2021: Greatest Hits Edition

One of my favorite things about maintaining this little corner of the internet is how it serves as a thorough and comprehensive documented history of my horsey life since 2014. 

Sometimes it's hard to keep up, and there are definitely many many details that fall through the cracks, ultimately forgotten or lost in the passage of time haha. But, for better or worse, I usually get the big stuff captured (events, notable clinics, adventurous outings, etc) and indexed via my Events page. 

True story: you can scroll to the bottom of that page and work your way up to get a complete rundown of literally every major (and many minor!) horse event I've done with Charlie and Isabel since 2014. Fun memories, yo! 

So.... Rather than reinvent that particular wheel for 2021 with a down 'n dirty rehash of the year, here's the indexed greatest hits version, complete with links to the full posts!

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January 10 - Gymnastics Clinic @ Good to Go Farm

epic gymnastics clinic at Good To Go Farm. So. Many. Bounces. OMG.

March 7 - Arena XC Schooling @ Loch Moy Farm

that time i completely 'noped out' after driving all the way out to Loch Moy for a derby... ugh. got on and still jumped like 5 things so it kinda still counts tho?

May 1 - CT @ Thornridge Manor

1st Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 33.8% 

Stadium (max 2'11): clear

getting my shit together at Thornridge! would be a theme for the year ;)

May 5 - XC Clinic with Sally Cousins @ Shawan Downs

legit the only xc lesson we took all year, and it was a banger with Sally at Shawan Downs!

May 29 - MCTA Starter Trial @ Shawan Downs

W: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 33.3%
Stadium (max 2'11): clear
Cross Country (max 2'11): W

still 'noped out' at the actual Shawn Downs HT bc mental health is hard sometimes.... tho show jumping was lovely, hands down one of our best rounds of the year. if you click through to watch one video, this might be your best bet

June 6 - MDA Schooling Dressage Show
2019 USEF First Level Test 1 - 62.9%
2019 USEF First Level Test 2 - 62.3%

struttin around 1-1 and 1-2 at the MDA show!! yep, turns out he was a first level horse all along!

July 17 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
1st Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 36.7%
Stadium (max 2'11): clear

gettin into the groove with Thornridge CTs, these events were so good for my mental game

July 24 - Cross Derby @ Fair Hill

there goes charlie just casually blowing my mind at the Fair Hill derby <3 <3 yea yea i fell off at the ditch, but eh who cares when your horse is just gonna go jump around like that!

August 21 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
4th Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 31.7%
Stadium (max 2'11): 16 penalty pts

bein a good boy again back at Thornridge CT, even tho we kinda went bowling whoops... 

September 5 - Hunter Pace @ Tranquility Manor Farm

dressing up in wings for the tranquillity hunter pace bc obviously

September 12 - MDA Schooling Dressage Show @ OF
2019 USEF First Level Test 3 - 59.86%

ooooh we did 1-3 at the next MDA show too! fancy pony <3

September 18 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
3rd Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 32.6%
Stadium (max 2'11): 8 penalty pts

truly, it was the Summer of Thornridge lol

October 10 - MDHT Starter Trial @ Loch Moy
6th: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 35.5%
Stadium (max 2'11): clear
Cross Country (max 2'11): clear

did manage to squeak in one full 3 phase horse trial tho, at Loch Moy <3 i'm really glad we made this happen even tho i fully expect to still deal with some anxiety paralysis about bigger shows womp

October 30 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
1st Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 30.7%
Stadium (max 2'11): 4 penalty pts

halloween CTs are best CTs. ok let's be real, any CT is apparently my jam!

November 8 - Fall Hunter Trials @ Tranquillity Manor Farm

or any derby sorta thing -- like the hunter trials pairs class at Tranquillity!!

December 23 - XC Schooling @ Tranquillity Manor Farm

tho obvi we never get tired of fun low key xc schooling, finishing the year off at Tranquillity

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2021 was an important year for us, I think. Charlie was the healthiest and happiest he's been in the 5 years I've had the privilege of calling him mine. And I am proud of the work we did in solidifying our basics, while also staying true to the reasons why we do all this in the first place: to plain old have fun and enjoy this horsey life to the fullest!