buncha big ol’ brown boys

It’s obviously been a bit quiet around these parts lately while Doozy works on just getting better. In the meantime, tho, I’ve reached out to a few friends and connections to see what sort of opportunities might be out there.

Shep!!! literally the sweetest lil pac-man* horse
(*will apparently eat literally anything + everything, including blanket buckles and rubber feed pans)

It’s a tricky subject bc I don’t really have a clear timeline for Doozy, and obviously I’m still spending just as much time with her as usual — just, ya know, slightly different activities lol. 

So there isn’t exactly a horse shaped hole in my schedule just waiting to be filled (or my budget, for that matter…). But ya know… I still want to ride. 

sadly no riding pics from our lesson together, but he was just as delightful and nicely schooled as Calvin below!

Tho, not quite in the desperate chaotic hustle of the summer between when things were ending with Isabel, but before I got Charlie. Idk how many readers would remember that, but I was definitely a bit desperate about finding horses to ride, potentially to lease or buy, but with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. 

I felt like I had something to prove after things went south with Isabel, and was determined to keep riding at a high level, keep jumping 3’, doing all the things, even as my riding frequency (and fitness) fell off a cliff. 

Murray!! in an absolutely drop dead gorgeous indoor surprisingly close to home for me

And as a result, I ended up falling off a bunch of horses and getting fairly well knocked around. Like, sure, I was also able to sit on some very nice horses… but the net result was a bit of a hit to the confidence. I’m… not super inclined to repeat that experience again!

it’s quite a handsome neck to stare at <3

Lucky for me, the universe has been kind and a couple really delightful opportunities have arisen: Primarily through trainer C, who took immediate pity on me when I tried to cancel our standing bi-weekly lesson schedule, and insisted that I ride her horses instead. 

Calvin!!

And another local trainer whom I’ve known for years connected me with one of her students, who also has a very nice TB gelding Murray, who could use a slightly fuller work schedule.

lots of pictures bc trainer C was kind enough to indulge me with some video <3

I got to meet up with Murray and crew to watch them go in a lesson last weekend, during which they let me hop on and try out all the gears. 

we all already knew that *I’m* the problem in cantering, but Calvin helped me as much as he could!

And with trainer C, I got to ride one of her homebreds Shep a couple weeks ago, and then her former campaigner Calvin more recently. 

flashy pony!

And it’s been super interesting (and fun!) sitting on these different horses! I’ve more or less been a “one-horse” kinda rider for… Ya know, about a decade LOL

“Goin sideways, ma’am!” — Calvin

And for better or worse, that “one horse” (well, two, but you know what I mean — one at a time) was picked up after retiring from the track, and restarted and trained exclusively by yours truly. 

I’ll be the first to admit: I can get a horse going, and I thoroughly enjoy the process of learning and growing together, with enough patience to be satisfied with whatever time that takes. 

“Goin lengthen, ma’am!”

But it’s just a reality that there’s kinda a limit to how nicely schooled my horses can become. Like, they’re never going to learn more than what I know, right? They’re always going to reflect holes or weaknesses in my own education. 

this horse knows his job and is happy to do it!

So it’s such a treat having a chance to take lessons on these professionally trained schoolmasters! Especially taking that lesson with trainer C, who knows the horses inside and out — to the point where she can observe from the opposite end of the ring that my outside leg (which, obvi, is invisible to her) is misbehaving bc the horse is tattling LOL!

wheeee!

It already feels super valuable in terms of things I can take back to Doozy when she’s ready, too. For example, on a schoolmaster, a correctly applied aid just… works. It goes through, the horse responds, message received. Less so, the incorrectly applied aid. 

Like with Calvin, hanging on the reins just produced a horse who was happy to lean in and be carried. Half halting by closing the upper thigh and sitting deeply, tho? Worked like a charm to rebalance.

we try, we try lol

Which was a good feeling for me — reassuring, in a way. Like, I *am* applying the aids, I *do* know how to have that communication and dialog with a nicely trained horse. It just may be that I need a little tuning, a little recalibration. And perhaps a little more trust, too. 

It’s easy on a schooled horse to give that full release and believe the answer will be had. It’s… less easy to have that same trust with Ms Mondeuse lol. But the communication, the dialog works for a reason, I just need to keep on giving her that chance to understand.

quick snippet from the end of our lesson

And anyway, I’m grateful for the video too, especially bc while some things look more easy for me posture-wise on a schoolmaster like Calvin, other issues are… more persistent LOL. C’est la vie, amirite? It’s still fun to watch, tho — video includes sitting trot, rising trot, both canter leads, leg yielding left, shoulder-in tracking right, and lengthen trot!!

grateful to be able to enjoy these special horses while doozy recovers!

Obviously, on the balance, it’s not exactly an ideal situation right now. I hate uncertainty basically as a rule, but we’re none the less just kinda in that gray murky unknown zone with Doozy at the moment. There’s not a lot of clarity on what to expect, and certainly not around timelines. 

So we’ll see, I guess. And in the meantime, hopefully these opportunities for enjoying rides on all these other lovely horses will continue!