Guest Post on Doing the Thing

Editors Note: Something I miss most from the golden age of blogging was the sheer variety of voices and perspectives—the constant exchange of stories, insights, and inspiration that made this community truly special. We challenged each other, sparked ideas, and pushed one another to dream bigger. This space wasn’t just about sharing; it was about believing—believing that we could do it too. For me, this community was the spark that set me on the path to creating a horsey life I’d never even dreamt of.

One of those voices was Carly, formerly of Poor Woman Showing. Her helmet cam videos from her eventing days were wildly entertaining—so much so that, to this day, I still find myself silently shrieking, “Suck it in, Bobby!” every time I jump a skinny fence.

Over time, many of those unique voices disappeared from the blogging scene, including Carly’s. But sometimes, there’s more to say. Yesterday, Jen from Cob Jockey revived an old-school blogging tradition by replying to a thought-provoking post from Anna at Anxiety at A, with her own great perspective. Inspired by that spirit of conversation and shared ideas, I’m thrilled to host Carly here today with her own point of view.

*****

It’s January, it’s single digits in most places, and really, what better time to have an existential crisis than right now. Why? Because honestly, what else is there to do? In recent years, I’ve noticed a trend of people reevaluating their riding goals and moving in directions that look nothing like where we started when I first got into blogging.

Carly & Opie, doing the thing

Back then, the goal was “Get your Bronze” and “Go Training Level” in eventing.* It didn’t matter where you were starting, what horse you had, where you lived, or what your training program looked like—those were the boxes to tick. This weird ambiguous Must Have. But did anyone have an actual plan to achieve those goals? What came next? Were those the ultimate end-all of riding aspirations? And most importantly, why? Why did everyone want these things? 

Spoiler: I still have no idea. Maybe we were just young, dumb, and naively ambitious.

(*Ed. note: I remember it being Novice Level but Carly was always way ahead of me there lol!)

also Carly & Opie, doing the thing!

Since switching from eventing to dressage, the Bronze medal seems to be the universal stamp of "I did something!" And I’m fucking stoked I got mine. It was hard as hell, and I’m damn proud of it. But I’ve also seen a lot of stupid ways to get there—mostly because riders for some reason think it’s mandatory to have one, or else you can’t be considered a dressage rider.

Two scores at 2-1 just over 60%? It counts; we can cross that level off because we're totally ready for Third now! Who cares if my horse can’t counter canter, do a turn on the haunches, or if I can’t sit the trot and don’t understand what real collection is! Collection doesn’t even matter, because hey, now I can slap on a double and fake it! 

some “things” occasionally open to equine interpretation

I totally get the frustration with scoring and judging because these shortcuts do work sometimes. People can earn their Bronze medals without understanding the movements they’re riding, just because they’re on a nice horse. Big-moving horses that go round tend to score better, even when other fundamentals are missing. But here’s the thing: that’s not the only way to get good scores.*

I talk about this with my trainer all the time. I have a small, mediocre-moving OTTB. I am far from a beautiful rider to watch. Opie, my horse, finds it easier to do lateral work with his nose poked out more than what’s ideal for scoring well in the ring. We’re constantly working to get him to "drop his neck" and go deeper because that lifts his back and makes his movement more correct. When we get it right, he’s relaxed, adjustable, and correct. And we’ve scored 8s on medium canters— better than a giant, fancy AF but tense warmblood. 

(*Ed. note: Quick question, y’all, but when did this become about winning anyway?? Does somebody else’s good scores nullify your own? Isn’t that the whole beauty of a dressage test specifically and the USDF medal program more generally? That you’re literally being handed individual feedback for every single ride, every single movement? Compete against yo’self, friends, and you’ll always win!)

grays on gray lookin sharp

People underestimate how much of training is NOT a good time. It’s hard work, and it never stops being hard work. It’s tedious, frustrating, and often feels like you’re moving backward more than forward. You hit health problems in both horse and rider. The weather sucks. Money is a novelty. The list goes on, and there’s no magic wand to fix any of it. You just have to get on the horse. Do the thing. One day, you’ll look back and realize, “Oh damn, look at what we’ve actually accomplished—even though it didn’t feel like it at the time.” 

And if you're not committed to being down in the trenches and putting in the hard work, maybe commit to being a trail rider instead. Which is fine! Who cares! Horses are awesome no matter what you do with them! You don’t have to show to own a horse. Despite what I’ve heard from professionals (including an Olympic judge I audited this fall), horses won’t go extinct if we stop showing them.

aaaaaand occasionally lookin a little too sharp haha. it’s a journey, y’all!

But if you’re chasing big, lofty goals, understand this: it takes time. So much time. And even more work. It means showing up, sucking at it, learning from sucking at it, and then sucking some more. Build a support system that pushes you to be better. Don’t assume every off-property ride will be a slam dunk. Do the thing.

It’s frustrating to see people quit too soon—throwing up their hands before they even start, because they didn’t nail it right away, or bc somebody else got there ‘faster’ or ‘easier.’ Especially those who want to ride at higher levels but have never done so, or haven’t had to bring a horse up themselves. Do you think schoolmasters are just born that way? Ask your trainer how much not fun work it took to get those horses to the level where they can teach you fancy moves.

a journey worthy of the trouble tho <3

The more we learn with horses, the more we realize how much there still is to learn. If that doesn’t excite or inspire you—if it doesn’t make you want to dig in and do the hard shit to get better—that’s fine too. There are other roads to satisfaction and fulfillment with horses. 

But your journey and your horse are your own, and you get to define what succeeding means to you. There are so many ‘right’ ways to enjoy horses, and very very few that are truly wrong. But virtually every discipline demands grit, horsemanship, and a healthy appreciation that sometimes judges are just judgy bitches. 

baby steps

This sweet red mare has been…. Full of surprises for me over the last year and a half. Some surprises have been exceedingly pleasant — like when she pulled a literally flawless show jump round out of thin air at Loch Moy last October!

Others, tho… Hm. Less so lol… Tho ya know, another massive benefit in keeping this blog going — even when the minutiae feels mundane, repetitive or even boring — is that it helps me from having to learn the same lessons twice again and again and again. 

Doozy + her ponies, serene in the snow!

For example, there’s a whole post from Doozy’s earliest time with me about “restarting the restarting.” Recall, she almost immediately came down with a massive cellulitis infection and likely related hoof abscess just weeks after coming home. Then, upon recovery, acted like she’d never seen ANY of the farm before in her life (despite the prior weeks of careful hand walking and introductions to all the various spaces). 

ice ball season is the worst

My initial reaction at that time was surprise, annoyance and frustration — bc from my perspective, the mare had more than enough preparation and experience to be civil despite a little time off. But, ya know. Tell that to the mare LOL… 

So I fixed my feelings and reframed my mind and we just went back to square one and reestablished all the little skills and behaviors I wanted to see in the mare, and it was all good.

you can really see how much height these things can develop

And history basically seems to be repeating itself this season for us. Conditions are decidedly not favorable — cold weather, bad ground, howling wind… We’ve been limited to exclusively riding indoors for quite a while at this point, and then Doozy had the better part of the last two weeks off after bruising a foot on some hard packed ice balls in her shoe. 

also tis the season for rechargeable hand warmers! i got these Ocoopa nuggets for Christmas

So when we were able to snatch the big indoor all to ourselves during relatively mild weather, I was eager to start putting the pieces of our ‘standard wtc ride package’ back together. 

Doozy had… other thoughts LOL. She was eager to spook at…. Everything. Weird noises. Weird silence. That closed door…. that open  door…. Bright spots and dark shadows, and literally everything in between. 

pretty mare isn’t grown up yet lol

Not gonna lie, it’s really easy for me to get baited into all of that, tho. To get baited into working the mare through whatever distraction she finds —- schooling her past the door, working her into the corners, not letting her get all screwballed and contorted every time she passes the gate… Except. Guys. Literally none of that really matters at this exact moment, ya know? 

more to come on this experiment…. first ride left me with some concerns

It’s like… 20*F outside, the ground is trashed, nothing is happening any time soon. If the mare needs to hand walk a lap or two around the ring, fine. If she needs to stay on a small circle, FINE. What I **don’t** need to do is make a big deal out of this corner or that mirror or those piled up hoses. None of it matters, Doozy isn’t actually afraid, we can actually just ignore it.

she is so friggin busy omg… note the chompage tho

Bc at this particular moment, having not been schooling regularly, really all we need to do is put together a few minutes of trot in each direction —- finding our salvation in steady rhythm and inside supple bend. That’s… literally it. And go figure, when I kept the message really really consistent, and really really clear (trot in this steady tempo with consistent inside bend), Doozy was able to take a deep breath and stop looking for monsters. 

We don’t have to get drawn into chasing after every squirrel, ya know? 

mare we just want you to be happy!

Tho ya know. We still had to take a fairly extensive walk break after changing directions bc omg everything is different now aaaaahh.. cough cough, ahem. 

But. Eh. Fiiiiiine. I reminded myself that we have all the time in the world, including time to compose ourselves as needed vs feeding into the feelings. And then after the walk break, mare was able to pick up another little 2min stint of trot without any explosions or interpretative dance steps. Good girl!

mare thinks her happiness can be found among the treats in that coat pocket LOL

Actually, overall, the quality of the work itself was quite high — exactly where we left off from our last lesson with Trainer C. Which is honestly a GREAT feeling bc the whole set of recent little micro-breakthroughs was all about getting reproducible work from the horse with consistent rider inputs. 

Which… If you can ignore all the other shenanigans related to having had a little time off, and being slightly stir crazy from the weather… Well, it’s what we’re still getting! Woo hoo! 

At this point, just being able to get on and go through the motions reasonably consistently is good enough haha… And who knows, maybe we’ll eventually get a reprieve from all these arctic blasts?? We’ll see, I guess! 

this is why we can’t have nice things

Hope y’all are staying warm out there… These polar vortex storms are getting old, not gonna lie… As of this writing, we’re expecting another deep freeze plus possibly a few inches of fresh snow UGH!

the destructive monster herself

Idk about you all, but I was feeling all motivated going into the off season and signed up for all manner of fun activities and outings that are all getting postponed, rescheduled, or straight up cancelled bc bleh… The weather is too hateful!

She may or may not have had murder on the mind while riding amidst lessons the other night

Tho ya know. Maybe it’s all for the best anyway… Poor Miss Thing bruised her feet a bit from a nasty ice ball wedged in her shoe during the first big snowstorm, and is only just now starting to feel better. 

 

at least she’s cute

Tho naturally the ground outside is still completely trashed so she’s simultaneously overflowing with pent up energy…

wild woman had to get it out of her system!

It’s made our attempts at riding a little dicey. I’ve tried to keep getting on her regularly, with the idea being that just walking around nice soft footing is good for her body — even if her feet were too sore for regular ‘work.’ 

well, wild until she got ‘stuck’ in the box lol

But y’all know Doozy, she’s not always entirely on board with the idea of “just walking around” LOL…. And not gonna lie… We came embarrassingly close to causing a major scene a couple times while sharing the ring with lessons… whoops!

there ya go lady - back out the way you came in!

C’est la vie, I guess. Like it’s no secret that the mare kinda needs a fairly consistent degree of work. And I’m not particularly worried about things smoothing out when conditions improve… So ya know. We’ll see where things are after this next storm!

ugh mare!!!

In the meantime, tho, I’m experimenting with some repairs to our brand new (ugh!) and beloved nathe bit, which the monster friggin CHOMPED in our last ride. 

have you used bit wrap before?

We’ve literally only had this bit for a few weeks at this point, so, uh, that’s not really nearly durable enough for something that cost almost $100. But it’s such a good solution for Doozy at this point in her training that I’m hoping we can maybe keep it going with some bit wrap?

it’s just self-adhering latex that can be cut to fit

Like, I don’t necessarily expect this latex tape to be any more durable, but… if it protects the bit itself then, maybe it’s worth just having to rewrap the bit every couple weeks or months? I got this particular tape off Amazon, and reviews said it works about as well as Sealtex, which I think is maybe the more common brand but less available these days? 

my first attempt seems decent enough, lmk if you have any tricks

I dunno. I tried to take a little care wrapping the thing — starting with a clean dry bit and trimming the edges to hopefully be as thin and unobtrusive as possible. I also used a hair dryer on the low setting to help with adherence, tho it naturally seems to stick quite easily.

wrapped our other new bit that i want to try for jumping

I haven’t jumped in the nathe yet so it’s hard to say how well it works when Doozy gets strong. My guess, tho, is that we might end up wishing for a little more in that department lol… So I picked up another nathe with beval cheek pieces. I was just trialing it from my friend, but opted to buy it outright after Doozy chomped the other nathe in case she destroys this one too. Hopefully wrapping it preemptively will be enough tho? 

i thought i sold Charlie’s old Myler comfort snaffle but nope it was just tucked away!

I also re-discovered Charlie’s old Myler comfort snaffle that could possibly work as a back-up. Like maybe it could be similar to the nathe, but less susceptible to chomping, if I wrap it all up? We’ll see, I guess. I haven’t wrapped it yet in case Plan A works and I want to conserve the rest of the roll for keeping the nathe smooth. 

ugh mare… at least with this weather it’s not like we’re doing anything exciting anyway!

Let me know if you’ve had any success with bit wrap. Or, alternatively, if there are other more sturdy materials or styles of bit that might be worth trying for this ridiculous chaos agent of a mare…

off into the storm….

In the meantime, we’re just hunkering down for the next few days — hoping it’s not as bad as forecast! Stay warm out there!

the year ahead

Back in the golden age of equestrian blogging, posting goals was popular and ubiquitous, with many the ambitious rider routinely committing to quarterly and even monthly goals. 

That trend faded over time (along with the waning popularity of long-format platforms in general...), and my last year of posting traditional annual and quarterly goals was 2018 (final wrap up post here). 

Obvi I didn't abandon the long-format platform (otherwise, uh, I wouldn't be writing these words right now LOL), nor have I given up on “planning” lol. So it was something else that made me move away from such structured well-defined goals, at least in the traditional sense. 

excited for the next year with this sweet biscuit

Namely, upper level rider Matt Brown wrote a series of compelling and thought provoking essays for Chronicle of the Horse in late 2018 that I found to be deeply influential. 

I wrote out my thoughts and impressions based on his essay in this post here, but have continued to mull over the ideas ever since. Including reading (and re-reading) a book called The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris & Stephen Hayes PhD (available for free through your Audible account or with a trial), which I believe to be some of the primary source material Matt references in his essay.

A big theme in this material is the distinction between process and outcome. Or, to take it a step further, values and outcomes. That an 'outcome' is a bit like the destination of a journey, like going to Paris. Or, more topically, riding in the Championships or earning your Bronze Medal. And the process is the way we get there, step by step.

These outcomes may very well be things we want -- but the fulfillment from such a destination or outcome is by its very definition a transient and temporary sensation. And, more to Matt's point -- we ultimately have very little control over ever achieving certain outcomes. As every horse person knows, there are virtually no promises with horses.  

So the idea is to focus on staying guided by our values, deriving fulfillment not only from where we plan to go, but from the steps along the journey itself. To get passionate about the process, rather than obsessing about the outcome. 

not sure exactly what’s ahead of us yet but it’ll hopefully be fun!!

And as Adam Grant notes in his book Think Again, (also seems to be available for free with an Audible trial, for those of you who like listening to books while driving!), "passions are developed, not discovered."

Most of us are already pretty far along in the whole “passionate about horses” thing… But ya know, the process of actually improving our riding, developing our skills, conditioning ourselves to the correct postures and exertions etc… Not even mentioning the other half of that equation — the horse itself and all that goes into devoting ourselves to pursuits with an entire other sentient creature… Well. Turns out, riding is hard. 

Sometimes it’s a real grind, or deeply frustrating. Failure with horses is almost inevitable in one way or another, it seems. There are so many ways things can go wrong — bad rides, lamenesses or injuries, lack of skill or training or ability. External forces like shitty weather or bad ground or plain old limited resources….

Some days it’s easy to say, “ya know what, I just don’t feel like it.” Which… Honestly, imo is totally fine. I’ve had to learn to give myself some grace (and space) for those days. 

But I’m also working to shift my mindset a little bit too. Namely, working to understand that motivation isn’t some magical drug that allows us to succeed in our endeavors. It’s not something that you either “have” or “don’t have” — it’s just a reflection of we want. The desire to act. 

words to live by

In this mindset, ‘discipline’ and ‘will power’ become nothing more than figments of the imagination, mere constructs rather than something that defines or describes me as an individual. What we are really describing with those words is a pattern of committed action. 

Doing the thing even when I don’t feel like it. Going through the motions, the process, bc that’s how we get where we wanna go. Or, if necessary, reevaluating the intended outcome entirely if the process of getting there doesn’t inspire joy or fulfillment. One thing I learned from my competition journey with Charlie — it’s hard to engage fully in an activity if I’m distracted by fear or anxiety. 

So. For the year ahead, I’m re-committing myself to the values of persistence and self development. To the process of practicing my skills, assessing the results, and modifying as needed — recognizing that sometimes failure is a wonderful teacher. 

I want to put one foot in front of the other, day after day, hopefully to get somewhere pretty special, but definitely enjoying the journey. Happy new year, y’all!

best eventing club ever

Our local eventing club, the MCTA, is just such a special group. Maryland is part of the USEA’s Area II, a densely packed and competitive group of riders, comprising everybody from Olympic level professionals, to young riders and ambitious and talented adult amateurs. It’s a big pond with a LOT of big fish.

Ruddy cheeked red heads lol

But the MCTA is something smaller and more intimate amid all that. It’s (obviously) a more geographically local membership… But it’s also more of an accessible community that more or less just celebrates the sport of eventing - at all levels.

Sorry i don’t have a pic on the horse…. Yet!!

I always strongly encourage literally anybody I meet who does at least one event (including unrecognized!) at any level in a year to become a member. Bc the year end awards at this club are LIT lol.

Case in point: While Doozy and I completed 4 unrecognized horse trials this year, I only submitted our results from the last two - Loch Moy and Waredaca. Mostly bc perhaps I don’t really understand how the club actually calculates and tallies points toward all the various award categories. 

And holy crap guys, my sweet mare won four GIANT ribbons — including a TIP neck ribbon omg! And a sweet Big Brown ribbon too <3 <3

I swear this club will find literally any reason to award you a GIANT ribbon

Honestly it’s been my sense for years that the club finds ways to recognize literally everybody who submits results for the year end awards. They have seemingly endless categories, including separate categories for horses and riders, and do their best to count points favorably such that you get the best possible awards.

Look at these awesome prizes!! The little gift bags are FULL of treats

Naturally — there are prizes too!! Really really sweet, creative and thoughtful prizes omg! And guys — we only got 3rd 7th and 8th place ribbons. I wasn’t able to attend the banquet so I don’t know for certain what all was awarded for higher place finishes, but saw among my friends’ swag bags custom photo printed blankets, monogrammed saddle pads…. And let’s not forget all the engraved perpetual trophies.

Also, there was a silent auction where yours truly mayyyyyy have snagged some exciting goodies!

Really, so much amazingness from what is honestly a modest and relatively small club. MCTA offers one recognized event each spring at the iconic Shawan Downs, and two starter events - one also at Shawan (generally a week or two after the recognized) and a fall event often held at Tranquillity.

The unrecognized events in particular are insanely inviting and both allow for complete schooling of all the courses in advance (well, y’all already know Tranquillity just straight up allows complete schooling year round). And natch, points earned from MCTA events count double toward year end awards!

‘Tis the season for aspirational dreaming tho, amirite? LOL

The club also organizes an absolutely stellar silent auction in conjunction with the banquet each year too. Allllll sorts of items get donated, including lessons, schooling passes, wellness packages (like chiro, acupuncture, massage…), gift cards, swag bags and on and on. 

This year, tho I concentrated my bidding attention on event entries — with a whooooole bunch of interesting activities tempting us into bidding wars. There was everything from schooling shows, derbies, 3-phase starter trials, and even recognized USEA horse trials.

I may or may not have snagged one of the latter, omg. So, uh, stay tuned for more on that lol.

It’s all ahead of us <3 

In the meantime, we’re still fairly snowed in around here. It’s less bitterly cold and everybody is used to the snow now — roads and paths are clear etc. But it’s still a a bit limiting and actually I think Doozy’s feet got a little bruised from ice packs, womp. 

So ya know. It’s a quiet season, a time for reflection and hopes and dreams for the future. And ya know. Maybe a time to renew my memberships to the MCTA and all the other associations etc for the year ahead! Are you joining any associations or clubs for the coming year too??

4 minutes

I was going to start this post by saying, "A few years ago....," except.... ahem, actually, it'd be a bit more accurate to say, About a decade ago, I audited a clinic with David O'Connor in which he recited a series of clearly often-repeated** lectures chock full of useful nuggets.

They were the sort of lectures you could listen to again and again and always hear something new, depending on your current horse journey and experiences. And obviously the material stuck with me considering I'm still talking about it lol. But y'all know me, I tend to veer toward the systematic and methodological.... so when DOC solemnly declared, 

"Know the parameters so you can reproduce them," 

Well... Yea, that's exactly the type of guidance that inspires my ongoing horsey pursuits.

(**Confirmed when I audited him again some time later, and it was virtually the same material. Legit super valuable all the same, and would listen to it all over again!)

New York bred mare is right at home in the snow <3

Which.... is also maybe an insight into why Doozy has been so uniquely challenging for me to get going. She's a sensitive chaotic creature who can have disproportionately large responses to relatively minor (and even imperceptible to me) stimuli.

But winter is the season for paring back, scaling down, simplifying and reexamining all those systems and methodologies I guess. And as such, we've had a number of pleasantly gratifying little micro-breakthroughs in recent weeks. 

view from the upper indoor is so pretty <3

Obvi re-introducing the metronome was a big one, especially paired with using my interval timer app. And actually, filming our entire ride with the wall-mounted helmet cam the other week led to another new discovery that we're just now sorta testing out. 

Specifically: in terms of 'reproducible parameters,' how long does it take right now for Doozy to warm up, settle in, get soft? 

I wrote in that post about trimming the first 4 minutes of trot out of the video, mostly bc it was just us sorta warming up etc.... It was a random observation in that moment, but one I've tried to keep track of since then. 

was a good biscuit for some fun low key ground work

Bc basically it's really easy for me to get on the horse and immediately start fiddling, asking the horse to do this, do that, what have you. And then maybe if what I'm doing "isn't working," maybe I change tactics or try something else or whatever. Ya know, the whole "chasing my wet noodle of a mare around with all my aids while she bounces off contorting every which way."

But if, instead, I just ride the rhythm, keeping all my aids steady (within reason, it's still **me** after all!), and the horse squarely between said aids...? 

Turns out, right now 4 minutes of trot is actually our magic number. (Recall my interval timer dings every 2min so it's easy to keep track). Idk if that's a "good" or "bad" duration. But.... maybe I don't care if it's relatively reliable and reproducible? 

And actually having that little bit of data in my mind has done wonders for emphasizing and encouraging relaxation. If I'm starting our rides with a commitment to patience and steadiness -- goooooo figure, Doozy is likelier to match my energy there.

"ma'am, but why i am nekkid???" -- red mares everywhere

And the last little recent breakthrough relates to the new bit. I have almost no experience doing intentional flatwork with a straight mouth piece. But maybe I had some incorrect assumptions about what it would be like, esp re: bend. 

Asking Doozy to flex in or out with this bit is an entirely different (and actually quite nice) sensation from the jointed bits we'd been using. That could be purely a function of how she reacts (or, doesn't react) to the bit so YMMV... But it's interesting to me. Also interesting is how easy it is for me to feel when my outside hand isn't allowing the level bend I'm asking for. Which, it seems is often.** Um. Whoops? 

And I'm not talking about the whole "inside leg to outside rein" purity test here (altho, natch, DOC had plenty to say there too in contradiction to my current approach lol), bc right now our Holiest of Grails is asking Doozy to maintain gentle inside bend, with nose jusssst reaching level with the point of her inside shoulder vs staying centered on her midline. 

(**If you watch carefully ((even just literally the first 0:20sec)) you can see exactly what I'm talking about from that last filmed ride, which was done in the snaffle before we switched to the nathe. It's most apparent when we track right.).

sweet raggamuffin

Bc when these parameters are in place --- steady rhythm, steady inside bend, patience to wait it out --- we are ****finally**** starting to get 'reproducible' results in our flat work. Mostly-ish. Lol. Y'all know how it is haha. 

And obvi, as L. Williams was fond of pointing out... Sometimes today's solutions become tomorrow's problems.... But, eh, that is by definition a problem for Future Emma. 

For right now, it's exciting and empowering to start having flat rides that are less 'at the mercy' of external conditions, and more a direct result of consistent inputs. Oooh, and as further proof of this, our most recent session was held again in the spookier lower indoor, tho with company finally. And sure, it still produced larger reactions in the mare than I'd expect elsewhere... but not enough to disrupt us from the work. Small steps, y'all!

practice assess modify

Hope all of y'all in polar vortex zones are staying warm! It's prettttty cold around these parts with more expected snow as of this writing... Bleh. 

We have fun activities tentatively planned throughout the month, so actually this weekend was our best bet for the next Trainer C Dressage lesson too -- back-to-back weekends, woot woot! 

take your best guess: did she or did she not poop on her friend's blankets lol

So for Saturday's solo ride at home, I wanted to focus on simple basics. Enough to get us moving around and practicing our skills etc, but nothing crazy given the conditions. 

Tho we're still kinda figuring out the best way to get our work done during high traffic times of day... On this particular day, the lower indoor was open while the upper indoor was occupied. Benefits of an unoccupied ring include being able to set up whatever exercises I want! 

inspiration pic for the ride --- distances not super important, using the whole length of the ring, focusing on balanced canter

Which, was exactly what I had in mind, yay! This ground pole exercise seemed like just the ticket for practicing our balance in canter with landmarks to keep us honest. Also seemed like a useful way to practice bending lines / related distances while encouraging patience. 

Tho... Downsides to selecting the unoccupied lower ring include that this ring just seems spookier to Doozy. It sits kinda in a low spot on the farm, and has weird acoustics where you can hear all sorts of activity around all 4 sides of the ring. Plus there's more traffic passing by the doorways, and for some reason this seems more alarming / distracting for Doozy since we're kinda looking 'up' out of the ring. 

technically walked in about 3ish strides, but with indoor canter etc rode fine as a quiet 4 too

Add in the crazy wind that kept banging against all the doors and.... Yea. Not an easy set of circumstances for poor sensitive Doozy. Sigh. 

But eh, we persevered. At least this exercise was kinda perfect in that it was enough to give her something to think about and focus on, and enough to keep me riding my consistent steady rhythm, but not so overwhelming or intense that we ever got frantic or disheveled.

trot circles!

Tho. Eh. I still kinda need somebody yelling at me in real time to make me ride just that titch more proactively. Recording my rides helps to a certain degree -- when I know I'm being recorded (even if it's just an iphone on the wall LOL) I will usually try to pull myself together a bit. 

canter circles!

But y'all know how it goes. As it was, Doozy actually kinda nailed the exercise in canter. Like, didn't rush at all -- good girl! Like she doesn't even really look tense or upset or spooky in that gif. Just looks like a horse cantering around somewhat indifferently. Progress, yo! 

iphone field of view missed the first pole, womp

Idk, tho. I keep trying to make this ring happen for us lol, but maybe it's just not gonna happen lol... Or at least, maybe not when we're alone. Doozy enjoys riding in company, and honestly seems totally at ease riding among lesson groups. Everything in moderation, I guess!

you get the idea tho

Anyway. Saturday's ride was all it needed to be ahead of Sunday's lesson. Trainer C has been amazingly accommodating in scheduling us considering she already has a steady roster of weekly lessons... Sometimes that means she's squishing us in pretty early tho lol, esp in frigid conditions omg and given trailering time etc... But c'est la vie, right?

good girl tried hard even tho she maybe just doesn't like this ring

The lesson was really interesting too. It's so rare that Trainer C gets to see us back-to-back weekends (and by "rare" I mean... maybe has never happened before?) that it felt like a chance to push the momentum. Meaning bringing our new quiet-riding bit, the nathe, and actually opting to run the metronome in my pocket too -- just on a lower volume. 

rolling into the fancy dressage barn lookin like hobos in 19*F

I've never used the app in a lesson before but maybe that's a mistake. Like, why waste this training opportunity working on details I can practice with the metronome, right? Trainer C can only say so many words in one moment, let's get the best out of it!

And in any case, she actually remarked on the quality of our tempo before I sorta sheepishly pulled out the (quiet) metronome and she was like, "wow actually that's a great idea!"

literally wearing all our clothes haha. but hey, this is the only pic we get so....

She also declared the nathe a winning solution for us at this moment in our training. It was her perception that Doozy was more relaxed, less tense or frantic, and less anticipatory of whatever is coming next. She also felt like I was able to be less dramatic about slowing the mare down. 

This was fascinating to me bc **my** perceptions of the mare were actually quite the opposite. It was my sense that Doozy was actually a bit more tense than normal -- perhaps a hangover from our ride the previous day in the spooky indoor? And I felt like I had to do at least as much, if not possibly a little more work at times to keep our rhythm. 

#stalkercats

It's obviously entirely possible that my perceptions are a bit skewed, tho, right? Like we ALL know it rarely looks the way it feels. But my honest impression is that... The nathe bit makes such a huge difference in reducing noise in the signal for Doozy. 

It still feels like I'm riding the same horse, but the impression from the ground (perhaps from the judge's perspective?) is a little nicer? Like it feels the same to me, but she's not reacting so dramatically to my riding and therefore presents a more pleasant picture?? Idk. We'll see haha. 

Regardless, it was interesting. Doozy was super for the whole lesson, really tried hard and had some of her best and most consistent moments of inside bend -- our holy grail for the foreseeable future. 

It's exciting to keep nibbling away at the edges, esp given the season lol. Anybody else feeling a bit of momentum going into the new year? Or are you taking it easy until conditions improve?