Monday, August 12, 2019

Charlie's Progression: The DROP

Happy Monday, everyone!! For the first time in.... what feels like ages and ages, I set out for this past weekend with a somewhat ambitious agenda. And... Everything worked out. Yasss!!

The plans would test and challenge me as a rider, but I truly felt they were well within scope -- some rounds at a low key jumper show, and another cross country lesson with Sally.

doesn't charlie have such a sweet kind expression?? <3
I'll write about all the things, in conjunction with literally ALL THE MEDIA OMG, in due time. But right now I'm a little beat up, a little tired, and still a little shell shocked haha.

So instead, let's take a wider look at Charlie's progression. Because this weekend I feel like... We FINALLY had the big moment we've been training for. Haha. Hahahahahaha....

practicing our DROP into the head of the lake - the early days
See, Charlie's a stylish sorta horse, ya know? He's got that certain je ne sais quoi about him. This striking ability to literally fling himself across the face of the earth, traversing space and time with reckless abandon.

GLORIOUS DROPPAGE
No obstacle is too small for Charlie. Oh no. There were times I felt like maybe showing my bronto behemoth in the 2' classes was a little silly, and that it wasn't going to help us get to our goals of the ULTIMATE DROP.

so stylish
But yet, we persisted. Because I knew.... I just knew Charlie had it in him. I wasn't so much teaching him the DROP, as he was honing his natural born skills. Sharpening his technique and timing for maximum effect.

precursor to the DROP is the LAUNCH
Simultaneously, we've been slowly but carefully working on all the other component pieces. Slowly ticking off all the boxes of preparing for our eventual Head of the Lake debut. And again - size is of no concern to Charlie. Even the most humble BN pheasant feeders are worthy of Charlie's cornucopia of abundance.

LANDING IS NOT IMPORTANT WHEN THERE ARE DROPS TO ACHIEVE!
Of course, I've had to practice my style too. It takes two to tango, right? And we all know that a critical element of optimal droppage is the rider's position, obvi. This means: a shocked expression and the appearance of free fall are paramount.

YES SIR WE R GETTING CLOSER
Recently, we've been able to take this skill back to actual water obstacles. Because it can't be Head Of The Lake Drop without water, right????

AT LAST!! WE HAVE ATTAINED THE ULTIMATE DROP!!!
Finally, tho. Finally this weekend: we did it! It may not be Kentucky, but damn if we didn't drop the fuck out of that lake haha. Hahahaha. Nothing else matters any more. It is done, yo.

Just, uh.... Don't ask how the landing worked out lol ;)

Hope y'all had a great weekend too. Looking forward to catching up on everything. And obviously stay tuned for more to come on all the above too!


30 comments:

  1. This is great! Hope everyone is well and looking forward to hearing about the rest of the adventure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha, thank you ;) plenty more to come soon (and for the intensely impatient, at least one vid is already up on youtube...)

      Delete
  2. Can't wait to hear more about your weekend adventure! (And all the media of course!!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. so much media, omg. so pumped to get it all organized ;)

      Delete
  3. Lol! The bronto pic though!
    So um... did you go swimming?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lolz, but it's a friendly bronto ;) and actually somehow by the grace of sweet baby jesus (and a horse who flies straight) i did *not* take a bath lol.....

      Delete
  4. Hmmmm that launch....and you being beat up,....Did you go for a swim!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha, not this time --- tho there were a few moments there when i wondered LOL. it wasn't exactly the prettiest either, but that's ok too!

      Delete
    2. haha agreed completely!! and actually, it wasn't so much an ugly jump as it was that charlie jumped the ever loving snot out of it when perhaps a more conservative effort would have been easier to sit LOL

      Delete
  5. I am so jealous of the Sally lessons and am living through you! :) I hope you didn't get (too) wet!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh man, i'm totally hooked on these lessons lol. if that's all we ever did any more i'd be 100% cool with that!! ;)

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Hahaha yassssssss !!! Gotta admit it was fun searching for those pics ;)

      Delete
  7. I can't even see the front of his face in that last pic, but I can tell he is A Very Pleased Charles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Omg SUCH a pleased Charles !! The only thing that annoyed him was me not staying exactly perfectly balanced, to say the least LOL

      Delete
  8. Woohoo!!! You guys did it! I loved all those pics in succession. Priceless LOL

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hahahahahah!!! I agree with Carly - you can just sense how pleased he is with himself dropping into the water

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha omg for real. like in all seriousness there was PLENTY OF ROOM for him to land on dry ground before going into the water, but nah, too boring for charles apparently! lolol

      Delete
  10. Yeah - glad you had a good weekend of rides! Charlie is such a hunk - have I mentioned that? Maybe not so much in the first pic, but the rest, fo sho! LOL

    Looking forward to the deets. :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh man, such a hunk haha. it took a while to get through the gangly racehorse let down crash period, but he really looks great these days <3

      Delete
  11. The caption on that first photo - hahahahah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lol i maybe had a little too much fun writing the captions HA

      Delete
  12. I was worried that you went for a cannonball off of Charlie but I see from the comments that you stayed nice and dry. Yay! The idea of a drop jump terrifies me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha thank the lort i did in fact stay dry!! and yea, actual true drop jumps are... not my favorite. tho of course, when you're a charlie you can "drop" just about anything, as many of the examples above are just totally normal jumps on flat ground LOL... he's a creative sorta pony ;)

      Delete
  13. Ramone was a launching dinosaur too, my neck is glad I no longer have to experience the landings that come after the launch lol - glad your action packed weekend was amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha thanks! and yea my back may or may not have been a bit sore after the busy weekend!

      Delete
  14. Damn. I knew an epic last photo must be coming, but I wasn't fully prepared for how awesome it would be. WOW! LOOK AT YOU TWO!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks girl ;) that picture is borderline bananas and i'm sliiiightly obsessed with it hahaha!

      Delete

Thanks for leaving a comment! You may need to enable third party cookies in your browser settings if you have trouble using this form.