Mill Series Jumper Show

We had all these good intentions of continuing last year's habit of getting out to a little show once a month.... But y'all know about that road and paving and intentions and yada yada yada... Suffice it to say, it hasn't quite worked out that way lol.

freshly bathed beauty?

Since our 2022 show debut in February back at the Stables at Fox Crossing, we missed one show due to bad weather, and another bc Charlie had that weird foot soreness. Finally, tho, everything worked out and we made it to the Mill Series Jumper Show at Tranquillity!!

patiently waiting for the 2'6 division to wrap. also, peep my experimental tack choices lol

You might remember this summer show series as being the first venue where Isabel and I did 3' in the show ring. It's always been a really fun and inviting show series that I've always wanted to get back to, but for some reason always have had scheduling conflicts. 

pic of the whole squad in action -- with new coach and royal ears!

Anyway, tho, the weather was perfect, there weren't any crazy scheduling shenanigans, and we didn't even have to wake up all that early. We got the horses on site with plenty of time to chill and watch Kelly's adorable (and very very good) pony clubbers do their 2' and 2'6 rounds.

lolz charlie was LOCKED and LOADED in our second trip after a series of embarrassing mistakes...

Then eventually it was our turn! Megan and I were both in the 2'9-3' division, tho idk if any of the jumps were actually set at 3'. Kinda felt like we jumped bigger in warm up.... But honestly my eye is so bad these days, who knows. 

show jumping with the hackamore is an impulsive and new choice for us, will take some getting used to

Warm up was tricky. It was out on the hilly grass right outside the ring, and the ground is pretty hard and slick right now. I managed to strip out a stud hole trying to get my safety tap in while there was still too much rotten cotton plugging the hole.... So Charlie didn't have his cleats on and it was very apparent. 

charlie being a good boy, jumping into the line about to do 5.5 strides exactly lol

It worked out, tho, and Kelly was able to get us warmed up by cycling back and forth over the jumps (which were bi-directional) with her making all the adjustments as we went so Charlie didn't have to keep starting and stopping. He felt good, so off we went for our rounds!

pictured: embarrassing mistake lol. charlie straight up like, didn't jump this jump -- in both rounds

I kinda impulsively decided to switch up our tack for this show --- riding him in his hackamore (tho I made it look a little nicer by switching out the blue browband and reins you are used to seeing) and ditching my spurs. The idea was to take away the artificial aids that Charlie has fought against in our recent lessons, and keep me honest about focusing on legging forward. 

"Shit." -- charlie, right after demolishing the thing when it was jump 1 in our second round

Results are maybe inconclusive at this point, but generally positive. Our first round was.... Hella inconsistent lol. Little long here, little short there. And I did something I *never* do with Charlie, and jumped ahead of him at one jump. Idk if we were a little disconnected bc we're both used to leaning on the bit or what.... Just felt like some parameters needed calibrating lol.

i tried to ride a little more tidily after that....

The second round was MUCH better, altho we still absolutely beefed it to the first jump (the same one I'd splatted over on his neck in the first round). I chalked that problem up to first-jump-itis since we'd skipped a class and Charlie kinda snoozed through his break... Like maybe I should have jumped something before going back in? 

atta boy, jumping the pink again but this time going into a roll back

Kelly had a different take, tho. The jump (nicknamed the "Ukraine" jump for it's colors!) was at an angle right up against the rail, and she felt like Charlie was looking more at the rail than the jump itself, so he was kinda backed off by the short landing.** I hadn't really realized it myself, but her theory checks out with what I felt lol. And you'll just have to take my word for it bc I edited it out of the video :)

(**Or maybe Charlie's secretly a Russian sympathizer?!? I'd hate to believe it except... it's not hard to imagine Charlie as some sort of opulent oligarch reclining in the lap of luxury... only to stumble over missteps in Ukraine!) 

look at that effort!! those knees!! good boy, sir, you put up with so much!

After that little mishap, the rest of the round was pretty much fine. Not perfect, but fine. The course was all bending lines and roll backs, no actual related distances. Which isn't much of a challenge in some ways, but in other ways really forces me to be more accurate to each fence rather than relying on well-measured combinations to get us to all our take off spots lol.

link to our second video round here

excluding our first jump bc my blog = my rules

So overall I feel good about it. Like.... It sucks to have a heinous jump every round, but that's also kinda my MO at this point, not gonna lie. One day I'll be more accurate lol.... One day. In the meantime, I'm gonna keep practicing on jumping with the hackamore. Bc I think that thing I always talk about happening... happened, and Charlie got too backwards and behind-the-leg with how I've been practicing my flatwork.

ok so we finished last in each class -- but omg royal + megan cleaned house!!

He didn't kick out ONCE this entire day, tho, after having made that an increasingly common habit in our jumping lessons. Methinks that's about the spurs. I only ever wear spurs and carry a crop at shows or in lessons, and virtually never during our solo schooling. That's been my practice ever since that one disastrous show day we had at Plantation years ago. 

But things change, ya know? And maybe since Molly helped me ride with less leg on Charlie, he finds the spurs unexpected, jarring and a bit offensive? Idk. Who knows. He was a good boy about moving off my leg at this show without the spurs, so that's fine by me!

 

ponies looking a little too pleased with themselves after breaking away from the trailer and going on a little romp while we enjoyed our post-show white claws lol.... they played hard-to-catch with us for a hot minute, but then were both snagged by a small child, who nonchalantly informed me that "she's used to it" lol <3

Anyway, it was a fun day with some good jumps, plus a little satin!! And we're already looking forward to the next outing --- maybe a nice little CT at Thornridge?? 

Hope you all had a good weekend too!