Little Victories: Panda and Riding Goals

Everyone has different goals when riding whether its just becoming more comfortable on a horse or showing in the AO’s. In more recent years I’ve been struggling with the what-ifs of riding; What if I fall off? What if I miss the distance? It took a little while for me to find my happy place again after taking a 2 year break from riding when I was first starting in optometry school. 

Who couldn't love this face

Ocho was a great horse to give me confidence on and start jumping bigger (for me) courses on. He would never stop and was very athletic and scopey, so I didn’t have to worry as much about the 'what-if' I miss the distance. I feel like he sort of clicked and I learned so much about the finesse and strategy of riding from him.

After I finished school and moved back home I started taking lessons after taking six months off of riding to complete my rotations. I had my confidence shaken once or twice trying to find a barn and new horse to start riding, but then I found Panda.

 She's a sweet mare and dead honest to boot. Panda is a smaller horse than I was used to riding but though she is small, she is mighty. It took a month or two to really click but now everything has fallen into place and our last bunch of lessons have been really productive and fun.

This used to be one of my 'Jesus take the wheel' fences, but recently it hasn't posed us a single problem

We're going to start showing this summer and I can't wait, she's all business on show day and really well behaved. This is perfect for me because I'm able to focus on what I want to work on with out having to worry at all about how she'll be. I've already gained all of my confidence back and she's really good at pointing out what areas I needed to improve in.

We even jumped a bunch of swedish oxers

Now I worry less about the 'what-ifs' and I don't find myself doing so much second guessing. Instead of taking last minute flyers, I'm closing my leg and moving up from a couple strides out instead of the last two or three strides. This alone has decreased my 'what-if' anxiety and I finally feel like I'm ready to start increasing the fence height.  I'll post pictures from our next show which may be as soon as this weekend but until then, here are some more pictures of us from the last week or two.

This is one of my favorite pictures from last weeks lesson

Product Review: Haas Horse Hair Grooming Brushes

I hate to admit it, but I've gone to the dark side: I've become a brush snob. My whole life I've used the standard no-name brushes you can find in any tack shop but the natural fiber brushes I've switched over to make such a difference.

I've been using these brushes for a while now after biting the bullet and buying my first two but it's the newest one I find myself being shocked by. 

1. Haas Schimmel Brush is made of dense coconut fibers and is the first brush I use after currying. I'm continuously shocked at the amount of dirt that it picks up (notice I said "picks up" and not "pushes around"). The large particles of dirt and grime are lifted off and carried away with this brush, leaving a much cleaner coat that I had with my synthetic brushes. I use a metal curry as I go to clean out the brush and am constantly shocked at the amount of dirt I find there. This one gets an A+ in my book and is a steal at only $14.95.

 2. Hass Lippizaner Brush is more of a medium body brush. The horse hair bristles are dense with slightly longer bristles around the edge to lift off particles of dust. This brush is not as heavy duty of a brush as the schimmel, and while it is a body brush you'd have to really work to get stains or muck off. I consider it more of a secondary body brush, one that removes dirt and dust, but not one to be used directly after currying (note: I did test these brushes during shedding season. That being said if you don't have a horse that likes to get muddy or one that has a finer coat, this body brush would probably be fine as a stand alone body brush). Because this brush is made of hose hair bristles, I noticed more hairs tend to get stuck in this brush than compared to the Schimmel brush. I clean both with a metal curry as I use them, I just have to clean this one a little more frequently. I still like the way this cleans and I think I'll be more than happy with it once the horses summer coats have fully come in, B+ and it retails for $29.95.

3. Haas Kopfburste Face Brush is the perfect size and density for cleaning the horses face. It's dense and firm enough to clean thoroughly but soft enough where you don't have to worry about it being too harsh. It fits perfectly in my hand and has an elastic band to keep it secure and in place. Love this brush, A+, $16.95.

4. Haas Noir Soft Brush this is the perfect soft brush for finishing touches. It removes any fine layer of dust to leave the coat looking healthy and shining. Great soft brush, A, $24.94 for a large size.

I feel like my new brushing routine really gets the horse much cleaner than when I was using synthetic brushes. I'm not using crutches like show sheen or rags to get the shine I was always looking for, these brushes do such a great job of naturally cleaning the horses coat. I can't wait to slowly upgrade all of my brushes, especially after seeing the Diva Exclusive in person, so plush!

P.S. I'm thinking of doing a video showing the different brushes, I just have to set aside some barn time to do it