MDHT: course walks

Omg so many pictures haha... and so much editting/prep to get them all ready to post. So we'll just start off with a photo dump of the cross country and stadium walks, and my thoughts and observations thereof. Nice way to ease back into the work week after a long weekend, right?

I walked my course after walking the intro course with B (it was her and Wick's first ever event and they were awesome!!!) and, well, I kinda wanted to cry. The course was BIG - and asked almost every question BN can ask (notable exceptions include up or down banks). There were 15 total efforts - just five of which I could step over: the mound, water, and ditch, and two actual fences (#s 10 and 12 - so already pretty far into the course).

jump one got us started off with a maxed out roll top.  my impression was that this jump would likely set the tone for our course

jump 2 was only small in comparison to 1... which i guess is the benefit of starting out at max height?

same goes for fence 3. if we made it over 1 ok i figured this would follow suit. we've jumped smaller fences that look like this before (at Tranquility's hunter trials last fall) so i wasn't too worried about it being spooky

aaaand fence 4 was another biggie. plus the terrain here was kinda odd - sloping down to the left towards a small pond - tho at least the ground seemed quite dry. i expected to need to ride this fence with committment. 

fence 5 was kinda strange looking, potentially even spooky. combined with the invitation to jump the lower ends, i expected this to be another fence that required a strong and deliberate ride. that impression was reinforced when i saw another rider have a stop here

fence 6 (lol @ 'fence') was the first let up. it was just a mound - tho i guess it looked kinda strange, and fence 7 was hot on its heels

this is looking straight down at the ground on the backside of the mound. kinda hard to tell the height, except that you can see where the bank complex starts on the left. not sure why they didn't give BN a bank instead - but i'm certainly not arguing.

fence 7 came up fast after the mound and was another big-to-me fence. tho oddly, by this point in the course walk i guess my eye had adjusted a little bit to the height, so it felt more doable. like, 'if i make it this far it will be bc the height is no problem'

the entry to the water served as fence 8. you can see the flags are set wayyyyyyy far apart - with the white all the way at the edge of the photo, and the red right at the steepest part of the bank. by this point i had already spied my yellow fence number right smack on the other side of the water and immediately broke into a cold sweat. shit. 

yea.... this looked pretty challenging to me. and spoiler - it was pretty challenging. at least the entry to the water looked expansive and friendly - and there was plenty of room to sorta wiggle sideways (Isabel's fave) while trying to get into the water. hopefully i'd be able to get her in with enough sideways motion to avoid any actual backward steps.

but even if we managed that (probably from a halt / walk) - getting back up to pace for fence 9 seemed like a tall order (esp considering my heels were in the water when i took this pic...). we've jumped out of water quite a few times at OF and Isabel was fine - but that's also like her home turf. she's not quite so confident at new water complexes. and of course the size of this fence didn't inspire a ton of confidence. it's not as big as some earlier fences, but the question was harder imo.

moving away from the water (our favorite direction!) - we get to the first true let up fence. it was moderately awkward to step over this thing on my course walk, but i made myself anyway as an attempt to cling to any remaining confidence haha

this picture doesn't really show the ditch inthe way i had hoped - but it was so sunny i had a hard time seeing the camera screen to check. anyways this was a true ditch - not the faux type that we've jumped quite successfully in the past. i wasn't super worried but expected to ride carefully just in case.

and another let up fence. i didn't make myself scramble over this one - but as you can see it's definitely more inviting. i took note of the carvings just bc Izzy looked at the carved log last week, but expected no problems here.

then we turned into a very pretty wooded section for jump 13. this jump was right where the shadows started and the white lattice looked a little spooky in the changeable light. another strong ride expected here.

our first pheasant feeder! and honestly if i hadn't seen the first few fences on course this would have worried me. but again - the prevailing sentiment was that if we got it this far, it would be ok. i worried about it being a little spooky with the light coming through the bottom - so again, planned to ride with confidence. tho we're heading back towards the trailer at this point - which would no doubt help.

final fence! and another max height fence... you can see at the ends the log is actually the same size as the novice fence next to it. so... yea my plan here was to ride aggressively and finish the damn course. there is NO WAY i wanted any problems this close to the finish line (again haha)

i really really hoped i'd be riding past this flag. but honestly - at this point in the walk my confidence was pretty low. i felt like we were as ready as we'd ever be for the course (except maybe the water complex) - but that it would 100% challenge us. and it felt like i had chosen our first BN venue poorly... but thems the breaks, i guess. 

the stadium ring was on the way back from my cross country walk, so i popped in for a quick lookie loo. 

the course looked pretty reasonable: right lead turn to fence 1 on a diagonal, left turn down the single 2 on the outside, left turn over 3 on the diagonal, right turn down the 4-5 diagonal line, left turn over the single 6 on the short end, left turn up the single 7 on the diagonal, right turn down 9-10 line on the other outside, right turn up the single 10 to finish. great course for a horse that loves their left lead! (hint - Isabel is not that horse lol)

the fences looked big to me - but doable. especially after that xc couse walk!!! i figured we might have a rail or two - but that we'd mostly survive this course.

Stay tuned for the rest of the media and accompanying details - hopefully forthcoming over the next two days as I get it all together!

happy memorial day!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful long weekend (at least for readers in the US). We had an AMAZING time at the Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy this weekend - and I have soooo much media to share!!!! (And I may or may not have purchased digital files of ALL the photos taken of us: 120 pics for $99. Seemed like a good deal to me and Isabel is too cute to resist. So. Um. Brace yourself for allllllll the pictures haha)

happy team after dressage (yes there's a carrot in my hand lol)

But given the holiday etc, I probaby won't have the full re-cap started until Wednesday. 

In the meantime - a little spoiler: we had our best ever dressage (again! except it blew our previous best ever out of the water) followed by challenging full-size stadium and cross country courses. We picked up a refusal on xc (related to the water, details to come) - but given the influential nature of the course and our initial strong dressage score we were still able to finish in the ribbons. Hurray satin!

tired pony is ready to go home

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

show day + dressage lesson recap

Today is show day at Loch Moy - so freakin exciting!!! Thank you so much to everyone for all your wishes of good luck - it's been very encouraging! Our dressage is at 8:30am, with jumping around 11:15ish. So it's likely that we'll actually be finished by the time you read this. Hopefully I'll have good things to report back - and will post a quick-n-dirty update tomorrow. Squee!!!!

For the sake of documentation, today's goal is simple: finish with a number not a letter. It's our first time at BN and I'll be ok with a couple green moments. And, of course, the water remains an iffy proposition. This is expected to be a fairly competitive event too, with 93 total BN riders (15 in my split). So. I just want to complete and have a good time while doing so.

'does this fly mask make me look excited?' - isabel

In the meantime, here are details from a dressage lesson with C at TM earlier this week. 

C was actually still riding when I arrived, which turned out to be perfect since I was a couple minutes late anyway. Plus it was neat watching her ride (and only moderately creepy that I tried snapping covert pics... too bad they all came out blurry). It's funny - Isabel is such a misfit at this barn. Everything is about 8 stories tall, and so so soooo fancy (and pretty much all warmbloods, obvi) - and then here comes petite little Izamonster ready to give them all a run for their money. It's pretty cute lol.

Izzy settled right in and we warmed up walking and trotting large around the arena with frequent 20m circles at A, E, C, and B. While trotting we talked about the 'inside bend' issue and C built on what Dan had me do. She actually did encourage me to open the inside rein a little bit, whereas Dan wanted it completely neutral. I suspect his has to do with me being so green to dressage and giving me the 'easy' way first. 

But even so - the tidbit about keeping that inside leg forward and thinking about moving the shoulders really resonated throughout this entire lesson. And C really wanted me thinking about the outside rein and keeping contact there - with elbow stablized at my side. She also said not to 'wrap' my inside leg around Isabel (which is how it ends up all curled up and ineffective) - she wanted me pushing it straight down - more 'drape' than 'wrap.'

We did lots of circles and serpentines to commit the feeling to memory. Interestingly, while working on this we found that Isabel was actually tighter going to the left today than going to the right - very unusual for her. She was very willing to bend right (to the point that I had to be careful not to overbend her) - but the left was kinda not as easy. 

So C had me turn left up the quarter line, leg yield right to the wall (and I could actually DO it {sorta} now that I know to think of the shoulders first haha), then immediately turn left into a 15m circle. We did this a few times and it helped loosen the mare up a little. I was a little worried that the stiffness originated from her LF heel where she clipped herself jumping the other day... But she worked out of it fortunately.

isabel enjoys hangin her head out the doorway - the farm is so pretty!

We did a canter transition in each direction - trotting up the long side, picking up the canter in a corner then immediately circling 20m at A or C (wherever we were), then going large again to come back down to trot. The upwards were ok in the lesson - C said maybe 6s, so better for us - and the downwards were really actually pretty good when I remembered to squeeze my thighs. Plus C said I was sitting better in the canter. We'll see if I can hang on to that feeling!

Then it was on to test time! I'm riding BN-B today and the lesson was my first time running through it. First I recited to test to C and we talked a little strategy. In particular - that trotting diagonal HXF that immediately leads to the right lead canter depart between F and A and 20m circle at A. 

doesn't that hill look ripe for a gallop? isabel thinks so!

C recommended that I go as far left as possible at F, and do NOT bury the horse in the corner. Then start the corner first before getting the canter depart - since there really is plenty of room before A. Her point was to avoid throwing Isabel off balance by cantering first then running her through the turn. And we actually went back and practiced this a few extra times to try and get the right timing. As always, it is imperative that I take.my.time - no rushing! 

Her other recommendation in the test was about the final walk to trot transition at K before the left turn down the center line. She suggested that I start the transition a little early to ensure we were properly prepared for the corner and subsequent center line turn. C really focuses on these center line turns - which I've ignored in the past. But I guess it makes sense - and I certainly can't argue after getting an 8 on my last test, a direct result of my lessons with C!

poor isabel is back on the muzzle struggle bus... sad pony!

So I feel pretty good about things going into the show. C noted that Isabel shows remarkable improvement every time we go for a lesson - and this was only our third lesson with her. It just makes me feel so lucky to ride a horse like this! It's like as soon as Isabel figures something out it's just suddenly a thing she can do, nbd. All I have to do is ride to the best of my abilities and she will take care of the rest :)

good juju from straight shot metal smashing

I hinted in our 'sneak peek' post that there was an extra good luck charm getting us through the event. Well, in actually there were TWO - both all about that good juju. 

It's no secret that I have a sudden and intense infatuation with bridle charms, and when Beka from The Owls Approve posted about her new Etsy shop Straight Shot Metal Smashing, I knew I had to have a charm. 

(I may or may not be amassing a small army of charms to suit whatever mood might be most appropriate at any given moment lol. blue sparkly disco ball for the dressage court, grinning blue skull for cross country madness, subtle purple gem for lessons/clinics)

Guys this charm is awesome. I mean, just LOOK AT IT! This is the medium blue skull with a ruby red bead and the handstamp tag option. Definitely appropriate for awakening Isabel's inner cross country beast haha. 

And Beka was super sweet and added in a bonus tag with Isabel's name in teal. I originally had this on my key chain - but then realized it could hook on to my dressage saddle's D-ring without interfering with anything. 

I love personalizing my tack - and this little tag is exactly right. I feel like it's appropriate too, looking forward to the competition season. Last weekend I competed alone, so my stuff could dominate the tack room without any confusion. 

i swear my tack is multiplying while i'm not watching

But this weekend there are two of us competing and sharing packing/storage space. So any way to individualize tack and equipment for easy identification by us or any possible helpers definitely helps. 

Now I just need to figure out a better way to organize all the crap in the back of my truck lol... Also, the below picture is more random than anything else, but I snapped it at Shawan Downs and it needs a home so here it is:

Look at all those cross country jumps just piled up!! Those go all the way up the levels, just sitting stock piled waiting for their next competition. Could you imagine having that kind of variety at your own barn?? Like, 'hey i'm feeling brave - let's pull out the prelim table for schooling today, yah?'

Lol maybe one day... Anyways thanks Beka for the awesome charm!

just dropping these right here

We have a dressage lesson today, then a lesson at OF tomorrow wherein I intend to keep things light and easy in preparation for Loch Moy on Sunday. Should be a good time - hopefully the weather continues to cooperate with pleasant and mild temps in the 70s!

So in the meantime, I wanted to squeeze in these pictures from last week's lesson at OF, which somehow got shuffled aside to make room for Jenny Camp posts. 

It wasn't really much to write home about - hot and sticky and buggy. Plus we again intended to keep things carefree to avoid dulling Isabel unnecessarily. She was brilliant on the flat and P concurred that the time off did good things for the mare. (recall this was P's first time seeing Izzy since the bleh lesson indoors immediately preceding the flu diagnosis).

But the jumping brought out a slightly different creature. And you could hardly call it jumping anyway - it started with a line of trot poles that Isabel clearly felt were unimpressive. She was breathing FIRE. It slowly grew to a grid, ending with three low jumps (with placing poles) set at one stride distances. A pretty common exercise in lessons with P, and Isabel was just way too sasssssssssy. 

i think we cleared the fence isabel. it's, um, it's wayyyy down there, hon.

seriously tho - you gave it plenty of room

ah yes, our favorite porpoise strikes again

yep you sure are a fancy fish

So yea... pretty much every single round went this way. Way over-jumping followed by ridiculous shenanigans on the back side. Nothing dangerous or scary... just... eh not really what I wanted the day before a show, ya know? 

Fortunately we know that Isabel usually only pulls these moves when she thinks the course is finished, so finally I just kept pointing her at jump after jump (they were all right around ~2' or lower, so not enough to wear her out) until she cantered away like a normal broke horse. 

Ugh. Mares.... Hopefully the lesson this weekend will include less fireworks! Or at least hopefully the fireworks will be limited to Memorial Day type festivities :)

bone jarring but not too bad

My first lesson (and ride, actually) since Jenny Camp was with Dan and focused pretty intensely on preparing for this Sunday's event at Loch Moy. It ended up being a private lesson for various unexpected reasons, and absolutely kicked my ass lol. Not in a bad way necessarily - but the exercises challenged me and exposed a few weaknesses. Isabel was a SAINT tho :)

We drilled into my flat work a little - particularly that pesky inside bend thing that came up repeatedly in my dressage test comments. Dan said that during a test you can cheat and use the inside rein - but for schooling I should be achieving that inside bend through correct application of the outside aids and inside leg. Inside rein is neutral. 

He had me trot a circle and think 'leg yield' out. He's said that before and I've never really figured it out - but this time he broke it down to 'moving Isabel's shoulders out.' Which was an eye opener for me bc I was thinking about her haunches apparently. So he wanted my inside leg forward at the girth - and actually wanted me bumping Isabel's shoulder with my toe a couple times just to tune her in.

We repeated at canter too. It was definitely discombobulating - esp since I really wanted to curl my legs up under me and grab at that inside rein. And also, ya know, bc I can't actually sit the canter yet... *sigh*. But it added clarity to what I should be working on, and I'll continue the conversation with C at our next dressage lesson (tomorrow!!).



The jumping exercise was essentially modified coursework. Each long side had a line - a one stride (with placing pole) on one side, and a forward 3 or quiet 4 stride line on the other. We warmed up over the longer line first - going back and forth getting the 3, then the 4, then the 3, etc etc. I got the 3 each try - but it took a few tries for the 4 (went from 3 to 5... oops). 

The other fences were two barrels as a skinny at the short end by the gate, and a wide oxer on the FXH diagonal.



After working on the 3/4 line to find our canter, we trotted the barrels once to get Izzy's eye on them (she was fine), then moved into the course exercise. We started with the outside line in 3 strides, bending left to the barrels in 5, then left turn to the oxer on the diagonal, right turn to the one stride down the other outside line.

We started there... and kinda stayed there for a while haha bc I could NOT get the pieces all working together. We'd get 3 in the line, but then 6 to the barrels... or 4 in the line and 5 to the barrels. And that turn to the oxer... man it was TOUGH. Esp bc Isabel usually lands on her right lead and the left turn was just messy messy. 

hard to tell from this (uber-flattering) angle but it felt like i knocked a tooth loose... 

We missed the oxer badly once when I jumped ahead and she added one last stride (it doesn't look like much in the video but take my word for it - it was JARRING). It was exactly the type of rider error that can result in a stop and serious fall.... but Isabel's a very good girl and kept going in a straight line while I pulled myself together. 

Dan's diagnosis was that I came out of the turn too flat and fast - and that when he tells me 'forward' what he really wants is more lift through the shoulders and 'jump' in the canter.

let her gooooooooo!!

These sketchy moments weren't terrible tho. Definitely not pretty - but I felt like I was learning with each mistake and Isabel stayed with me. Interestingly, tho - I didn't feel as secure in my position as I have been lately and was grabbing for the mane as often as not. And there was no real release to be had for poor princess... Might just be bc the jumps were a little bigger (Dan said they got up to between novice and training - tho I'm not quite sure) but it's definitely something that needs work regardless. 

Anyway, after I managed to do the exercise some justice in that order, we turned it around - so now starting left lead up the one stride, left turn to the oxer (which Dan reversed... and lowered, whomp whomp), right turn to barrels, 5 strides to outside line in 3 forward strides.

And I promptly ran Isabel through the first jump of the one stride... oops. Dan wanted me really working to lift Isabel's shoulders in the canter - and not let her get so flat. He also recommended coming in to the line from a bending approach (like a circle) rather than the long straight shot in that I had taken. He said this gives me more control in adjusting my canter in the approach, as I can add or subtract bend.

neeeeeed water!! thank god i ride a short horse and can reach the mounting block haha

After a few more tries we finally got the whole thing done as it was intended. It wasn't perfectly smooth - I had to work pretty hard to make the 5 strides happen, tho it would have been easier if my hands were softer. And the 3 strides actually came up a little tight in the line. But whatever. We did it!

video here

So yea... challenging. It was good tho. The size of the fences actually didn't bother me mentally. They messed with my riding a bit - but it felt fixable. And Isabel clearly wasn't fazed by them. 

And we won't be seeing anything close to this complexity in a BN stadium round - though I WILL need to make sure I create the right canter all the same to avoid knocking stuff down.