5 Day Challenge - Day 2

And here we go!

6) Favourite Equestrian Book and Movie

I have read several equestrian books from tips and tricks, how-to's, source books, novels, and kids stories.  For this question I'll just use my fiction novels since usually when I'm reaching for a book to chill out with, these are a guarantee to make me happy.  One of my favourite authors is Dick Francis.  The first book I read by him was Nerve and it is still one of my favourites.  Last year I was lucky enough that my then SO now Fiance got his hands on a signed first edition copy of another of my favourites, The Edge.

As for movies, I don't really have a favourite equestrian movie since a lot of the things they put in television and film when horses are involved drive me batty.  The whinnying, the snorting, the having to have the horses make noise... just brings me out of the fantasy land of movie magic.  One thing that I absolutely love watching are true histories of famous horses like Man'O'War or Big Ben.

7) Most Common Riding Misconception

Oh, the horse does ALL the work!  You're just sitting there!

Ahem.  No.

As the Fiance soon learned, riding is definitely an ACTIVE pursuit :)

Exhausted but TRIUMPHANT!

8) Two Strengths and One Weakness

Oh, this one is tough!  I guess one of my strengths is I absolutely LOVE riding banks and I do it rather well.  Up banks or drops, in and out of water, doesn't matter, I'll attack them.  I've jumped bigger banks (solid obstacles) than fences.  Another strength would be being able to learn something from any equestrian situation.  I love to learn and hear about how people train and spend time with their horses, whether it be natural horsemanship, your weekly lesson instructor, up to a former Olympic rider.  I'll take pieces from each person and apply it to what I'm doing with my horses.  Sometimes I won't even know I picked it up and someone will ask me how I learned how to do that, and it'll be from watching a reining demonstration or learning how to move cattle.

Out of the water at Evergreen Park

For weakness, I'll choose my biggest one - I'll forget that when I'm riding it's a partnership and start to be the "Commander".  This happened on our last ride where Koda was having issue with the "scary corner" and so my immediate reaction was "this is absolutely NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!!!" and turned the entire thing into a fight.  Which was absolutely ridiculous since if I had kept riding him through it, it would have turned into a nothing corner, but oh no, I had to go all Commander...  I'm catching myself more often and reminding myself that Koda is my partner more and more, but the big C will sometimes pop up!

9) Least Favourite Thing About Horses and/or Riding

As a lot of you have said, the cost!  No matter how you slice it, horses are pretty darn expensive.  But I love them :)

10) What Do You Feed Your Horse?

Hay of course!  Koda is on 24/7 hay (in hay bags), and pasture depending on the season.  If it gets really cold, he'll get a tiny scoop of alfalfa pellets, which I'll also use when we go away for competitions or clinics.

Always tasty!