I ACCEPT ALL FRIEND REQUESTS!!

My avatar is AC, one of the horses I used to ride in Westernaires (more info below). He was a sassy, wicked fast, chestnut quarter horse gelding, though he's slowed down and gotten grumpy now in his old age.

Hello! I am a 21 year old female from Colorado USA with a possibly unhealthy obsession with horses. I currently own one horse named Athena, many fish, and a sassy/cuddly siamese cat named Nephthys. I was in my fourth year of college working toward a degree in Equine Science, but my declining mental health has prevented me from being as academically inclined as I used to be so I'm taking a break to get myself fixed up and plan to switch to a more hands-on two year program in Horse Training next Fall.  From 2010-2018 I rode almost exclusively with a western youth drill team organization, where I had the amazing opportunity to ride 200+ horses and found my love for horse training. I then helped found and continue to help run a small drill team at my university. I have owned my mare Athena since 2018. She is a 16hh, flaxen sorrel, 9 yr old AQHA mare, registered name ShezaShogunBabe. Due to a suspected incredibly rough and much too early start under saddle, neglectful owners before me, and an unfortunate lack of preparation on my part when it came to actually owning a horse, Athena has arthritis in basically all of her leg joints, but worst in her hocks. Despite this she is currently sound thanks to a fantastic farrier and should be able to do whatever I ask of her for many years to come. Due to her past she had many mental and physical issues when I first got her, and it took 2-3 years for us to develop the working relationship we have now. When I first got her she was reactive, tense, and had no concept of how to carry her own body which led to immense anxiety under a rider. I was admittedly not prepared for quite these levels of issues, but I was determined to do right by her and I eventually learned what I needed to in order to best help her succeed. Now Athena is an amazing partner, she is strong and decently well balanced, has greatly improved her confidence under saddle, she can stand right next to spazzing out youngsters on the rail (saddles falling off and everything) and not bat an eye, happily leads trail rides through the mountains, and has gone from a closed off horse to having a reputation as incredibly curious and cuddly among the workers at my barn. There are many things she can do now that she was unable to do before, such as being a lead line pony for children's parties (much as we both dislike that activity); there are also things she may never be able to do, such as be a good horse for beginners. This is not because she's dangerous or I don't trust her, but because she is an incredibly sensitive horse who tries very hard and can get easily confused by unclear directions from people she isn't used to, causing her to regress into an anxious state. Because of this I don't think it's fair to subject her to the anxious hands and unsteady seats of beginner riders as it would not result in confidence building for either party. That being said I personally trust her with my life, and we have come to a point where we've more or less reached the limits of my current knowledge. Due to my mental health tanking I am on leave from work and do not have the money for the assistance of a trainer so we will continue to strengthen the foundation we currently have as I try my best to learn more on my own terms. Thankfully she is willing to deal with my experiments and is very forgiving of my mistakes, although I always feel bad for making her suffer through my learning curves. If you've got questions about anything at all, feel free to message me!