Saturday, July 2, 2022

shadow boxer

Happy long weekend, everybody! Not gonna lie with y'all --- sometimes I get tired of pointing out and dissecting all my mistakes from horse shows and lessons and whatnot. Like, sure yea that's how we get better.... But... Eh, you know what I'm talking about.

cruisin past on our way to jump 1. observe: shadows, y'all
Especially bc.... Damn. Charlie and I seem to somehow ALWAYS manage to fit in at least one seriously goofy jump in any given course. Especially at our favorite little CT rounds at Thornridge. And it always seems to be at the same jump.

For some context -- their little grass jump ring is adorable and I love it. But it is grass, it is not level, and at the end of the day, the ground tells you where to put the jumps. So we often see very similar jump placement. Which, naturally, means we get the pleasure of continuously screwing up said similar jumps LOL. 

actually presenting this time --- observe location of charlie's takeoff vis-a-vis shadows
I finally got around to uploading helmet camera from our latest outing a couple weekends ago.... and OMG I FIGURED IT OUT! 

Bc... You see.... Yea, obvi Charlie and I had a goofy go of it. And yea, end jumps do be goofy sometimes. But... We weren't the only ones. And it turns out... Guys omg of course, it's the shadowsssss.

"CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF, MA'AM!!!!!1!" -- charlie, for sure
Charlie, bless his athletic soul and accurate eye.... He sees that shadow the moment he sights onto the fence, and adjusts accordingly. 

I've always kinda blamed myself for getting him there on a half stride and then riding defensive when he goes long. But.... Actually, as far as he's concerned, he gets there right on time for what he probably sees as some sorta bizarre variation of a liverpool jump LOL.


SO. Mystery solved, lol. It isn't that I suck at end jumps.... It's just that I need to either read the fences more like a horse, or.... ya know.... Maybe just trust my beloved packer, who can most certainly clear the spread lol. 

Maybe one day I'll figure that out. Until then, just grab mane and kick, right? 

Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the helmet cam video. It's always interesting to me what a different perspective it gives of a ride compared to the traditional side view video. And hope those of you in the States enjoy a lovely long Independence Day Weekend!!


6 comments:

  1. That change in the shadow has to be so confusing to a horse!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. on one hand i never really thought much about it bc he has so much experience jumping into and out of shade on xc..... but apparently the way the morning shadows fall on this jump actually look like ground line. it explains so much!

      Delete
  2. Really enjoyed the helmet cam there. Definitely a neat perspective. What a lovely space to ride and compete in!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i love this little farm, they really do hold the best events!

      Delete
  3. There's nothing like the joy of watching a video and going 'AHA!'

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shadows are so tricky! A couple of summers ago, Shiny kept jumping this one oxer really weirdly. But only on days that I rode her first. Turns out, there was a funny shadow under it earlier in the day that wasn't there later. And she wanted to stare at it. In the air. #awkward

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for leaving a comment! You may need to enable third party cookies in your browser settings if you have trouble using this form.