Moving one hoof at a time

I am a life long learner.  I love to learn and love to grow as an educator, horsewoman, and rider.  I have my Wisconsin Horse Council Judge's Card, but I really feel as though I need more experiences to be a fair judge, so I have opted to decline paid requests and focus on Jr. Judging for the time being.  This decision has given me the opportunity to develop me eye and increase my speed in the show pen (no one likes to wait on a slow judge...and that I am right now!).   Another way I'm educating myself is working as a scribe for Dressage and Western Dressage Shows. While I currently don't make any money doing this, I've heard from some that you can earn money this way.  At this point, it's about education and moving toward my long term goal of passing my North American Western Dressage Judge Licensing  .   The actual work of a scribe is relatively easy to learn but does take some practice.  You do have to have the ability to concentrate and sit quie

While most of my posts won't be about this journey of mine into the equine industry, today I feel compelled to post about what I've been working on. I've got a space carved out in Google+, which is separate from my personal space.  If you're so inclined, check it out here .   I've got my space where folks can order oils set up here , however, I do not have a website set up yet specific to the equine side of things.  And, honestly, I'm not sure I'll put something together.  What do you think?  Is it necessary?  I'm still working on consultation forms and really hashing out my business plan.  What I know is that I need to carve a space in the industry which is very different than what is currently available in northern WI; which is why I have chosen the essential oil route.  Part of hashing that out is market research.  So, my dear readers, I invite you to complete this survey to help me with that part of my plan.   Please feel free to share the link wit

After a few weeks of planning, strategizing, and reflecting, I think I'm ready to make a pretty special announcement.  I've decided to take the leap and announce the opening of my business, The Essential Equine, where I'll be supporting horses and riders through the use of essential oils.   As I proceed through each stage of my business plan, more services will be offered.  However, at this time I'll only be offering essential oil services for the horse and rider.  I'll have oils available for sale, can provide your barn with demos, and am available to teach classes. Watch soon for the announcement of my website and newsletter!  I'm at the beginning stages of this endeavor and am really excited about what the future holds.  You can e-mail me here , if you'd like more information and remember to keep moving one hoof at a time!

As an equestrian, (ami at best) I've dabbled in a lot of things.  Trail riding.  Gaming.  Western pleasure.  4-H.  Obstacle courses.  It's been a pretty big variety for someone who (a) doesn't show in any breed shows, (b) isn't anywhere remotely near an equine professional, and (c) has a vast periods of life which didn't include horses.    I've been back in the horse world for nearly 6 years and now that I'm back and trying to carve out my niche, I've found there are a few topics I've become somewhat obsessed with.  I'll spend some time writing about these from time to time but I'll never really devote a ton of time to ALL of them. Today, however, I'd like to share my Dressage (and Western Dressage) aspirations with you.  These two disciplines (linked as they are, they are still separate) have captured my attention for a long enough period of time they are the disciplines I tend to hold affinity with. I've tried to figure out what

In my other life, I'm a bit of a failure.  I ended up quitting my Ph.D. because I couldn't pay for it (you can read about that here .) and I quite writing in a pretty successful blog (You can read it here , if you're so inclined), and before that I retired an even more successful blog, which not only connected me with friends I still have today, but connected me to the gal who ended up taking my fantastic wedding photos.  Sadly, you can't read that one because I DELETED it.  WTF was I thinking?  It is piece of "me" history and *poof* now it's gone! What I've learned along the way is that we all fail from time to time.  What makes some of us different is what happens after the failure.  I tend to spend a bit of time reflecting (hmmm, I shouldn't delete old blogs! or hmmm, Ph.D's are expensive.  Next time I'm going to have a better financial plan before I begin any sort of college course!) and then I figure out what I might try differ

My daughter (future farmer) is quite a spectacle to see in action.  This morning we went out to feed the horses and the first thing she wanted to do was use the hay nets as a hammock.  Then, when I got the bales in, she wanted to climb on them and swing.  All the while shouting, "Mom, this is TOTALLY AMAZING!"  She has a swing set/climber in the yard, but some how this is just way more fun to her.

Impetigo has hit my house and I am feeling both grossed out and bummed for my toddler.  I am now stuck at home for the next two days, which you'd think would be a good thing.  In fact one of my coworkers said, "Wow, now you can get caught up on all that paperwork you're behind on."  She obviously hasn't tried to get something super serious done with my toddler around.  Yes, I can get SOME done; but I won't get anywhere near caught up.  I live with the most energetic, inquisitive, person I have EVER met.  Considering I see energetic, inquisitive, children every day for work; this is saying a lot (I'm a child care teacher mentor/coach in Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships). My husband says to me, "Cool!  You can have some horsey time over the next two days!"  I'm going to try that out.  I figure hanging outside isn't going to hurt her and will help keep her mind off of the wound on her face.  If anything, one of the heard is goin

" Green on green makes black and blue, wouldn't ride that horse if I were you! " (Mary Ann Kennedy) If you haven't heard the song, check it out.  It's certainly is applicable when it comes to selling a horse.  I had a gal come look at the horse who I currently have for sale and she sounded so much more confident and experienced via e-mail than she actually was.  The more I spoke with her in person, the louder this song blared in my head. I was so thankful she brought someone with her because I could tell pretty quickly there was no way that she was going to be too successful with the green gelding I've got up for sale.  I've been pretty fourth right with folks (a.k.a. overly honest) when it comes to the horse in question (who is not, by the way, the one pictured above).  I want him to go to a good home, so I'm pretty clear that he is green and needs someone who is a confident, cool cucumber.  Based on the conversations we had via e-mail, I reall