Mid-Winter Jumperlandia

We had a lot of fun in 2021 with the monthly summer CT series at Thornridge Manor. Not just bc shows are fun, omg! But also.... getting my own butt in gear to put together a show-worthy-ish round once a month was just.... so SO beneficial for allaying my imposter syndrome. 

majestically overlooking the xc course during pre-ride walkies. 100% will be back to conquer that later!

We laid low for a few weeks throughout early winter, but basically ever since the solstice, we've kinda quietly started getting back into a groove again. And luckily, little jumper shows are starting to reappear on the calendar, yay omg! 

but first, we conquer the warm up! twas a tad frozen, but organizers were on their AAA+ game with dragging and everything was nicely groomed in time for our rounds!

There's a venue I've had my eye on for YEARS, but never actually made it out, but this weekend was finally TIME! The Stables at Fox Crossing are in Cochranville, PA, basically right around the corner from Windurra. And omg, they have the cutest looking xc schooling field too -- looks like sort of a Tranquillity feel, but with more jumps concentrated in one place. We will 100% be back for that omg!

finally!!! go time!!! also, peep that cafe-style heater!! there were THREE in this area alone

This weekend tho, it was just the jumpers. On a somewhat frigid morning, but we didn't care. Charlie and Royal traveled well, and we arrived in good time to get a lay of the land. They sent out ride times in advance that Megan and I both sorta intuitively understood were "optimistic" times for a jumper show.... But we didn't care. We'd rather be early.

behold --- the ring! jam-packed with twisty turny beautiful jumps

And let's be real, the show *could* have run on time, but..... instead they chose to be friendly and inviting. Rider having trouble getting around? Get the coach in there to help them finish. Didn't go clear? Do the jump off anyway. Everybody got a good time and jumped all the jumps, with as much encouragement as was needed. Yep, I will 100% always be fine waiting around in that sort of environment! 

engage go-go-charlie!

Charlie and I entered two 2'9 classes. The over-thinking part of my brain always wants me to "do more" or whatever. But my emotional side is still kinda fragile and I really want to build on the stability and resilience we (I) started to feel through last summer. So, we carry on. 

omg they gave the 2'9 division a 24' in and out, i almost croaked lol but charlie was fine

Especially with winter and stuff, it's hard to get in preparation and reps. But Charlie is so good. Y'all saw him doing grids a couple weeks ago. And I jumped him again, but omg this time in our outdoor jump ring bc we had a week of good weather!! And he's just good. He is trained. He is a packer, bless his darling bay soul <3

pictured: my horse is a very good horse

So for our actual courses... I tried to just trust it, ya know? Tho -- something that makes me quite excited for the potential future, I *did* find myself channeling recent lessons with KGK (that new trainer we've met exactly twice). Mostly --- just feeling the length of Charlie between my hand and leg. Not necessarily "shortening" him (at least, not without supervision), but just trying to "feel" his ends as we approached a jump. 

omg you have to watch the video for this sequence. spoilers, we go from this long spot to a left turn to the yellow/blue standard bottom right corner of the frame

And guys, Charlie LIKES that style of being ridden. I've always known he wants rein contact, and always known he wants leg on. Really, he IS a full contact sort of horse. But for some reason, envisioning his body the way KGK describes sticks in my mind, and helps me remember to give Charlie what he wants. 

omg he TURNS 'n BURNS omg

We were still a little inconsistent around our first course tho. Mostly for *me* reasons. I was nervous, ya know? It's a narrow indoor with all sorts of twisting turning lines -- and more than a few places where you land with a jump directly in front of you that you are NOT intended to jump. I was worried about Charlie getting backed off, so did his job for him and put him behind my leg myself lol, whoops.

sir, my heart, you have it <3

He was obviously still a very good boy, and jumped from some *very* close distances.... But I was also very happy to have a second round to go out and try to be a bit more forward. Still feel his front and hind end. still do all the stuff I've been working on.... But, with allowance, ya know? 

the goodest boy <3

And our second round (source of all these pictures, plus the video below) was MUCH better. Like, not gonna lie, I'm still happy with the first round too bc this is legit the shit for me, ya know?? Going out and riding my amazing horse even through all my mistakes lol. But... Riding two rounds in a row is really useful for me, esp as an eventer who is so used to "one shot."

literally the only "long" run on course, and he just loped on down like a perfect hunter

For my second round, I just reminded myself to let him go and trust him and be a bit more forward. A little looser even as I focused on keeping a feel of his "ends." And? It worked out!! 

voila! et fin

The courses were honestly a bit bananas and not really something we're likely to see in a stadium round at a horse trials, or even in a proper jumper show (since, spoiler alert guys --- we might be trending in that direction). So it doesn't bug me that we weren't really perfect for all of it. Actually, it's pretty good that we weren't. It's good for my brain to experience imperfection and survival at the same time lol.

look at how happy our horses are!!! lol

Tho, I'm also not gonna argue with winning both our classes lol. In, ahem, a class of two. And, of course, it should be noted, we lost the division bc I didn't ride the third round. Again tho, I wasn't there to win. I was there to ride two rounds. And we did that. And our second round was better (by far) from our first round. And Charlie knew it. Voila, the end. 

link to youtube here

Idk about y'all, but that basically ties it up for me goals-wise in February lol. This show was definitely very different from some of the indoors jumpers shows I've done before... But.... I think I liked it? It was harder, much more complicated.... But, the people were fantastic and they were on top of their footing conditions even in bad weather. 

for real tho, so fun

On one hand, for horses that are struggling, that sorta cramped crazy jumper environment might back them off too much... But, honestly? I think it was just the ticket for Charlie. He really adjusted and adapted and handled the turns and everything great. 

Kinda... Makes me wanna do more of... this with Charlie. Tho, lol, their xc course still called to me. So idk, we aren't done with that either. Maybe some sort of hybrid going forward? Idk. We'll see. It's February, after all. Any body else out there trying to make sense of early season plannings and ideations?