Blog Hop: Location, Location, Location

I stole this  blog hop from "A soft spot for stars." I am always amazed at what is needed to own a horse depending on location. So here goes!


My horses and I are located right smack dab in the middle of the country; Kansas! Now, many think of Kansas as a state they hate to drive through because it is ugly and boring. But I call it home, and I LOVE it here. I have no plans to move anywhere else. There are many farms, and many other people own enough land to at least keep their horses at home. That being said, there are still the few larger boarding barns in the "big" cities!

• Trim: $25-$35 depending on who you use

• Shoes: $50-75 for front shoes. $80-120 for all around

• Average cost of a month of full training: : If training includes board the average is about $750-900

• Average monthly pasture board: $150-$275

• Average monthly stall board: $450 if there is an indoor arena. $300-350 if not

• Hay:

• Round bale - It depends... $60 for brome, $30-40 for prairie

• Square bales - Brome is about $7 a bale, Prairie is $5. I feed brome most of the time.

• Mountain Views? : What!? HAHAHA! No

• Weather? - Summers tend to stay in the upper 80's and 90's, but some summers can stay around the 100 degree mark for weeks. We also have very high humidity some summers which makes for extremely miserable days. Winters can be mild with upper 30's/lower 40's, with the occasional below 0 day. There is no normal with snowfall, one year we will get 30 inches, the next we get 2. Spring can be very wet, and of course we do have to deal with the threat of severe storms or maybe even the tornado threat. But the temperatures are usually very nice. Fall... we tend to go from summer to winter with what feels like three days of fall. This year however, we have had a GREAT fall in the 60's and 70's. I loved that.

• Riding demographic for the area?  - The vast majority is western and trail. Three hours north or south and you can find some large english barns. There are NO tack stores within three hours (other than Atwoods, for a western saddle pad or something.) 

• Other notes? - Lots of hunting here, so our horses are used to it. There are also always wild animals running around, so my horses are not really afraid of deer. Even the barn I work at, which is smack dab in the middle of the city, always has deer or coyotes running around. I love Kansas because it is so open, the very reason a lot of people do not like it. I LOVE to be able to go ride on a 10,000 acre ranch and be able to see for miles when I get up on a large hill, it's amazing to see no roads, buildings or any other sign of what humans have done to the world.... I wouldn't trade it for the world. And just because it is known as the flat state doesn't mean there aren't great places to ride!

Frustrating things about your area?

• My biggest issue? I am an English rider in a Western dominated area. But that's okay! Even though it can be a challenge you can find a good trainer. It has given me the oppurtunity to branch out and learn how to ride disciplines that I probably never would have otherwise. 
• No tack stores... I always love how tack stores have special sales, etc.. With the closest English Tack store being 4 hours away I just make the most of it when I can get there!

Since I can't seem to keep up with my blog at all I figured I would get myself motivated by joining this blog hop, which was started by Aarene over at Haiku Farm.

Here's the directions:

Answer the questions (below) on your own blog, and leave a link to that post in the comments here.
In your post, invite readers to answer the questions on THEIR blogs, and link those blogs to yours AND to here.
Let's see how far this can travel!
Pictures!  Let's see lots of pictures of people and horses!

*  Introduce yourself!

*  Introduce your horse(s)!

*  What's your favorite horse sport?  Do you cross train in other activities?

*  Who else in your family rides?

*  What's your proudest equestrian accomplishment?

*  What was your lowest moment as a horse owner/rider?

*  What's the most important small thing you ever learned in a lesson?

*  Do you have any riding rituals or superstitions?

*  What are your short term goals for yourself/your horse?

*  Long term goals?

*  If time and money were no object, what is your dream equestrian vacation?

*  What kind of horse activities were you doing 10 years ago?

*  What kind of horse activities do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?

*  What is the quirk about your horse that you like most?

Introduce yourself!
The short version? I am a 23 year old  who works with horses and kids all day, every day. I love my job and enjoy doing it, but it does cause me some extra stress! I live in the great plains and LOVE it, even though so many would rather live in the mountains or by the ocean. 
Introduce your horses!
I own 2 horses and my sister little guy lives with them. I own two mares, both of them are chestnuts which I laugh about now. I always swore I would never own another chestnut, but here I am!

Addie is my 18 year old OTTB mare. We did some eventing in the past, but a neighbors dog ruined her chance to ever jump again. I hope that she will be 100% sound again one day, but at this point we can do some walk/trot dressage work. She is by far my most expensive horse, and I do what I can to make her comfortable. Her early years weren't the best and even if she is a pasture puff she will be with me for the rest of her life. 

Pepsi (Fancy Time Chic) is my 10 year old AQHA mare. Addie is a great mare but has never been great for a relaxed trail ride, so I wanted a horse that I could have a nice relaxing ride with some friends. I swore it wouldn't be another chestnut mare... but you know how it goes! I love this horse. She is willing to do just about anything, and I have learned so much from her. 

Java is really my sisters horse, but I ride him more than she does due to his tendency to be quite... fresh. Java is a Hackney Pony cross around 7 years old. I have no idea what his past was like, the people we got him from tried to use him for their 5 year old. He was not broke at all and they pretty much gave him away. Java is a spitfire, but he is a blast. I wish I had more time to bring out his full potential, but I hope to someday show him!

What's your favorite horse sport? Do you cross train in other activities?

I have always had a great love for dressage. I think it's an amazing sport and I think it will always be my favorite riding style. Of course, I also enjoy jumping. 

I work at a barn that is almost solely western pleasure and hunt seat pleasure horses. It has been a huge challenge for me to get used to, they are almost all spur broke, which goes against all that I have ever been taught. The riding style is also different. I showed a season with them, and while I really enjoyed it, but I have recently gotten back into dressage and I still think the others do not compare!

Who else in your family rides?

My sister rides occasionally, but not as often as I am sure she would like. My mom used to ride with her mother when she was younger, but doesn't really ride anymore. My dad has never even liked horses. 

What's your proudest equestrian accomplishment?

I tend to be proud of even the smallest of accomplishments, but I think my favorite was last year. I showed a palomino from work in halter, and hunt seat pleasure, I have never shown either before and it caused me a lot of anxiety. He is a halter horse, not really built for riding and was so lazy and explosive that I really struggled at first. By a couple of shows in we really hit our nitch! We ended the year with high point in AQHA and Palomino Halter, Hunt Seat Pleasure Senior horse, AQHA and Palomino, and did well in most other events. I think I was so proud of him, just because I know how challenging it was for him to work correctly even a little. 

What is your lowest moment as a horse owner/rider?

I always hate when I get super frustrated with a horse. But I think the one on my mind right now is a situation at work. We have a really nice 11 year old AQHA that has such a great mind. He began showing lameness late spring and we were unable to really pinpoint where it was coming from. Months later, MANY vet visits (numerous vets) and we are still unable to find the exact cause. He is arthritic in his neck, fetlocks, and hocks and he has graduated to powder puff for the time being. I am sure that he will not be comfortable even in pasture forever. I feel like I haven't done enough for him, even though I know this isn't true... that really sucked. 

He is sooo handsome!

What is the most important small thing you learned in a lesson?

Oh boy... I have learned so much that I think of as important that this is a challenge for me. I think the one thing I think has impacted me the most is the lesson I learned about my own mindset. I used to get so frustrated if things did not go the way I though they should. It took me a long time to just go with the flow and to know when it was time to just get off. 

Do you have any riding rituals or superstitions?

No, not really. 

What are your short term goals for your horse/ you?

My main goal for myself right now is to take a couple of lessons to get my excitement about riding up again. My goal for Addie is to get her going well enough that she can doing even training level Dressage again. (She used to be doing well thrid level, but I do not expect this at all.) Pepsi... I want to get her carrying herself better undersaddle, and wouldn't mind doing some low level showing with her and Java!

Long Term goals?

I want to own my own horse property, and be showing at least one of my horses at least first level. 

If time and money were no object, what is your dream horse vacation?

I am a homebody... my dream vacation would be time off to ride my own horses!

What kind of horse activities were you doing 10 years ago?

I was taking lessons twice a week, and riding my own horses a whole lot more than I do now!

What kind of horse actitivites do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?

I hope to just be happy with my horses, but I would be so happy to own a horse I can show again without worrying about lameness. I would also love to be working with horses more often than I do now to help afford my own!

What is the quirk about your horse that you like the most?

I love that Pepsi is so people oriented, she sticks her nose out for kisses, and sticks her head on your shoulder. Java has an awful head toss out in the pasture... he does it when you lunge him and he doesn't like what he is being asked to do. I think it is hilarious.