"moving up"

I almost feel like writing anything at this point will be a jinx..... but. Well. Y'all already know that I process my thoughts by writing them out here on ye olde blog. So. Jinx, or no, here they be.

settling in at bn!

Charlie and I go to our second ever horse trial this weekend. And we're actually entered for all three phases! Tho, Jinx #1, the forecast is mercurial and changeable and organizers have already let us know they will run it as a CT if the rain gets too heavy. Which is fine and all. We'll get to 3-phases when we get there, even if it's not this weekend.

Of course, Jinx #2 is Charlie's fat leg. I didn't necessarily love the look of it on Day 2, but he's sound on it and it was actually much reduced in size after a ride. Methinks standing wraps will be our friend the night before the show!

practicing over challenging grids

We're going back to Loch Moy too, which obviously fills my heart with happy thoughts. I just really love that venue, what can I say? Look no further than the gratuitous nostalgic pics littering this post below from Izzy's and my favorite highlights there.

learning to slice airy verticals

The thing with Loch Moy tho, is that their intro and elementary divisions are both REALLY soft. Sure, the elem might have one or two actual 2'3 fences on it, but it's mostly logs. And is typically (tho not always) run on the same separate circular track as the intro. Meaning: point, shoot, jump. Point, shoot, jump. No questions.

first time EVER in the 3' ring!

Which, incidentally, is perfect for Charlie right now. He's not particularly schooled to the niceties of cross country yet. The low-level height is not an issue for him at all, from teensy to slightly less teensy. But we have extremely limited experience in putting anything technical together. So point-n-shoot works quite nicely for us.

she made it easy tho

Which means that I entered the 2'3 this weekend. It kinda makes me feel a little sick honestly haha, even tho I've been jumping the horse at that height for a little while now and he's never even bothered to notice.

So ya know. It's a *me* problem. And Charlie's a good boy. So it'll be fine. I just have to do my job in the saddle, which may or may not be my motivation for posting all these pictures of me working towards a different move up all that time ago. Actually I *can* do the job. I just need to remember that!

schoolin ever upwards

So technically speaking, Charlie and I are "moving up" at this show, up to the 2'3 from our debut at the 18"-2' height. It's not going to last tho, not really a true "move up." I mean, it could be, but I'm holding off for now. Playing my favorite overly conservative game haha.

school high so shows feel easy, right?

Because our next event will be at Fair Hill in a couple more weeks (entries are already in). And I also LOVE Fair Hill. Their 2'3 Intro might be one of the best around. The jumps are all unique and gorgeous (not just a series of log after log), and the level asks almost everything that BN asks - just with slightly smaller fences and more generous distances.

game mare

All that to say - Fair Hill's intro is really really fantastic if you're basically feeling ready for BN but just want one last big confidence building run to test that everything works. Actually, I feel a little bit the same about the intro at MCTA's Shawan Downs starter HT (also coming up in a few weeks, gah!).

If you're curious, you can see a lot of the intro track from when Isabel and I ran the BN course at Fair Hill last spring (sadness, our last competitive xc run together.... but what a great run it was!). A number of the jumps were either shared with BN or right next to the BN jump, plus we added in that extra Intro house right after the water just so Izzy could get that practice. It's a good watch!

included bc this picture will always be a favorite <3

So..... My conundrum is that Charlie is probably FINE with the complexity of Fair Hill's intro.... But the reality is that he's not at all actually schooled yet. So we'll do the 18" there (they don't even bother calling it 18"-2'). I feel slightly sheepish about that haha, but not enough to change my mind.

ok you caught me.... i've gotten a little sidetracked down memory lane

Charlie and I are not in any rush at all to "get there." Right now I'm still very much focused on "going through the motions" of eventing, while feeling reasonably sure that Charlie will continue growing quite confident and eager to tackle more interesting and complicated courses. But for now, we'll keep it simple.

ahhh but it's a pretty memory!

 Anyway. Long story short. Charlie and I are technically moving up a division this weekend. And I've got all the associated nerves haha. Except that it's actually kinda liberating knowing this is just one more stepping stone - and that our next outing after will probably be even easier still.

Actually maybe the real challenge is that this will be our first time cantering in a dressage test haha. We'll..... see how that goes. Let's just say Intro C is not my favorite test. At least at Fair Hill they offer an "Open Elementary" division for folks who want microscopic jumps but still want to canter in the dressage test. And they'll even let us do a BN test! Much preferable to the Intro C test, imo.

So we'll see how it goes. Maybe the weather will spoil everything, who knows. But I'm looking forward to a full and hopefully fun weekend! I'm curious tho - especially at the lower levels, what do you look for in preparing for a move up? Or does it hardly even matter when the jumps are so small? Have you been mostly slowed down by cantering v not cantering in a test? Or by courses that offer BN technicality at Intro heights?