Sarah Dairiki

This post is for all those equestrians out there who have experienced both the joys and ugly sides of riding. I rode yesterday on one of my favorite ponies, Ken, and we had a fantastic warm up, him responding well to my leg and extending and collecting his strides when I asked. Before jumping we started warming up over a serpentine of cavaletti to work on keeping our strides slow with tight turns, and Ken was perfect. However, as we came around the far side of the arena to do the exercise a second time Ken started spooking at something that caught his eye. Because of this I circled him and continued on, keeping a tighter rein in that spot. However Ken spooked again, but this time so much that he broke out into a full on run, galloping down the long side of the arena to the other side, where he let out huge bucks, one after the other. Despite pushing my heels down to secure my balance and giving and taking on the reins, I was sent flying from the saddle, where I landed flat on my back...

I recently spent the day at my old barn up in Portola Valley. Needless to say, I was shocked at how I still knew my way around, like I had never left. Stepping onto the barn's grounds was like stepping back into an old home; everything was still in place and I automatically felt comfortable. You may be wondering, why would you go back to your old barn if you chose to leave in the first place? Well to be honest, I have really close friends who still ride there, and just to put it out there, I still miss my old barn. Spring Down was the place where I spent 7 years of my equestrian career, where I grew up and matured. From the moment I got to Spring Down I was crushed in a hug from my friends, then rushed into a stall to tack up my friend's horse Zoe, a beautiful bay mare. As I tacked up I sighed in relief as I felt it all coming back naturally to me. As the clock ticked closer to the start of the lesson, I walked into the arena, smiling at the sight of the jumps that I had tr...

My mother discovered this recipe in one of her cooking books, and after trying it, we realized that it was a keeper. This recipe is both healthy and easy to make, as I, a terrible cook, can even make this dish without messing up. Although the name is unique, this dish has a different taste from other recipes you may encounter, but will definitely leave you with a want for more. Ingredients: 2 cups walnuts 1 tbs cumin 1/2 tbs coriander 1 tsp chili powder A small pinch of cayenne pepper (it is not needed if you do not like spicy foods) 2 tbs low-sodium tamari Collard greens, washed with the stems trimmed about two inches from the bottom of the leaf Mild salsa Procedure: Chop the walnuts into small chunks, and put them in a medium sized bowl. Then mix in the cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.  Add the tamari and mix again. Place a collard green on your plate, and spoon your mixture into the leaf. After scooping a preferable amount, add one or two...

So many people focus on maintaining a healthy diet, so with the help of my mom, we were able to find a decent recipe for low calorie blueberry muffins. Here it is: Ingredients: Cooking spray (not needed if you have cupcake/muffin liners for the tray) 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon 3/4 cup white sugar 1/3 cup applesauce 1/3 cup skim milk 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups fresh blueberries Procedure: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. After doing so, line your tray with muffin cups Mix the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.  Mix the sugar, applesauce, milk, egg, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl.  Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix. Then add in the blueberries. After mixing the blueberries in, fill the muffin cups with batter. Bake the muffins in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted into a muffin...

Five Seconds of Summer, the best band that I believe has ever walked this earth. Okay that is totally exaggerating, but I still love them nonetheless. My love for this band started at the end of my junior year  of high school and has spiraled out of control since then.  One of my good friends pushed me to write this article because of how obsessed I am, and I can see her reading this and slapping herself for giving me this idea. Sorry, but I think this article was long overdue.  Five Seconds of Summer consists of Calum Hood, Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, and Ashton Irwin. They all knew each other through school or outside that, and they decided to form a band a few years ago. Calum and Luke are the lead singers, with Ashton as the drummer and Michael as backup singer. They originally started out performing at small gigs, only to be recognized by One Direction, becoming the opening act for them. This sparked their birth into the celebrity world.  Now this s...