Equestrian Lessons

Today, I'm going to explain some horsey type lingo that much of the general public are unaware of. Equestrianism is the art of riding a horse. the first thing to know is that there are many different disciplines within the equestrian sport. To begin with, there are two styles: English, and Western. Why isn't it English and, say, Swedish? Or Western and Northern? I don't know..but I do know the sport has been around for hundreds of years. Western is the style most people imagine when I mention riding horses. Cowboys, lassos, spiky spurs, galloping across plains..you get the picture. I can't stand western riding. Don't get me wrong, it's great for many people. But for my personal enjoyment, I stick with English. Now, within English type riding, there are many facets as well. Showjumping, XC, dressage, eventing, racing, and hunter/jumper, to name a few. I've always loved the thrill of jumping, but for now I'll stick to talking mainly about the sport I'm competitive in: Dressage. 
Dressage is dancing, sort of ballet on horseback. the word is of French origin, (though it was the Germans who were credited with the classical method of training). Most simply translated, dressage means "training." It would take much too long to go into the history here, so I will just say that watching dressage is to see horse and rider as one entity, the horse seemingly reading the rider's mind and literally dancing a choreographed test around the ring. 
There are 9 levels in dressage. We start at the most basic of all, Training Level, and those who excel the most make it up eventually to Grand Prix, in which we see the most complex and difficult moves a horse can perform.  It takes decades of blood, sweat and tears to reach Grand Prix level. 

pirouette/Grand Prix

I'm currently at the beginning of my dressage career, so I'm still learning fundamentals. But more about that later!

a continuation...

I am (obviously) new to the whole idea of blogging. I am at home for the Christmas holidays..in Maine where it is roughly 20 degrees, which is incidentally, roughly 50 DEGREES colder than where i live in southern California. Needless to say, this has me posted up in my room with a space heater set to highest temperature sitting maybe 3 inches (probably more like 2, if I'm honest) away from me, aimed directly at my feet. No, they're not burning, they're unthawing. 

living room at my dad's farm

I love the holidays, don't get me wrong. But keep me from riding for any length of time, and you're just asking for a moody, emotional wreck. I need my equine pals to keep me sane! Hey, don't judge me while you sit there reading this with your Venti skinny double vanilla latte wwith whipped cream (I think i made that up..that sounds quite good actually) from Starbucks. We all have our fixes, do we not? Mine just happens to come in the form of a grueling lesson on a half ton beast with a mind of its own. Anyhow, my point is, I'm 3,000 miles away from my trainers, and will have been for 2 weeks by the time i get back. However, family is always worth the sacrifice, am I right?

Xmas downtime

So, I feel like I should start at the beginning and go in chronological order of events until this very moment, at [way-too-earl]am on a Saturday morning in the middle of nowhere, Maine, so you guys could be all caught up on who I am, and what i do, bladda,bladi-blah. 
*gag*
can we say BORING?! Real life's not like that. Well, i stand (er, sit) corrected...life DOES in fact happen in chronological order. However, my point is, life's chaotic. Messy. Things happen, and we remembermoments randomly all throughout life. So I think instead, I'll start with the here and now, and let the mystery behind my current self lure you unsuspecting public into wanting to know more about me. 

I will tell you this: I am an equestrian, who through circumstances out of my control, rides with one hand (the other is still intact, just useless), and I've got my heart set on making the paralympic team in 3.5 years' time. It's a longshot they tell me, but that makes it all the more fun!My name is Elle, and this is my story.