Odyssey Equestrian

06/13/2023

Show photos from the show! Huge thanks to and .cowgirl.photographer for these 🥰 Cali was a good girl despite me being nervous and the weather being dramatically colder than it has been! Next time we will improve but I’m still happy with what we completed this time ❤️

05/30/2023

Riding is great, but so is laying in the grass with your horse nearby to ground yourself 💞 Love you Cali 🦄

05/11/2023

Just heard that my favorite blind mare, Salvus (Latin for safe) has regained some vision in her right eye!!! We weren’t sure if it would be possible to save her eyesight at all, but keeping her out of the sun and daily eye medication treatments are working ❤️ There is hope!

05/11/2023

Of all the horses I have worked with, all the euthanasias I have been there for, this one was the absolute hardest. Light wasn’t even on our radar to save from the loose pen, but when we saw her come in the auction we knew we had to save her. I have never met a horse who was so kind, so loving, and who loved to reach out and groom you, rest her head on you, or just be touching you in any way. Her mind was more human than horse, she just knew things that I’ve never seen in a horse before. She knew what I was feeling, and she comforted me in a way I didn’t know was possible. Her soft knicker, turning her head when I was about to cry, and being adamant that she needed to rest her head on me to help. Im so thankful that was able to save her and grateful for the time we had together, I just wish we could’ve had years and years of time instead of a week. Rest in peace, sweet girl ❤️🌈

03/06/2023

Practicing technical lines and Cali was up to the challenge! Always thanking this horse for giving me the best rides 🥰

12/17/2022

4’ with queen Caliente 👑

12/14/2022

Happy horse day 🐴 I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for the horses in my life, and the people they’ve led me to. Shoutout to a very special few- Cali, Remi, Peaches, Westie, and Luna 💙

12/07/2022

The best view ❤️

11/28/2022

11/19/2022

Still sneaking in some time with my favorite, a bay OTTB 😍 Ella is a very different ride, and so fun!

10/27/2022

This hits home, I’m so lucky to have had some incredible horses in my time who’ve taught me to be better 💙

To all of the horses I accidentally let down over the years:

Thank you for your patience even though I offered you none from myself.

Thank you for your kindness, even when my kindness towards you was subject to whether or not you listened to my demands.

Thank you for not hurting me, even as I hurt you both unintentionally through inadequate care and more intentionally through how I was taught to train and handle you.

Thank you for your loyalty, though I did not deserve it because I offered you none from myself and gave you little in the way of understanding.

Thank you for weathering the storm that was my care and management so that I could eventually learn to do better by horses and start to make up for what I couldn’t give to you.

I am sorry you had to go through that. I am sorry for the expectations I had of you, when I wasn’t even close to meeting the basic expectations in terms of fair care and treatment to you.

I am sorry for how I hurt you. How I scared you. How I robbed you of any ability to self exercise, interact with other horses and enjoy a good life outside of ridden care.

I am sorry for how I kept many of you in glorified horsey dollhouses, dressing you up in clothes to keep you cozy and warm in your “comfortable” stalls, even though you were anything but comfortable.

I micromanaged you. I controlled your every move. I did it out of good intentions and the belief I was doing the right thing, but it was still wrong.

And, for that, I am sorry.

I am sorry to the horses I let down in my pursuit of becoming a better Equestrian.

10/26/2022

Nothing better than jumping 3’9 for the first time in the most gorgeous sunset of the year 💙 Caliente making my dreams come true!

10/21/2022

Finally back to jumping sticks 💙 Loving being back to lessoning as well, making some progress with my lower leg and now need to tackle the Grand Prix release over 2’3 😅😂

10/08/2022

Having some fun with miss Ella 👑 She either stands perfectly for pictures or is right up in your face asking for attention 😂 Nice to still have a thoroughbred in my life, now just need her mom to go away more so I can ride her 😉😂

09/20/2022

I generally put 30-45 minutes into each ad I post so I can be sure the description is as detailed as possible without being a full length novel, please take 5 to read the full ad 💙

09/05/2022

Get a load of this Malarkey 😉 Miss having this goofball around but he’s loving his time off in the field!

08/14/2022

Emily Pelikan shared a post on Instagram: "Enjoying time with Remi 🥰 Yes there’s still things to work on, but during this ride I was finally able to shut my brain up and just enjoy the ride, and it felt amazing ❤️ Love this goofy gelding (who’s also pretty darn fancy) ...

07/15/2022

Meant to post this 2 weeks ago 🙃 That’s life with horses though, sometimes things just get away from you! Really loving my tack setup with

bridle, which thanks to its anatomical design Remi didn’t flinch his head at at all when tightening the noseband 😱

boots to keep those legs safe and cool at the same time!

halfpad to keep the saddle fitting snug and protect his back

And last but not least
custom saddle pad with my logo, because you must personalize all the things 🥰

06/29/2022

Is it Friday yet? 😴

06/28/2022

Remi 🥰 Love riding this boy! Starting to figure him out and it shows in the jump saddle, now to figure it out in dressage 🫠 Still proud of the progress I’ve made and the strength I’ve gained, only going higher from here!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfW2Mp1FULy/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

The Score • Higher

06/23/2022

Finally got an upgrade from a tack trunk to locker 😍 Now I can proudly display all my favorite things! Some listed below 👇

the most comfortable, pretty, and affordable helmet

XC boots (let’s be real, I use them for all three phases)

bc I have a thousand grooming brushes (not pictured) all replaced with 1 single tool 🤓

powder for, well, everything? Put it on post ride on both horse and girth to keep it fresh and fungus free!

halter, lunge line, and rope reins bc my horses and I are spoiled 💅

bridle that I will hopefully have a horse for soon 😅(looking at you Apollo!)

essentials such as leadropes and saddle pads (including my custom logo one from 🥰)

What are some of your tack locker essentials?!

06/22/2022

Con: stuck in pouring rain
Pro: know that the sunshirt is great in the rain and dries super fast

06/15/2022

Wishing I was on a kayak in the pond at the barn and not on my lunch break in this heat 🥵

🔥

06/10/2022

Remi strutting his stuff and I’m just along for the ride! So lucky to ride such a talented horse, slowly but surely turning into a dressage queen 👸

05/29/2022

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room in the horse industry: equine welfare and modernizing practices as we learn about the detriments of many normalized care and training practices.

Most, if not all, horse people are in the industry for the love of horses, even the ones who end up accidentally causing harm. The problem is, most of us struggle to find teachers and role models who teach us science based principles, emphasize reading equine behaviour correctly and model good management practices.

Because of this, we have crowds of well intentioned equestrians simply following what their idols, trainers and role models have told them to do, even to the detriment of their horses’ welfare, all while being blissfully unaware that there’s even a problem.

I know this because I was one of these people. Growing up, I had the whole stall and small individual paddock lifestyle normalized to me. Horses would go out for a few hours a day into paddocks slightly larger than their stalls and then would be back in the stalls for the majority of the day. There was a high instance of stress behaviours aka “stall vices” but I was taught that weaving was just the horses “playing” or dancing and that cribbing was just a quirk, rather than the indicators of high stress and poor management conditions that they were.

Being around chronically stressed horses made it difficult, if not impossible, to tell a stressed horse from a relaxed one. Unless the horse was completely over threshold and obviously reacting to stress, I would miss the signs because I had never been taught to recognize them. Even in instances where horses were being explosive, I would often view it as excitement, them “being bad” or them trying to push me around. I did this because this is what I was taught to do.

Read the full blog post here: https://milestoneequestrian.ca/blog/2022/5/29/7cazsv6qxgrswps7y19pfzjer57z3s

Pictured is a comparison of my mare’s stress face at the racetrack (left) vs her now, relaxed and living out (right)

05/27/2022

Gorgeous Apollo ❤️ Ft the hybrid halter, so helpful for when the baby zoomies come out while recovering from surgery! 🤪

05/21/2022

05/20/2022

So thankful to be a part of this ❤️ Follow along on Slaughter 2 Success

05/17/2022

Transformation Tuesday 🤩 It’s been 3 months since we rescued Apollo and Dan from the kill pen. These two have blossomed from being scared, emaciated, and emotionally closed off, to filling out with shiny coats and the biggest personalities! ❤️ These two have helped inspire some very big things, stay tuned for some incredible news! 👀