Endurance Riding

Well, my birthday couldn’t happen without a bang. The day before, while I was celebrating the last day of being 29 on the 29th, we had a pretty decent storm, which left enough snow on top of the barn roof to cause the panels to sag a little. In a panic, after only 3 hours […]

I first heard about Point Reyes National Seashore from a girlfriend of mine and for the last three years, I have been trying to plan a trip there. Point Reyes was on my bucket list titled “Places I Want to Ride Before I Die.” On Friday, February 17th, Jakob and I loaded Beauty and Asali […]

For the last several years, my life has been a whirlwind of school, kids, and managing a home with my husband, not to mention running my own non-profit in between and working part-time. Since my graduation from Chico State University on December 16th and getting through the holidays with limited chaos, I have had the […]

I was driving home today, listening to country music (yes, I admit I had Garth Brooks on), when I felt this overwhelming sense of defeat. I can’t tell you exactly where it came from or why I would even feel that way, but I had all these thoughts racing through my mind. I started beating […]

Two years ago, my mom adopted Donovan, a Tennessee Walker who had belonged to my girlfriend’s mother. I had promised Randi, moments before her death, that I would take care of her treasured horses, Donovan and Forest. While my mother had provided a wonderful home for Donovan over the last two years, she was no […]

It was only a few weeks ago that I first learned about Paddock Paradise. Jaime Jackson’s Paddock Paradise was inspired by wild horses and the way they live freely in a natural environment. “The premise of Paddock Paradise is to stimulate horses to behave and move naturally according to their instincts.” A Paddock Paradise encourages […]

Even before we moved into our new home, I began designing my “dream barn.” It was red, with four stalls and a tack room, automatic waterers and run-out paddocks. And it had one of those rooster wind vanes on top of the roof. As I started getting quotes for the concrete stem wall, the electricity […]

I was supposed to take my son, Jakob, to his first 25-mile ride a couple months ago. We had planned on riding the Fireworks 25, but one week before the ride, Beauty had a swollen eyelid (probably caused by an allergic reaction from a bee sting). After 3 days of Benadryl treatments, she was fine, […]

On Saturday, September 3rd, I rode the Camp Far West 50 Mile Endurance Ride on Asali. It turned out to be the ride where I finally learned what endurance is all about. The night before the ride, Asali and I rode our pre-ride with our friends, Kathryn and Madison. I rode Asali bareback, in a […]

It was late Thursday afternoon. Gary and I had just gotten back from Durham with a truckload of hay. As I was backing the truck up to the hay shed, I noticed Forest lying down in his paddock. I smiled, thinking he looked really comfortable resting in the shade. I continued backing the truck up […]