Freestyle Farm

06/03/2026

A couple days late for a post show recap-
First Waterloo of the season was a hit, Lauren Pietersen knocked it out of the park with Reserve Champion Second level AA, and qualifying for regionals with Ravado.

And Tracy Engbloom’s O’Valhalla and I took many places from first to fourth, I’m so proud of him stepping up a level this year and qualifying for regionals at first level. Such a seasoned young man of just 6.

I’m so thankful for our team that let’s of play with such amazing horses. Thank you ❤️

05/10/2026

Isa Fortunata FF, (Fortunato H2O x Isis)
We are smitten with you ❤️

04/30/2026

One of the things I value most about showing is what it reveals about my daily work.

It has a way of bringing clarity to where things are truly confirmed and where there are still gaps, even when everything has felt fairly solid at home.

That isn’t a problem. It’s actually one of the most useful parts of the experience, because it gives you something very real to work from when you go back to your day-to-day riding.

But in order for that to be helpful, you have to understand what you’re looking at. Not just whether a movement happened or not, but what that result is telling you about the horse’s balance, strength, and understanding.

That’s where education becomes so important.

The more clearly you understand what each level is meant to develop, the easier it becomes to interpret those moments and make decisions that actually move the training forward.

That’s something I spend a lot of time on inside the Academy, especially in the Levels Series, because we so often get caught up in perfecting a test movement instead of really truly developing the qualities necessary to not only succeed in the show ring, but more importantly, to develop our horses in a kind and compassionate way.

Learn more about this special series: https://www.teamtateacademy.com/training-through-the-levels

📷Richard Malmgren
🐴The Fabulous Romeo

04/27/2026

😂

Credit goes to Stephen Forbes, but this is so damn accurate. I will be crying in my truck because the wind changed directions. 😂

Dressage is absolutely, unequivocally dumb.

We spend decades and life savings trying to convince a horse, an animal that would rather nap or fart in a field, to perform controlled interpretive dance… while we wear white stretchy pants and pretend we’re not crying inside.

We argue online about nosebands and neck lengths.
We watch slow-motion trot videos like they’re Oscar-nominated films.
We talk about “feel” like it’s a sixth sense, and nod solemnly when someone says, “He wasn’t truly through in the right rein.”

Nobody knows what that means. We just say it so we don’t feel alone.

“Needs more schwung.”
Schwung????
Apparently it’s German for "make it fancy and pray".
We all pretend to know, then throw money at a new saddle pad hoping it comes with free schwung.

Special this month: Every new Solo bridle now ships with 3 ounces of authentic German schwung. Use responsibly.

And we obsess over the perfect halt.
THE. PERFECT. HALT.
As if a square halt will heal our childhood wounds.

We film our rides. Watch them back. Cry a little.
Zoom in. Rewind. Cry again.
"Why is my left leg doing that?!?"

We whisper sweet nothings to an animal that just tried to murder us because the wind changed direction.
We spend fortunes, literal fortunes, so a stranger in a box can frown at us and say: “Tension throughout.”
(You mean me or the horse?)

And speaking of showing.
There's you, before your class, sitting in the front seat of your Subaru, white breeches slightly transparent in the wrong places, eating a granola bar, listening to whale sounds to calm your nerves, and somehow believing this will help you nail that medium trot.
(It won’t. But you keep listening.)

And the wildest part? We take this seriously.
Like Olympic-level seriously.
Like, cry-in-the-stall-because-your-horse-has-a-poo-stain seriously.

But here’s the twist:

There’s something addictively beautiful about devoting your life to something this ridiculous.

To whispering with your body.
To the micro-conversations.
To trying to talk to your horse in French… with your seatbones.
It’s composing a symphony using only your spine, breath, and unresolved anxiety.

But that's just it, the best parts of life are kind of dumb.

Love is dumb.
Poetry is dumb.
Art is dumb.
Pursuing perfection you’ll never reach? Extra dumb.

But that’s what makes it holy.
So yeah, dressage is dumb.

Which makes it kind of genius.

01/28/2026

There are plenty of things that can suck the enthusiasm right out of riding.

During those times, staying motivated often has less to do with pushing harder and more to do with adjusting how you define progress.

Sometimes that means breaking the work down into small, confidence-building pieces; returning to things you and your horse do well so consistency becomes the win (and remembering there is no such thing as over-practicing the basics).

And sometimes it means giving both yourself and your horse a short reset. A few days of hacking, groundwork, or even time off can be part of progress, not a step away from it. Stepping back doesn’t erase the work you’ve done, it often allows it to settle.

The key is staying connected to the process, even if what that looks like changes for a little while.

Motivation isn’t something we either have or don’t have. It’s something we cultivate by knowing when to simplify, when to persist, and when to let the pressure off so setbacks become nothing more than blips on the radar.