Things I've Learned from Bloggers Blog Hop

I like the idea of Roaming Rider's blog hop, although I'm going to take it in a slightly different direction.  There are a lot of bloggers who've influenced me and taught me things over the years.  I've gotten so much from this community, from training tips to saddles, from deep and lasting friendships to winery trail rides in California, that I can only hope to give back as much as I've received.

Winery trail ride

The biggest thing I've gotten out of blogging is that I've stopped comparing myself to others, which might be the opposite of what you'd expect.  But once you watch all of these individual journeys close up and realize that everyone's lives/horses/locations/circumstances are SO different, you realize comparing yourself to anyone but yourself is a waste of time. And instead of comparing, you get the chance to cheer for all of these cool people doing cool things around the world.

Pretty cool.

For this blog hop, I want to talk about the two blogs that taught me about blogging and got me into this community.  My first post on this blog was in December 2009, and I had started reading horse blogs around 2008.

The first picture ever posted on my blog, Baby Shae.  Also the first Welsh Cob and Castleberry Cob that I ever met.

The first blog I found was The Eventing Percheron - yes, the incomparable Brego's original owner.  That was THE blog that started it all for me, so I definitely had a fangirl moment when I would get to ride Brego at JenJ's house six or seven years after first reading that blog.

His head was half as long as my body!

Her blog was interesting, unique and Brego was such a literal character, I loved following their adventures.  It taught me the power of having a unique story to tell. 

How cool was this header picture?!

Her posts gradually tailed off over the years and she doesn't post anymore, but the blog is still out there.

Love you big guy, rest in peace.

The other blog that I started reading about the same time was Eventing-a-Gogo, Andrea's blog, which is now The Reeling: An Unexpected Mareventure. 

Gogo was another larger than life character, and I loved following their adventures, which were things I could only dream of - east coast eventing, fancy barns with horse treadmills, and a supremely athletic horse that I'd love to think I could ride, but in reality she was way too spicy for my chicken self, haha.

Photo from Eventing-a-Gogo

At the time I was fascinated by the idea of eventing but also was terrified of jumping.  Following along with Andrea's story gave me the chance to live vicariously a life I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to experience.

I loved following the journey of a pair so suited to each other like that, and I've enjoyed following Andrea's journey through barefoot trimming, driving, Dressage, and Western Equitation since then.  This was definitely the blog that made me feel like I wanted to become a blogger myself.  It taught me about the value of good storytelling and giving people the chance to follow along with the ups and downs of a unique journey.

To everyone: Thank you all for sharing so much of yourselves through your blogs and being a part of this community.  Blogging is a big and challenging time commitment, but this community is so cool.  I hope it continues for a long time to come!