cross country with Izzy!! (complete and utter photo spam)

Three barn mates (including B & Wick) and I went cross country schooling last week, and two other rider friends met us there with their horses too!!!! We went to Tranquility Manor Farms, site of the hunter trials I rode in last fall, and managed to get in an hour and a half of schooling before dusk. It was AMAZING!!

Long story short - Isabel jumped everything I pointed her at, was perfectly rideable, and we did everything from the small intro warm up stuff to one or two novice jumps. I felt like we could have done way more big stuff - but this was Isabel's third day jumping in a row (after our schooling session and lesson with Dan) so I opted not to push it. 

Truly tho, all six horses had very good outings and it was a nice combination of riders with varying goals. One barn mate was prepping for running BN over the weekend, and probably did the most big stuff. Isabel and I were prepping for going Intro in another week, two OTTBs (including Wick) were having their first ever xc outing, and another horse is just coming back from a long winter off after a serious founder. 

All rider pairs did incredibly well, and it was great being out there with friends as cheerleaders. Horses were going every which way at times - but none cared about leaving the group or coming back. No shenanigans, no falls, only a couple stops - but just honest green baby type stuff. 

It was pretty much the best ride ever - and something we seriously hope to repeat often lol. Below is complete photo spam of the outing and most of my jumping efforts (tho with so many riders going around, it's natural that our sainted videographer missed a few things). There's also a video of just my and Izzy's rides, then a longer (12 min) compilation of the whole group. Both are loads of fun to watch :)

our horses are super quiet at the trailer getting ready. everything from packing/unpacking the trailer, tacking up, and generally just hanging out there has become downright routine for everyone concerned 

two thirds of our party, getting ready to head out
the three horses in front of Izzy here are all OTTBs, tho only Tillie (whose rider is in pink) has been out before

the rest of the gang almost ready
the two horses at right have both been out a few times and were super fun to have along

warm up fence was perhaps spookier than anticipated, with lots of rocks at the base - but Isabel didn't care

'whoa omg ROKZ' - Tillie w barnmate K. notice Izzy just chillin haha

little ramp to warm up

some hesitation at the brush box on approach, but up and over with leg

some SASS after the big log - but she comes right back (note to self: sit up and shoulders back!)

second time over the brush box was easy peasy

no hesitation over the stone wall

this was a brick wall on the other side and also got a lookie loo, but nothing big

quiet, relaxed, yet alert on a loose rein between turns

pretty sure this is a novice log pile

bn coop... honestly felt like we could have done the 3' coop next to it too

faux ditch was fine both ways

red barn merited a looksie one stride out, but she was up and over with a little leg

chillin w a mouthful of grass

easy (tho awkward) down
a bummer was that the water was all dried up... and that was really the ONE big thing i think we need serious work on. hopefully another opportunity will present itself soon...

easy up

walking back to the trailer

happy team post-ride :)

video of us here

video of the whole group ride here 

~12 minutes but a fun watch all the same