doing the things!

Phew, happy weekend everyone! This weekend I'm shifting into full blown excitement mode. We're going horse showing, yayayay!!!! Gosh I just love horse shows <3

we've made a habit of hacking out after every school. loved that we went with brita and her pup riley recently too!

Naturally there's still plenty trepidation, bc obviously. Like the fact that Maryland got a fair bit of snow and ice earlier this week. Luckily the day time temperatures have been quite pleasant and sunny, so much of this ice is already gone by now. The ground is a bit soggy, sure, but Loch Moy tends to be pretty thoughtful in how they choose ground for xc courses.

riley esp loved the snow lol

Plus, I had originally requested to go in a later BN split (there are five splits for 50+ adult BN competitors {not even including the juniors!} in this event with ~300 total registrants) so that Brita and I wouldn't have too early a morning or too long a wait between my rides and her N rides. Alas, they put me in the first split anyway....

Silver lining is that the ground shouldn't be very torn up for my run, at least. So I'll just take that as a good omen. Plus we'll end up having loads and loads and LOADS of time to relax and hang out after we're finished and before Brita needs to hustle for her own ride prep.

such a happy goofy dog

All that to say: it should be good. I'm excited. While I still wish we had more saddle time in the weeks leading up to this point, I'm satisfied with where Charlie is. He's a good boy and is putting a reasonable effort into the work I ask of him.

It's not perfect. He's not as sharp to my aids as I like, nor as strong in his push from behind as he was by our final test last year. But the picture is pretty consistently OK. My biggest goals for the dressage test revolve around my own riding: improving on my position and the clarity of my aids.

we should all be so lucky to be that happy!

All that's really left to do now is finish the clean up. Naturally Charlie took the opportunity of the recent wet cold weather combined with heavy blankets for a few days in a row to blossom into a gorgeously textured spring garden of fungus. Ew.

So he's been basically slicked with MTG this past week, in the hopes of reducing any appearances of moth-eaten speckles and bumps. I'm not holding my breath for that tho, alas. As much as I would like him to be this big beefy shiny beautiful "After" picture compared to his "Before" from last spring (bony, gaunt, dull.... definitely still crashing post track), I'll survive if he still looks a little rough around the edges.

lol charlie was mostly just bemused by the whole spectacle 

Except for his mane and tail, tho. I at least want that part of him to look polished. Superficial, yes. But dammit, pictures last forever! Haha... The mane is as trimmed and thinned as it's gonna get for now tho, but the tail is basically on life support.

his favorite part is always hacking back to the barn

I had to give it a quick bang weeks ago bc it was picking up so much mud, but it needs redoing plus a serious bath and thorough brushing. It's such a pretty tail tho haha, it deserves to be seen!

The nice thing about early morning shows this time of year is that the horses are out during the day and in over night (compared to their opposite schedule during the warm grazing seasons). Meaning: I'll get Charlie all tidied up tonight and will have him on the trailer tomorrow before he can get into any more mud.

amazing tho what a difference a few days can make in the visual landscape! snow, be gone!!

Most of my leather stuffs is ready to go already too, tho I admit the dressage saddle is harder to get really cleaned up than I expected. It has buffalo leather on the skirt and while that stuff is gorgeous, it's surprisingly difficult to scrub dust out from all the little wrinkles.

And of course there's still a little more detail work to be done on all the little nooks and crannies in our bridles. Mostly tho, everything is in pretty good shape. Ready to go.

mud be gone too!! you better believe this gorgeous luxurious tail is getting a TON of tlc before tomorrow!

All that's left to do is go forth and do the things!!! Soon soon!

No matter what happens this weekend, I still just have a really really good feeling about this year. I feel like this is the year I've been waiting for. This marks my fourth time entering a fresh spring season as an eventer, but possibly the first time I feel really, really good about where we are.

but first tho, more hacking. always more hacking :)

2015 was my first full season and I had really no idea what to expect. BN was still pretty scary to me, and the sport as a whole was still a relative unknown for me and Isabel. 2016 found us with a lot (LOT) more experience under our belts, sure. But we were beginning to be quite shaky and uneven in our schooling, and it was difficult to look very far forward. Reasonably so, since we ended up not making it much past the spring season before throwing in the towel.

Then obviously 2017 was Charlie's first season and I was relying on his extreme greenness as a crutch to take the time I needed to rehabilitate my own confidence.

there's something charming (sorta) about the snowy xc course. still tho, soon it'll be dry again!

But now? Now is like a whole new world to me. I feel good. Charlie feels good. And what's more, he feels capable. Likewise, I feel comfortable with our plans for unfolding the spring season, and excited about the possibilities that could come with summer and fall. It's all ahead of us.

Wish us luck!! And hope you're all having a wonderful weekend too!!