ain't nobody got time for that

Phew summer is flying by, guys. Things have been so wild around here lately - I feel like I've been so scattered and kinda absent (which I hate, btw) even as things I want to share keep stacking up.

The good news is: my move (first time moving in a decade!) is complete, my internet service is restored, and the internet upgrade I needed in the new place (dear god but was it slow...) is finished now. So, theoretically speaking, we should be getting back into a normal groove around here soon!

no real commentary on any of the pics. except <3 <3 <3

So let's take advantage of these pics from last week's lesson -- meaning, the lesson before Jenny Camp -- to get a little caught up.

The lesson itself was fairly straight forward. Not a whole lot to write about it, bc of that whole "happiness writes white" thing. I had been away almost the entire week prior but Brita had kept the horse ridden with some conditioning rides during my absence. Thanks a million, girl!

The horse was a superstar for the lesson. We kept things short and sweet - just a few warm up efforts down the lines, then a quick course. I asked trainer P to put the jumps up for our course tho, considering we really hadn't jumped much at all in the past month, and I wanted our eyes on some height before the show. Charlie likey, guys. Charlie likey.

this is charlie's "minimal" effort these days. also lol at trainer P's "outside leg" as we bend to the jump hahaha

He cruised through everything relatively effortlessly. Felt adjustable (which he carried onto course with him the next day too, yay!!!). Felt relaxed and happy and soft through his entire body.

When Charlie feels like this, he feels invincible. Plain and simple. It's an incredible feeling -- something I've craved my entire riding life without ever really believing it could be possible. I feel so lucky.

still cute even when he's so casual lol

It's been tough bc lessons have been a bit hard to come by in recent months, with some tricky scheduling and a budget blown to smithereens by my moving expenses and the increasing likelihood of legal proceedings regarding my past living situation (blargh fucking kill me ugh). And we haven't had a proper cross country lesson since last year for more logistically challenging reasons. Certainly not by choice, and not for lack of trying.

So we've ended up pressing onward a bit by ourselves without the advantage of professional eyes on the ground. It's not ideal. It means for slower progress, and more mistakes that could have been avoided. A bumpier ride overall.

But.... It's also been ok. Actually, arguably (and demonstrably) better than ok. Charlie's doing really well. He's learning. I'm also learning. On one hand I want so desperately to be better. To be good. To not make mistakes, and not let my horse down. On the other hand, tho, it's extremely gratifying to know that.... for better or worse, my horse and I have a partnership where we can make it work no matter what.

boppin right on along

Jenny Camp was exactly the redemption I needed too. We had mistakes and issues and Charlie still starts cross country a bit like a stalled pull-cord lawn mower lol.... But none of it caught us off guard or came as a surprise, and we were able to work through it all as a team.

And the best news of all? I had written that we took home a 2nd place ribbon when we ought to have finished 4th since my stadium rail went unrecorded. I was wrong tho in that it should have been a 3rd place finish - I would just be swapping places with my barn mate who was also in the high 30s while everyone else in the division had issues on xc.

Except.... When I talked to my barn mate about it he said he also had a stadium rail that went unrecorded. So.... that 2nd place finish? It stands. Charlie's best finish yet, and only 0.1 penalty off his best yet final score (not including sub-BN scores lol). Good boy, Sir!

we had to work a little bit down this triple line of short 30'-30' distances, he was good tho. aaaand another trainer P cameo in the foreground "jumping" with us haha

So... as you have undoubtedly already figured out, I'm still riding pretty high on that whole shebang lol. Which stands to reason, considering I spent nothing short of six weeks obsessing over the Plantation fiasco. What can I say but that I hang on to things? I'm a dweller lol...

But life goes on, yes? And I imagine even tho y'all are incredibly patient with my 12yo girlhood gushing about my first ever real life pony..... I imagine that maybe I should try to at least pretend to vary my content occasionally lol.

call me biased but i think he's pretty cute

With that in mind, there are other things going on, other things on my mind. Like planning my outfit costume for our annual paper chase outing at Tranquility. For which my team and I are drawing shameless inspiration imitation from Sarah's recent hunter pace haha.

Or like how, lately I've been trying like crazy to rein in the veritable botanical garden that blossoms on every inch of Charlie whenever his coat so much as considers making a seasonal change. In particular, I found myself shocked and aghast when I went to saddle him and he practically belly-flopped in the barn aisle.

Like, omfg but how on earth is he this back sore?!? For fucks sake where on earth is that vat of steroids when you need it, clearly we need to fucking inject everything from the eyes down bc this horse is literally crippled omg! Oh-- wait-- Ah, yes, ok, wait it's just rain rot. Like, five microscopic specks of rain rot. Yes, I see now. That's right, sometimes I forget that Sir is not.... not what you would call stoic.

fancy is as fancy does. i'll take another chuck any day of the week tho.

So ya know. We're basically living and breathing in the light and truth that is MTG right now. God but I love that stuff. I know not every horse can tolerate it, and I know a LOT of people just hate hate hate how it smells.

But I'm a believer. MTG is legit my favorite when it comes to any sort of skin funk or fungus ---- except for scratches. Bc fuck scratches. If the first dose of MTG doesn't knock that out, I skip straight on ahead to the full prescription force animax/dermalone. After the months and months of raging warfare with scratches with Isabel, I never wanna go down that road again.....

Luckily Charlie seems to respond really well to MTG. And even tho he breaks out super easily in every form of fungus imaginable (face, flank, fetlock, you name it!) he usually clears up quickly with treatment.

quick video from last week's jump lesson <3

Other things on my mind right now include sharing more of our journey into learning about studding for cross country. Charlie and I have used studs three times now - first for our pace clinic at Loch Moy, then for schooling at Windurra, and third for Jenny Camp.

If you remember, the impetus for getting him drilled and tapped was our last xc school at OF. We struggled to maintain a confident forward pace through the bending downhill approach to the two stride combination of rolltops. After our three rides with studs since then, I'm at ~97% confidence that the studs are helping.

To writ: Trainer P observed that Charlie's hind shoe nails looked a little dubious* going into Jenny Camp, and wondered if maybe the torque from studs would increase the likelihood of him pulling a shoe. My immediate knee jerk reaction? Too bad. We are studding, yo. Bc yea, The horse seems to like them. And actually pops off auto lead changes left and right like the easiest thing in the world the second he even thinks about shifting balance. It's nice!

(*he did not lose a shoe, and nails have since been fixed lol)

mhmm, yes please.

Finally -- other items on my to-discuss list include recounting some of the tack changes we have made in the last few months. Some inspired by the Plantation Shit Show (changing to a wider gullet plate in our jump saddle) and others more par for the course.

Especially like talking about the differences in my dressage saddle since Jan Huslebos basically completely refit the thing to both of us earlier this summer. And talking about some of the switching around we've done with bitting for jumping. And my thoughts on how to carry that experimentation forward as Charlie learns to be more responsible for his own self carriage, even as he's still kinda learning. Or! Talking about those baller Stubben stirrup irons I picked up at Rolex Kentucky!

So yea. Happy Monday, everyone. I appreciate your patience with the scattered hair-brained feel this space has had the past couple months. But, as always, I look forward to having more to share.

And - as is also always the case - I'm curious on your thoughts too! Anybody else beleaguered by a summer rapidly dwindling away, or dealing with recent fungus explosions? Or working through tack / equipment changes for better or for worse? Or are you just here for the shots of Charles lookin like only a Charles can do?? lol....