xc clinic @ waredaca!

We’re kicking off the ‘winter bootcamp’ season in style, starting with a super fun destination xc clinic at Waredaca, for one of their ‘expert days’ with Allison Springer!

just a little lakeside cantering! trying to remember to bend my elbows lol

Actually, tbh, the entry page on Strider didn’t really specify whether it was intended to be an xc day, or show jumping. Given the time of year, I mostly presumed it’d be sj… but didn’t really care either way. 

I was just excited to ride with Allison, somebody I’ve admired for years as a spectator and ring steward (where I’ve witnessed her many times, and her good riding students too!).

trust me, there’s a little log back there <3

Naturally, as is always the way with these things, our forecast for the day was the nastiest most wintry day yet this year by far — sharply cold with a blustery wind that would not quit.** But the ground was good and the jumps were still decorated from the past weekend’s starter even. And so we carried on.

And actually, in some ways, the tricky conditions (ie, wind blowing **directly** up the horses’ butts) proved to be the perfect platform for Allison to really zero in on our warm up flatwork.

(**The same cannot be said for my helmet cam battery, which found the cold unbearable!) 

snapshot selected bc of those epic moody wintry trees

Which, go figure, wasn’t about petting the pretty pony and whispering soothingly into her ear that “everything was going to be ok!”, even as literally an entire giant herd of horses galloped around like lunatics for actual minutes on end right next door. 

Like, ok sure — whisper soothingly etc. It does help. But also, ride the horse. Bend her. More. Put your leg on, push her off that leg. Bend and push and disengage the hind quarters. If her ears are pricked like a statue fixated off into the distance, she is ignoring you. Change that. Now. More round, more bend, more leg.

also, jompies!! landing pic snapped here bc my phone was being annoying about pausing on exactly the right frame.
plus. not gonna lie guys. our winter boot camp this year will be all about helping doozy’s technique

And it will actually shock you to learn that this technique worked for Doozy. In fact, it worked for the full duration of the ride!

Remember how I wrote about our recent Windurra schooling that Doozy could “get a little stuck and behind the leg and snarled up in a pretzel every time we pick up for our turn”?? And remember how the xc warmup at the Area Champs was probably our hardest moment from that show? And remember how I literally just wrote about the uncertainty of knowing which phases etc would be on grass contributing to my decision to scratch Plantation?

more lakeside cantering, bc i love it

Yeeeeahhhh. Bc it turns out. This has been a big hole in our training for… ever, basically. And I’m not going to act like we fixed it in one random clinic. But somehow, some way, Allison imposed a new directive that made a difference. 

Tho I also suspect that the “new directive” is also only really made possible by Doozy’s maturation and improvements in overall schooling from the past year.

i always struggle a little with the downhill approach to this line of jumps
this is also a nice example of where Allison would prefer to see more “chin up”

Anyway. Having achieved a warm up, we started in on the jumping. First by trotting a nice friendly log a couple times, with each iteration still requiring the same flatwork to start. 

Then we just sorta moved through the whole field, jumping each jump on its own before stringing together a little mini course.

being brave about this kinda spooky “brewery” log. note the uneven push from behind + less-than-classic front end technique lol

Right away Allison zeroed in on a few positional habits of mine:

- I need more bend in my elbows and shorter reins, vs my tendency to kinda lock my arms straight

- BUT!! I still need to be able to soften the contact, especially at the fence

- Chin up. But seriously. This was a biggie for Allison, and in my mind is reminiscent of my “chest up” directive, having found that “shoulders back” isn’t really enough to truly unfold my torso.

- Stay back and own our distance, no matter what

snapshot selected bc of that epic moody wintry sky <3

That last directive was a bit of a new one for us. Mostly because… Obviously this height is new(ish) to Doozy. But so is jumping from a more steady canter stride. Doozy and I have gotten pretty far in life with letting her raw momentum and athleticism and bravery carry us from one side of the jump to the other. 

But ya know. It might be nice to have a few more ‘tools’ at our disposal, especially when it comes to Doozy’s technique in the jumping. She has a tendency to get a little jittery in her take-off — launching the front end before the hind end quite knows what to do with itself. 

no problems whatsoever flinging herself into the air LOL

None of that mattered much for smaller jumps, but especially as we start introducing spread, it’ll be important that Doozy can organize her hind end up under her for an even and strong push off. My sense is that getting her stronger behind will also resolve some of her less-than-picturesque front end moments too.

Allison also advised, on a related note, that if we landed from a fence super disorganized — she’d prefer we throw in a trot transition, vs spooling out on a circle. She felt like the trot transition would do more to get the horse back on the aids, back on her hocks etc, than just whipping around a small turn.  

one lesson at a time, tho, and she was a super good girl for this one <3 <3

Anyway, Doozy never ended up needing that particular advice bc it turns out you land in better balance when you jump from better balance. And you jump from better balance when you establish the flat work first. Groundbreaking stuff here, guys! lol…

The horse also certainly feels plenty athletic — and made pretty easy work of the various BN fences we tackled throughout the ride — including a fairly tall step up out of the water!! Sadly not recorded bc of cold helmet camera problems, le sigh. 

But all the same, her bravery has always been among her most redeeming qualities. Helping her feel stronger in her form and technique is basically an insurance policy, as far as I can tell. 

even tho it was cold + windy AF dear lord. good girl, little biscuit!

So ya know. Hurray for clinic + bootcamp season! Every week there are new educational activities springing up on the calendar, including a couple future opportunities that might be exactly tailored toward refining technique!

Winter is *not* my favorite, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun and make the most of it anyway, amirite?

reflecting

Happy Monday, friends — hope it was a good weekend for you all! Pro photos care of Erin Gilmore photography just arrived in the mail, so I thought it might be nice to reflect a bit on our most recent competition, Doozy’s official move up to BN!

sweet doozy trying her best to just…. trot on around lol

Obvi anybody who’s been following along around these parts for any length of time doesn’t really need to be convinced that I can occasionally over think things. ‘Self Doubt’ could quite literally be my middle name. And our weird roller coaster winter definitely didn’t help. 

Doozy had felt ready to think about moving up a full year ago. Remember we did a BN CT at Thornridge for *last* Halloween? Then she was stellar for the Sharon White xc clinic at BN, and I sent in an entry for one of Loch Moy’s winter derbies at BN thinking we’d never look back. 

my outfit choices were a direct reflection of me trying to manifest casual vibes lol, including opting to do all three phases in the same tack 

It’s funny, tho, bc after the wheels fell off this spring and we had to kinda break everything down into more ‘bite sized’ outings starting around June this year… Idk. It kinda forced me to reframe a little bit. Prioritize confidence building, not confidence proving — for BOTH of us. 

And when we did finally make it around a full three phase event in July, it felt fun and easy in a way I’ve never really experienced with eventing. Like, sure, everything is kinda hard sometimes with Doozy. **Mere existence** can sometimes be overwhelming, apparently. 

But the actual tests of the day? Especially the jumping phases? There were no questions in my head that we could just go out and put one foot in front of the other toward a completion. 

holy crap a pic of us cantering!! 

It’s like something clicked in my head. Like, OH. Ah. I see. It can be like this! And I basically spent the rest of the summer fully embracing the idea of getting out there and doing the things at a level that felt comfortable, easy and fun — while slowly but surely trying to smooth out all the other mere-existence-related wrinkles (like Doozy’s admittedly tough time in the warm up rings at Waredaca).

We did about an event per month this season, which is a bit less frequent than the typical area campaigners from what I can tell — but it felt / feels right for us. 

click for full size — also hit a new record for “obedient” comments LOL!

And I opted to splurge on an Area II Champs entry, knowing full well we weren’t really contenders or points chasers or anything. Historically with Charlie, I was always thinking about pushing ourselves at shows, vs dallying around for special classes or whatever. So this was a bit of a departure for me. 

oxers never looks as big in pictures as they do to me in person LOL

And it was great! Like, kinda a bit of a fussy experience with the multiple days of trailering etc LOL, and idk if I’ll do it again necessarily… But it was a great experience — I’m glad for the memories, and it was also just one more positive notch in the proverbial belt for Doozy. 

doozy being mature about jumping into our bending line <3

But ya know… It also kinda felt like time, right? Like, ok. We did a proper season. Did the recognized things. Qualified for and rode around the area champs… With still one good month left to go in the season. All signs pointed in the same direction: time to go for it. 

So I dutifully sent in an entry for the BN at Plantation Field’s starter trials, scheduled to happen the weekend after our lovely xc clinic with Sally at Windurra. 

Obvi, you’d be forgiven for not remembering reading about that event tho bc… Well. I scratched the night before for really no real reason at all, except that… idk. I didn’t feel right about it, didn’t feel ready, wasn’t in the right head space, had just one too many feelings of uncertainty bordering on that awful existential dread type feeling. 

strange little cedar oxer out of the water. i’ve seen it cause problems, but doozy clearly didn’t care

So yea. Fine. Scratch that, no big deal. Grace is a lovely gift that only we can give ourselves. 

I had just gotten so stuck in my head. Feelings of uncertainty about how the day would be set up — usually at least either sj or dressage is on grass, which one would it be? How would the xc course look — it’s normally pretty friendly looking but… it’s also been a while. 

And, in all honesty, I still remember Charlie’s somewhat uncharacteristically terrible day there back in 2018, at his second novice. If Doozy had the same type of atypical day, was our schooling level really ready enough to still get us around? And would I be emotionally resilient enough to not completely melt down if it went poorly? 

Basically. My answer to that question was, “No.” I thought it would cost me too much to have the same type of bad day Charlie had all those years ago. It also felt like I’d selected Plantation for not compelling enough reasons. Like, sure, a good event horse should be able to have consistent results at a variety of different venues and grounds. But… We already know Doozy thrives on consistency, so maybe choosing the familiarity of Loch Moy for a move up was ‘strategic’ instead of a cop out. 

i can’t tell for sure, but doesn’t it look like we might actually be stepping INSIDE the ditch????

Anyway. That’s a whole lot of navel gazing, let’s be real. But it’s also a fairly honest and accurate depiction of the mental hamster wheel going on inside my head. 

I felt instant relief after scratching Plantation… paired with a newer inner voice, quieter but equally persistent: I did want to try for BN, I did believe we were ready, and maybe all we really needed was a set of circumstances that felt more familiar, with fewer unknowns. 

So I sucked it up and sent in a (late) entry for the Loch Moy starter the very next weekend. Which, obvi felt possibly like throwing good money after bad since I’d literally just forfeited an entry fee lol. But ya know. Hurray for volunteerism guys bc BOTH these entries had pretty nice discounts applied anyway!

stunning mare + matching foliage <3 <3

I wasn’t quite finished with the mental hamster wheel, tho. In order to just keep the peace upstairs between my ears, I decided to ensure our entire approach to this event was suuuuuper low key and casual. No white pants — not even tan pants. Nope, went straight up with clothes I’d just as soon wear to a lesson. 

Ditto for Doozy — I only packed one set of tack. Not for any real reason other than: just not wanting to take it too seriously. Not wanting to even look too serious. We’ve gotten around just fine in our jump tack, and this would be no different. 

And ya know, it wasn’t any different — and we did get around just fine! Not perfect, obviously. But more than ‘just fine’ too, especially cross country! Doozy was such a super star! 

Ultimately, I’m super proud of both of us for keeping on with putting one foot in front of the other, all year long. My goal with Doozy has always been to continue growing my experience and education in this sport, and we definitely learned something deeply important this year about appreciating the scenic route <3 <3

beaver moon

Whelp it finally happened. The clocks finally changed, and we’re officially into post-season territory. 

it’s so pretty at dusk — almost makes up for the early nightfall!

As much as I’d like to complain tho… Well, eh, it’s actually been a pretty mild and pleasant week, all things considered. Still practically t-shirt weather (maybe with a light layer), and obvi a pretty relaxed vibe this week given our last big outing of the season is over.

pic from our last lesson before the show, but also representative of what we’ll be doing today too

Or at least, last big ‘competitive’ outing. Realistically speaking, I’ll probably stay on the books with Woodge until she heads south for the winter. And I’m also looking to more proactively front load the winter season calendar with educational activities like clinics and things.

last lesson before the show focused on the small footwork grid in top left corner

Last winter I put together a calendar of epic proportions, with all manner of dressage and gymnastic sessions with some very exciting clinicians (like an old favorite, Martin Douzant!). 

But we only made it to the first big to-do  — an xc clinic on the Loch Moy derby course with Sharon White. The rest of our plans fell apart when winter hit us with two big back to back storms, and then Doozy got that suspected hoof bruise and spent the next four months NQR….

set myself a grid at home with more, er, *height* to finish show prep. naturally it poured buckets the day before so we had to be inside, but made it work anyway

Naturally that could happen again this year. Somehow, despite being such a manic control freak, I still haven’t figured out how to bend mother nature to my will, le sigh. 

pretty mare + pretty moon

But ya know. Hope springs eternal. Or something like that. November is my birthday month, and I always like to treat myself to something horsey. There are two clinic opportunities this month on my radar that look super exciting, too. And I also have a Loch Moy schooling pass set to expire by the end of the year burning a hole in my pocket. Hopefully will find a use for that too!

she’s trying to figure out why i’m so late in arriving

But ya know. Scheming aside, we’re mostly kinda just easing into the season. Our outdoor ring at home isn’t lighted, so we’ve been mostly relegated to the indoors since the time change. It’s not my favorite for a few reasons — 1) it can be pretty spooky to Doozy when we’re alone; but then 2) it’s hard to do much more than loose figures and circles when sharing with lessons. 

“where have you been????” — doozy, eager for her #afterdinnersnacks

So the nature of our rides naturally has to shift a little bit. Less of a focus on immersing completely into one of our Brit-bot ride guides, bc realistically it’s just not practical to go deep on specific exercises, gaits or figures when you’re sharing a 30x40m space with lesson ponies who may or may not cut every corner. 

who could resist that sweet face???

Instead, it’s a much more relaxed vibe. Riding Doozy as long and low as she’s willing to go, loose floaty forward gaits, sweeping figures, changes of directions, transitions, riding our footsteps intentionally and smoothly off minimalistic seat and leg aids, as we thread the needle amidst the lesson kiddos. 

For now, that’s good enough to still be a lovely way to unwind and unplug after yet another day spent working in spreadsheets or on zoom calls lol. Tho maybe as the season wears on I’ll get more ambitious and try to spice it up with grid nights or something. 

Who knows, we’ll see! And in the meantime, we’ll enjoy our lowkey casual rides <3

biscuit does BN!!

Guys — we finally did it!! I finally took the plunge and rode Doozy around her first full three phase event at beginner novice, yay!!!

helmet cam snapshot post-xc of my sweetest mare’s face, since i apparently took exactly zero good pictures of her throughout the day!

Our progress together has been, without a doubt, the slowest boil of any horse I’ve ever gotten going. Not sure if that’s entirely bc of who Doozy is as a person, or if it’s just a combination of factors including where I am in my life and journey with horses. 

Regardless, tho, Isabel and I did our first BN together after just 2 lower level events. Charlie moved up to BN about 4 months + 4 starter trials after his first show. And Doozy? Well. Lol. She did her first CT in March 2024, ahem, has 8 three-phase completions at lower levels, plus all manner of other activities along the way.

arrived early enough for some low key grazing

But ya know. It’s always been apparent to me that the ‘difficulty’ of the level was never the biggest question with Doozy. Rather, it’s… all the everything else that we needed to work through and sort out, while keeping the “main event” of our actual rides relatively easy and drama free. 

carefully observing the xc finish line lol

And honestly I feel really good about our trajectory together so far. Doozy was a very good girl for her dressage warm up, even tho we almost got cantered into once or twice by wayward juniors. Oh, and xc started running right behind some shrubbery, which Doozy found a bit triggering… But even so, it was a really solid warm up. 

Lately I’ve been focusing on establishing a forward balance in front of the leg. Which, natch, is possible now that Doozy isn’t constantly racing off, slipping into canter at the least provocation.  

snackies for a good mare

And this soft balance in front of the leg, paired with a relatively soft contact that’s trying to push the mare’s neck out, meant we actually had a relatively decent (for us) test. It wasn’t perfect, obviously, still basically a ‘bottom of the class’ type score. 

She’s still tense, above the bit, tight, needs more bend, etc etc etc. But I was happy with our rhythm, geometry and pacing through the test. We got our leads without any fussy moments, were able to soften again even after a little bolt step in the first canter, and only had one little accidental break into canter during the second trot circle — but again, could still soften after.

jump 2 was a bit of a reality check that… whoops we’ve never really done oxers at this height

The ride-ability is slowly coming along. It doesn’t necessarily feel like much to show considering that basically all we ever do in lessons is flat work LOL… But ya know. C’est la vie! I’m happy, and that’s enough. 

i knew this line was supposed to be a 6, but we kinda splatted a bit when we got there early and i thought she’d go for it in 5, sorry mare!

Tho… part of me would realllllly like to do more real jumping in regular lessons LOL. As it is, virtually all our work over jumps with any height is done solo at home, with whatever I’m feeling brave enough to set up. Meaning mostly single fences and grids. 

‘twas not my best riding — note our severe crookedness here

So I kinda knew this show jumping course might be a somewhat, er, big ask of the horse. But again, we had a really solid warm up where I maintained that feeling of ‘forward in front of the leg’ — trotting along in a marching rhythm for way longer than I normally do. And it paid off!  

full disclosure: the mare 100% saved my ass

Doozy was super game around the course, even tho it was definitely a little impressive to both of us. Naturally the weekend I selected for our move up was also the weekend Loch Moy was running their starter series championship, so all the courses were totally maxed out. Including a big giant oxer at jump 2. Uh, oops. 

finished strong tho, and somehow only 2 rails for all my messiness!

Plus a two stride in-and-out…. since when does BN have in-and-out combinations??? Again, tho, Doozy got us around. I admit to not riding my best tho. I hadn’t walked the course so didn’t really know what to expect in some of the lines, plus I kinda missed a few turns.

the helmet cam doesn’t look quite as gritty as it felt

Doozy would have been blameless for opting out at multiple points in the course… But what a mare, she’s so game, she likes the jumping, she’s good at it, and she’s willing to fight for it. Obvi that’s not really a sustainable way of getting around lol, ideally I’ll calm down and get my shit together and pilot her a bit more reliably… 

finally, tho, our strongest phase!! got our only real ‘oopsies’ jump out of the way at 2

On this day, tho, it was enough to get around, bc I was pretty sure cross country was going to be an absolute blast!!

this log box doesn’t look like much, but something about it (maybe the vertical slats?) always catches a couple horses and riders off guard

The course was freakin lovely, lots of nice big inviting fences and almost everything placed on rising ground. No insanely steep ups or downs, and enough of a challenge to keep us occupied every step of the way. 

so mature for the bending line!

Doozy left the start box fantastically — no explosiveness at all! Then we had maybe our iffiest jump at 2, a nice big roll top that we kinda launched at and landed in a run… Took a minute to get organized after that but then 3-4-5-6 were all close enough together that we kinda stayed on the ‘straight and narrow’ from then on. 

baby’s first corner — another fence shared with novice! also note the sneakily tricky landing. better have a plan for that tree well in advance!

Obviously it’s been a minute since I’ve gone around BN, Charlie’s last BN was March 2018 after all… But this definitely felt like a properly stout course for the level, again likely bc it was set for the series championship. Like, omg we had a corner! It was an option for my class, we could have jumped the table on the left in the pic above instead if we wanted, but c’mon — a corner!! Obvi Doozy would nail it!!

our little cedar oxer (just to the left of that white-ish roll top) was set on a somewhat rakish angle to the water

Honestly she nailed just about everything. I still trotted her into the water just to be safe — esp given our next jump is a funny little timber oxer that I’ve seen cause problems. It was set on a weird angle to the water too, so I just wanted to give it the proper respect.

steeplechase!! these always look big to me but they jump great!
also, omg the foliage in the pro photos is insane, i can’t wait til they arrive!

It didn’t seem to matter, tho, Doozy was locked and loaded. She just marched right on around wherever I pointed her. Cedar oxer? Cool. Baby ditch that we jumped last month? Nbd. She got a little strong for the next to jumps leading into the woods, but then was literally foot perfect for the final leg of the course.

this ‘rolex barn’ was properly large! then straight ahead to the last jump and finish line!

They had some properly impressive jumps in the woods too — the steeplechase roll (tho it wasn’t brushed up for BN) and this crazy ‘rolex barn’ looking thing that isn’t overly wide in terms of top spread, but definitely used up every inch of allowable height lol. 

what fun, and doozy was 100% up for the challenge!

Doozy felt incredible the whole way around — sorta this visceral awareness over the last few jumps of just what a special and lucky feeling it is to jump around on a horse like this!

obsessed with this sweet little xc machine <3 <3 <3

In a way I think Doozy was overdue for a more challenging course. It felt like she was paying the jumps more attention, and was therefore easier to rate and ride all the way around. It also felt like she was using herself better, vs sorta just cantering largely over the jumps. 

All in all, I’m just so happy with how the day went for us — a properly satisfying end to our season. Our inauspicious start to the year wasn’t what I’d hoped or imagined, but honestly I think we’re better for it. It forced us onto a different trajectory than I’d planned, but one that’s proved to be more leisurely and confidence-building. If this is what the future holds with Doozy, I’m all in!!!

feeding frenzy

Happy Monday, friends! It’s been a bit of a whirlwind around these parts for… hm, basically the last full month. I actually straight up cancelled all my plans this weekend to just chill out and slow down. It was super nice, not gonna lie!

doozy is obsessed with these specific leaves and legit drags me to them
srsly tho, look at those flared nostrils!

And gave me the perfect opportunity to get a whoooole bunch of random photos off my phone and recorded here in ye olde blogge for posterity, if not exactly for some sort of cohesive story line lol. So, uh, brace yo’self for the randomness!

new tailgate spot this year!! 
(purple dot)

First up, obviously my friends and I had our big annual To-Do at the Maryland 5*!! I always love making a whole big thing of it — with volunteering Thursday and Friday at the YEH Championships, then tailgating Saturday, and then show jumping / shopping on Sunday.

Allison Springer & HTS Jenson in the 3* at our prior tailgate location

And this year did not disappoint! Every year is a little different, It’s still a very young event and they tweak and change things with each running. For example, our tailgate spot of the last 2 years was absorbed into another area, so we relocated up the hill to the Sunken Road complex. 

Monica Spencer & Artist in the 5* at the new spot. not bad!

And guys, it was a fantastic spot! A super cool (and influential) combination to watch, plus a big screen to follow along with the action. AND a liquor store literally directly across the street — convenient when I realized we needed more ice + coolers. Plus, this tailgate section is on the opposite side of the ropes from the normal spectator paths, so we never had to deal with crowds. 

It was a great day with a wonderful melting pot of so many horsey friends over the years, including our core original group, friends from the last boarding barn, Charlie’s barn, Doozy’s current barn, and even some folks from the Isabel days. So fun, I’m already excited for next year!

and meanwhile, doozy <3 <3

Per usual, I did all my shopping on show jump day too. Unfortunately didn’t get pictures of everything yet, but am pretty pleased with my haul. Biggest priority was a shimmable half pad, since Doozy and I continue to be frustrated by weird fit issues related to our combined crooked mechanics.

new shimmable half pad from shopping at the 5*

Like, both saddles fit the horse. But they also both shift in exactly the same way over the course of a ride bc Doozy and I are both dynamic and moving beings who apparently don’t adhere rigorously enough to postural ideals. Womp. 

brand is ErrePlus, comparable to the Mattes pads

This particular half pad appealed to me bc it’s predominantly natural fibers — with the sheepskin lining and wool shims. But it’s also extremely non-bulky. So it can be as “barely there” as you want it to be, with a nice progressive set of shims for precision adjustments. So far, so good, I’ll keep you posted. 

also got a few new pairs of breeches at the 5* — finally, purple pants!! and green!!

Other shopping items were maybe less exciting — I got a couple pairs of Romfh breeches from the same booth I always pick up a pair or two. For whatever reason they always have the inside line on Romfh deals, legit maybe the only good “deal” to be had in the entire vendor village!

equine artist Darlene Ivey had the most incredible prints, you should follow her on insta if you’re into that sort of thing!

Tho independent small business Sona Equestrian definitely won the award for best prints used across the most inspired selection of products! I picked up a pair of socks, but was also completely smitten with her charming shower curtains, notebooks and notecards, tumblers, totes, and so many other items, definitely check her out!

all the better for our low key schooling practice on terrain in random paddocks lol

I’m also working on getting Doozy back onto the cross ties reliably in our grooming bays at home, and picked up some really really cool rapid release devices from our friends at Nunn Finer. I’ll get actual pictures + thoughts when I’ve got them properly set up.

pictured:: mare who ignored the nets when they were full….

Ok. Whew. So yea the 5* took up a lot of time and energy (and miles driving LOL), but life goes on and Doozy naturally requires her due as well! Obvi we had our big Windurra outing a couple days later, and I was slightly miffed to observe that… Doozy wasn’t really touching her hay nets in the trailer.

musical chairs hay piles!

I’d noticed the same at the Area Championships, but thought maybe it was just a funny weedy bale or something, so I filled another couple nets for the trip. Obvi the idea of a 3 hour round trip without palatable hay doesn’t sound great to me, so when she left basically all those nets untouched after Windurra, I opted to dump them all out in her paddock and start from scratch.

apparently much more palatable when not in a net…

My very first riding instructor (at whose barn I first learned chores) always said to leave a hay pile for the “invisible horse.” As in, enough piles for however many horses are in the group, plus one. Her rationale being that the dominant horses will always push around the meeker horses, and you want an obvious open spot for them to go.

good girl, eat your vegetables!

Doozy is such a tyrant with her ponies, tho, that I opted to leave enough piles for **two** invisible horses LOL. And somehow, go figure, the hay was much tastier when she didn’t have to fight a net for it. Ugh, horses. 

so you can grow big and strong for our adventures!

In the meantime, I picked up a bale of timothy / orchard mix from the local feed store. At ~$14 a bale, it’s more expensive than just buying a regular bale from my barn as I’d been doing… But, eh, peace of mind, right? It’s hard to ride an unhappy belly.

i might be biased, but i think she’s extremely handsome <3

So that brings us up mostly to real time. Doozy and I had a bit of an uneven few schooling sessions post-Windurra. Not ‘bad’ rides, per se, but probably the ‘least good’ since we started using our recorded ride guides. I think my most recent version is just a little too long, making it more likely that I’ll deviate from the plan and possibly tune it out a bit. 

and so is our hacking buddy Dante! 

Plus, obvi, it seems reasonable that we might both be a little tight after such a big cross country schooling session! Fortunately it worked out that we were scheduled for another body work / chiro / acupuncture session. 

Doozy still doesn’t love these sessions as much as Charlie did, but she’s getting better. And the practitioner seems really pleased with the mare’s development and condition, so that’s always super reassuring!

good mare, always marching eagerly ahead haha

Anyway. We closed out the weekend with a lovely hack through the fields and woods. Our foliage is finally peaking and daytime temps are still super mild in the 60s, what’s not to love, right?

as a reward for making it thru all those pics, here’s my cat,
as he discovers the radiators are on for the season!

Not gonna lie, it felt super nice to have a relatively quiet weekend. This time of year I’m always so tempted to get swept up into a whirlwind of trying to do all the things bc “winter is coming!” But ya know. There’s still plenty of the fall season ahead of us!!