doozy does tranquillity

Not gonna lie, guys, I need a holiday after my long holiday weekend, LOL.... Poor Doozy, I went away for a week, then she lost a shoe, and then it's been full steam ahead ever since -- with two back-to-back trailer trips just this weekend...

doozy's tail might be a bit wispy, but she knows how to put it to WORK omg <3

I only have video / pictures from *one* of these trips tho (obvi, the subject of this here blog post), so it's possible you won't get a post at all about the Thornridge dressage lesson. C'est la vie. 

trotting out in the open like a #MareBoss

This blog is literally fueled by media so... if you want dressage lesson recaps, maybe come take footage for me??? (only half joking, guys!)

first jump of the day and it's off to the races!

As it is, tho, I'm trying to get serious about putting some pieces together ahead of my favorite riding time of the year: FALL! And while ideally the pieces would all coincide with world class instruction... Well. Y'all already know how that goes. Sometimes we have to be privateers!

narrow fence? mare don't care!

I have had this week penciled in on my calendar for xc for some time now, and the pieces just would not click together. Try as I might, a riding buddy was not to be found. But the conditions were so perfect, and I was so stubborn, we had to go! Luckily, a barn mate from Charlie's farm was eager to be of assistance and offered to come be my ground person (omg THANK YOU), so we made it happen!

guys i swear she's gained a ton of weight even in just the last 3 weeks

It was not an inconsiderable ask for Doozy, either, tho. She hadn't jumped in more than 2 weeks, hadn't seen xc since Jenny Camp. Hasn't warmed up for jumps from cold in a grass field since the last time we went to Windurra. 

princess <3

But idk. It felt right. Tranquillity is such a special place. I know the farm well, I know the jumps well (tho they are constantly getting moved around), and had a clear vision and sense for how I thought our schooling session could be spent. 

this photo brought to you courtesy of weeks on weeks of boring gymnastics posts

And Doozy absolutely rose to the occasion! We warmed up mostly at the walk, and tried to stay on relatively flat ground for the trotting. Doozy doesn't quite understand terrain yet --- she's like, "Oooooh downhill? Let's GO!!" Which like. Pls, dear god, let's whoa tho???

marching around

It's funny too bc I had a couple slightly aspirational ideas in my head about specific things we'd tackle in our ride... And legit very few of those came to fruition... Bc realistically Doozy is still a very green horse, and we aren't that ready for complicated terrain yet. 

ermagerd bebe's first fake ditch!

Complicated or no, tho, Doozy was a star. The jumps? ACES omg. This horse wants to jump the jumps. She doesn't like them particularly small, either. Just wants to GO! 

#spamming cuz i can

Tho it was incredible the difference I could feel in her after the last couple months spent on footwork and gymnastic exercises. Case in point: I didn't have a SINGLE 'pearl clutching' moment. Not one! Like, sure, I still ride tight and rigid, but y'all know what I mean. 

got a little close to this one, but nbd

Doozy looks at the jumps -- she focuses on them, is drawn to them. You can feel her going to the jump. It's not a question. It feels good. And especially now that she has a few more tools in her tool bag re: footwork, she's able to smooth it out even when she gets a bit hasty and ahead of herself.

3rd time over the fake ditch was basically text book (she stepped in it 2nd time LOL)

After we'd warmed up over a few singles (quite pleasantly, I might add!), we moved to the next zone at the farm, where the ditches are. This area is nice bc it's pretty well packed with inviting jumps, tho it can end up feeling a little cluttered for horses like Doozy. 

cantering out of a related distance OMFG

All the same, we accomplished one of my main objectives -- getting some repetitions over the fake ditch and related fences. 

walking into the #ScaryNature -- you'll have to watch the helmet cam to see her effort up the little bebe bank (where she almost fell fucking down, whoops) then over the related log

It was a construction we repeated a few times throughout the ride --- trotting in (or at least, trying to!) to the first jump, then cantering along a semi related path to the out jump. I **know** this horse and I can canter jumps, I know it. But, eh, we need practice. 

"RAWR" -- Doozy, 1,000%

There were also a couple times where... It felt a little sloppy, not gonna lie. Like it might be unspooling a little bit. In fact, I'd kinda decided to call it a day after finishing up in the ditch zone... 

almost fell off but loved it anyway

Tho we decided to take the long way back in case anything else out there was enticing. Which, go figure, there was enticement lol. 

magnificent critter

A pleasant little line appeared going from a nice little 2'3 table (which we'd seen at Shawan both for schooling and on course for the HT) to a cute little coop. It was like this little line was made for us, so obvi we went for it!

tame over the coop -- really liked stringing two together throughout this ride!

And of course, Doozy was a star <3 Like, not perfect, obvi, lol... The approach for the table was a little sheisty and I kinda almost fell off when she made a bid for it.... Whoops! But it was fine <3

link to video

Honestly... The ride went a lot better than it had any right to go. Like y'all already know I'm always eager to throw in the towel a little early if things aren't perfect... But we kept going a little bit longer this ride, and it was actually great. 

link to helmet camera

Not perfect, but great. And I actually felt better about the ride after watching the video my barn mate grabbed for us. Historically with Doozy, the real-time footage can look a little... ahem, less great all things considered. So this was an unusual feeling being able to watch the video and feel like, "Oh, YEA that looks fine!!" 

it's a slow road, guys, but a scenic one, imho <3 <3

So we'll take it. The mare feels good. She LOOKS good. Finally starting to look like the gigantic well built powerhouse that she actually is. Bc, guys... Y'all might be used to seeing me next to Charlie (who is enormous). But this mare ain't small. 

And hopefully we'll be out and about doing some stuff this fall!! She feels ready. Not like, polished or schooled or whatever. But emotionally ready. And some days that's enough!!