Social media is funny. Every now and then I'll write a blog that I think is AWESOME, really knocking it out of the park, and it'll get almost no response. And every now and then, I'll flippantly post a funny little photo on my Facebook or Instagram page, and it'll go viral.

(*Before we begin, an author's note: I came up with this blog's clever title as a reference to the late 90s rom-com, but really, it should be called "How Lauren Got Her &#$! Together And Is, Slowly But Surely, Learning How To Ride Her Nice Horse." But that has less of a ring to it. Carry on.)

Ella came home with me in January of 2006. She was 5. I was 21. Neither of us had any idea what we were doing.

As my students all can attest, I've been geeking out all week about an article featuring nuggets of wisdom from Carl Hester. I've been so stoked about it because a) he's awesome, and b) so, so many of the things he highlights in the article are things that I believe in, and preach to my own students. 

I'm a child of the modern era. I grew up with the internet, YouTube and smart phones. And while these devices certainly weren't designed with the horse world in mind, they've done plenty to make our lives in the barn just a little bit easier. I've incorporated some really great technology into the way I run my business. Here are a few of my favorite devices, apps and other techno toys that make my business run well.

I had the most incredible ride yesterday. I'm pretty much on top of everything for the Grand Prix on Ella, but there's a gear in the passage I'm still not 100 percent confident in, and in my last lesson with Michael he put me on a 20-meter circle in passage and had me just play with it—what happens when I use my leg like this, what happens when I use my seat like that, until I cultivated the passage I wanted.