Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Take A Ride On The FANCY PONY!

Please enjoy riding along with us on a cross-country schooling adventure!

Link: http://youtu.be/8Tofs2sPpzc

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

What To Eat At A Horse Show?

I felt compelled to cross-post this one...

I constantly wonder how I can eat better at a horse show.

My horse show fare used to look something like this:
Breakfast - Lamar's Donuts (it was kind of a tradition!)
Lunch - hotdog, chips, and pop from the concession stand
Dinner - wherever we went out to eat once the day was done...

Dehydration was a constant companion!

This did NOT support my performance!!

So, what do I do now? How can I eat better?

WATER!!
The first change I made was to fill a large water bottle, keep it near me at almost all times, and drink from it EVERY time I check my horse's water, head to warm up, or come out of a class.
If you have a groom, hand them your water bottle and give them explicit instruction: "Make sure I'm constantly drinking this water!"

I added HUMAN food planning to my show prep list. I mean, no one forgets hay and horse feed... But, I always ended up at the show grounds with nothing to nourish myself!

I started planning travel-friendly meals. For single-day shows, I'd make up a batch of breakfast burritos to share with the whole crew instead of buying donuts. They packed well in large, flat tupperware and retained heat long enough to get to the barn. I wraped them individually in papertowels to keep them from sticking together.

A power-breakfast was a great start for me!

I'd like to share my current meal-plan for eating away from home.
I am NOT a nutritionist (not yet, at least).
However, I strive for balanced nutrition and minimal processing. I know there are places I will fall short, and that's OK. I hope you get value from this meal plan!

THE MEALS
BREAKFAST:
Shakeology - with almond/coconut milk, ice, peanut butter, and spinach

SECOND BREAKFAST:
Banana
2 Hard-Boiled eggs
Cheddar cheese stick
Baby Carrots

LUNCH:
Veggie Wrap (with mixed greens, broccoli, and carrots)
or
Turkey Wrap (with mixed greens and cheese)

SNACK:
Diced Melon (or Strawberries, or Pineapple)
No-Bake Energy Bites

DINNER:
Grilled Chicken Salad

In my next post, I'll share my personal touches on each of the recipes and how I make them work for me!
What do you eat when you're away from home?
Please share with me in the comments!

Monday, July 20, 2015

Quick and Dirty

Stuffs is happening, and I'm not making the time I need to sit down and write!!

Baby Dax jumped 2'6" with A in their last lesson, and it was so lovely!  The were both looking confident and comfortable.  It makes me so excited!!

Saturday morning, we made plans to ride before the heat set in.  Instead, a thuderstorm moved in...
So, we bit the bullet and met at the barn anyway.  As soon as the storm cleared, we tacked up.  With the arena a mess, we just headed down the road to see what we could find!
We had the loveliest road ride and found some tracks that could work nicely for conditioning!
It rained on us at least twice, and Baby Dax and Fancy Pony were less than impressed when the rain was pelting in our faces while A and I said, "Carry on anyway!"

Plans were hatched for some endurance riding...

Pony Spa Day happened afterward, where we got rained on at least 3 more times while also experiencing a chunk of muggy heat somewhere in the middle.

Media from cross-country schooling has made it from the card to the computer and now must be edited so that it can be posted to the internet!
...bad blogger I am...

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The Short Story

Coach put us through our Paces over the weekend.
It was our first XC schooling since LAST YEAR!!

Seriously, where does the time go??

I knew as we went over our first jump that the Fancy Pony was ON.
She felt forward, brave, and biddable!  Not the slightest hesitation!
We ran through all the beginner novice stuff and only did a few novice jumps.  Coach wanted to be very careful not to undermine her confidence since she was doing so well.

We jumped some new jumps we had never seen before!  I just pointed and she went!  It felt.... EASY!

At the end of our practice, after we hopped over the BN stone wall, she was still feeling so incredible and full of steam.  I couldn't resist.  Coach wasn't there to ask, so I took it upon myself to circle around and take the Novice stone wall and call it a day.

Of course, the Brave Fancy Pony gobbled it up and kept on trucking - looking for the next challenge!

Sunday, we completed the Beginner Novice horse trial with some personal bests!
We brought home a hard won 6th place, and I couldn't be prouder!
double clean in stadium - could have cut the turns even more, if I'd wanted to...

Pictures, video, and gopro footage to come!!

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