Hey friends and fam,
I know I had posted an update post about the kids back in July, but we had a technical snafu in which we lost everthing prior to a site back up in June. We are also doing a soft reboot/rebrand. We have been Winter Dance Thoroughbreds for a while, but we were locked with the domain winterdanceeventers.com due to some back end admin stuff. We are happy to announce that we now have a domain that aligns with the Winter Dance Thoroughbreds rebrand from a few years ago.
To give a quick update since MARCH?!? since the post from July was lost: Ruffi came home from training and has been doing great. She and I are still just working at a walk/trot but are currently working on leg aids and outside rein. I had planned to take her to her first show in November, however that did not happen due to what can only be classified as a comedy of errors. We are still working to taking her to some schooling shows this upcoming year.
Bacardi is pretty much the same. We have been working on lots of straightness and learning to carry ourself (like we have for several years). I did take him to two local schooling shows this year. The first one in October he brought home two blue ribbons; one in a cross rail class and one in a halter class. The second in November (in which I was supposed to take Ruffi) and it was kind of a shitshow, but he did pull a red ribbon in halter again.
In the racing world, we pseudo-participated in the ERC this year, however we didn’t have any wins, and had a really hard time getting races to go for our horses and for them to be truly competative. It was kinda of a bust for the year.
Typically before the new year, I like to take a look back at my previous years goals, see what we met and didn’t mean and then make new goals for the year. Last years goals were as follows:
1. At least 3 competitive entries for Bacardi in 2025. With the return of the newly branded PNW Thoroughbred Classic (previously, Ride for the Roses) in 2025, I should get at least one in, but I would like to potentially do some schooling shows up at Whidbey, or tag along with some friends to a show or two. Get him out and experience more. – Unfortunately, we did not make it to the new iteration of the TB show this year but we were able to make it to a few schooling shows.
2.Have better training plans for my rides when I go out. I am currently without a trainer for myself, so I need to be better about having an actual plan and goal when I go out to ride. -This is an every growing goal. I struggle with this.
3.Ride more consistently. The second half of this year has been tough for being consistently at the barn. I am still trying to learn how to balance my commute and my commitments at the barn. I would like to at least ride 3 times weekly. – I do feel like my consistency was better in 2025 but not as much as I would like.
4.I would REALLY like to get back over my fear of Ruffi AGAIN. I thought I had laid it to rest before she was originally sold, but it seems to have come back with a vengeance. I am hoping that after she goes out the the trainer, I can take a few lessons at the training barn on her and when she returns home, put her in the riding rotation. I am not as optimistic on this one but I want to put it out there in the universe. – We got here for the most part. I can still walk/trot her around and we aren’t cantering her yet but that’s ok.
3/19 Soooo I dont know how half this blog got posted and then I never finished it. We are now in March. This year I thing my biggest goal is really just to find my joy with my ponies again. I feel like putting goals on us has just put a lot of stress on me. I will post another blog detailing the first 3 months of 2026 but I don’t know that it has been great; so that’s my goal. Love my horses more and take more lessons.
Happy 9 more months of 2026!
A+B+P+R