traveling circus

IMHO, there aren’t too too many downsides for staying off of traditional social media. Especially in the present day age of hyper fragmentation and sloppy bot clots. But it does mean I’m sometimes the last to know about fun activities.

can #cope in new places when the grass is that luscious! 

It occurred to me slightly belatedly to reach out to the barn that had been hosting clinics with Matt Brown all summer to see if there was an upcoming date. Turns out, he’d be at a different local barn for this month, and by the time I got in touch with them, the clinic was already full. Womp…

we are having literally the nicest fall so far!

Fortunately, tho, various circumstances meant a former barn mate from the last place (one among many who has since moved on to greener better-fenced pastures) was more than happy to split her time slot into a semi private with me and Doozy. Yay!!!

call me biased but i think she’s the most handsomest mare <3

We were scheduled at the end of what had been a very long day already for the clinic, and I’m not entirely sure how much Matt remembered of us from prior lessons lol. It didn’t really matter, tho — I honestly didn’t really care what we did in the lesson in terms of exercises or whatever. Just wanted to get out, have a little fun, ride with my friend, and hopefully glean some useful nuggets from Matt along the way for how to keep moving things forward with Doozy.

trotting in public <3

He was more hands-off in the warm up than he’d been in our prior private lessons, which is perhaps a bit to be expected. Mostly tho, he wanted me to be a bit more intentional about getting my aids onto the horse sooner, rather than always being so delicate and precious in handling her. Within reason, of course. Bc yea, she’s a little fragile lol.

i recently added a standing martingale to the outfit, it’s been a nice addition for Dooz!

The biggest theme in conversation was all about calibration. I want to be soft and delicate and loose and free with Doozy… But meanwhile she’d much rather prefer I be a bit more reliably steady and present.

LOLZ flying over cross rails

It’s something I’ve been working on for a few months now, and crops up a lot in dressage lessons with Trainer C, where she’s always quick to remind me that “Doozy can’t do what I want if I don’t ask her.” But the devil’s always in the details with Doozy — it’s as easy to override her as it is to underride her.

“I AM SO FAST” — doozy, and her magnificent tail

For this lesson, however, Matt felt like I could err more on the “over” side especially if I was focusing on “staying the same.” Especially in the last couple steps before a jump, and especially on landing side.

“ok i guess it doesn’t have to be THAT exciting” — sweet princess

I don’t need to shove her at a fence (and certainly not these little Xs LOL), but equally true is that I don’t really need to “soften” to them either. Matt observed that I’d get us where I wanted us to be in balance and rhythm, we’d see the distance to the jump, but then I’d soften and Doozy would fill the void by making a big move.

so nosy about the horses in turnout 

Instead, I should just hold a steady feeling, always. Ditto on the landing side — he wanted me to be super intentional about reestablishing the canter rhythm I wanted before going back to trot, but be super clear about it. Bc the whole goal is for Doozy to canter around in the same rhythm no matter what. Little Xs, bigger jumps, no jumps — always the same rhythm. 

fun times with friends!!

Which, ya know, she’s happy to do when asked! She’s got a lovely canter that naturally wants to find a good balance and rhythm. It’s just up to me to keep practicing on keeping everything (and especially myself the same). 

He also wanted me to keep working on lowering my hands and occasionally widening them as a way to maintain straightness and stability on the contact — something else Trainer C has been coaching us on in dressage lessons. Always nice when there’s consistency haha! 

So yea, a fun lesson — especially for getting to ride with friends again! And nice to work more specifically on putting little strings of jumps together, but focusing primarily on the spaces between the jumps. We all know Doozy can jump a jump… it’s just the before and after that is a little dicier LOL! Details details… that’s what the off season is for, I guess!