it was time for help. I went back to a former trainer for lessons, found Dr. Jenny Susser and the Riding With Confidence clinics, and really put some hard work into repairing my relationship with Dino, as well as my own psyche.

2014
This year I spent untold months dealing with the worst case of scratches ever, continued to ride as often as I could with Dr. Jenny, went XC schooling for the first time, played in the hunter ring again, started eventing, and bought a horse trailer. 2014 was the year I'd start to walk away from the hunters for good! Dino also had a bout of ulcers so bad it looked like colic, and we started riding with our first real eventing trainer.

2015
We completed our first full season as eventers in 2015, though not without a rollercoaster of emotions and failures as I attempted to find success at BN. Dino and I moved to Orchard Hill, which remains one of the best things I ever did for us. I forged incredible friendships, grew in confidence and maturity, and Dino and I strengthened our partnership by heading out into wide open spaces and new adventures on our own.

2016
This was a year of diving deep into eventing, and of re-setting goals, priorities, and the direction of our journey. We started working with a new trainer who turned out to be a wonderful friend and mentor, and did a clinic with Lainey Ashker, who was not a great fit for us, but opened my eyes to Dino's potential as an event horse. However, after some crashing and burning in both stadium and XC, I took a step back from eventing with Dino. We focused on hunter paces, dressage, and foxhunting, and I took Sully to a horse trial. We came back to eventing in the fall with great success.

2017
I spent a lot of time this year riding bareback, taking lessons, hunting, and riding other people's horses. I continued to work hard on my confidence over fences, showed a ton, and never stopped trying. 2017 was without a doubt our BEST eventing season yet. I stuck to the Elementary level, showed twice at Fair Hill, WON our first horse trial, and earned a year end award. It was a year of incredible growth, fun, hard work, and competition.  In the fall I also bought a house and started a new job, which conveniently coincided with Dino lacerating the heck out of himself.

2018
This was my "gap year" when it comes to riding. I spent most of my free time working on the house, and my longer commute to the barn meant Dino was on the backburner most of the time. I made the difficult decision in the fall to move him to my current barn, and we started getting back to work, this time with a renewed focus on dressage. I knew 2017 had been my last season eventing Dino, and I looked forward to this new venture in the hopes of preserving his longevity for as long as possible. We adopted and lost Lula, I finally got my silkie chickens, and I allowed myself to take a little step back from horses to deal with the rest of my life.

2019
This has been the year of dressage success! Dino and I dove headfirst into our new discipline, completing a full competitive season at First Level and winning 3rd in the local GMO's championship show at the end of the year. We made wonderful new friends at our new barn, started working with Ashley Madison over the summer, and Michael, Max and I welcomed Della into our family. I continued to take probably-too-many Instagram pictures and videos of my chickens, and tried not to feel too guilty for taking breaks from riding here and there. Oh, and I also adopted a pigeon named Steve.

Who knows what the Roaring 20's will bring?!