From around 2002 to 2011, I wrote about nearly every single ride. It started as a few lines in my then-diary, then moved onto a word document and by around 2007 it was in blog format. I stopped doing that mostly because it felt like nothing really new was happening since I went back to school horses and it was becoming a chore.
However, it was never really public. I wasn’t really comfortable broadcasting that much especially since I don’t own any horses (I’m bad at making fake names…so I won’t do that unless I need to) and for some reason, I was worried that someone would get mad at me. Also at the time since I was on blogger/blogspot, I didn’t have the ability to make passworded posts.
But I like reading back. I smile with I think of the time that Tulla will not bend for the life of her. Or when Tony was super young and um….totally uncollected. Or some of my questionable rides on Dory (they existed) when I probably couldn’t get her to go or turn or anything like that.
I’m still not doing much. I’m a once per week lesson rider. I don’t jump (too chicken). I don’t trail ride (lack of trails at the moment – maybe in the future once I get further out of the city). I don’t really do dressage (lack of a suitable horse). I don’t show (way too expensive). I don’t lease (can’t afford it at the moment/lack of suitable horse). And I don’t own a friggin horse (waaaay out of my budget). I sometimes ride on my own but I need to work on being more productive with that..for some reason I’m always worried that I’ll overwork the horse and it just ends up being a glorified warm up (any horse…from 5 to 26).
So I’m not that good of a rider. I can’t handle any crazy, “not for beginner” horses. I didn’t last long jumping and probably only jumped about 2 feet. I have been riding school horses for almost all of my entire riding life (I do hope that will change in the next few years). I suck at lunging. I’ve been riding for over 10 years but I swear that anyone who has been in weekly lessons for a year or two instantly becomes a better rider than me. And on it goes. I feel like I don’t know much, that I didn’t do much.
But maybe that is the point. I LOVE riding blogs that the rider isn’t the greatest rider and she (face it, it’s usually a she) knows that. But there aren’t that many of those blogs. I too have wondered if there is a point doing something that I seem to suck at. But still without fail, I always manage to make it to my lesson, tacked up.
Most horse blogs are about one particular horse or a training journey towards some sort of real or relative greatness. But mine wouldn’t be. It will basically be the struggles of having limited resources in terms of money, talent (human…and maybe horse too) and such in an urban area. Of being some sort of perpetual beginner (some days worse than others). And always, always feeling out of the loop as it is always the case.
Maybe at some point that will change. Especially the stuck-in-the-city part. I’m hoping it will. Then it can turn into the blog of the Horse Lady Hermit…LOL. (Just kidding. I think.)
I don’t know. I probably won’t write every ride as it becomes too chore like. Like ugh now I have to write that down. I don’t want that relationship with my blog! It may not even be related to my actual ride much of the time. But I’m considering making a horse blog of a struggling rider. Share fun horsy things from across the web and the like, Maybe I’ll even be able to SEO the hell of it and it can get a bit of traffic…from other struggling and resource-limited riders. Ha! I’m still not sure if I should use the horses’ real (barn) names or not since they aren’t mine. I probably won’t use real people or stable names though. Almost all horse bloggers own their horse (or at least lease them) so it’s not a huge problem for them….but it is for me.
Hmm. We’ll see. I’ll announce it here if I do. Or I can get me out of the equation completely. Although then I need to find another niche. Ugh!