• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Yay there are riders who ski here!

Jersey Fresh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Im not sure if i like eventing or if I just like the people (coming from the H/J world). Im not gonna lie, XC makes me want to pee my pants most days.
 

BrookeK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Jersey Fresh
Fantastic photo! Oh I miss jumping so much.
I started riding as a kid worked at a barn to save money to buy my.first horse. Spent my teenage years galloping around bareback, barrel racing, jumping fallen trees and picnic tables and pretending to be Xena, Warrior Princess (you should hear my war cry!)
At 18, moved out on my own to manage an Arabian breeding farm, specializing in endurance. Moved on to work at an eventing stable. By then, I was onto my third boy, an OTTB whom I used to event.
He is nearly 21 and nowadars, I work in a bar and my riding is just hacking around. I don't have money for a second horse, and I ache to jump again, but skiing has been a wonderful distraction. I still catch ride when I can, and most recently have been helping a friend, a rather new rider, with his own OTTB when possible. I helped.him at a schooling derby a few weeks ago.
This is the first time in my life I'm not able to ride every day, but my boy has earned his (semi) retirement . And I'm lucky. I live on 200 acres, surrounded by ponies.

Here's Le Roi last summer. My friend and I trailer ed from the barn we lease to the one I live on.

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Jersey Fresh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@BrookeK hes handsome!! He doesnt look that old either.

I still feel like I should pinch myself sometimes when I think about it-I never had a horse as a kid and I worked so, so hard to get one when I finished school in my late 20s. Never thought I would end up with a super cool horse that is game for most anything, my own little farm and a non-horsey hubby who turns to me as he's leading horses in from the pasture "I like this! I really like this! I like the horses and feeding them and stuff" haha.
 

BrookeK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
You ARE lucky! But you've obviously worked hard for it and you recognize it, so that is awesome!
I hope you share more eventing adventures. I'll live vicariously thru you and my buddy Tony until the day I get my next project. :smile:
 

tesdavis

Diva in Training
People often look at me oddly when I say that skiing is similar to riding. For me the concept of keeping my hands and eyes looking ahead in the direction of travel (downhill) and always skiing riding in control is so similar. A riding instructor, who discovered I was also a skier, told me as a beginning rider to use my legs to turn the horse like I was snowplowng. It worked!

I have a 22 year old Appaloosa. We have shown english and western, dressage, and were on a parade team for a few years. We also have covered miles of mountains, beaches, and gone horse camping many times. He's my buddy.
 

BrookeK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
For me, when I started skiing, the 25+ years of riding worked against me. I wanted to be upright as if on a horse weight in my heels, and anytime I felt like I was going to fast, I'd 'sit deep', bring my.shoulders back..and rightfully, fall right over backwards!
I learned very quickly not to do that! Lol
But once I got past that...yes, I compare a lot. Eyes up, look to where your going, just as a jumper would look to the next fence.
Learning to ski, learning about using my legs without using my shoulders to swing around, keeping myself quiet from.the waist up, shoulders squared up facing downhill clicked in my head : it's like having an independent seat, being able to drive your horse forward, work each leg individually, all while sitting tall, shoulders square, hands quiet.
I love both sports!
My.forst horse was an Appy mare, bought her myself when I was 13. She passed just a couple of years ago.
I'd love to see your boy.
 

Jersey Fresh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@BrookeK I have the same issue! In riding when in doubt sit up and back and in skiing you have to keep your weight forward. I do think that I have good balance because of both sports.

@tesdavis cute pony!!!

I just started my older horse back to work after 3 weeks off due to two abcesses and 5 days of single digit temps. I dont mind giving him a break, but lord he is annoying without a job. Bites, throws fits, got loose from his pasture with his friend and ran around my farm. Hes 18. Never a dull moment.

My baby is going to his first show tomorrow. Could be exciting. Our only goals are all 4 feet on the ground and staying in the dressage arena for the whole test.
 

cskis88

Certified Ski Diva
This is a fun thread. I started jumping again in late July after about a decade of not riding (and I started skiing again in 2017 after a couple of decades of not doing it). This has everything to do with my kids growing up and the prospect of a real empty nest. I'm so not great with the idea, but taking up my old hobbies helps. I found an instructor who knows everybody I used to know, she's about my age, and so far it is going so well. I think the inner thigh and core work is definitely going to help with skiing. I started riding western, then hunter/jumper, then bought a QH mare (Tinky's Winsome, "Tinky," sorrel/chestnut with three white socks and a gorgeous blaze) and later a QH gelding (Chicoto Sun, "Otto," handsome red dun with no chrome) and barrel raced for about ten years until after my son was born. Then my lovely, wonderful mare kicked through a shelter and severed her digital flexor tendon. She was an amazing horse and we had such a connection; classic case of a one-person horse. My gelding was kind of dick. lol. I sold him shortly after having to put my mare down after nursing her leg for about five years (lots of doctoring with my kids playing in box stall). It took the wind out of my sails and I slowly walked away from all things horse. But I live in Calgary, and each year during July would find me wandering through the barns at the Stampede grounds just for the smells. I also rode with the Stampede Ranch Girls for many years, so I've ridden through fireworks, blasting music, huge roaring crowds, and the like. I "sacked out" my own horses and used both of them for ranch work and in a feedlot, so they were pretty much bullet proof. Right now I'm riding a chestnut TB gelding named Luke who is quite a bit taller than my QHs were, but not a huge amount bigger than some of the Stampede horses I rode (one of the geldings I rode, my fave by far, was appendix, I think. He was also used during the rodeo as a pick up horse, and those horses are amazing athletes). He has some baggage, for sure, and that hot TB personality (he's a dingbat sometimes. lol), and I'm really, really liking him a lot. We have been over some baby jumps and gymnastics and so far, so good. It's coming back to me slowly. I am having to really change the way I ride and really enjoying even the flatwork (more than I ever used to). It's partly Luke; when I ask right, he responds and it feels soooo good. I'm only riding once a week because I'm trying to ease back in and skiing is priority, but I know where this is headed. Somehow I'm going to find a way to do both of these activities, including some schooling shows at some point, I'm sure. lol. My hubby was not happy when I tossed out the idea of doing some masters ski races (because that is mostly men), but I don't think he'll object to some little horse shows (because he's seen that the majority of riders are women).

Anyway, I know this thread is very old and I just dumped a wall of text there. Will try to dig up some old pictures.
 
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Eera

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had a horse. 17h of sweetness and dopiness. Softest TB ever with the biggest feet.

Came from a top-notch bloodline; was first cousin to Maybe Diva and Frankel, but was never raced as he was physically too big to fit in the stalls and frankly would have spent the whole time admiring his own reflection rather than running.

Next picture is the reason I no longer have a horse. I'd like to say I was bucked off doing something wildly exciting, but the fact is I dismounted a still horse in a flat paddock and rolled my ankle, and it just snapped. Completely lost my nerve after that and I onsold him to a lovely lady who's kitchen opens into his paddock; she come home one day to find him in the kitchen eating the apples from her fruit bowl.

I still miss him.
horse.jpghorse1.jpg
 

Skidreamer

Certified Ski Diva
Hiya, I thought this was a permanently dead post so I never posted in here! Eera, what a shame you lost your nerve after such a simple accident. I've lost my nerve with eventing since having a child 10 years ago, but I still thoroughly enjoy my horses and almost everything to do with them, and continue to love dressage. I bought my daughter her first pony last year when our overseas holiday was cancelled due to Covid. To make up for missing eventing, husband and I go and do jump judging at the local events, which makes for a really great consolation plan. I'll head off and find some of my favourite photos to upload...
 

Moleski

Certified Ski Diva
Intermediate skier, novice horserider here. Only started riding properly 6 years ago and got my own Irish Draught mare 4 years ago. Ironically progressed well til brought my mare home and now seem to spend most of my horse time mucking out and poo-picking. Find fear a big issue with riding bcos of the unpredictability of my partner tho she actually the nicest girl. Aspiring to do dressage but every time work gets busy, I back off the riding. Feeling positive about skiing, hope to soon feel the same about riding, now better weather here. Pic of my Cassie attached. Hi to all horsey ski divas from Cassie and me in Northern Ireland!
 

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Skidreamer

Certified Ski Diva
Hi and welcome Moleski and Cassie (honorary member) from Australia - we're heading out of horse riding weather into skiing weather here, yay! I've recently retired my 17yo ex racehorse (dressage and eventer) - he thinks retirement is awesome...1682920818511.png
 

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