It was Tracy from the long-dormant Fly On Over blog who first told me the phrase, "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." And I've never forgotten the wisdom of that mindset!
this mare knows more than the rest of us and isn't afraid to say it
Now more than ever -- it's proving yet again to be a fruitful approach to green horses. I've spent the better part of a year whinging about how slowwww progress has been with Doozy...
And then suddenly, mare is downright lackadaisical about 2'7 and it turns out *I'm* making riding mistakes instead of her making.... rideability mistakes. How things change!
in retrospect, perhaps my distances were a bit aspirational
A former barn mate planned to ship over to Doozy's farm for a fun jump night, complete with grids!, and my longtime show buddy Amy was coming too to hang out and jump crew and snag media. Unfortunately the other horse ended up being a little sore, so the friend didn't ship, but Amy still came! So we kept to the plan of an intentional array of fences and a little grid!
i love the enthusiasm, Dooz, but it's only 18'
I think in concept my grid idea was good, but in execution the distances weren't quite right. Charlie cut his teeth on awesome 18' distance grids... But Doozy has this sorta amazing ability to just kinda skitter and skate over all the various poles and obstacles in her path such that my intentional distances and measurements were no more than a mere suggestion to her LOL.
sometimes she made it work tho!
It didn't help that I was possibly a little too passive in accomplishing a compressed bouncy ball canter going in... But like. Wow. What a feeling to be like, "Emma, ride better and the mare will answer!"
well. lol. she *always* made it work HAHA, just... sometimes more *creatively* than i'd intended!
As it was, mare is the knower of everything, queen of the jompies, and she sorted things out just fine according to her own view of the world.
the singles were easy peasy tho <3 <3 watch the video to see her awesome easy auto change after this jump!
It's been a little warm around here, so my plan was to be relatively economical. Warm up to the extent that was needed, catch a couple of the smaller singles I'd set to get her in a jumping mind, then work through the grid a couple times (with Amy making adjustments as needed after each trip), and then finish by coursing around the rest of the at-height-ish singles.
somehow... too easy. this is why we need grids, kids!
And I'm proud of myself for setting fences intentionally. I brought a measuring stick and everything! Doozy is apparently ready for more of a challenge -- a little bit faster than I am, as always seems to be the way.... So I built up all the fences a bit -- lots of flowers, panels, ground lines etc.
game face activated <3
I did give myself an array of heights too. A single cross rail for warm up, then obvi the crosses for the grid (I wanted to keep that inviting since Doozy doesn't have a lot of experience with grids yet). Then everything else was set from 2'3 to 2'7. No oxers, but the flower boxes and astroturf boxes gave some jumps more feeling of spread.
we're in a phase where the takeoff pics aren't very impressive
And guys... Doozy just clocked right on around.
This mare, ugh, she is turning into exactly my ride <3
i love the casual feeling tho!
Like obviously it's not perfect. It's pretty easy to see in her technique why I want to do more grid work, and why I continue to like setting up big X's for the horse. She's got a somewhat casual style and doesn't mind clobbering the rails.
ok ok you caught me, i also just love the fall foliage backdrop <3
But she gives me a really good feeling. Like the feeling approaching the jumps and at takeoff is just... Idk how to describe it, she feels very connected. It's not that I've suddenly resolved my "pearl clutching" habit.... it's just that, idk, she just has a good feeling.
proud of myself for setting a full arrangement of appropriate fences -- and then jumping them all!
And she's gotten so steady too!! Like her rhythm is so much more consistent! I went back and watched videos of us jumping around last spring and you can see the natural rhythm... But I'm here to say that the feeling now is completely different -- esp in what it takes from me as a rider.
if for no other reason, watch for the gorgeous evening glow + foliage!
I dunno. Maybe that's a whole lot of gushing about a fairly vanilla school. But, eh, for me? This is the stuff. It's been a long road with Doozy, and a lot of feelings of insecurity and uncertainty. Not to mention the last few years of trying to nurse Charlie along as a riding horse.
It takes me a long time to decide to make a change. And then, I guess, a long time to settle into that change. So hopefully you'll excuse me for occasionally indulging in appreciation when everything finally just feels.... good <3 <3 <3
Y'all look great!! It's interesting how casual she is, just from my amateur watching it seems like some of the suggestions are because she's so athletic that she isn't stuck with just the one option that theoretically makes the most sense lol. She barely is trying over this height even, Ben actually gets more careful as the fences get bigger, I wonder if she'll be the same.
yea honestly that's my thought too. like she's only very recently figured out how to consistently get to a comfortable distance, but the jump mechanic itself is still... a little casual lol. clobbering the rails doesn't bother her, but i don't think she loves it either. it's a shame our last jump of the night was sorta obscured by the other jumps bc she gave that one a *very nice* effort that i think was a result of her experiences knocking the earlier jumps. so the carefulness will happen, i think, and hopefully better constructed grids will help!
Wow, she looks so fun and happy! Don’t apologize for gushing, it’s completely earned! Also, that arena is so nice! The horses my daughter and I lease are on a teeny tiny property. We would die to have that much space! Thanks for sharing your video, it was fun to watch!
thank you :D this ring is really very nice -- and all the equipment is in great shape too! not gonna lie, facilities were a big part of choosing the right place for Doozy (and why Charlie ended up at a different barn, he doesn't need all that!).
"This mare, ugh, she is turning into exactly my ride <3" I just love all of this. These are my favorite posts, don't ever apologize for them! You've put all the work in, and you deserve to gush a little about your lovely mare!
No apology necessary. It is the daily plugging away at things that build the foundation. It looks like you two had a blast.
ReplyDeletesuch a blast! she's always liked the jumping game, but there's a whole new feeling now that she understands the mechanics better
DeleteY'all look great!! It's interesting how casual she is, just from my amateur watching it seems like some of the suggestions are because she's so athletic that she isn't stuck with just the one option that theoretically makes the most sense lol. She barely is trying over this height even, Ben actually gets more careful as the fences get bigger, I wonder if she'll be the same.
ReplyDeleteyea honestly that's my thought too. like she's only very recently figured out how to consistently get to a comfortable distance, but the jump mechanic itself is still... a little casual lol. clobbering the rails doesn't bother her, but i don't think she loves it either. it's a shame our last jump of the night was sorta obscured by the other jumps bc she gave that one a *very nice* effort that i think was a result of her experiences knocking the earlier jumps. so the carefulness will happen, i think, and hopefully better constructed grids will help!
DeleteThis made me smile! Nothing ventured, nothing earned, but it's always wonderful when the 'venture' is a good one :)
ReplyDeleteagreed 1,000%
DeleteWow, she looks so fun and happy! Don’t apologize for gushing, it’s completely earned! Also, that arena is so nice! The horses my daughter and I lease are on a teeny tiny property. We would die to have that much space! Thanks for sharing your video, it was fun to watch!
ReplyDeletethank you :D this ring is really very nice -- and all the equipment is in great shape too! not gonna lie, facilities were a big part of choosing the right place for Doozy (and why Charlie ended up at a different barn, he doesn't need all that!).
DeleteThis post makes my heart happy <3
ReplyDeletemeeee toooo <3 <3 <3
Delete"This mare, ugh, she is turning into exactly my ride <3"
ReplyDeleteI just love all of this. These are my favorite posts, don't ever apologize for them! You've put all the work in, and you deserve to gush a little about your lovely mare!