summer's last hurrah

Gosh this lesson was forever ago.... Like.... I haven't had a ton of Charlie media this month, but what I *have* had has been all jompies all the time. Which like, I'm not complaining! Charlie and I have had a freakin awesome time jumping this month.

his middle name is "keen"

In early August we schooled cross country at Boyd Martin's legendary Windurra (tho, sadly, not too many pictures from that beyond helmet cam snippets). Then had one of our best jumping lessons ever, with trainer P.

Then Charlie's triumphant return to novice level eventing came hot on the heels of that lesson with his 2nd place finish at Jenny Camp. Then we had another lesson (focus of today's pictures haha), and then another fun Twilight schooling event to round out the month.

sometimes charlie wears such a serious face lol

In past years, July and August have typically been quieter months for us. A period I've referred to as our "summer recess" between the spring and fall seasons. But after our spring season basically stalled out entirely, and our early summer erupted with some serious training holes... Finally, our calendar heated wayyyy up this month.

I'm certainly not complaining! It's been a ton of fun, even if Charlie's closing the month with another ridiculous ding.... The jam packed schedule has made it tricky to stay up to date tho with some of those less eventful in between moments, like our normal weekly jump lessons with trainer P. So these pictures have sadly languished until now haha.

weeeeeeee in-and-out!!

And ya know. There really wasn't a whole lot to write about the lesson. Charlie was riding high off his perceived champion Grade-A stakes winning performance at Jenny Camp (just ask him!) and felt a bit like the King of the World haha.

Instead of his soft adjustability from the week prior, he was a bit more... cocky haha. And I had kitted him up in my dressage bridle instead of the elevator I compete him in. This was .... possibly a mistake. Ah well, it all worked out.

he's gotten so clever with short tight 18' one stride grids

When Charlie's a bit stronger like this, it's a lot harder for me to hold my own position bc I'm spending more energy fussing with him and trying to pull him together. We also end up in situations where we kinda flatten and get more on the forehand, resulting in more knocked rails.

Tho in Charlie's defense, he's really learned so so so much about getting himself to the fence. Even when he's pulling, he's still adjustable in that he's looking at the fences and knows even from a couple strides out that he might have to balance up a moment, or move more forward. Which is helpful haha - it's a lot easier for me to let go more on a horse who feels like he's reading the jumps.

aw but there's his happy face! the sharp left turn after this jump was vurrry challenging for me too haha - definitely had to bail once or twice before we could make it happen

It also helps that the jumps are a bit up haha - Charlie is really getting pretty consistent and comfortable now doing full courses at T. Which, obvi, incidentally is super exciting for me. Isabel and I jumped the occasional 3'3 fence (and very very rarely, an odd 3'6 fence). But course work at this height is new to me - it's only really this summer that we've been schooling it so regularly.

Charlie makes it feel easy tho. Which. Ya know. It certainly helps that he's a Size Large horse, bred for raw athleticism, lol. Plus it honestly feels like he's finally discovered his scope. Like, not just flinging himself headlong at fences, but really truly flying.

i'm flying, jack!

Jumping bigger at home has also helped make our jumps at shows look pretty darn small. Like, sure, some show jumps at Twilight last week were closer to 2'9 than 2'11, but you can't deny they looked friggin puny for Chuck. Whereas, conversely, the legit-ass T table we finished that cross country round with was a total cake-walk for the big guy, even tho I rode to an iffy spot...

ooooh gotta suck it in for that skinny, tho!

And in a lesson like this one, where I'm kinda fussin with the horse and having trouble getting him into that nice round bouncy uphill canter.... and where he's kinda just running through me a bit and getting flat.... it's still seriously reassuring that.... the course work feels pretty consistent.

The biggest pieces we're working on now have more to do with refinement than anything else. Like... uh, balancing in corners. Preparing better for turns (you gotta watch the video to see me toooootally biff a planned turn and then pull out of it at the last minute....). Continuing to try and install a reliable half halt... Helping Charlie feel more coiled up and able to rock back onto his hind end on approach to the fence. Ya know. The devil in the details? Nbd haha.

no problem even after beefin the jump up a bit <3

Meanwhile, Charlie feels like a cool calm customer, totally game for whatever I aim him at (like this beefed up shark's tooth skinny jump with barrel as fill!). It's not perfect, but it doesn't have to be. That's what it means to be learning.

video of the last course here

Which is nice, right? That validation and reaffirmation is always helpful. Does the horse know his job? Are we able to execute with reasonable consistency? When mistakes or issues crop up, are we able to adjust and adapt? Am I operating on a razor-thin margin of error with the horse, or is our trust bank well-funded?

yup. i'm keepin' him. even if he does have a freakish ability to discover sharp pointy objects with dem toes....

Depending on who you ask, I've made countless poor choices for Charlie. Whether in our schooling and training, or in his care related to all his many dings and dents, bumps and bruises. To this end, I've gotten a lot of unsolicited advice (constructive or otherwise) about how I'm going outside the lines or in direct opposition to how "it should be."

But. Ya know. I say, fuck 'em. Charlie's the one I take my hints from, and Charlie's doing just fine. Not every ride is perfect. We make mistakes and we uncover training holes. That's riding tho. That's what makes it interesting haha.

We're going into a long holiday weekend here in the States and I've got all sorts of fun plans for the next few weeks, starting hopefully with our annual tradition team hunter pace this weekend. Charlie still seems 100% fine and no worse for the wear following his run in with the nefarious villainous, uh, chunk of mulch.... So here's hoping he stays that way. Fingers crossed!!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend too - anyone else getting out for any big group rides for the weekend? Or maybe any other sort of parties or get-togethers? One last hurrah for summer? Or maybe you're looking forward to something a little quieter?