back in the show ring!

We had a slow fall, and even slower winter around here... But things are finally picking up with the springtime! Meaning -- Charlie and I made it to our first horse show in over six months omg. How has it actually been that long??? Who knows...

shoutout to Jennifer for sharing the link to this lovely "Freedom Bridle" from Millbrook Leathers (we love small businesses!), absolutely perfect for hackamore lovers (noseband above is Waldhausen with no-name adjustable chain chin strap, and Tory Leather x-long rubber reins)! the #CircusBridle has come so far!

All that matters, tho, is that we're back at it! Sure sure, the lead up preparation to this Combined Test at Thornridge wasn't exactly ideal... But, eh, I figured we would be fine. 

we will take our participation ribbon and we will LOVE IT <3

And we WERE fine! We even managed to sneak in a little preparatory eval-lesson with a new potential jump trainer too. Maybe more to come on that later. It was a useful lesson, with a surprising number of those pesky remedial reminders that are so critical in putting together two solid phases. Yesssss!

safety inspector michael inspecting our safety

The weather also deigned to play nice too. It's been getting a bit unseasonably warm around here, and very dry lately. But there was an overnight deluge that lowered temps (if not humidity), and softened up the ground. Plus made for that fun dramatic "no shadows" type lighting!

eeeee back out in the wild!!

Our preference is to arrive for these CTs with enough time to walk show jumping *before* dressage. Technically there is enough time between phases (1hr) but.... Guys. I'm getting old LOL, and the hill coming back up from jumping to the trailers is huuuuuuge. Much preferred to get that huff and puff out of the way first thing, then get to chill more between phases. 

so yea, definitely wish i remembered to roll my sleeves back down before going in the ring lol

Plus I stud up for jumping on grass, and prefer not to have to rush and hustle during that process. Tho, fortunately, did myself the favor of digging out the first stud holes of the season (squee!) the night before, getting them all plugged and lubed up and ready to go so the actual studding at the show was easy peasy!

walkin that walk, charles!

So. All that was left was to warm up and get out there for dressage! We had planned a fix-a-test at home a week in advance to help prepare, but it was sadly cancelled due to illness. I *should* have run thru this test during schooling on my own... But... Just like, didn't. Idk. You can kinda tell it's been a while LOL.

just cantering my field hunter in the jungles of maryland, nbd

It went well, tho. I don't think I'm deluding myself that Charlie is moving better in his body now, vs maybe last summer. Just from the perspective of like... freedom and fluidity and forwardness of his gaits. He's obvi still not really 'on the bit,' but eh... Y'all already know haha.  

finishing strong! thumbs up, tho, emma!

Now that we're back in lessons with a willing and forward horse, it'll be easier (maybe?) to address lol. Or we'll just go around the way we go around, forever! Nbd! 

nope, i am *still* not tired of this

One thing I *did* really work on during this ride was my position. Not so much fucking with Charlie, but being a little bit relentless with myself. And maybe I'm flattering myself, but I think it does show a little bit in the video? 

video annotated with directives, scores and comments

There are just so many moving parts lol... My legs, my hands, my arms, my head, and they all move in different ways at different speeds!! And are not at all independent from each other!! The struggle, guys lol... But again, that's ok too!

click to embiggen for those who'd rather read than watch!

The scores were nice enough for what the test was. Final score of 35.8% is a little worse than our moving average on this test... But felt fair. I'm cool with it -- esp given there was not a single comment about needing more forward, or being sluggish or (my personal favorite) labored, lol. Feels like we've got something we can work with again, and I do love the work! 

next up -- show jumping!

So! Amy and I rode our tests back to back, then had about 35min to chill at the trailer and reset before heading down to jump. I opted to strip Charlie's saddle while I put in the studs, since it was a tad muggy. But otherwise we just went about getting ready at a leisurely pace! 

sorry not sorry for the blurry zoomed image of my first-jump-itis-y horse #slaying at fence 1

I was quite happy with how Charlie warmed up, too. We didn't do anything special, just went about and did the things. Only big issue identified was a heavy left drift -- a longtime bugaboo for us, and one that has been amplified after the time off. 

"it's called 'riding to the base,' geez, look it up!" -- Emma
"uhhhh, if you say so?" -- Saint Charles

The cool thing is, tho, that when I ride the horse straight -- he goes straight. Goooo figure. The course itself both did and did not lend itself to our strengths. On one hand, it was an entirely right-lead course. Which like, yay no lead changes LOL. On the other hand, the two related distances were in configurations that tested us a little bit. 

pretty proud of how we coped with this slightly downhill* line
(*omg i hate jumping downhill tho)

The very first jump on course welcomed you into a 60' line going slightly up hill. I really wanted the four strides, and really thought we'd get there after acing the in jump. But, alas, just didn't quite cover the ground and chopped in a 5th at the last minute. Charlie, bless him, rubbed the rail but got us out clean enough. 

there's the beastly boy doin his thing! 

Long time readers will know I have a longstanding history of absolutely botching the 'end jumps' in this cute little natural arena... And this time was no different. We were jussssst a little off our stride through the early part of the course. I chalk it up to rustiness. 

woot woot --- CLEAR thru the last omg! 

From there, tho, we got into a better gear. We were more prepared to add down the slightly downhill outside line (should have been 5 but we made the 6 comfortably), then Charlie aced the 'comma' line before rolling back to a close but easy distance to the triple bar to finish. 

helmet cam video from show jumping

Obvi y'all already know that I'm a diehard #mediajunkie around here, so naturally there's helmet camera footage in addition to the normal cell phone footage... But honestly if you have the spare 90sec I'd definitely encourage you to watch both. They're two very different perspectives.

video of full show jumping round

The helmet camera is fun bc it's maybe a little 'grittier' -- you can kinda tell the work that goes into getting to each jump. Obvi the side view is also telling, esp bc you can see the mistakes etc that are invisible in the helmet cam -- like botched distances or position errors --- and also where it flows easily. 

#keepinghim

So. Anyway. Long story short -- we did it, yay! And it was FUN! And reaffirming that some of the choices and changes I've been making over the last few months are having the desired effect. 

First things first, tho, so next on the docket is more lessons. Forever and ever, amen haha.