jumpers @ swan lake

Guys!! Doozy went to a big local show this weekend and was so good omg!! I've only been to this venue, Swan Lake in Littlestown, PA, once before for their indoor winter jumpers shows, so wasn't entirely sure what to expect from their outdoor series - except that multiple rings would be running.

getting ready for her close-up

Tho I was pretty sure there'd be a fair amount of atmosphere, so I planned accordingly. And am so glad we did, bc wow the show was actually quite a bit bigger than I realized. Probably it was fairly typical for hunter jumper shows, but definitely a lot going on.

pleased with how quickly she relaxed at the trailer

As it was, a lot of factors stacked up in our favor for a positive experience. The schedule was favorable -- the 1m+ classes went first, then back down to the .70m to work up again. And obvi modern online entry systems are such a game changer -- we had an estimated start time (about 10:45am) the night before!! Amazing! 

took longer (a LOT longer) to relax around the competition rings, but she got there eventually

I still opted to show up around 8am, tho. To get a good parking spot... but also to do a little familiarization work. We were tacked up and heading over to the show rings by 8:30, spent the next 40min flying my kite hand walking around the grounds. Finally got quiet / brave enough to throw a leg over, then spent about 20min flatting/exploding/flatting around the warm-up ring. 

legit did a "pre-ride" around the warm up rings about an hour and a half before our class
was 100% worth it, we needed it!

Obvi I was careful to be minimally disruptive to anybody in the ring with us... Tho the benefit of pre-riding during the highest classes is that, there are fewer riders so the rings are less crowded. And the horses and riders were all experienced enough to simply ignore any antics Doozy threw. 

all that preparation paid off bc weather conditions deteriorated quickly for our actual round

And I'm pretty sure all this pre-work was really the day's biggest win. Bc with Doozy, the jumps are honestly the easy part. It's .... all the everything that's a bit more challenging. 

Tho from past shows (like at Jenny Camp, where dressage and show jumping warmed up in the same field), I've learned that her second time being ridden in a space tends to be considerably more relaxed than the first. 

i know it's poorly framed but omg look how good she was to the giant* first oxer with clover leaf panel!!!
(*giant to me, at least lol)

Like. Doozy kinda needs to explode. She wants to. It's part of who she is as a person lol. So, eh, I gave her the space to do so. She's not trying to get away from me, she's respectful of my space. She's not even really going anywhere. She just has to whistle and wail and pogo around a little bit. Just the occasional steam vent lol. 

had rails at #2 & 3, but nbd

But we got through all that hand walking and then the simplest little pre-ride (w-t ONLY, plus a significant amount of time just like.... standing there), then I got to get off and be like, WOW WHAT A GOOD MARE! And she was like, "Yea! Ya know, I am a good mare!" Then instantly tucked into serene ringside grazing like she's been doing it her whole life. 

i think she'll learn to be more careful, for today it was the good effort that counted!

Local jump trainer Kelly showed up around this time, so we basically hung out chatting / grazing ringside until it was go time. I haven't written much about Kelly bc we never have any media from lessons (ugh!)... But she's been working with us about every 2 weeks lately, including the lead up to this show. She had a group of riders attending and was a sufficiently pointy stick in motivating me to join in on the fun. 

 

got a little lost on my way to this jump lol... nbd!

So after the 1.20m class wrapped, I got back on, got back into the warm up (this time for a more abbreviated flat work session since we'd already spent so much time walking around), and Kelly got us going first over trot poles, and then over an assortment of small jumps. 

my "scenic route" to #4 made the next horse think we were farther along in our course than we were, so they pre-loaded a bit, er, prematurely lol. nbd tho, no harm, no foul!

Honestly that warm up with her was probably the best part of the day. Doozy was fantastic, we weren't riding under any pressure (esp bc we were so early into the ring, it wasn't crowded or chaotic yet), and Kelly was able to get us jumping smoothly and comfortably. Doozy didn't put a foot wrong!

so brave jumping toward the spooky tents!! <3

We probably did two passes over some trot poles, then maybe 6-7 different jump configurations -- working up to a 2'3 oxer, then finishing over a tiny X that we could sorta melt/crawl over... And then headed over to the show ring while folks were finishing up their course walks. 

magnificent over the last, ugh this mare <3 <3 <3

And this was another major factor in our favor --- bc we were first to go in the ring, and people were still course walking, we had a pretty substantial chunk of time to wander around looking at everything. Including the big tents --- which were making interesting noises in the rain. 

(Oh yea, did I mention it started pouring right when it was time to warm up?? #Typical lol)

"i definitely won" -- doozy, 1,000%

I also used this time to check in with the judge about a slightly unconventional plan for my trip. The course looked lovely, all gentle bending lines on long distances etc... Except for the in-and-out. Which, yea it was a very nice in-and-out too, except I just didn't feel like Doozy was adequately prepared to answer that question. 

It was one-too-many hard questions to ask of the mare for the day, IMO, so I asked the judge if I could just skip it -- obvi getting eliminated in the process -- but still complete my course without getting rung out. 

"i am a champion" - Queen of Jompies, Knower of Everything

Like... maybe it would have been fine. But it's also entirely possible Doozy would have had a run out or awkwardly uncomfortable chip jump. I preferred that, on this day, the jumps remained the "easiest part." And we'll tackle more formal grids soon. 

link to video

My honest expectation is that once Doozy gets some experience with grids and learns to recognize them, she'll LOVE them. We'll get there. For this ride, I was so thrilled with Doozy. Aside from jump 1, all the distances were gently related -- and Doozy comfortably did the single add stride trotting in (except for the last line we cantered in, but still did the add).

Our landings were always a little wild and woolly, so I totally flubbed the roll back landing turn from 3 to 4 and had to cross my line whoops. Again tho, Doozy doesn't know that's an error. 

Her only technical errors were taking the rails at #2 and #3, tho she jumped each just fine -- and jumped the rest of the course cleanly. 

"did you see me tho?? i was so good!"

So overall, it was a really educational day for us. A 'soft skills' kinda day, plus more mileage jumping around jumps that, not gonna lie, look a little big to me LOL... Was it a lot of time and energy and work for.... one course...? Sure, I guess. Except that's almost besides the point, ya know?

It feels like Doozy is really getting the idea. Like her technique is so much more consistent even when her pace gets a little hurried, it feels nice! Literally NONE of this matters for anything, except that we are having positive experiences and growing into a team together. 

Maybe more "exciting" results will happen eventually lol, but for me? This is the good stuff :)