A Closing of the Dewey Chapter

I've been riding this horse named Dewey the whole year and we made a pretty good team. That's not to say there weren't the ups and downs. Dewey was a paint horse, but he didn't have spots. That meant the gene skipped him. He was silly, quirky, a little bit rotten, and very naughty. Despite this, I loved him. He went back yesterday. Of course, there was the emotional roller coaster. It's saying good bye to a best friend, to a teammate. On a tangent, horseback riding is a sport. It is very much a sport. And the horse is your teammate. We can communicate with them, very differently than you would communicate with a person, and that's what makes riding flow like magic.

Last lesson with Dewey, he's side stepping in this photo.

Back to Dewey, it was sad to see him go. I had been working with him for a full year, but I decided it wasn't going to work anymore. The rotten little horse that I came to love, did the wrong sport. He is a western pleasure horse. It's not his fault, and I tried for six straight months to fall in love with the sport, but it wasn't my thing. Just for a quick explanation for what western pleasure is, it's when you put a huge honking saddle on a horse (a western saddle), and make them look very pretty while you look like you know what you're doing. It's all about being slow and controlled and looking gorgeous at the same time. If you ever watch it, it looks like it's pointless, but let me tell you, it is hard as heck. But then again, what do I know. Dewey was a regional champion and he knew what he was doing. It was my job to sit on him, pretend I was as good as him, and win all the blue ribbons. Blue ribbons are first place.

Western Pleasure is a difficult task for the horse and rider, and many people have different views on western pleasure. This article is about what western pleasure is trying to complete.

Dewey warming up.

I event, and that's why I'm moving to Dare to Compare, or Gambit, as we call him. He's this guy.

The Mafia Horse, or Gambit, in the aisle.

Eventing is dressage, show jumping, and cross country. Dressage is like western pleasure, the goal is to make you and the horse look very pretty and relaxed. It's just faster paced. Show jumping is when you and your horse are in an arena with a specific height of jumps that someone conveniently dropped in the arena. They expect you to jump it. And of course because if you are the best at it, you get a blue ribbon. And winning is everything. Cross country is jumping but in a huge field, still in a course, but it's a race. Whoever doesn't fall, their horse doesn't bite the dust, they don't get lost, and they have the fastest time, they win.

Dewey rocked at dressage, but didn't quite take to show jumping and cross country. That's alright, he was afraid of heights. He wanted to keep all four feet on the ground. And I still love him for that. He went back yesterday, with a big, sad, tearful closing of a chapter, and I'm still very achy in the heart over him going back, but I'm prepared for a new chapter.

My favorite photo from my last photo shoot with Dewey.

Inspirational Internet Blogs

Let me welcome you to my world of riding the Mafia Horse (who really isn't a Mafia Horse) and my wonderful life of horses (well maybe not so fabulous, but horses are what throw some life into it). Welcome! My name is Pauline, and if you couldn't tell by my first sentence, I am a horse fanatic. Even though I have a huge love of horses, I'm not obsessed with them. Well actually, I don't know. I don't think I am. I'm not some sort of freak that my only thing in life is horses. Horses aren't the only thing that occupy my life; there's band and homework, too. And that's pretty much most of it.

Just for your information so you aren't totally confused, the Mafia Horse's show name is Dare to Compare, but we call him Gambit or the Mafia Horse.

I'll start myself out by showing you a few blogs that are my inspiration, or role models, for this blog.

The first one is: http://thingsilearnedfrommyhorse.blogspot.com/      

This blog is about a lady named Susan Schreyer and her funny little everyday adventures with her horses and what they teach her. She has some funny posts about relatable topics if you are in the horse world. Of course, you would find a blog like this boring as heck if you weren't into horses because there are some technical terms. Also, the humor is always relating to horses and what would be common sense to a rider. I find this stuff funny because I'm a geek about anything I get into, and this is one thing I am very in to. I hope I can make my blog enjoyable for you to read and not a bore.

Another blog I really like is called Bad Jumping Clinic with George Morris.:  http://www.horsenation.com/2013/09/13/bad-jumping-clinic-with-george-morris-5/

This series is written by a person who goes by the name of Wylie. They are called bad jumping clinics by George Morris, who is a very old professional horseback rider, who went by a lot of old tactics. Quite frankly, he seems very grumpy sometimes. I wouldn't blame him; he is old and trying to keep a sport the same when it is taking ten new pathways. It can be very frustrating, just like trying to explain the internet to grandparents. Wait, sorry, bad comparison.

Anyways, back to the blog. The blog is not written by George Morris, and it's where people submit a picture of them having a really bad fail while jumping, and a lucky three people will get chosen for that week to have their pictures very sarcastically criticized. Sounds like a blast, huh? Ironically, it's a very funny blog, especially to people who actually do the sport. I like the blog because it's well organized, has very funny pictures, and lots of wit poured into it.

Another website I enjoy is: http://horseeventphotography.wordpress.com/

This one is called Pics of You and it's just a blog where a horse photographer takes a lot of photos of people she knows or people at shows she goes to. This blog is a lot of fun for me just to scroll through all of the picture of the beautiful horses and their riders. When seeing some photos, I can store away what I want to look like sometime in my future of riding. This blog inspires me because there are plenty of pictures and descriptions for each ones. I also like it because it's not too technical.