wonderful Waredaca

Area II eventing is just about wrapped up for the year, and Doozy finished her first season as an event horse at the Waredaca Starter Trial! And it was a really fun, really great day!!

all dressed up and ready to go!

Lucky / unlucky for you, there is exactly zero media from our dressage test. Which is just as well, it really isn't anything to look at anyway haha. I will say: Doozy was very good in warm up. Very chill even tho it was a somewhat chaotic ring -- on grass, an odd shape, uneven (and very hard dry) ground, and LOTS of ponies and horses. 

literally the sweetest critter <3 no photos from dressage, you're welcome LOL

But Doozy just went about her warm up, was obedient. Did the things, and I'm more or less happy with my riding. The test itself (in the arena on footing) was... not good. But not bc Doozy was bad -- she was actually totally fine! No accidental canters or anything! 

plenty of jompies media tho!

Just... Not good yet lol. Doozy was pretty strong, we were late for all of our down transitions (including the final halt -- almost ended up in the judge's lap!), our ring craft was pretty bad in terms of line of travel -- falling in off the rail, not getting into our corners, etc etc. 

takeaway from the day: #Jomps2Small

I'm happy with how the horse felt tho -- not frantic or stressed. Just, really green with a decidedly middling pilot LOL. She just did literally what she thought the test should be. Our homework this winter will be to get into as many dressage courts as possible to really sorta normalize that it's just another regular ride in there.

literally cantering largely lol

Anyway, the judge gave us a very generous 35.0% - knocked back to 36.3% bc I got an error for use of voice WHOOPS lol. That penalty put us in 7th of 7, which, ya know. Yep that tracks LOL. 

Nbd, tho, it's not news that I kinda suck at riding dressage, and my sweet little mare reflects that. But what we lack on the flat, we make up for over fences!! Sorta!!

occasionally i rode to a more impressive distance lol

For real, tho, the jumping phases are definitely stronger for us haha. Tho ya know, we can't *always* be perfect like Doozy was at Loch Moy last month! She warmed up a bit stronger than she's been lately -- stronger than she was at Thornridge and Loch Moy, and definitely more amped than she's been at home.

but eh, i don't mind the casual easy feeling tbh even tho the rails are expensive

So I rode her a bit more connected and held together than maybe we've been trending, but it worked out for us. She had more of a draw in one direction across the ring vs the other, and we had two basically identical rails when she kinda just blew past the distance and just cantered over the jumps.

such a good girl!

We've been jumping BN at home for the last few weeks and suddenly these fences are feeling very small. Which, ya know, fine by me! The casual rails are annoying but ya know. I am who I am as a rider and I think I prefer the ultra casual vibe to the ultra careful. YMMV.

she did all auto-changes around the course, except for one sorta longish loop where she comfortably held a balanced counter canter

For her part, Doozy is getting really good at landing in a better balance and making quick turns after fences. She also took full responsibility for all our lead changes in this round. I literally don't even think I checked once -- a testament to how balanced she feels. 

video of show jump round here

So, with show jumping completed, nothing was left but to stroll over to the cross country field, pop over the warm up fence, and then wait our turn at the box!

chillin in the box

It's interesting bc I walked Waredaca's starter course after volunteering at their recognized event in May, and thought the jumps looked huge. But on this day? Everything looked basically perfect for us. It was a short-ish course, only 9 efforts over about 1100m, so I guess it's possible they didn't use their biggest jumps for the level... But honestly I think Doozy has just grown up so quickly!

then it's Go Time! guys, Waredaca is stunningly beautiful -- even when everything is dry crispy brown

Our course was one big loop around the gorgeous centerpiece lake, with lots of terrain up and down. The first two sets of jumps were basically the same as Charlie's last time at this event, in 2019 and I distinctly recalled being very annoyed at myself for letting him cannonball down the hill to jump 2 and subsequently make an icky feeling mess of it lol. 

So I promised myself that I'd ride Doozy down every hillside intentionally and in balance. And go figure! It worked haha -- she was perfect to every jump at the bottom of a hill!

i did my job riding downhill to jump 2, and doozy rewarded me with a very pleasant effort!

I also recalled from past visits to Waredaca -- both as a volunteer and rider -- that a LOT of horses, especially at the lower levels, have surprise stops at jump 3. My guess is that riders get complacent when the horses carry them easily down hill (and back toward the trailers) over jumps 1 and 2, without realizing that turning UPhill, back away from the trailers, and toward the unseen for jump 3 might produce a VERY different feeling in the horse. 

And Doozy kinda had that feeling too! Jump 3 kinda emerges after a long uphill pull and she definitely was sorta like, ''oooh where did that come from?" But we were on a good line and in good balance well enough in advance that her brain had enough time to process the jump's appearance, and she was fine. 

the course was kinda arranged in 'twos' - which was really fun!
these two lakeside jumps caught out about half the division, across all splits -- a tricky downhill approach with a lot of environmental distractions (ie, the lake itself)

Jump 4 was close by, sorta a long bending line from 3 -- a palisade style fence right at the top of the hill before running down again. The whole course was kinda like this too -- sets of jumps in pairs that kinda gave us a lot to think about, but then long runs in between.

Jumps 5 and 6 produced the most issues on course. I suspect riders kinda tore down the hill along the road -- which took you pretty far to the right -- then had to careen over to the left toward the lake to get to this line. If the horse was looking more at the lake then the jumps... Yea, that might be a problem lol. Doozy was great, tho, and was able to stay in balance and get on the right line for the jumps plenty early enough to stay very straight and centered.

holy mother of dog, we had a down bank on course...!!

She then took it upon herself to trot across the dam, which I totally get bc it's a lot to look at -- basically a raised path right up against the lake. Plus, I was glad she wanted to trot bc our next jump... Well, it wasn't a jump at all. It was a friggin down back oh my god. 

True story, guys. Somehow in all my years doing lower level eventing, I've NEVER encountered a down bank on course. Like, sure, Charlie was plenty schooled to them. But we just... Never saw it. Doozy schooled the banks at Windurra that one time.... But again, never in my mind did I think we'd see that question at this level lol, so I didn't even bother practicing at Tranquillity last week (even tho we practiced banks up!). 

So. Yea. I was unsure how it would go LOL. But Doozy being Doozy, she just stepped on down and proceeded to the next jump <3

water wasn't flagged but we seized the opportunity for a little practice anyway

What a mare, guys, omg. With that question behind us, we continued on with a little detour through the water. Just to practice, ya know? I'd opted to take the option instead at Loch Moy, since we really haven't had much chance to school water (and it's SO DRY everywhere lately). 

But, eh, this was a perfect opportunity, so we took it! Doozy took a little persuading but then just stepped in and walked through. Good enough for now, and we'll practice more later! 

lololol the goodest most casual girl over the last!! these little jumps are too easy for her!

Then just a little canter over to the finish line -- a small barn jump that Doozy basically just loped over LOL. And that was it!

link to full helmet camera video here

I'm so stinkin proud of this mare. She really seems to get it now. Seems to understand the game, and wants to play. She wasn't even that strong out on the xc course -- was more thoughtful and intentional to the jumps despite occasionally wanting to get strung out on all the hills. But even then, it felt like she was learning as she went along. 

through the finish flags <3 <3 so pleased with this critter!

And I'm happy with my own self for getting out there and doing it. Looking back on my years with Charlie, there's a pretty clear trend of being a little too hard on myself for rider mistakes and imperfections. More than a few times, I was disappointed with how an event went bc I thought I should have done better as a rider. 

In retrospect, that all feels pretty self-defeating, like I robbed myself of the pleasure of just... enjoying my horse. Like, let's be real.... Who is really going to care more than I do about our performance? None of this matters for literally anything, except for what it means to me. 

strutting like the champion she is <3

So with Doozy, I'm trying to keep it really simple. I want to keep learning, keep pushing myself and developing myself as a rider. I want to get better. But most fundamentally, I want to enjoy it and feel fulfilled by the experience. 

And days like this one are just the ticket <3