Doozy does... BN @ Thornridge!

Happy almost halloween, folks!! Doozy and I went to the final Thornridge CT of the year this weekend and had a blast! Brace yo'self for unapologetic photo spam from the day lol...

my pretty mare has metamorphosed <3 <3

We had a nice little group going too, with some friends from Charlie's barn competing (and even more just showing up for support and cheering and media capture -- thanks Amy and Dave!).

nobody remembers that she broke loose and tore around the property at her first Thornridge!
also peep our psychedelic hippy friends in the background!

Tho -- just on the off chance you happened to already find the show jumping video online, and were like, "Uh what the fuck happened at the end, tho?" -- well. The day didn't end totally great for all of our group. My friend had a pretty scary accident in the warm up (which you can hear at the end of my round). Fortunately everybody is ok, but it's a good reminder to make safe choices and take falls seriously!! 

our other friend was a very pretty princess (until he wasn't, sigh). pc RiskHappy

Anyway, tho, I promise to not be too wordy lol.... It's just a single dressage test and one jump round -- how much can there be to say anyway??? (rhetorical questions, people, it’s rhetorical....)

as always, not every moment looks like this --- but omg we are getting these moments!! <3

Ahem. So. Regular readers will recall that Doozy has had what might be considered a metamorphosis recently (see what I did there?). She went around the jumping at Loch Moy like a trained horse, like maybe somebody else has been riding while I'm asleep or something LOL! And before that, she had a lightbulb moment about longitudinal balance. 

charlie's bff Dave from Risk Happy Photography shot some incredible photos omg

So I figured -- Thornridge is a safe space. It's the definition of low key, chill vibes, friendly organizers, inviting rules... Let's take this opportunity to give the mare a little more of a challenge by entering the Beginner Novice class!

we're just 'boring' not good at dressage now, instead of "way too exciting" bad at dressage LOL
pc RiskHappy

And Doozy was so good! Totally chill about getting ready at the trailer and warming up in the indoor, which is obvi pretty familiar to her by now. And was happy to hang out grazing while we watched one of my friends ride her test before our turn. 

holy mother of dog, y'all -- test comments include the word "relaxed" (for this free walk) while the words "tense/tension" are nowhere to be found!! #progress

And once in the ring? Doozy just.... Went around. Guys. She's getting LAZY. It's amazing, omg, I love it! She's like, "Oh. This again." OMG. 

so pleased with this critter <3
pc RiskHappy

Like it's still not what you would consider a "good" dressage test. And now, more than ever, it sure kinda looks like maybe the rider should consider... riding better. 

click to embiggen!

Especially in the geometry -- I let a few of the circles (particularly our first canter circle) get away from me. And Doozy was weirdly casual about the ring corners LOL, almost like, "I could keep going?" Establishing more consistent inside bend will help with all these things!

link to video here

Honestly, tho, the test was fine! And we scored a somewhat generous, but not altogether crazy 36%!! AND omg! We were out in front for our class of three! Tho, my two division mates rode the B test for some reason (these shows are entirely "pick your test / pick your height" so this happens sometimes), which is technically a harder test. 

But still. It's been a LONG TIME since I've ridden to the front on the strength of our dressage, so I choose to enjoy it <3

jump decorations on point! look at the bats on the pole stripe omg!!

Anyway. One of our group was focusing on dressage for the day, so we hung out longer than usual around the court to watch her ride her tests. Then just popped back to the trailer for the quick addition of jumping boots and martingale, then sauntered on down to show jump.

warmed up like my doozy does!

I walked Doozy around the field for probably longer than necessary. She was ready to go, and pretty clear that, "Excuse me, ma'am, but I'm a *professional,* you don't need to baby me!"

So ya know. Fine! We got on with warming up, cantering now as is Doozy's firm preference. I think we jumped each available fence (X, small vert, larger vert) twice each, and called it good.

then straight onto the course! 

This mare. I swear, she's just full of surprises. We have uncovered how she likes to be ridden to fences: strong inseam contact (hip to heel!), connected reins, hands down. 

not sure these fences measure a full 2'7, but they're certainly the biggest she's seen in a show!

But even so, the feeling keeps shifting almost imperceptibly for me! She's learning so quickly, becoming comfortable so quickly, that suddenly I'm having to make adjustments for how to ride when she's not making a bid for it.

some of the turns were tricky with the terrain, but we figured it out more or less. pc RiskHappy

The hyper-connected feeling definitely helps, but we still had a few moments where I probably needed to generate a bit more forward along the way -- lest I run the risk of constantly putting her at a slightly-too-close distance at every fence. 

"whoops whoops whoops, my bad!" -- emma, 100%

But ya know. That's the beauty of Thornridge! We get to figure these things out -- with the added complexity of mildly tricky terrain and decidedly weird course design LOL, paired with inviting and friendly jumps.

no harm, no foul! mare can cope with a mistake and move on!

This course was a little weird, too. One turn (jump 3 to 4) was just beyond what Doozy can realistically do at this moment, so after realizing it was impossible, I just rerouted to circle around. We still had a somewhat big oopsie at 5, again just figuring out the balance between forward enough and connected enough. My mistake 100%.

these #RiskHappy photographs tho, ugh i love them! there may be more coming soon too!

The mare recovered well, tho, doesn't hold a grudge. So we made it around to our last pleasant little loop around the ring just fine. Which... Unfortunately, just as we were approaching the final fence my friend had her accident.

link to video here

again, apologies if you find the frantic emergency hullabaloo triggering,

please know that everybody is totally fine!

I could hear the gasps and instant shouts for "Medic!" as we approached the last fence... Conventional wisdom says that, in the course of an emergency, continue on the smoothest path to halt + dismount. In other words, don't make any sudden (and potentially reckless) movements that could put your own self at risk. And *definitely* don't fling yourself off the horse in motion and twist an ankle in the process.

we didn't stay long enough for final scoring, but i figured with my two rails and a circle we'd drop from the top. all good tho! amazing just to be out in front for once on the strength of our dressage!

So we proceeded to our jump, jumped it fine, then praised, slowed, and dismounted. We were lucky to be in close company (as in, within our own group and my friend's actual family) of first responder and health professionals. So Amy and I basically busied ourselves with retrieving and caring for the wayward horse (and Doozy, obvi!), and let the fallen rider get what she needed from those most capable of helping her. 

happy <3
pc RiskHappy

And again -- everyone is ok! Whew! The rider had no obvious injuries or impediments (other than, ya know, being slightly smooshed), but transported anyway to be safe. Good choices, y'all. 

Knowing that she was ok was a big relief, and allowed our group to kinda take a deep breath and appreciate our good rides. 

This sport is hard. They are horses. They are big, they have big feelings. It can get complicated. 

I'm proud of my little mare for her performance on this day. She stepped up. She coped, She relaxed. And we are figuring it out!