Bio

I am Jeannette and this is a blog I've been dreaming up for a few months now. After a brief 6 year hiatus (my parents were banking on it being a complete retirement) I have driven head first back into the world of horses. While kicking myself for letting my emotional horsey scars keep me away for so long, I have picked back up this bank account draining hobby at, what I feel, is probably the most oportune time in my life.

WARNING: If you do not care about where I come from and are only interested in where I'm going, please don't read this next part. I wouldn't want to run the risk of sounding boring or whiney! I'll let you know when you can start reading again. ;)

Briefly, I come from a hunter/jumper background. I started riding as soon as I could afford lessons which was about 13-14 years old (thanks all you babysitting clients!). I was lucky, or not, to live in a very well-off community. This has nothing to do with my parents giving me whatever I wanted, it just means there were fantastic barns in my area, that also cost an arm, a leg, and your first born child to ride/train at.

After a few years of riding I got the itch. Not that I hadn't had it before, but I was SO ready for my first horse. I was 16 years old and working my butt off 40+ hours a week as a lifeguard (don't worry parents! I was homeschooled!). My parents were completely against it but I guess my philosophy was that if I annoyed them long enough they'd give in. It KIND OF worked. I leased Samson, a 9y/o OTTB and bought him a few months later.

He was everything every little girl dreamed of and parents were afraid of. He was HUGE, 17.1. He had the shiniest bay coat I had ever seen, and he USED TO BE A RACEHORSE!!!! I had to ride him in a gag bit so I could eventually get him to stop, I wasn't allowed to ride him in lessons because he thought every horse in front of him was challenging his speed, and when I finally did get to ride him in lessons we were walking cavalettis because he would jump them 6 feet high and take off running afterwards. Needless to say it was love at first sight.

He took me far. We competed in every show we could get our hands on and I only fell off at one of them. We were best buddies. But then college came and without warning he was given away. I tried again when I went to school, exercise riding horses at several barns, even buying a little OTTB mare who hated my guts completely. When my dad gave her away too I was heartbroken and completely gave up.

START READING AGAIN!!!

So here we are today! Back into horses. My new goal is to become an eventer. I know there will be ups and downs (more downs than ups with the horses I've got now). I'd like my small accomplishments and gigantic failures to make someone laugh so that my crying is hidden in the background.

To start you off laughing the right way about my eventing dreams, I board at an almost 100% western barn that has no jumps. None. Zero. My eventing propsects are a 5 yr old 16.3 OTTB with splay feet and a 9 year old 14.2 Morgan with mental issues that would blow your mind.

This is our journey!