Endurance Meets Dressage: Liz Visits!

Seems like no matter where I go, there are bloggers to be found. And those bloggers? They are always amazing people, with great stories, helpful hands, and open arms. 

Liz exemplifies all of those amazing blogger traits. If you don't know Liz, she's an amazing endurance rider (just finished her first 100 miler! I'm in awe!) with two crazy athletic horses and an adorable ball of husky fluff, Kenai. Having bonded over shared #huskyproblems, Liz was one of the first I called about our move to the east coast. During our cross country move, she opened her home to my husband, the dogs, and I to stay for a night. And what a night that was... 

Rolling thunderstorms through the mountains, piles of huskies, good friends, good conversations, good food, good beer... I kinda wish we'd remembered to take photos!

In April, Liz traveled through DC for work, and stopped by to meet Pig. In between her impromptu riding lesson, Pig's hilarious attempts at changes, and waiting for a locksmith, we had another great time. 

Also, Liz takes crazy good photos.

So when Liz said she would be stopping through DC again, I made sure to phone a friend. Liz is too much fun to keep to myself!

Horse girls in city clothes. A rare sight.

We packed a lot into a short visit, but it was SO fun. I barely noticed how tired I was... barely. Starting the day off right, we headed to the barn where Stephen Birchall was holding a clinic.

Stephen rides Maverick

Liz had mentioned wanting to audit a clinic, so I was quite happy this trip lined up with Stephen's visit! We had a chance to watch Stephen ride a horse I'm quite familiar with, then give a lesson to another pair I know pretty darn well... 

The Puppetmaster at Work: Stephen directs Emma and Isabel to greatness

Emma's lesson was chocked full of information, so I think we were all happy to relax a bit with her and Isabel afterwards.

Okay, so maybe Isabel wasn't big into the "relaxation" theme. More into the "NO TOUCHY" theme.
That bottom lip, though. 

We only took a few minutes of downtime though...

"No, no, no. You're doing it wrong. The huskies get the clif bars, not the peoples."

Because it was time for Liz and I to get to riding!

Liz and the two old chestnut boys.

I'd arranged it so that Liz could ride my friend's ex-pony club mount (of epic blogger trail riding fame) for the day, but planned to also give her a short lesson on Guinness.

And accordingly coordinated their outfits... duh

Liz is the perfect person to test out Pig's lessoning abilities. She's at home on a hot horse (have you heard about her awesome 100 mile mare Q?! Talk about hotness!), and has great natural feel for riding.

Happy ears.

All I really did was give her some pointers about basic dressage cues, and she was off pushing buttons and learning all about dressage contact, shoulder-in, haunches-in, and spiral circles.

She's the kind of student I can imagine any trainer would kill to have. Her position is gorgeous and she works super hard to learn the concepts at hand. Liz, you're amazing. Come back and ride my horse any time!

Ted would prefer I didn't ride him, however. Apparently I can't sit on a horse without trying to make them work properly!

After our quick lesson, we said goodbye to Emma and Isabel and headed out on a quick trail ride.

Complete with Pig leading through a couple of water crossings!

The weather was downright perfection, with a sunset coming on and a slight cooling breeze. I am so happy I was able to show Liz around the property while it was at its most beautiful.

Seriously. Does it get better than this?

We're already planning future adventures, which I seriously cannot wait for. In the meantime, make sure you go check out Liz's blog for endurance adventures as well as stories about her adorable husky and more! Girl lives a crazy full life, which I am so happy to be a part of!