Liebster Award

I have been given the Liebster Award by three different bloggers, and although I have over 200 followers, I will accept it graciously! Thank you! I am home sick today from work so I can catch up on all this stuff.

HOW TO ACCEPT THE AWARD: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognize blogs who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German word that means beloved and valued. Here are the rules for accepting the award:

- Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.
- List 11 random facts about yourself.
- Answer the 11 questions given to you.
- Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.
- Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate and include links to their blogs.
- Go to each blogger’s page and let them know you have nominated them.


The bloggers who gave me this award are:

Amanda from Love Me in Focus
Amanda and I have been friends for a long time. I was so thrilled for her when she got her horse, Image, and now that they are going through some very tough times together, I just wish her the best and hope she knows she can call me anytime she needs something!

Lauren from My Life with Charlie
Lauren, as most of you know, leased Lucy for a few years before buying her first horse, Charlie. She recently moved Charlie to my barn and every day is like one big happy reunion! I love it.

Stampy and the Brain
Great photos, two beautiful ponies, and helpful tips and videos! This is a great blog.

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11 Random Facts about Moi:

1) I love ketchup. LOVE.
2) I prefer to sit in silence and read than have the television or other filler noise on in the background. Kenny, on the other hand, likes to do really annoying things like "fall asleep to the TV". Marriage is all about compromise, BLAH!
3) I really need a vacation. I'd like to go to Australia, Bora Bora, or San Francisco.
4) I've only had one automatic transmission car in my life, and it was sooooo boring. I am totally a manual transmission fan.
5) The barn is 1000x more organized than my house.
6) Not gonna lie, I love getting checked out when I'm driving Kenny's truck around.
7) My American passport has my married surname on it, while my British passport still has my maiden name on it, which means I cannot use that to travel.
8) My favourite meal is anything with lobster. Lobstah!!!
9) Out of all the artsy stuff I do, I love tattoo designs the most. I mean, what could be more flattering than someone wanting your art on them permanently for the rest of their lives?!
10) A major pet peeve of mine is when someone, ahemKenny, throws his dirty laundry right NEXT to the laundry basket, but not IN the laundry basket. Drives me insane!
11) I really kind of suck at cooking, but I can usually come up with something delicious when baking.


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So part of the Liebster Award is answering questions given by the person who nominated you. Here are the questions:

From Amanda:

1) Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging as a way to keep track of Lucy's training. For a long time, I had zero followers! None of my friends kept blogs, and very few people seemed to care about the minute details like, "today I didn't fall off! It was awesome!" As time went on, though, I finally got some followers. I remember the first time someone left a comment. I was SO excited!! And look at me now. I've had people come up to me on numerous occasions and introduce themselves to me because they "know" me and Lucy through this blog. I guess that means we're famous?

2) If you could be anyone for a day, who would you be?

I would like to be George Morris for a day. I would like to adopt his strange accent and I would like to download his massive archive of horsey knowledge into my brain. All in one day. I guess I'd need some pretty fast download speeds.

3) You have just won the lottery. What is the absolute first thing you do once you find out?

Probably play hookie from work and go to the beach! I am a contractor and don't get any paid time off, so I never allow myself a day off of work! It sucks!

4) How old were you when you saw your first horse?

Probably three years old. I was born in Hong Kong and lived there until I was three. I don't think there were many horses in Hong Kong, but there were lots of them in England, which is where we moved to!

5) What is your biggest horse related fear?

I really, really hate getting stepped on. This has happened a few times in the past couple years or so. Once at my last barn, where two horses spooked from behind me and knocked me over, then ran over me. After that, I thought every horse was going to run me over. And the second time, I was riding a friends horse. He bucked me off and then stepped on my leg. I have a primary fear of being crushed and seeing a big horse doing the macarena above you is just about the worse feeling. I can feel my blood pressure rising just typing about it!

6) Do you participate in sports outside of the horse world?

Yes, drunken baking.

7) What song would be played first on the soundtrack for your life?

Probably "Born to be Wild", although that's not a great answer because I actually lead a very straight-edge life.

8) Do you consider yourself a lucky person?

Yes because my horse has not killed me yet.

9) What is one thing you'd change about your current horse?

Ermmm....I'd love her to be a gelding. And not broken.

10) What kind of car do you drive? What kind of car do you WISH you drove?

I drive a 2012 Subaru Legacy, bright fire-engine red. I have always wanted a Mini Cooper S, Chili Pepper Red with the white racing stripes. Six speed, obvs.

11) Who is your go-to person when you need horse related advice?

I have a few really knowledgeable friends who put up with my obsessive compulsive whining about random stuff. Maddy is ALWAYS there to talk me off the ledge, or take Lucy for me before I sell her to the glue factory.


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From Lauren:

1) What was your favorite horsey book as a child?

Misty of Chincoteague! DUH! ;)

2) Where is the farthest away from home you've ever traveled?

I never really had a "home" base as a child because I grew up in three different countries.

3) Have you ever been on a horsey vacation? If so where? If not, where would be your #1 pick?

No, but I do try to ride whenever I go to England. I love riding over there. Here they are like, oh, jeez, I don't know if you're ready to jump 2'6" yet, you've only been jumping 2'3" for two years! There they are like, go jump that 4' brush jump! Just hang on, you'll be fine!

4) JT or JTT (and if you don't know what I'm referring to, I am very disappointed)?

JT's voice with JTT's face...but not his face now, his face like ten years ago.

5) How did you come to meet your current horse?

Ahhh this is kind of a long story, I believe I did a post about it when I first started the blog, but basically the first time I met her, she was not for sale. I was out at the farm her owners kept their other horse at to photograph him, and when we were done they said, hey do you want to meet our baby racehorse? and it was Lucy.

6) Why did you start blogging?

See answer to question 1 of Amanda's questions

7) What is your guilty pleasure TV show?

THE BACHELORETTE.

Ok now delete that info from your memory, please.

8) If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Flying. So that I don't have to hit the ground when Lucy bucks me off. Oh, and I can catch up with her when she leaves me out in the middle of the woods. God she is a brat!

9) Favorite Queen song?

The Bicycle Song

10) Beer or wine?

Vino!

11) If you could have any breed of dog what would it be?

I just love Whippets! They are so cute.

12) What was the name of the first horse/pony you ever rode?

No idea, I was three years old and too busy pulling the pony's face off to think about what its name was! Poor thing!


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From Stampy and the Brain:

1) Favorite horse related memory?

I rode this awesome Appendix QH when I was a young teenager. His name was Arthur. He taught me how to have FUN on a horse. I'd take him out galloping and just feeling that wind whipping in my hair was like crack. I could not get enough and if I hadn't been hooked on horses before him, I was certainly addicted afterward!

2) If you could have a horse related job, what would it be?

Hmmm I'd love to be an exercise rider at the track. Of course I am too big, so wahh.

3) Favorite piece of tack?

Maddy has converted me to a rope halter loving girl. But I do love my saddle, too.

4) Online tack shop most frequented?

I am totally a google shopper. Whomever has it cheapest gets my money!

5) Favorite saddle brand?

Honestly I don't have a lot of experience riding in fancy saddles so I can't accurately answer this question. I do secretly lust after a French-made calf leather Antares, though. Or maybe a CWD. You know, though, I wouldn't even kick a Prestige out of the barn.

6) If money were not an issue, how many horses would you like to own?

I'd like to have three, so the hubby and I can go out together on a trail ride, and I can take my friends out too. And we'd have to have a goat or donkey or something to keep the third one company if we just take two out.

7) Discipline you would like to try?

Reining. It looks terrifying and exhilarating all in one.

8) Favorite horse movie?

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

9) Favorite TV show?

I really love crime mystery dramas, like CSI and that type of thing. I also LOVE Dexter.

10) Optimum horse height?

16hh and a big barrel!

11) If you could live in any big horse city, which would it be?

Lexington, KY or anywhere in North Carolina!

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Blogs I recommend and award the Liebster Award to:

Kelly at Crackerdog Farm
So Kenny and I really want chickens, but we have a confirmed chicken-killing dog, so I will have to live vicariously through Kelly and her adventures on her farm in Washington State. She has great stories about her ducks, geese, and chickens, plus she has horses, plus she has pretty flowers. Can't go wrong!

Niamh at Life of Riley
Niamh just bought Riley and is starting their adventure together. I can't wait to see what she does with him - he is super cute and seems like a good boy. She also is artsy. :)

T Meyers at A Filly's Best Friend
I love this blog because it's about eventing, and T Meyers is a great writer and usually has good photos. Yay!

Karen at Contact
Karen and her horse Hampton are living the dream life in Kentucky with all their sunshine and beautiful pasture and XC courses across the road and....wahhh I want to move to KY! :(

The girls over at Pia and Prairie's Parade
Ok, these guys have WAY TOO MUCH FUN. Prairie is taking the hunter world by storm after cleaning up in the dressage ring. Tough life!

Kirsten at The Daily Beauty Blotter
Kirsten is a real-life friend, and she has done my makeup for a few photoshoots in the past. She is so talented and I love that she takes the time to share some of her tips, tricks, and favourite products with the rest of us. She also does giveaways.

Alanna at Pony Express
Alanna is such an inspiration - she beat cancer, got right back in the saddle, and just purchased her dream horse, a beautiful Welsh Cob filly. AWW!

Katie at Thoughtful Equestrian
Katie is another Area 1 eventer and I love keeping up with how she does at events in my area. I mean that in the least creepy way possible! lol.

The Crone of Cottonmouth County over at Dreadful Acres
If you think YOU'VE had a bad day, read a few entries from Dreadful Acres. She's in Texas and has all the accompanying wildlife issues one might suspect: bugs, rattlesnakes, and the occasional sexy cowboy.

Bad Eventer from Tales from a Bad Eventer
Thank you Bad Eventer, for helping me learn to laugh at myself even as my horse makes me look like a complete and total buffoon.

Corinna at Ribbons and Red Tape
Corinna is a lawyer and most of her posts center around equine law and how it applies to you, the horse owner/rider/leaser/competitor/trail rider! Pretty cool stuff.

Aaaand finally, the questions you lucky lot get to answer:

1) If you are female, do you wear makeup to the barn?
2) Do you have "barn clothes"?
3) When updating your blog, do you usually have an agenda for your posts?
4) Favourite dessert?
5) If you were locked in a room with Brad Pitt and Robert Downey Jr, which one would you talk to?
6) Did you grow up in a small town? Big city?
7) If you had to move to another country, where would you go?
8) Do you speak any other languages?
9) How do you feel about Christmas sweaters?
10) What is the best Halloween costume you ever had?
11) What is the best power tool in your opinion?

Ok, this took FOREVER, so I hope you guys enjoyed it! Happy Wednesday!