xc clinic with Sally

Maryland's local combined training organization, the MCTA, is roaring back to life post-pandemic in a big way this year. Organizers launched the 2021 recognized event at Shawan Downs (cancelled in 2020) last weekend with renewed gusto, plus opened the facility for 3 (!!!) days of schooling (instead of the traditional 1 day) this week.

still loving this tail guard for keeping things clean on the way to adventures!

The opportunity to ride at this iconic venue is honestly pretty cool, even just to school. BUT!! They've also brought back the unrecognized event this year, after a three year hiatus. Obviously pretty pumped about that -- but more to come later. 

In the meantime, tho, if you're local and have any interest whatsoever in volunteering at that event this coming Saturday (no prior experience needed!), they're desperate for your help. Sign up here!

charlie's favorite activity: chasing golf carts

Today, tho, let's talk about the schooling days. And, specifically, the lesson Charlie and I did with Sally Cousins!! Woot woot, our first time seeing her since the before times! 

hey-o, it's a log-o!

Shawan Downs is an interesting place bc it hosts a wide variety of equestrian events, including timber and flat races. Horse Trials are the least common, so most of the cross country jumps are trucked in from other venues (including Charlie's farm) for just this two week period. 

The MCTA has used the same course designer for their recognized courses the last few years too -- meaning, the jump placement and combinations are more or less identical each year. So you might be forgiven if this all looks startlingly familiar to that time we schooled here in 2018 right before Charlie moved up to Novice.  

d'aww we jumped the jumps i painted!!
sally advises: this jump can feel a bit aggressive for greener horses as Jump 2 -- the brush, flowers and width are all asking for the horse to get up in the air. charlie obvi is not a green horse haha, but damn he jumped the shit out of it lol <3

For some reason, getting out to this lesson was massively stressful for me. Probably just the logistics of wrapping up work calls on time (true story: did my last zoom while fully dressed in breeches, boots and spurs so I could bolt out the door immediately upon x-ing out...); getting the horses fed and trailer prepped on time; then driving thru rush hour cross town traffic to arrive in time to stud and tack etc etc... 

Luckily it worked out, tho, and we were the first riders on of our group of 5. Whew!

spookin hard at the observation tower lol. jumped the jump anyway tho
sally advises: this BN brush jump is *not* a complicated fence. but the positioning next to the tower can and will be distracting to many horses. charlie was obvi no exception.

I still felt pretty tense and tight, as is my habit... But obvi Charlie seemed to feel just fine. We did a fairly light warm up on the flat before basically getting right into the thick of things with Jump 1 on course: the logs. 

Sally felt like I was riding with my hands way too low, but honestly I just wanted to be quiet and hold mane like Martin Douzant told me to. I figured that was preferable to any wonky nervous pearl-clutching moments, ya know? 

For real tho... Charlie just... cantered right on up to those logs and jumped each (BN then N) perfectly out of a nice relaxed forward canter stride. Bingo, buddy!

oh hey lookie, it's our favorite log table from home!

I don't know why I still get so surprised when Charlie just like... jumps these fences like he's been jumping them for 3 full years. Bc. Uh. Yea, he's been jumping these exact fences and combinations for 3 full years LOL, and has only gotten more seasoned and experienced at the game. 

The horse knows what he's doing, knows how to read a fence and the terrain. Wants to jump the fences, and while he's not above throwing in a little extra style with a big long spot... He's just an entirely predictable rideable and easy horse. Maybe one day my mental state will catch up to that fact LOL!

familiar corner is nice corner.
sally advises: whenever possible, approach a corner on the lead of the angle. right hand corner? right lead. left side corner? left lead. this is especially crucial if you're in the unfortunate position of re-approaching after a refusal. remember, tho: at N the entirety of the jump must be within the allowed jumpable dimensions for the level. meaning, even at its widest part, an N corner is still just an N table. don't overthink or overcomplicate it. 

Anyway, we sorta worked through the entire course piecemeal -- something I don't think I've ever done in schooling before. Like, I've seen other bloggers in other areas write about getting to school a complete cross country course ahead of an event, but that's just not super common around here. In fact, at most places the courses close for schooling leading up to an event. 

So honestly this was a treat. Obviously a lot of the single fences were kinda boring to us (esp those that live at our home farm that we've jumped literally a million times). And I did end up skipping some of them bc... eh, hard ground. But I was pretty happy to just keep be-bopping around, doing all the BN and N combinations. 

who owns the banks? charlie owns the banks <3
sally advises: snug up to a close distance to the bank when possible to help the horse keep his legs under him to push forward for the B element

For me, the most telling part of the ride was this combination up a bank, two strides to a hanging log. We jumped this exact same combo in 2018 (and there were even pictures from it), and... It's kinda interesting how much has changed. 

Like, obviously Charlie has always been a good boy. And he was very good in 2018 -- executed the combination correctly on the first try. But back then, our read on the bank was a little off, then we had to work hard to get to the log in 2, and I still got left behind. This time, tho? I feel like there's just an enormous difference in Charlie's canter and balance. 

nice chevrons in a surprisingly tricky location
sally advises: for a fence like this with a tricky landing (see the driveway not far out?) and tricky approach (steep climb up with rapidly changing views through the cutouts), try to basically just hop over the fence almost like show jumping, vs blasting at it. this will help the horse from feeling surprised at by everything else around the jump.

Plus I'm gonna give myself a little credit for finally riding him more forward now that we both know the balance is there. So I was able to keep my leg on and commit to the combination in a way that wasn't really possible in 2018. Thus, Charlie was basically text book through it. Crazy what a couple years experience can do for ya, LOL! 

N haff caff

Same story with the half coffin. We've jumped it before, we'll probably jump it again. And Charlie was, is, always will be: superb. Gosh this horse guys <3 

One super exciting thing about this ride was that it didn't feel like we dialed up to the highest gear then had to stay there. Meaning: I fully expected to start getting runaway with once we really got going, but actually that really did not happen. We never lost the adjustability. 

Like, for a couple of the 'bigger' jumps -- like the novice steeplechase and table -- we had a bit more gallop with bigger, more scopey efforts. But then Charlie could turn right back around again and execute some of the smaller BN stuff from more of a school canter -- while still remaining firmly in front of my leg. It was nice! 

roll top into the water pit!
sally advises: try to keep track of your left v right hand approaches throughout a schooling, and keep things reasonably even. sometimes the terrain, jump, or line may make one choice more optimal than another, but overall seek symmetry 

Obvi it's always a little easier when we're not at home, so Charlie's barn sourness is not quite so apparent. And it also helped that Charlie was pretty tuned in to sticking with our group -- as opposed to being drawn back to the trailers. 

So ya know. It could mean that some elements that were easier during this stop-and-go style ride might prove more elusive when we're actually set free to do the full course in one run. But. Eh. That's a problem for Future Emma, lol. Present Emma is perfectly satisfied to be very pleased with Charlie's performance. 

helmet cam video link here <3 <3

And honestly, while I caught myself eyeing up a couple T fences (like that house we jumped a couple weeks ago), it was nice sticking with our N stuff. I've let my mind and confidence and anxiety get so twisted over the last year that it kinda just takes a lot of work to even sign up for this stuff, to even just go forth and do it, even tho I know we can. 

Right now I just need to get over that hump. Not get so bent out of shape by stress etc., or worrying about whether the ground is too hard, or will it be too hot, or did Charlie get all the prep rides he needs (dear lord, emma, the horse is prepped and ready to go, chill the F out!)....

happy tired pony

Luckily, tho, so far this year -- no matter how worked up I get, or how pretzeled my mental state.... Charlie's always just right there for me. Steady, consistent, predictable and good. Right now, that's enough. More than enough, really. And I'm so grateful for it!