friday foto finish

Happy Friday, y'all!! It's been kinda interesting around these parts lately, but in like.... a really familiar and comfortable way that almost feels like.... settling in. 

barn mate snapped this epic misty morning shot!

It has probably been YEARS since I've ridden 5-6 days a week so consistently. But Doozy seems to absolutely flourish in this routine. And for reasons beyond my comprehension, it's been easier to stick to the schedule at the new place.

finally, new tall boots! Mondoni Whitehaven, ordered from Divoza

The daily riding, plus re-introducing my favorite riding apps (a metronome + interval timer that dings every 2min), have helped us rapidly develop a standard "package" for our sessions. 

Instead of just trying to keep a lid on things while existing through all three gaits in a more or less balanced posture.... Well, we're actually working on refining stuff now! Practicing transitions! Trotting figures for literal minutes on end. Cantering only when asked. **Half halting omg**

finally, a decent zipper too haha

And like. Don't get me wrong. Doozy still comes out a little wild sometimes. Esp on Ride 1 after a day off. But it feels like we've got mutually agreed upon parameters -- more of a shared vocabulary. 

ok ok so they're kinda knockoffs of the mountain horse boots... just ya know. $200 less lol, nbd

For months, the overwhelming feeling of riding this horse was just that.... everything felt so hard. And I do mean everything. But suddenly.... Idk, we're starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel LOL!

spectating lauren nicholson casually hopping around the P course at Hunt Club
good lord, tho, that grass looks thirsty!

Which, obvi, is a very welcome and reassuring feeling. Esp considering, we still aren't exactly doing anything truly ground breaking at the moment. But I honestly just get such a strong sense from the mare that, once she understands the game, once she knows the rules etc... all the rest will come fairly easily to her. So we keep plugging away!

doozy hackin about with her new friends <3

And almost without me quite realizing it, we hit kinda a big milestone this past week. For the first time probably since 2015 or 2016, I actually had three lessons omg in the span of about a week, give or take!!

our grass is getting a little desperate for rain, not gonna lie

I wrote about our clinic ride with Dom Schramm last week, and then this Sunday we made it over to dressage trainer C!! We've actually seen her a few times in recent memory, but I haven't written about it bc... ya know. It's still just the basics and without any videos or photos, ehh... It's all been said already haha, now we're just out doin it.

ooooh --- dooz out in the wild for a dressage lesson!

Still, tho, it's worth it for my obsessive documentarian self to at least capture that the lessons are happening. And this was a good one in that, there really aren't any big notes or takeaways other than "keep going!" 

legit such a pro at the trailer these days

Doozy was able to strut around showing off her new and metronome-improved trot rhythm, while politely acquiescing to small adjustments in bend and posture. Then the wheels fell off a little bit in canter --- but in that perfect "this is the work" kind of way where nobody (including the horse) got flustered or undone.

drive-by charles!!! whose grass has somehow managed to get more rain??

We just worked through it, and focused on helping Doozy find her balance. Trainer C wanted me to ride a little more off my thighs in canter -- which at first kinda worried Doozy, she didn't quite know what to do with that. But so long as I could stay soft (vs. rigid), it ended up helping. 

he's already cultivating new minions <3 <3 <3

Overall, Trainer C wants to see me get more weight into my lower legs and heel ("Feel as tho you could stand up at any moment"), and maybe move my seat far enough to the left that I feel off center --- since I actually trend toward sitting too far on the right side. This jives well with Dom's observation that I tip too much off the right side too. Not news, but still needs work!

meanwhile. what is it with cats wanting to stand on top of our feet lol

So that posture work continues to be my main focus in our solo rides, even as we keep up with all the same gymnastic and footwork practice. Tho -- big news! Our most recent practice session was actually in eager anticipation of the last of the 3 recent lessons --- the return of trainer Kelly!

oh hey look, it's **another** picture of poles on the floor!! WOW!

I rode with her somewhat consistently throughout 2022, before Charlie's hoof injury. She has an impressive resume in both upper level eventing and grand prix show jumping, all with the same horse who remains (I believe to this day) hale hearty and sound. My hope with her had been to get good coaching that was also empathetic to my protectiveness around Charlie, and she definitely fit the bill.

 

ha i tried a new arrangement too. turns out we aren't quite ready for straight lines tho

So ya know. Everything is different now... But the new place lets us bring in outside trainers, and she bases nearby! Perfect!! It's too early to get my hopes up, bc the logistics of "regular lessons" always prove more complicated than anybody expects... Plus ya know. Humans are humans and sustainable coaching relationships require good cultivation (on both sides). 

we love the big X's tho!

But Kelly's first session with us felt promising. We spent a lot of time catching up, and talking about what Doozy's done so far, etc, and then she basically observed while I put the mare through a typical flatwork session. I'd set up our standard exercises the night before as a practice run, since Doozy does so well with repetition, and everything was still in place the next day so we kinda just repeated all of it for Kelly.

and getting to be nonchalant about all the fill too

And guys, Doozy was on her A-Game for sure. Like, was lovely on the flat, still obvi green, but very game and pleasant in her pacing. And she was perfect to our little jumps!! 

Kelly made a few adjustments to my standard setup -- she encouraged me to set my takeoff pole at 7' instead of 9' if I'm planning to trot it, just to help Doozy not have to make a big move at the last minute if she does actually trot all the way in. To make this set up realistic for me when I'm on my own, she suggested using one of the jumps more toward the middle of the ring so that I could approach the jump from both the right and the left while always jumping it the same direction -- so the takeoff can be 7' and the landing can be 9'.

I will definitely adopt this method, tho also think the 9' takeoff was what we needed to first introduce this gymnastic, given how frantic and launch-y Doozy was post-Jenny Camp. The extra space gave us a little more room for forgiveness when she predictably rushed. She's over that, now, tho. So we can refine!

good girl, dooz <3 maybe one day i'll get video of our rides again!

It was a great session tho bc we got to the point where I'd usually call it -- after a couple nice reproducible efforts -- and Kelly said, yea ok but let's do a little more. And while Doozy remained lovely and game, she did make a couple little mistakes, which obvi meant that we had to keep repeating the exercise. 

But it was just like with the canter in our last dressage lesson with Trainer C. It wasn't a big deal. Nobody got flustered, including the horse. It was just one of those, "gotta work through it" educational moments. Doozy just had to figure out how to be patient to this shorter distance takeoff pole in order to have a comfortable clean pass over the vertical. That's.... literally the lesson lol. And she figured it out, good girl!

days are getting shorter tho!!

Also was a good reminder to me that, this is legit what the lessons are for. Having that ground person guide me (and reset the jumps when we clobber them lol) and push me for that extra effort needed for the breakthroughs. 

Here's hoping we can keep it up lol. Happy weekend, y'all!