As usual, we’ve arrived in Florida, and everything has gone a little sideways.

Everyone is fine, no calamities. But between a few Naughty Baby Squirrel moments and some rogue skin crud, it’s been a colorful week. My Young Rider student, Kristin, is here taking part in Robert Dover’s Horsemastership Week, and I’ve gotten to watch a little, as well as be in the presence of a large collection of teenage girls. It’s reminding me that a) I’m getting old, fast; but also b) kids have their own way of working through, and describing, their world.

Read the (hilarious) rest at The Chronicle of the Horse!

I came home from the National Finals and braced for impact. Two things happen to me every autumn: first, things slow down. People give their horses, and themselves, a break, and it means that I don’t teach as much; combine with the holidays, and my whole world hits the brakes.

It’s fun for a few days, but then I start to twitch, as idleness does not become me, but I’m so tired that it’s sort of frantic, directionless energy. And that’s usually when Thing Two happens: I get really, really sick.

But 2015 was different, for whatever reason. Things didn’t slow down. I got to teach some clinics in some incredibly cool places, and made wonderful new friends along the way. Thanks to an amazing client, I’ve got an opportunity to shop for a young horse for us to own together, so I travelled around meeting baby horses. And my clients kept riding, bolstered by a big group that are all in the Prix St. Georges 2016 Or Bust Club, as well as by unusually balmy Virginia winter weather.

Read the rest at The Chronicle of the Horse!

On Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in the warm and sunny concourse of the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park, charging my phone and killing time while I waited for Fender’s Prix St. Georges awards. This is the one thing I don’t love about the USDF Finals—it seems like no matter what I qualify for, it will be on Sunday afternoon, and a part of the 5 p.m. awards ceremony.

Fortunately, this was our third year here (and our third year in the same boat), so we’re pretty much professionals at it. After my ride, my working student, Daisy, and I ran off to lunch at the movies (we saw The Martian; it was fantastic), where I surreptitiously checked my phone every few rides to see if I stayed in the top 10, and that led me to the sitting, killing time.

I had to keep my eye on that scoreboard because Fender gave me the best 10 minutes of our career together… in the warm-up. It’s a struggle with any young, still-developing horse—how to make them fit without burning them out—but I’ve had another factor to consider over the last few months for Fender. That this is our last show together, before his new owner takes the reins. I wanted Fender to stay fresh and fun to the work, and not be too fit coming into winter.

Read the rest at The Chronicle of The Horse!

I LOVE the USDF Finals. This is our third trip here, and once the scary drive through the mountains of West Virginia is over, it’s just the best show. The Kentucky Horse Park is lovely. The staff running the show is an all-star team, hand picked from the country’s best. The decorations in the indoor arena are left over from the previous week’s National Horse Show, and it feels huge and prestigious and special.

So it’s worth extending our long competition season for, even though this time of year I’m at the tail end of about a month of wall-to-wall insanity, teaching clinics, riding a ton, starting a whole bunch of young horses on their changes (who all insisted on leaping around this week, making my back sore as hell, grumble), and just generally running around.

But I felt really good about both Ella (who qualified for the Grand Prix and Freestyle) and Fender (who qualified at Prix St. Georges and Intermediate I), and how they prepared for the show. So we were off!

Read all about the rest at The Chronicle of The Horse!