Contest Results

Running a contest is fun! Even though it feels a bit like bribing people to comment on my blog. Still though, it means a lot to me that everyone took their time to find posts and enter! Maybe it won't take me another 1,000 posts to do another contest...

Now, onto the results.

There were 26 people who entered the contest (thanks guys!)

Here are the posts you all said were your favorites!

TC As My Coworker - 4/2017 - how ridiculous TC would be if I had to take him to a conference
Getting the Upper Hand - 1/2017 - Rico finally getting better from pigeon fever after being hospitalized!
Success vs Happiness - 1/2016 - when TC was first injured, I had decisions to make, and I realized how if I was motivated completely by wanting to be as successful as soon as possible, I wouldn't have sent him to rehab
USDF Gold Medal - 10/2014 - throwing it way back to when I earned my Gold medal on Rico
Mary Wanless Workshop - 1/2018 - lots of people liked this series, I linked the first post
Schooling Show - 5/2018 - TC's first schooling show of the year being the best pony
The Landau Reflex - 5/2018 - basically inspired by TC's bolting behavior and how I finally fixed/completely understand it
Creating Work Ethic - 3/2018 - how I've worked on improving TC's work ethic after struggling with Rico's for so long
To the North - 3/2018 - Peony's favorite post was me announcing that I'd be moving to her barn!
Ten Things About TC - 3/2018 - ten silly things about TC
Finding the Bass Line - 4/2018 - taking a lesson on one of Kate's horses with Alexis, who is a Mary Wanless pupil
Things TC is Afraid of - 10/2017 - making a list of confusing things that TC is not afraid of, and what he is actually afraid of
Weird Trees, Sea Bugs, and a Couple of Thoroughbreds - 6/2017 - my visit to DC with Austen and Emma where they horrified me with crabs, but at least I got to pet some awesome OTTBs!
Why Walk Trot Transitions are my Favorite- 11/2015 - all the ways I use walk-trot transitions
Almost a Year in Video - 12/2015 - TC's first year of training in video (I should do this again)
In the Details - 3/2018 - new horse new philosophies about training!
Fear - 7/2015 - Talking about my own fear issues and fear in general


Many of them are somewhat recent (aka recency effect) but some of you threw it way back, further than I realized anyone cared to read my blog. So thanks!

Some of you posted that you liked my blog when TC and I were going through hard times last winter. Um. I did not like my blog then, but writing was really helpful and having people comment that we'd get through it or that y'all were thinking of me was really nice.

Now look at us!

It was super fun to relive all of these posts (I totally went back and reread all of them) and find new people's blogs to follow. I'm always looking for more blogs to read while I should be doing other things.

And now for the winner. I put everyone in an excel document, had excel pick a random number, then picked the biggest number.

The winner is: SarahO!

Please email me (regentanzer at gmail) to claim your prize by Wednesday June 6th. Thanks!


Once again thank you all for participating in this, I so enjoyed reading every comment and hearing from people who I don't normally hear from. The blogosphere is amazing!

One Thousand Posts - A Contest

Today is a big day for this blog. I noticed a while ago that I was nearing a thousand posts and put pressure on myself to remember to post this!

I started blogging because one of my facebook friends from the bay area equestrian world posted their blog periodically. I read that blog for a long while before deciding to start this one. And I didn't comment on any blogs for a longer while as I wrote mine because I didn't think anyone would care to read it.

One of the few pictures I have of both my ponies together

Kate taking a picture of me taking a picture of
her on a trail ride

This picture!

This blog has seen so much. It's seen me go back to school, get into graduate school, get my first, second, and now third job out of grad school. It's seen me through the best and worst parts of riding my two amazing horses. When I started this blog, I had struggled at Fourth level with Rico, and shown Leo successfully at Intermediare II. Now, a thousand posts in, I trained Rico to Grand Prix, earned my Gold medal, then almost lost him to Pigeon Fever, started riding and then bought TC, went through a rehab with him, went through some training issues, and successfully showed him at Training to win All Breeds, and hopefully we'll be moving on to First (entries are in for our first rated show) and possibly a bit of Second this year.

More importantly, I've met some amazing people from the blogosphere, some I consider to be my best friends. Obviously the California bloggers are in my life regularly to semi-regularly. L, Kate, Kathy, Peony, Nicole, Olivia, M, and Figure I've seen more than a few times. We've gone on trail rides and to tack sales, and eaten a fair amount of tacos. Across the country, I've spent more than a little bit of time with Jan, Austen, and Emma. And that's not to mention the countless people I've met once or twice that I can't even quantify at this point, or the people I've never met but feel like I have.

Last year at Camelot

Last year in San Diego

Riding the best mule

This winter when all of us were finally in the same room together

Starting this blog was kind of a random thing, I didn't even want to keep the name (I still kind of hate it), I just needed SOMETHING so I could start writing. Six years later and it's going strong. I can't believe I still have more stuff to write about. I'm sure the time will come when the blog ends and when it does, I know that I've made friendships that will last beyond the blog. Though, that's not happening any time soon, believe me and my completely excessive draft folder.

So thank you all for being part of this journey. Thank you for all the great comments, I appreciate every one of them. Thank you for the friendships I've made. Thank you for sharing your own stories on your own blogs (that I totally read but I almost always read on mobile so it's hard to comment). Thank you for reading!

L riding Rico

L and I with Rio, Peony's dog

Bay Area (and beyond) blogger meetup

Must drink a beer before riding Grand Prix horses

After sleuthing through my blog to see what the actual hell I had to say that took a THOUSAND posts to say it, I've discovered that it seems like I've written a thousand posts and never had a contest. So I'm going to do it!

To enter, please let me know what your favorite post (or posts, but only one entry per person, sorry!) out of the thousand was and I'll add your name to an excel document. I'll use a random generator to pick the winner, who will receive a $35 gift certificate to SmartPak or Riding Warehouse! The contest closes in a week (Friday May 25th, winners chosen by June 1st, probably earlier) so be swift!

Edit: if you don't remember the post, you can describe it and I'll find it. If you don't have a favorite or don't actually read my blog, you can just bullshit your way through it ;)