After succeeding in endurance riding early on, I hit a 7-year wall of failure. I never gave up the idea that I’d ever ride endurance again ~ but I did give up the idea that of course I would. I let myself consider a life in which I just rode. Here’s why I nearly gave up…and why I chose to endure.
I signed up for the 2023 Wilson Creek Frozen Trail Runs on a whim. It was November, well within the discounted entry fee window, and January 21 was a long time away. I mean, sure, it would be cold on race day, but who doesn’t like a bit of challenge? To be clear, I signed …
Race Report: An Endurance Rider on the Run at Wilson Creek Frozen Read More »
Horse training is a lifelong journey. I’m not an elite horse trainer, but I can adopt the characteristics of one. Here’s what that looks like in real life.
What would happen if we average equestrians applied the habits of professional athletes to our own cross-training?
Explore the key habits, choices, and beliefs of an elite equestrian endurance rider (even if you aren’t one).
We love our retired horses, but it can be hard to spend meaningful time with them. Here’s how I found shared purpose with my retired endurance horse.
A little girl lives a quarter mile up my road, on a three-acre plot with a battered farmhouse and tumbledown fence. She runs to the mailbox when I ride by, and she calls me “Highness” when she thinks I cannot hear. It is embarrassing, but sweet. I have not been an adult too long to …
I didn’t consider myself an athlete until I was nearly thirty…and even then, I questioned my qualifications. What makes an equestrian an athlete?
Friday, September 3, 2021. In the forest near Centerville, Idaho. Early. Breakfast goes down on a queasy stomach. I slept some, between long bouts of tossing and turning. I’m not super nervous ~ Ledger has good training, I know these trails, and we’re only going 25 miles ~ but first rides are first rides, and …
A Knight’s Tale: Ledger’s First Ride at Old Selam Read More »
Alrighty, then. Having survived Day 1, Ledger and I donned our tights and tack for Saturday’s LD. I’d made a tentative plan to ride with friends from the day before ~ the ones with the young Arab and the adorable mule ~ having first extracted a promise that they wouldn’t wait around for me if …