Anders

I have a pretty important horse show this weekend (I had to qualify into it) and my trainer set myself and the other girls who qualified up with a clinic taught by the trainer who coaches her old IHSA college team. I have a good idea of what I'm going to be wearing, but I can't decide between a hunter green fitted vest or a hunter green fitted sweater. Both would be over a white, long sleeve zip up top with plaid detailing. I'm just trying to figure out what would allow the clinician to see my eq/etc the best. Thanks everyone.

I've been riding with the same lesson barn for nearly four years now, the trainer is fantastic, a nationally ranked dressage rider who trains under someone who's been to the olympics and used to show hunter/jumpers fairly extensively. However, my trainer (who is also the barn owner) is starting to downsize and sell most of the horses there, and there weren't many to begin with. The two horses I showed 2'-3' on have been sold, the horse I used to show rated on is at a sale barn, my lease mare is for sale, the only other horses there are ponies, and while I'm 5'2" and built like a string bean, according to my trainer I'm too big for them. The only horse I have available to me is my trainer's dressage show horse, and while he's great he doesn't jump and last night she spent my lesson taking videos of me on him to send to a potential buyer. I want to leave so I can progress, but it's hard since I've been there for four years. What should i do?

I'm a senior in high school who has recently decided that following my graduation, I will be moving out of state and taking classes either at a community college or online until I attend a four year university, I'm calling it a gap year even though it technically isn't. My dad is fine with it and has offered to pay for my classes and help me move out, however, my mum is furious since I'm not immediately attending a four year school but will be leaving home regardless. I have saved up several thousand in order to pay rent, utilities, gas, insurance etc until I'm able to find a job in my new area, but my mum dropped a bomb on me last night telling me she intends on having me take care of my car payment. Not a big deal for most people, but I have a BMW that's only half way payed off, not to mention my car payment (since it's on a fairly aggressive plan) is $500 a month, not something I can really afford to pay while first moving out/getting a job. This is only a hundred less than what my rent will be. I can not be paying the same for a car as I am on rent.

The car was previously my father's and when I got my license it was given to me and he got a new car. This car was a GIFT for passing my driving test, and now my mum is trying to dump the last $20,000 they owe on it on me, as a form of punishment for leaving them and pursuing a life two states over. I would not be paying off this car if I attended a four year school immediately,

I've been nannying these two girls for the past two years and their (single) dad has asked me to spend the night at their house and watch his kids while he travels out of state for work. He asked me how much extra I would charge for spending the night, and he usually pays me $10 an hour. I've watched kids overnight before but usually just tell the parents to pay me what they think is reasonable, but he's insisting I give him a number. What do you think is reasonable for two elementary aged girls?

My farrier has been really pushing me to get out of the hunter jumper ring and start breezing race horses. The more he talks about it the more I m considering doing it, and he s offered to get me into contact with a race barn (is that even what they re called?) he shoes for in my area. Is there anything I should know before I tell Mike I m interested?

I m 5 2" 110 lbs. 17 years old and have been riding for five years now, showing A levels for multiple teams. I co-teach riding lessons and help train/rehab problem horses.

I have REALLY oily skin, which forces me to blot several times during the day, usually three to four times depending on the humidity. Occasionally I can saturate a blotting sheet and have to use a second one to completely mattify my skin. It's disgusting. Mostly this is because I'm not using the best products for my skin type as I went off the recommendations of my makeup junkie friend, who has dry skin.

My current morning routine includes washing my face with clean and clear's morning burst cleanser, toning it with lush's tea tree water toner, priming with maybelline's blur and illuminate master prime (bad), applying my maybelline dewy and smooth fit me foundation (bad), and setting it with a loose powder from maybelline.

Tomorrow I plan on running by sephora after school and picking up some new primer and foundation. I'm pretty set on too faced's primed and poreless primer, but need a new foundation. I'm not sure if I should get a powder or liquid foundation and I think when I decide which form I want it in, I won't be able to pick out which brand I should get. Does anyone have advice/recommendations. My price range is up to $30.

A bit of a backstory, I'm a competitive equestrian who's parents aren't very supportive of it. This past weekend at my horse show I took home blue ribbons in all but one of my classes and neither of my parents showed up, which struck a nerve in one of the older women who rides/keeps her horse at the barn I take most of my lessons at. When I went to the barn today that woman presented my with a brand new Charles Owens helmet in my exact size (the model she got me retails at $400) and told me that I had the talent and ambition to, in her words, make me the next Beezie Madden. The helmet itself is amazing but the symbolism behind it and the feeling of finally having someone rallying behind me is just so much more important.

I want to do something back for her since what she's done for me is just so amazing, and I was thinking I would do a pastel portrait of her horse. I'm going to art school in the fall, so it's not going to be some dinky craft piece but a photo-realistic work of her horse. However, we got the news yesterday that she is going to be selling her current horse since he's a bit too dangerous for a woman in her late 50s to ride and is going to be buying one of our barns lesson horses instead (I know which horse it is already). Do you think it would be be better for me to do a portrait of the horse she is selling or the horse she is buying. Thank you in advance.

I have very thick, full eyebrows, but I like them to be defined. I fill them in daily with pencil, but the pencils only seem to last a month at most. I've used Anastasia Beverly Hill's pencil and it lasted me a month and maybelline's pencil which hardly lasted me two weeks. Is powder longer lasting? Will it get me the same results?

I m cleaning out my closet and have compiled two decent sized boxes of clothes I don t/won t wear. I sealed off the boxes with duct tape and labeled them "donate - women s clothes". I m worried that they ll look sketchy (not sure why though??) and that goodwill won t accept them. They re nice, gently worn clothes, some of them still have tags on.

Should I put the clothes in other containers? Or is what I have them in now fine?

Recently started seeing this girl, you can tell she's really submissive and really inexperienced just by looking at her. She's really shy but really cute, I want to speed things up but don't exactly know how.

I'm usually the more submissive one in the relationship, but with me being a couple inches taller, having shorter hair, and actually being experienced I'm being forced to take the wheel. Even just kissing her makes me nervous and I haven't done it yet, I've literally never initiated anything like that. How do I woman up and do it?

I half lease a horse from one of my trainers, and yesterday she called me in to school the mare since a beginner lesson would be showing her today and I could work the kinks out so to speak.

When I was pulling her bridle out yesterday I noticed that her regular snaffle with a copper roller had been switched out for a twisted snaffle. When I asked my trainer what the horse had done she just said "she came off the rail a lot when the beginner lesson was on her". I get that the mare coming off the rail is an issue, i'm the one who rides her the most, but with a stronger lower leg it's not an issue. When I brought that up to the trainer she got kind of snarky and told me that the beginner lesson wasn't strong enough to keep the horse on the rail herself and that the harsh bit was not only necessary, but that I needed to school the mare in it.

I could tell that the mare didn't like the bit during our hack yesterday, and not only that but the beginner rider does not have soft, following hands and that the poor horse's mouth was going to be yanked on, which only exacerbates the fact that she's being ridden in a harsh bit. My position is that, if a rider isn't good enough to have a horse do a simple task, such as keeping it on the rail, then maybe they shouldn't be riding the horse. And they definitely should not take short cuts such as a twisted bit to get to the level they need to be at.

Is there anything I can do to stop this?

Started off riding my horse today but she wasn't feeling it, bucking a lot, reared some, I was not in the mood to get a second concussion this year. Instead of letting her get out of work I put her on a lunge line and had her canter around, get all her bucks out. About 20 minutes in she put her head near the ground and started chewing/mouthing at the bit. When I told her to walk she came up to me and I pet her while she kept her head at the dirt. Overall she was very submissive. I'm asking this because when i was a kid I read this book series where a girl would join up with her horses on the lunge doing something similar. Is that what my mare just did?

I'm looking to change my mare's show name. I'm currently showing her under her AQHA registered name, Ms. Doc Ogle, which I feel like we can unanimously agree that it's terrible. I'm not changing her registered name, just what I show her under. Is this frowned upon like changing their registered name? Will there be any repercussions?

I'm thinking of something along the lines of Brownie Points or something related to alcohol because her barn name is Brandi. She's a 15.3 hand quarter horse, very slim (more of an english conformation than western if that makes any sense), and a super red chestnut with a white star. I'm open to suggestions if you have any.

I'm 17 and have been riding consistently for the past five years now (though I started riding when I was six). For the past five years I've done a mix of hunter jumping and dressage, roughly two years of hunters and three years of dressage. I show second level in dressage and practice third level tests at home, and show A levels in hunters. I can jump a meter course cleanly, I'm just waiting for a new school horse to be able to take me further since I don't currently own. I also help teach beginner lessons with my trainer and work with greenies and 'problem horses' at my main barn so I have a fairly decent foundation and general understanding on how to ride.

I'm currently riding at three barns, showing for two, and I'm on an interscholastic show team for hunters. I ride five or six days a week, three of those days being lessons and the other days being hacking on my lease mare and occasionally taking her over small fences (she hates jumping so we don't do it often). I work off my lease by co-teaching lessons, schooling horses, and doing barn chores. I'm a dedicated rider and am willing to work to advance my skills and show at higher levels. I'm not afraid to work to get into eventing by any means.

My question is, does it seem like I have a solid foundation to get into three day eventing? I've been looking into it and it seems doable. I see a dressage trainer and two hunter trainers, should I switch one out for an eventing trainer? I know I'll be able to handle jumpers

I'm a dressage rider turned hunter jumper, I've got my eq down on the flat and over fences but my lower leg finds a way to creep up when I ride without stirrups or feel unbalanced in the saddle, mostly when I feel unbalanced. My trainers are focusing a lot of strengthening my lower leg, lots of no stirrup and no reins lunge line lessons to work on balance and strengthen my leg, but I really want to speed up the process because it SUCKS. My legs hurt constantly and I'd rather have them be really sore for a short amount of time rather than be kind of sore for several months.

When I'm not riding in a lesson or prepping for a show I ride bareback so my thighs/upper leg are solid, I also lift weights so my core and arms are strong, I just hate leg day! If you could recommend exercises both on and off the horse then I'll be forever thankful. I ride four or five times a week depending on my schedule.

I've been riding at the same barn for three years now, and I've been really happy there up until recently. My trainer is selling all of the horses I ride. The thoroughbred I showed A levels on is at a sale barn, my local show jumper is on trial, the other horse I jump at local shows has ads up, and the quarter horse mare I work off a half lease for has someone looking at her on thursday. Even my back up horse is being looked at by the same woman on thursday.

My lessons there don't even feel productive anymore. I used to jump almost every lesson but now all the jumpers are being sold, so I'm stuck doing flat work, riding around the rail for an hour once a week. I did dressage with her for most of the time I spent there but even her dressage horse is for sale.

Since I'm one of the most advanced/confident riders at the barn I train horses alongside my instructor. However, I prep the horses to be sold, I show the horses because she knows I can ride them well enough to get attention and get them sold. It REALLY sucks growing a bond with a horse when in the end you'll only be with them for a couple months and they'll be sold because of you.

However, I'll feel really terrible about switching. I've been riding there for years, I work there on week ends, and my second trainer teaches there too, so I'd half to drop lessons with one trainer who uses me as an employee and then I'd stay with the second?

I've bleached my hair three times within the past week and toned it twice with manic panic's virgin snow toner. It is copy paper white, pure white. Whiter than when I dye it pastel colors.

I just finished washing out my silver dye (ion's gun metal grey) and my hair wasn't even tinted. I had it sitting in my hair for two hours, 30 minutes of which it was under a hair dryer. My hair is still that copy paper white, which is beyond disappointing since the color was supposed to be a steely grey according to the sample at Sally's.

This happened the last time I tried to dye it grey too. I had used la riche's silver because it was cheaper than ion at the time, the color didn't take but I blamed it on the $4 hair dye. I did the same thing as I did this time, bleaching and toning my hair until it was white.

My hair has been every color of the rainbow, for some reason I just can't seem to dye it silver. Is there any reason why the dye won't take?

One of the colleges I'm looking at has an equestrian facility on campus and a hunter jumper show team. I don't own a horse but have been riding consistently for the past five years (and on and off since I was six) and show A levels in tryon and ocala on my trainer's horses. I currently take lessons twice weekly, am on two show teams, work at my barn to earn extra ride time, and help teach beginner lessons at my barn.

My college advisers are confident that I'll be able to get into the school and receive scholarships for my grades and ability to ride, and my trainers are confident that I'll be accepted onto the show team.

Provided that I go to that school, do you think it's too much to ask my parents to buy me a horse as a graduation present? It would be so much more convenient than using a horse owned by the school and my parents are ridiculously well off so price wouldn't be an issue.

I'm a dressage rider turned hunter jumper, I've been competing in hunters for nearly six months now and have jumped 2'6". I used to compete on another mare but she was sold last weekend and I've been jumping other horses around the barn since then.

The one horse I really love is one of my trainer's old show jumping horses, one that she galloped over 4' oxers in A level shows ten years ago. She doesn't like other people jumping her because she can "get crazy" and if we jump her "we'll die". However, my second trainer has been putting me on her in jump lessons and she's quiet over fences, does her lead changes easily, and is very responsive to me, so if she did get too excited about finally jumping again I could settle her down.

I feel really safe jumping this horse (much safer than the other hunter jumpers I've tried out since my regular show horse had been sold) and don't understand why my other trainer won't let me jump her since she's radically different over fences compared to what she was like five to ten years ago. I have videos my other trainer took yesterday when I was taking her over 2'3" jumps to prove that she's quiet and responds well to me. Is there any other way I can convince her?

I'm a dressage rider turned hunter jumper and I have a terrible time getting my flying changes. I've been trying for weeks, bending to my new inside and pushing the horse forward with my leg like my trainers are telling me to and I just can't seem to get it. I've tried asking for it on two different horses and nothing seems to work. Am I doing something wrong?