Happy Friday, y’all. I’m a little late getting this out bc we ended up somewhat impulsively deciding to go school at Shawan yesterday and I was too worn out after to sit down and write anything about it lol… c’est la vie, but I’ll at least get this out before the weekend!
the look of eagles pigeons, from the mare who i am still not quite trusting to tie at the moment….
It’s been a bit of a bumpy season with Doozy, as you are all aware. We seem to have gotten her more reliably comfortable and sound again with some relatively modest tweaks (yay!) but I’m maybe still realizing that… I can’t just pick up where we left off before the winter.
started the ride with a hack out to the back field + water. brave biscuit went right in!
She’s just not that kind of horse, it turns out lol. Who woulda thunk. But I am who I am, and going out on little horsey adventures — like to Thornridge or the starter trial at St Augustine, ill advised tho both may have been — is a key component to how I derive satisfaction and fulfillment from my horse habit.
the banks were technically closed (note the white stake) but we played with the edges anyway
So we persist. Tho, hopefully, I’m also wising up a little bit about my expectations. Persist? Yes. But… Maybe start a little smaller LOL. Rather than going straight into another horse trial, MCTA’s Jenny Camp (a beloved event near and dear to my heart, which pains me to miss riding in it…) I opted to settle for just an xc schooling outing instead.
what goes up must come down!
It was supposed to be in a lesson with new local 5* trainer before she left for Bromont, but alas Doozy lost a shoe. Horses, amirite? And then she ended up being kinda a spaz in our rides this week anyway. Which… again, is kinda maybe more a function of me having unrealistic expectations vs the horse being anything other than who she is as a person.
and a trip or two over the fake ditch to round out the ‘holy trinity’ of bebe cross country
With all the prep leading up to and then holding MCTA’s recognized event last week, and then Doozy’s lost shoe, she had about 5 or 6 days straight out of work, and had only been ridden twice before that since the flubbed outing at St Augustine. It should not be a surprise to me that this is not ideal for facilitating a cool calm collected Doozy.
then it was time for warming up over actual little jumps
But ya know. I’m human and I’m not immune from frustration and self pity. I actually ended our ride the night before we were supposed to go schooling somewhat abruptly bc… I was too frustrated with Doozy’s inability to just… trot a circle (good lord are we really back here again?) and threw in the towel, deciding along the way to scrap our schooling plans.
we sessioned over these first two options a few times just to get comfortable and set some ground rules
Fortunately, tho, cooler minds prevailed later that night. Realistically, if Doozy is going to be successful as my riding partner, I need to… get out and ride her. It’s hard, she’s challenging for me, and a lot of the tools and approaches I learned from Charlie need, uh, ahem, **significant recalibration** for Doozy.
then embarked on our first little loop around the back end of the course!
But… If I don’t at least try to get out and do it, it just ain’t gonna get done, amirite? And I’m still banking pretty heavily (realistically or otherwise) that we learned from last year that Doozy does get better with consistent experiences. So. I sucked it up and shoved the mare onto the trailer for our little solo outing, arriving early enough to basically get the whole of Shawan Downs to ourselves.*
(*Plus obvi the schooling stewards who were aware of my location and armed with emergency contacts as needed. #safety, yo!)
jumping up and down hill ermagerd
And it was amazing! Spectacular! We jumped giant jumps and she was perfect!!!
Ha. Haha. Just kidding. It was good, tho, an important outing and I’m glad we did it.
not sure i love how i placed this bench lol, but doozy jumped it huge!
It started off maybe not super auspiciously with Doozy really wanting to jig around and bolt hither and yon (where to? nobody knows!). And I was not entirely committed to even really doing any jumping at all if I couldn’t get her to jump in a nice balance and shape (compared to say, the inverted uncomfortable deer hops she sometimes reverts to when super tense).
after a little breather, we picked up again for a more proper go at the front half of the circuit (starting obvi with the finish line, as one does)
But I kept new trainer’s advice circling around in my head about making each exercise take the time it needs, and not just trying to rush through and ‘get it done,’ as is my habit when I’m feeling unsure. We hacked around for a bit before playing with low/no height activities like the water, baby banks and fake ditch, all of which Doozy was brilliant for, then got to work.
then cruised from the finish line to the start line, past the box and over the itsy log at 1
We did a few circuits over a very small jump, including circling around it when I couldn’t get Doozy straight or in front of the leg or what have you, just patiently waiting her out, then jumping the jump, and then right back to the flat work again.
past the scary timber fences to #2
After we got that a little more smooth, we rinse-repeated with the next little jump. Cycling around over it until it was boring(ish) and decently consistent in the approach.
went screeeeeaming down the hill before turning to 3
Doozy really hates when I make her trot everything, especially when she’s this tense… But unfortunately I don’t love the idea of her calling the shots about speed when she’s being a little crazy pants so…. Sorry, mare, you have to play by my rules first before you’re allowed to canter fences.
cruised in a lovely forward balance to 4
That having been achieved, tho, then I was finally able to let her travel a little more forward and canter two little mini course loops, yay! The first was still a little tentative — we just did a loop around the back half of the course, starting with trotting (and circling as needed) and finishing with a lovely big effort over the bench before cantering through the water again - good girl!
easy hop over 5, then finished!
Then one last more ‘proper’ run through the course, this time catching everything in the front field — starting with the finish line, then traveling directly back to the start and catching the first 5 jumps on course in a lovely nice loop, for which Doozy was (finally) perfect(enough).
shorter (ish) video of the two loops of course work
skip to 2:36 if you just wanna see where we pick up for the final loop
full helmet cam video (trimmed of walk breaks etc) that shows our warm up and early practice too
On one hand, sure these are the same jumps we jumped this time last year… But on the other hand, I pretty strongly believe that while Doozy was ready for more of a challenge last fall, and will be again soon, we have to get this fizziness a bit more under control first. I’m trying to avoid that ‘frantic’ feeling, ya know? And just reestablish that she knows how to do this, it’s not that hard, and the rules are simple and don’t change.
it’s not always easy, but feels worth doing
I’m also somewhat impressed with myself bc at least based on the videos, I sound WAY more positive and patient than I actually felt. It felt like I was riding super tightly and strongly on the mare… Which, well, it feels like she needs at the moment. And real talk. These were Doozy’s first xc jumps since December. It really has been that long, and it’s just gonna take some practice to bounce back again.
all in a day’s work!
But ya know. We got it done. And for that, I’m grateful. It wasn’t perfect, but it was actually a lot better than I expected. And overall I think a valuable experience for both of us. Certainly more valuable than not going at all.
Which is perhaps my greatest takeaway of all. It’s not gonna go the way I want it to go for me and Doozy if I don’t get out there and try. And for now, maybe breaking things down into smaller, more bite-sized components (vs a full three phase event) is a safer space for us to get those positive experiences.
We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll spend the weekend volunteering at Jenny Camp instead of competing, and continuing to just keep chippin’ away at things with Doozy! TGIF, y’all!
Woweee it’s been a busy few days around here, folks — hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend (or extra long weekend if you took extra days off work like I did lol).
hand walking + grazing around the show grounds before dressage
We’re deep into event preparations for my local riding club’s big annual recognized event, so it’s been basically all hands on deck for the past week — and still with more to come! The club only hosts two events at this venue, a recognized horse trial and then a starter trial on back to back weekends, and the rest of the year the venue is used for other events like timber and steeplechase races etc.
So all the jumps get piled up in a back hayfield for the intervening months, making for a big job when it’s time to pull them all out and get them set onto the various xc tracks.
“filling the tank” before dressage. and thus we conclude my relevant pictures from the day, SORRY!
I managed to sneak away for a day this weekend, tho, to go ride in a horse show of my own, yay! Just another super low key local starter event at Buckworth. I’d actually never ridden there myself, but have been before with friends.
well i took pics of all the xc jumps too, but i opted to scratch so eh, oh well
I was hoping the low key casual nature of the event would be a good fit for Doozy’s first full event of the year, but in retrospect that might not have been the wisest choice.
proof that i did in fact ride the horse around the show, tho!
The event is run by the local pony club, which is super cool and all that, but it means that everything is geared toward… well. Ponies and kids lol. The warm up area was a thronging mass of parents, grandparents, small children in wagons or strollers, and fat ponies milling around — literally right up against the dressage courts too. As in, I legit had to dodge a tot-filled wagon just to enter at A.
more random pictures — the little exercises i set up to prepare
Doozy quite naturally found the scene a bit over stimulating. I’d done my best to help her familiarize with the atmosphere by arriving a couple hours early to hand walk her up and down all the lanes, and back and forth from the trailer to the dressage area a couple times — since she seems to appreciate coming and going from a new space before actually getting into the work.
oooh and photographic representation of what i’ve really been up to this past week. settin fences, y’all!
And honestly our warm up was… Eh. Not as good as the pre-meltdown warm up at Thornridge the week before (in a quiet indoor on nice footing), but not as bad as the post-meltdown, uh, everything else at Thornridge. I stuck to my guns about getting both legs on and touching right away (much to Doozy’s dismay), and not letting the shoulders pop out every which way.
got to hang out with the builder’s pup too while pulling the flat bed <3
It took some serious persistence in waiting the mare out, but suddenly she seemed to settle onto the aids just in time for us to circle the ring for our test. Well. “Circle the ring” isn’t quite the right way to say it, since the entire ‘A’ end of the court was mobbed with spectators (and aforementioned tots in wagons).
Nbd, tho, I just rode past the judge, gave the scribe my number and test name, and then waited for the bell while circling off to the side.
played with the common vision simulator app while choosing fence paints too
Doozy actually squeezed past all the hubbub at A without much fuss, and I *finally* remembered to halt for my entrance in Intro C. Yay me! I’m so tired of being immediately rung out of tests bc I either forget the halt for Intro C, or forget the weird broken center line for Starter.
EXCEPT. Womp womp, my dumbass misread my division split — Intro Rider C — as the assigned dressage test, and the judge just thought I was confirming my division instead of my test when I said Intro C. So… yea. Immediately rung out again, bc we were supposed to be doing the Starter test.
this venue is so freakin beautiful tho
Ugh. Super annoying. And the judge didn’t think it was appropriate* for her to refresh me on the test — despite having a test sheet literally in hand. So I left the ring again to pull the test up on my phone (which was thankfully in my pocket — technically against the rules). Ugh.
And naturally Doozy was *not thrilled* about all this, and was a bit less polite about dodging the tots again at A on our way back in a second time… Which. Idk. IMO the type of world where you let spectators and small children crowd the literal edges of the dressage ring sure seems to me like the type of world where a judge can remind an errant rider of the test pattern. I mean, if it’s allowable at Kentucky, amirite???? But what do I know LOL.
(*Funny enough, instead of telling me the test herself, she suggested I get a reader — which actually IS explicitly against the rules in eventing. Moderately annoying when folks in positions of power don’t know the rules yet are inflexible with riders…)
aaaaand more random pics lol, this time from our most recent ride in which doozy acted like the perfect princess i know she can be <3
Anyway. We got it done, but Doozy was… well. She is who she is lol, it was tense and tight and all the normal things for us. I don’t know the scores or comments bc I never picked the test up, but we can all pretty much imagine what all was said.
I will say that I was proud of keeping my legs on throughout the ride — from hip to heel, Doozy’s preferred thunder-coat style of riding — and kept my focus on keeping Doozy straight(ish) through her shoulders.
pictured: nonchalant (aka not bolting) about the poles
I had hoped for better, tbh, but maybe I just need to be a bit more patient. Regardless, after finishing dressage, we rode over to the show jump area just to get in and familiarize a bit. And then eventually it was our turn to jump too!
is it just me or is she getting beeeefy??
The wheels definitely fell a bit off the bus, tho, not gonna lie. Doozy felt straight up frantic and overwhelmed, and all the work we’ve been doing in our lessons around patience and keeping things boring went straight out the window. After our first few warm up jumps I honestly decided that maybe it wasn’t going to be worth it to jump at all.
i don’t need perfection, i just want to have fun at the shows, mare. c’mon now
But, eh, again it was a pretty relaxed event (dressage judges aside lol!), and they were just taking riders as they came. So I opted to just take Doozy over to stand in the shade under some trees and chill out a bit while a few other ponies took their turns and moved on.
i do love it when she’s easy tho
Eventually when the area was quiet, we went back to warming up a bit, and Doozy seemed a bit more rideable, so we went ahead and did the little show jump course (in the helmet cam video above).
Another note about this event maybe not being the wisest choice in retrospect: it was a fine little jumper course for kids and ponies, but was not super duper well suited for big striding green thoroughbreds. The turns were all a little funny, especially a weird super tight downhill U-Turn from fence 3 to 4 (which we predictably missed* entirely and had to circle).
(*Interestingly, tho, I don’t think they “charged” me for the circle in the scoring. Not that final scores mattered lol, but it’s a nice decision when the turns are a bit wonky!)
at least she’s pretty <3
My intentions with this event were probably in the right place, but realistically we might be better off riding at more established facilities with more traditionally designed (and measured) jump tracks.
As it was, tho, Doozy actually got around the course mostly fine. All the sharp turns meant I really had to sit her down in all the corners, but I was able to let her roll around in canter and she found most of the jumps fairly well aside from a choppy missed distance at 2.
not getting sent to the dog food factory yet lol
I did decide to skip the xc, tho. Maybe that was the cowardly choice, or maybe I could have just gone around one fence at a time like we were schooling. Which, realistically, is all this really was, after all.
But. Eh. Doozy wasn’t really in what I’d consider a “learning” frame of mind, and I am not convinced that there’s a lot of value in schooling her when she has that kind of frantic fragile feeling. Maybe the smartest decision of all would have been to just go schooling in the first place, instead of signing up for the event. Live and learn LOL.
As it is, we went out and did some things and had a time lol. Doozy’s behavior was vastly improved from Thornridge, but still not even close the quality and relaxation we can get at home or in lessons (as evidenced by her being a perfect friggin princess in our very next ride after this show — source of the pics above).
Which, eh, is maybe to be expected after so much time away from activities. Perspective is apparently everything with this mare. And patience, lol. And maybe a little persistence too ;)
How on earth is it already Memorial Day Weekend?? Time is flying, guys. Wow. In the past, we’ve often spent this long holiday weekend competing at Loch Moy’s starter trial… And a few barn mates are actually going.
I went in a different direction this year tho — we’re heading east instead to a super low key chill event close to where my mom lives. Should be a good pipe opener for Doozy (and me, let’s be real), so stay tuned for more. In the meantime, let’s enjoy a nice little foto finish to the week!
y’all know me, if i don’t get these pictures posted they’ll just overrun my poor clogged up iphone lol
and plus, who doesn’t love some photographic proof that doozy CAN be sane and sensible??
wellll….. ok haha. she isn’t ALWAYS sane and sensible at home either… her expression might say “I’m Innocent! Innocent Horses Don’t NEED to be Tied to the Post of Patience in Rope Halters!” but. ahem. innocent she is not.
ms thing was the victim of a fairly dramatic cross tie catastrophe, which included hitting the ceiling, falling on her butt, sadly wandering out onto the grass — dragging BOTH cross ties — then stepping on said crossties, which naturally popped up and smacked her right in the butt again, at which point mare Left The Premises (leaving 4” deep hoof prints in her wake….). #drama
but ya know…. shenanigans aside lol… she’s been more nice than naughty, including getting out into the hay fields with friends!
we’ve had some unbelievably gorgeous evenings — and the hay is growing like mad!
everybody wants to be out too, makes for fun company!
pictured: a view that does not suck
we’ve had so much rain lately too that the outdoor ring is too soggy for riding, but how can you spend an evening like this inside the dusty indoor??
much fun was had by all
and ya know… even on days when we ARE stuck inside to get our rides done, there’s still always the chance for little walkies around the paddock pathways to cool down
oooh and a couple more from Thornridge lol… here we are, chatting with the next generation
when suddenly, Doozy notices her FRIEND OMG lol… sigh…
no rest for the weary, bc it’s right back out again to our new local 5* coach’s family farm for lessons!
it’s kinda a bummer to ship out for lessons to a farm with such incredible facilities, only to be stuck inside bc of the rain… but c’est la vie — the remedial trotting lessons are worth it!
and doozy continues to be happy with her farm life — with her little group of pony mares reunited into one large pasture again — PLUS her favorite trail buddy introduced into the neighboring group! much love <3
and so it goes, amirite? we’re looking forward to the long weekend around here — hope you all are too!
