8,000 happy pictures

So I know it's been a bit of a roller coaster around these parts for the last six-ish weeks. As exhausting as it can feel trying to keep up with the highs and lows, I promise it's a thousand times more exhausting to keep living through them.

don't mind him, just trotting all cute up to his lil log <3

A wiser, more rational person might suggest that I diversify my emotional investments a little more. So that one single facet of my lifestyle doesn't have such power to send me spiraling when things go wrong.

i never promised cute trot jump pics tho haha

But..... Well. What else can I say? I'm too addicted to the highs. Even tho the good moments with Charlie have come hand in hand with many sad or upsetting or disappointing lows, I still just live for these moments where everything *clicks.*

looking gung ho over the little raised log!

They are the fuel that keeps me going. Keeps me coming back for more. And makes me push myself to be better so that I can seize on whatever opportunities Charlie presents to me, even if it makes me a little nervous.

and off across the field to the brown ramp! and yea... sorry not sorry, photo quality is what it is today. 

And that latest opportunity was a gorgeous day in the high 50s. Excellent ground conditions. And a horse who had been hacking around the hills for the past week and a half, waiting to come fully sound.

charlie says it's too sma

Charlie was finally back to 100% on that hoof at the end of last week, and we were able to immediately get back to conditioning work. Plus I rode him in a lesson over the weekend for trainer P to assess. She put us over a very few jumps and Charlie was just.... so so so good, like he never missed a day, let alone six weeks since his last jumps  <3

the handsomest 

So with the forecast this week calling for a wintry return, with a few inches of snow, plus sleet and icy rain spread over the week.... Well. I just knew that this was my chance to just get out there and knock the rust off. Aim Charlie at a couple carefully chosen fences and just... let 'em go!

This would be only his second time schooling our home course since moving to the farm last July. The last time he schooled out here was also the last time he schooled xc on terrain since August. Since then we had one run at Fair Hill, then the arena schooling in January.

actual handsomest tho. hands down.

And Charlie did not disappoint! Brita kindly agreed to wait around so she could ride with me (and take video, thanks so much girl!) and we set off for an easy long slow walk warm up through the fields.

ok you caught me, i'm obsessed.

Then there was nothing more to do but move on to trot and canter, and then start jumping things! Considering Charlie's current level of fitness and the day's warmth, I wanted to be very picky about what we jumped. Very few repetitions, but make each effort count.

In all, we jumped exactly 9 times, plus two trips up and two trips down a bank. I didn't bother with the ditches on this particular day bc Charlie's been playing with them somewhat regularly lately, including doing a bunch of them the day prior while we were out doing trot sets.

the juxtaposition of the house jump and the actual house in the background here makes me giggle a little

I also opted to keep the jumps we worked over at BN. Didn't really want to spend time or effort on smaller jumps (aside from our first warm up logs), but also didn't really feel like this was the day for working over new heights. BN height is stupidly easy for Charlie, but we've still got lessons to learn in polishing up the whole picture. So I'm cool with it.

large horse being freakin adorable imo

Honestly each jump rode pretty freakin well for us. It felt like we had one of those airport tarmac guys out there for us, ya know the guys who wave around the neon orange wands? Helping the planes navigate around the busy terminals? Well that's what it felt like cantering down to all the jumps, like one of those guys was signaling out our proximity to the fences, like "1 - 2 - 3 - Jump!"

also occasionally looks (and goes) like a race horse too lol... esp headed back toward the barn!

The moments in between jumps were...... Haha, a little more feisty. Charlie has always been a very barn sour horse, he always knows which way is home. And this was his first time truly schooling in these fields since really settling in to the farm as "home." Plus we have literally been hacking the fields daily for.... a couple weeks now. So he knows which way is which for sure.

new jump for us! nicely substantial (for bn) log table thingy

Meaning.... He had a very strong draw towards the barn. Not rude or naughty or scary.... But very strong. And occasionally pretty fast too. He never looks fast in video, but he sure as shit does in person. And definitely feels fast. So you'll just have to take my word for it ;)

no scope no hope

It was good tho. He was so good. I just freakin love him <3

We jumped some really simple stuff: a couple logs to start, then the brown BN ramp that he's done once before. Then into the next field where we practiced a nice three stride line that he's also done before (tho that time it had a different, slightly bigger out jump).

this jump is mentally tough for me, with a drop on landing to a steep-ish descent. 

We moved on directly from that to a log table thingy that was added to the course (with N and T versions too!) after Charlie did his splint and had surgery. It's a good sized table for BN, but nothing we can't handle. It was definitely high on my to-do list tho, esp as a "new" jump for us.

charlie was freakin perfect tho <3  (except for that whole running down hill back to the barn  afterward thing.... lol)

Then I was just going to do another little house he's seen before, and a simple triple bar that's a style he's seen before even if he hadn't jumped this exact one. Except then I saw the above log drop fence and realized that was probably the better bet for us.

It's a bit of a frightening jump for me - not insubstantial in size but also with a pretty decent drop and downhill landing. I jumped it before with Izzy but it had all the check boxes for a "scary" jump with Charlie, esp bc it was going downhill straight toward the barn. Definitely more interesting than the other little house lol.

that feeling when you try to use your body as a sail to slow the horse down lol

Charlie was great tho. For all of it. Again, I can't stress this enough -- the jumps themselves were perfect. Exactly what I needed. The space between the jumps was fast and furious, but never out of control. Charlie always eventually came around, it was just slow to develop.

splish splash!!

Which I'm cool with. I legitimately trust this horse implicitly. I have so much confidence in him, even when I don't have it in myself. I know he's going to be a good boy, and I know he's safe. Plus he really showed how much he's matured over the last 18 months this ride - esp with respect to his education over fences.

simple triple bar

We had some long spots and some deep spots, but nothing actually ugly. Nothing that he wasn't able to adjust for and handle well, and that I wasn't also able to anticipate and stay with him. I'm cool with it lol.

then more trot bc cute

Possibly will need to experiment more with bits at a later date tho.... For instance I picked up a waterford pelham ages ago but haven't tried it yet. I'm also curious about jumping him seriously in the hackamore, since he schooled the ditches/banks/water so well in it a couple weeks ago.

We'll see tho. The reality is that so much of his "pull" comes from his homing instincts, aka the barn sourness. Take him away from home and to a show venue, and those issues disappear.

easy up!

Anyway tho, after accomplishing each of the jumps we set out to do, there was nothing left but to splash through the water and play up and down the banks!

then even more cute trot bc obvi

We've practiced this a fair bit since the ground has dried up and Charlie's definitely got this particular water complex figured out. Let's just say he's come a LONG way since that first time I tried to drop him down a bank into water..... (and you should totally click through the link just for that epic helmet cam gif haha).

to an easy down!

I still haven't cantered him off a bank yet. And the little bank peninsula thingy up the hill that jumps onto a slope still kinda freaks me out (as opposed to the bank into water that is by definition a more flat ground). In time, tho. In time.

and also a more exuberant down!!!

All of Charlie's time off since late last summer has had me second guessing myself, and my choices. Feeling like maybe I haven't capitalized on opportunities when I should have, for no reason other than being nervous or whatever.

Deep down in my heart, tho, I know the choices I've made for Charlie have been fine. He doesn't mind that we're not "there" yet.... bc, as I must constantly remind myself, there is no "there." Rather it's the process of getting there that is so fun and exciting to me.

this is a picture of happiness <3   such a good boy!

And it's hard to argue with the choices we've made when Charlie can come off a long winter filled with layups and rehab and then even more silly time off, and yet come out to play like a better schooled horse than he's ever been before.

He's caught on to the game, he likes it so far, and it's easy for him.

video of all the jomping here!!

Meanwhile, taking it slow has had advantages for me as a rider too. I trust this horse so much. And it's finally helping me trust myself too. Trust that I can get us out schooling and make good choices. Tho obvi it helps having a solid base of support in Brita there too haha!

So for now, I'm riding this high. And loving every moment of it. All my grandiose plans fell apart for getting out and about for a winter series of derbies. And who knows what the season ahead will hold for us. But right now? Oh man, this horse is FUN.