Elle (aka El-dog or Elsie)
(My mom is so going to kill me for posting this)
This is my wonderful dog and loyal companion Elle. She is now around 12 years old and I adopted her from the Greensboro Animal Shelter when she was 8 months old. She has a penchant for finding any and all unoccupied hands and for getting underfoot in the kitchen. Now she has begun to find joy in her elderly age in tipping over the food bowls and ripping my carpet up (so not cool, but I still love her). She has been to the barn (it's been a while) but never to a horse show, so we may be finding out how she is next year, but more on that later!
Pippin (aka Pip, Doodlebug, or the abhorred "Pimpin" by male friends)
In the truck for a little walk on the beach
Insert the second addition to the family: Pippin. Pip is a character, and the most often word used to describe him is "special". Special he is! Pip was found at the barn I pretty much grew up at in Summerfield, NC. He was the pup of a pair of wild dogs that tended to roam the property and he was found when he was less than 5 weeks old (according to vets). Being as it was December, he just had to be my Christmas present. Now Pip is around 7 years old and fast as a whip. He has a fear of hard wood and tile floors and takes joy in the art of spooning.
The pups enjoying the sun on my mom's porch
Jerry (aka Great Expectations XI, Jer, Jer-Bear, etc.)
So this is the infamous Jerry! Okay, he's not that infamous (yet) but this is my pony dearest. Who so is not a pony. With an enormous shark fin that puts him at 17hh, he's definitely not a pony. Jerry is a character, to say the least, and at times I wonder if he thinks he's a lap dog. His favorite treat is peppermints and he will lick incessantly after you give him one. No really. He will lick anything. This includes you, me, my truck, my face, the stall wall, and pretty much anything he can get his tongue on. It's a little weird. Best of all, however, is his passion for running fast and jumping over solid objects! Yes, that's right, I have the ultimate cross country machine. I bought Jerry back in 2008 as a 12 year old Thoroughbred cross (no idea with what) who had run Novice. At the time, I had run a few recognized Beginner Novice and was looking for the horse I could move up with. Cut to today and we have run in three Training level events, spent a summer up in VA with Caroline Atherholt-McClung (formerly Caroline Dowd), and have moved from Greensboro, NC to the coast of North Carolina. It's been an interesting five years! But more on that later.
Jerry running xc at Carolina Horse Park in 2011
Jer & I in a dressage lesson with Adam Gamble
Me (aka Taylor, Tay, and a bunch of other horrid nicknames)
So that's me! What do I say about myself...I'm a 22 year old mostly raised in Greensboro, NC. I've been riding horses since I was 7 and found my niche when I started eventing several years later. Currently I'm halfway through graduate school for my Master's in Clinical Social Work (MSW) at UNCW and praying to make it through the next year to graduation. I haven't made enough time for Jer the past few years, so we are both incredibly out of shape and needing some serious muscling up. I'm not sure what it is about college that sucked my enthusiasm out of riding, but it did. Through a series of not-so-fun life events, I somehow stumbled across my passion-bordering-on-obsession again and really would like to get back to where I was before in my riding (and obviously improve upon it). My semi short-term goal is to compete again at Training level at Southern Pines I & II in March 2014 and ultimately qualify for and compete in a Training 3 Day. As far as my quirky self, it's always been hard for me to really describe me so how about you just keep reading and figure out your own opinion? Until next time!
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