We’re Gwen and Alice, the duo behind the Instagram @CoursesAndCocktails & @CoursesAndCocktails on TikTok, and each month we’ll be sharing the real side of life with horses—the victories, the frustrations, the hits, the misses, the laughs, and everything in between. We are both adult amateur riders who are self-made and self-funded. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from sharing our lives online, it’s that while everyone loves a good horse show highlight reel, the stories that really connect people highlight not just the highs, but the lows, and often happen long before and long after we step into the ring. That’s exactly what we hope to bring to our new series with Sidelines.
While horses will always be at the center of our lives, this series won’t just be about ribbons and results. Over the coming months, we’ll take you behind the scenes of balancing careers with horse showing, traveling across the country with our horses, navigating the inevitable highs and lows of competition, trying products we genuinely love, and all the moments that make this lifestyle so addictive.
This year also marks an exciting new chapter: Gwen is preparing to become a first-time mom, and we’ll be documenting that journey, from pregnancy to finding her way back into the saddle after baby. If you’re wondering what it’s really like to balance motherhood with horses, we’ll be figuring it out right alongside you.
As for Alice, she’ll continue sharing the perspective of balancing a full-time legal career with chasing weekends at horse shows, proving that you don’t have to ride professionally to be completely consumed by this sport.
Our hope is that these posts feel less like articles and blogs and more like conversations you’d have sitting outside the show ring after a long day with your fellow adult amateurs. We’ll celebrate the wins, laugh about the mishaps, talk honestly about the challenges, and hopefully remind you that none of us have this horse life completely figured out.
Whether you’re a lifelong competitor, a weekend warrior, a horse-show parent, or someone who simply loves the equestrian community, we’re excited to have you along for the ride.
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