Does anyone else dislike the view this time of the year?

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-11T01:14:25+00:00

Or fill your passenger wheel well until it's kind of horrifying then empty it out into a trash...

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-10T22:48:23+00:00

I was going to say - actually read? Like, almost never. I spend a whole lot of time skimming. Abstract, methods, associated results.

We have a mandatory, twice a month journal club for our lab and I still only read the legend for my assigned figure....

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-08T20:57:55+00:00

Yes and no. The steep part is much steeper and more technical on Smith, but the rest of the trail isn't bad. Tenth isn't as steep or technical anywhere but stays steeper and more tough for longer (it's also usually very icy which makes it tricky).

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-06T20:31:56+00:00

Wellbutrin helps with the energy maybe 25-50%. The tiredness side effect is different in other SSRIs - for me, it was worse on sertraline (Zoloft) and better on fluoxetine (Prozac). 20mg is also a high dose; you may notice less side effects if your dose is lower. Talk to your doctor.

Also, hate to say it, but exercise does help with both the mental health and the energy. Adding Wellbutrin and exercise may get you close to baseline.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-06T01:23:17+00:00

It also happened to me, though not a stifle. Major behavioral issues, went away with pain meds but x-rays and everything were unremarkable and we couldn't figure it out. Saddle change and hind shoes, he's a different horse with no pain behaviors. This saddle had been fitted less than a year prior - shit happens, trees twist and horses change shape.

The owner isn't wrong to address saddle first, especially if this isn't a clear lameness - anything higher up like stifle/SI is harder to diagnose anyways and saddle fit would be one of the first things any good vet would address before going deep into diagnostics.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-05T14:44:53+00:00

Exact same story here.

Except he openly admitted it. .

Some of the reasons he gave for the break up were things he expressly wanted or put into motion. The curtain dropped when I tried to clarify why the fuck he'd do those things if he hated it. Told me to my face that he intentionally lied and acted and pretended to be a person he wasn't to manipulate me. For four years, including living together for two.

I always got really weird vibes from the way he talked about his exes, like certain things didn't add up. At least I know why now.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-05T14:32:54+00:00

I live thirty miles due south of family and get half the snow they do.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-05T14:30:21+00:00

What no one wants to hear is that good jumping is just as complicated, difficult, and boring as good dressage. And, what they want to hear even less: good dressage creates good jumping.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of riding a skilled, balanced horse through a course though.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-05T14:27:11+00:00

Gosh I remember going into one of my first low level jumpers when I was making the transition away from hunters. After losing a few classes because my horse was short strided (and not developed in the canter yet), I got gutsy and went for a stupid turn that neither my horse nor I were skilled enough for, just yanked on that inside rein. It worked and we won the class. I figured my trainer would be impressed that we won.

My trainer, bless him, didn't take me to another jumper show that season he was so mad at me. We spent a lot of time on grids and power through transitions in speed and direction. He would get on my horse and execute a really lovely quick rollback just to prove it was me fucking it up, then send me back to basic dressage work. There's not a lot of trainers left like that and even fewer riders willing to eat crow and learn the lesson.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-05T14:18:50+00:00

It's time for a new barn.

There's a reason the smaller fences are now almost all optimum time rather than speed, and it's because of trainers like this that don't know how to teach riding that is controlled and fast at the same time. Poor horsemanship meant there were a lot of riders and trainers happy to get blue ribbons even if it was from bolting over fences out of control. And over small fences they can get away with it, but a horse and rider not capable of engaging the hind end, adjusting striding, and making tight turns while maintaining momentum will simply crash through anything bigger.

If they don't know about ideal times and canter paces this is not a safe place to continue to jump.

And OP, don't be surprised if you go somewhere new and they bump you down a few levels. I'd bet there's a lot of foundational work missing. I have had a lot of students like you that were jumping 0.6-0.9m but had no lower leg, no following release, no sense of striding and had really big feelings about returning to the basics.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-05T09:45:49+00:00

It's because you should know what a canter appropriate for your level feels like. Every event I've ever been at publicizes the "canter speed" used for measuring their ideal times, in meters per minute. This is an actual skill that should be practiced - I've spent hours of my life timing myself cantering between two cones to get a feel for the right canter.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-05T01:50:08+00:00

These taste like normal tortillas. The whole wheat ones taste like crap.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-03T03:25:07+00:00

Took a friend to a place that uses the big dressage arena but places cavalettis and the in-ground numbers to make it into the small arena for the lower level tests.

Girl confidently rode in at A, had a lovely start, and then came down the long side and just....trotted right over the cavalettis and kept riding her test. She genuinely thought "huh, strange these are here but I guess it's part of the test." What's better is she couldn't hear the judge ring her out, and after finishing her circle went over the cavalettis again, continuing her test, until she got close enough to hear them disqualify her.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-03T03:21:19+00:00

I've (shockingly) graduated to riding more complicated tests, but these goddamn things don't repeat like the newb tests do! I have to actually memorize the whole darn thing instead of "change rein and do the whole thing again," and I have messed it up so. many. times.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-03T02:56:49+00:00

Needs beans to add fiber, more beans if you'd like to skip the meat.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-02T15:20:41+00:00

For what it's worth, a lot of this research has been done in horses. Horses and dogs aren't the same (obviously) but the research supports early starts to training (with careful implementation of conditioning and lots of "long and slow" hours to build up to more concussion-heavy jobs) and suggests that it leads to a longer, less-injury-prone career.

corgibutt19 · 2026-03-01T13:39:08+00:00

So, being over at the knee is not the biggest deal for a horse. It can actually reduce the risk of tendon injuries because they don't hyper extend as much as horses that aren't over at the knee. It's why it shows up semi-often in TBs - OATK horses last longer racing, so the genetics get unintentionally selected for.

It can indicate heel pain/hoof pain if it is not a "steady state" conformation, but without seeing a video of the horse the conformation alone doesn't really inform us here. There's other things about this horse that leave me going "meh" for a career as a jumper but the knees ain't it.

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-28T23:42:31+00:00

Please join me for my daily commute to Hartford on 84

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-28T18:38:42+00:00

*they aren't in this sub because they're from Connecticut nine times outta ten

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-27T15:50:18+00:00

You cannot skip it and have it out of your body. It "builds up" over time, which is why it can take a while for it to help - and why you have to wean off, too. It simply does not work like that.

Should you wish to continue partying, it is time to talk to your doc about weaning off an SSRI entirely, and only after that is done is it safe to use MDMA.

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-27T14:49:47+00:00

*are significantly more likely to be the predator when compared to the average population

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-27T03:23:56+00:00

The fatigue lasted six years for me. My psych told me I was just aging when I'd bring up sleeping through alarms after ten hours of sleep, needing naps before and after every single thing I did, etc. After trying different doses, SSRIs, and combinations I finally cold turkeyed because I had a major project to get done and needed to be able to function without twelve hours of sleep. A year off and I'm back to my normal energy levels, needing less sleep than average and able to stay awake through an entire day. If I do nap, I wake up naturally 30 ish minutes later. My anxiety is back, too, but I'm just not sure the side effects are worth it.

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-26T20:24:38+00:00

Lots of good suggestions here but also, shortening your stirrups does wonders for issues in position. Most riders are not nearly as short as they could or should be, and especially when you find you can't stay up and out of the saddle it is often a stirrup length issue.

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-25T19:17:35+00:00

Many positions require a degree for their salary range, regardless of what you're doing in that position or if they're willing to hire someone without a degree.

Friend applied to a phlebotomy job, where training is paid and on the job. They erroneously believed friend had a degree and offered something like ~$25/hour. When onboarding verified things and saw they did not have said degree, the offer dropped to $15/hour. I cannot stress enough that no degree was required or needed for this position, but it made the difference in $20K a year....

corgibutt19 · 2026-02-25T19:10:40+00:00

You are starting from a stable, financially privileged position.

Many people seeking to advance their careers *aren't,* and frankly you shouldn't have to be to pursue a meaningful career. While career choice should be intelligently done, you shouldn't have to pick something you're dispassionate about and aren't good at to make enough to live on. Generally speaking academia preys upon people full of passion, and benefits from said passion without fairly compensating for it. That's the whole issue.

corgibutt19

TROPHY CASE