Continuing with the theme of it being brutally hot out, basically every choice I made about our stadium round had more to do with horse/rider heat mgmt than anything else.
I had left Charlie hangin out with fellow big bay Birdie on Rachael's trailer while we all hit the courses to watch Brita's jumping rounds. Which were, again, can't stress this enough, incredible. I'm just so freakin proud of her and what she's been able to do with Bella.
looking ready as we'll ever be for show jumping. pc Austen Gage
Like, for those of you who have been around for a while, you might remember how wonderfully Brita's last lease horse Wick blossomed with her in the irons. It was crushing and demoralizing when she lost the lease on him, and she had to make a lot of hard choices about how to move forward with riding and eventing amid the fallout.
Then new lease horse Bella entered the picture - a small, young, sensitive and opinionated spitfire mare who couldn't possibly be any more different from Wick's classy, easy going, war horse OTTB nature.
they've got such a great rhythm on course! via GIPHY
And like, self doubt is real, ya know? I think any rider can relate to the feeling of wondering whether we just "got lucky" with any past successes, and worrying that maybe we wouldn't actually be able to reproduce them again under different circumstances.
But Brita is nothing if not a hard worker. She's brave and bold, and shows up to work every day ready to do what needs done. The amount of care and thoughtfulness she's poured into literally every aspect of Bella's life - from their never ending searches for the perfect bits, to optimizing Bella's supplements and nutrition, to building the trust necessary for Bella to develop into one of the best jumping horses on the farm.... It's just been incredible to watch. And so so so inspiring.
making this giant log into water (shared with M) look easy. hint: it ain't easy! via GIPHY
So even despite the blazing heat (true story - I actually carried an umbrella to protect me from the sun ahead of my 1pm ride times....) it meant the world for me to dart around the xc course catching snippets of Brita's T course. So so so worth it!
These past few months of riding alongside Brita as she's been preparing for T have had another unexpected benefit: It's made my own N move up look extremely doable in comparison. It helps that I've ridden at this level in the past too. And that Charlie's so casual about height.
as i got positioned here for video, i watched a rider slam into the trakehner and fall into the ditch, where she landed immediately crying out for help. it was scary and a stark reminder that.... these jumps take respect. luckily that rider was ok enough to climb out of the ditch and get into a gator for additional care. but it's safe to say my heart was in my throat as brita galloped down to it! they were fine tho <3 via GIPHY
Mostly tho, seeing a peer handily navigate a level that had always looked so daunting to me was reassuring. I knew Charlie and I would be fine for our rides.
And spoiler: we totally were.
warming up with rachael and birdie was nice! pc Austen Gage
So after Brita's rides (wherein we made a team effort to get Bella's tack pulled so she could be hosed and scraped immediately - she was very very very hot), Rachael and I got our horses pulled off the trailer and began preparing for our rides.
warm up oxer before heading down to the ring. pc Austen Gage
Heat management was going to be a big part of this. The horses got sponged and scraped right away, then Austen helped me out by holding Charlie under the shade of some trees to dry off while I got my stuff ready to tack up.
charlie knew what was up immediately! i like it! pc Austen Gage
Then we made a pit stop at one of the multiple hoses available onsite (thanks Loch Moy!) after I mounted to spray Charlie and Birdie down again.
some deeper distances but he was clever and clean after my mistake at jump 2. pc Austen Gage
Then off to warm up! The steward said she was taking riders as they were ready, so I wasted no time in getting down to business. With the heat I was basically 100% of the mindset that the quicker we could get through things, the better.
knowing we had to get out of this line in 5 helped me get charlie pushed up. pc GRC
So I immediately jogged Charlie a lap in each direction on a floppy rein, cantered half a lap, then trotted him at the cross rail. Cantered around to one vertical, changed directions and cantered the other larger (I suspect above N height) vertical. Charlie knocked that one pretty hard - which would usually be my preferred feeling for him to have going into the ring. But it seemed prudent to take a pass over the warm up oxer first. So we did that, then trotted over to the steward who ushered us down to the ring.
gosh i think he's the cutest tho! pc Austen Gage
The warm up was fine enough for a horse like Charlie who knows his job and is pretty reliable. But the focus on being quick about the warm up vs being very effective meant that I didn't really spend any time trying to put the horse together and get him very connected in the bridle.
a little tight out of the bending line but nbd. pc Austen Gage
Which meant that we kinda met the first few fences on a little bit of a half stride - clobbering jump 2 after a totally whiffed lead change (lol whoops). The line from jumps 3-4 went a little better bc I knew it had to be 5 strides and actually pushed the horse up to it. Again we found somewhat deep distances to the bending line, but it was nbd.
made easy work of the outside line in 6. pc GRC
The next outside line rode pretty well for us in an easy 6, and then Charlie cruised right on around to finish through the 2 stride in and out like the easiest thing in the world. Then poof! we were done!!
felt great going into the in and out. pc Austen Gage
It wasn't our prettiest round to date, tho at least it was relatively smooth. The height was a non factor, Charlie felt comfortable and like he knew what he was doing. And it honestly just felt like if I had worked a little harder as a rider - spent more time putting him together and getting him connected, the jumps would have been better.
what can i say but that the horse loves grids?? pc Austen Gage
Like, missing that lead change between 1 and 2.... Even as I tried for the flying change I *knew* that we should be doing a simple change instead. But.... whatevskis, right? The only thing in my head was "Onward!" and so onward we went, even tho it cost us a rail.
esp bc grids help him carry his own balance. pc Austen Gage
It was an avoidable error that cost us in the final placings, but also one I'd probably make again under similar circumstances lol. #noregrets! And at least Charlie learned something from it haha, considering he nailed his autochange coming out of the next line lol...
So we left the arena and stuck around to watch Rachael and Birdie come right after us in their own clean and clear round before Austen took advantage of another onsite hose to spray down both horses again before heading out to cross country warm up. That was much appreciated by the ponies whose initial confusion about being hosed while under saddle was quickly replaced by relief lol.
so proud that this horse can basically just go on and do the thing even when i'm not 100% there <3 pc GRC
Seriously tho - Austen was a life saving groom (thank you!!) in that respect and I felt much better about heading out to an almost all-uphill course knowing that Charlie would hopefully be a little more comfortable for the hosing.
Phew, what a weekend and it isn't even over yet here in the States!! I hope everyone's been keeping busy with all sorts of summer-prep type stuff like barbecues and whatnot!
Per usual, over here at 'Fraidy Cat Eventing we've been busy with our Memorial Day tradition of hitting up Loch Moy's final spring starter HT. And guys. It was a biggie for the team.
"i don't see what the big deal is" - Lyra
Rachael and Birdie finally got their first outing of the season, after months and months of what can only be described as .... well .... Let's just say if they didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck at all .
But they finally made it out for their season debut and killed it for third place in a crowded novice split!!
"actually it's kinda badass, just sayin!" - Bella
Brita and Bella meanwhile have had a busy spring season already, carefully chipping ever away at their one big goal that became reality this weekend: they moved up to training!!
And guys, I'm not even ashamed to admit I was moderately teary eyed watching them come cruising through the finish flags.
"bays can be badass too, ya know!!" - Birdie
It's just crazy to me, ya know? Like just a few short years ago none of the three of us were eventers. Like, sure. We've all been riding and loving horses forever. But this sport can seem so intense sometimes, and so intimidating.
I don't honestly believe any of us thought even back in 2014 that this type of weekend might ever be a reality for us. And yet... here we are!!
"there's room in the badass club for one more, right?!?" - Charlie also don't worry - i have tons of higher res pics to share soon!
I should say - Charlie also had a fantastic weekend. More details to come, obviously, but suffice it to say he killed it at his novice debut!!
Also, shout-out to Meredith who was volunteering as a score runner at the event, after competing herself the day prior, and got to come say hi and meet Charlie (and give me a sneak peek at my scores lol!), plus got to see him for his jumping too!! Was great meeting you and I hope our paths cross again soon!
yea sir. absolutely. cheers to you, big guy!
Honestly our scores for the day don't even really do it justice.
Dressage wasn't a goal for the day, but actually Charlie impressed me in warm up. Then it was just too freakin stifling hot and humid to be bothered for much warm up in stadium, which resulted in a rail (again, more details soon).
And cross country was flipping fantastic too, tho I had to clear up some confusion when a 20pt penalty erroneously showed up on the score board. Turns out tho, I had just schooled some stuff while I was out there and the jump judge got a little confused. No harm, no foul, and the penalty was dropped.
Didn't change our placings tho lol, still 7th of 7. But you sure as hell won't find me complaining! Last place never felt so good ;)
So let's see here. Last we heard from our hero, we were letting the Olympics Selection Committee know that he's a serious contender. Especially if Tokyo 2020 is gonna be won over the merits of walking down 18" banks. We got that in spades.
i love cheering on this team! pc Austen Gage
So what all has happened since then? Lots!!! This past weekend was Loch Moy's third and final winter series cross derby. You may recall Charlie and I went to the first one in January with Brita. Then last month I hauled Brita and Rachael's horses in my trailer, since Charlie was lame.
lots of happy horses in the sunshine!
This month... Well. Charlie is not sound again. Yea. Tho Rachael was bringing another friend's new horse to hang out and soak up the atmosphere, so Brita's mare Bella got to enjoy her first solo trailer ride. And she was great!
brita made us these adorable laminated equipment packing lists for horse shows!!! how cute!!
I had planned to bring Charlie anyway, sound or not, since the money was already spent and he could benefit from hanging out at a show. But we nixed that idea when he went all three legged again. Sigh.
aw she also made us team hats in our colors. #socialeventing pc Austen Gage
So ya know. Being at a horse show with friends and watching them have a great time isn't really the worst way to spend a Saturday, in the grand scheme of things.
esp when those friends are badasses
This abscess stuff tho has gotta stop. It's really grinding me down. I'm just so.... tired.
from our last night time ride!!!
Charlie was so so so good for our rides once he came sound again from that LH abscess. I wrote all about what we did leading up to that awesome mini pretend xc school (ditches banks & water, yo!) last week. And he was just so good, my heart was just singing with joy.
yea he continues to be really goofy about soaking lol. no this was not on purpose.
We continued on with that theme through another dressage school - cut a little short bc the arena became very crowded. But it was short and sweet, plus trainer P was there to see how Charlie was going after not having seen him since he first went lame on the LH. And she thought he looked great!
but hey, if he's comfortable, then whatever!
The next day I went ahead and told new upper level event rider trainer K that we'd be good to go for our weekday morning lesson. Our first since the whole nail impalement four weeks prior.
ponies. bc just ponies. they make everything better with their goofy little noses and floofy manes!
Alas tho, Charlie was.... not sound. And in a new and weird way that has me a little concerned. Methinks his entire hind end has grown sore from constantly compensating from one sore hoof after another. In any case, we nixed the lesson and I just worked Charlie out on the flat instead: transitions, leg yields up the wall, raised poles. Trying to engage and stretch his hind end.
horse show prize treats!
He didn't really work out of it, tho. And perhaps the lameness was the precursor to the next day, where he was basically not weight bearing on that left hind hoof again. With a practically visible digital pulse. Poor horse :(
trainer P and her big BIG dressage horse!!! she says he's 17.5hh lolol
So.... Verdict seems to be that LH abscess hasn't actually resolved yet. Sigh. Luckily he wasn't super duper crippled for very long on it, but he still hasn't come sound yet either.
just bc you're size giant doesn't mean you don't love wither scritches!!!!
Tho naturally I'm still spending just as much time at the barn. Luckily doing fun things too, like scribing at an in house schooling dressage show. Where I got to watch a lot of friends go through all their tests!! AND! Got to watch my jump trainer P take one of her horses through his third level debut!!
charlie's also been keeping company with some of the other patients. like this poor very sick mare
I loved getting to watch that, and especially getting to sit in on all the judge's commentary. This particular judge is wonderful - I scribed for her a couple years ago and it's honestly like a mini lesson. She was quick to point out certain movements in various tests (including the eventing tests) that would prove to be the difference makers for winning scores.
and it's shedding season too!! can't have a blog without obligatory hair shots, right?
And quick to provide insights on how certain movements should be ridden etc. I liked it a lot! And apparently trainer P feels similarly bc she had specifically wanted to ride her first 3rd level tests on this horse for this judge, to get honest and constructive feedback on how they're doing.
plus obligatory selfies from hacking out, always gotta have those!
Mostly tho, it just made me eager and simultaneously bittersweet. I wanna ride some tests for this judge too!!! :(
because we've certainly been hacking
In time, tho. For now, Charlie seems pretty sound at the walk again so after finishing up at the show I pulled him out to go wandering around all the fields in the sunshine. Because dammit, if you're sound enough to be turned out, you're sound enough to cart my ass around the pasture.
and exploring
Charlie, for his purposes, was quite happy to do so. Per usual. Sigh. Such a good boy. He even volunteered to trot a couple steps, tho not particularly soundly. So we repeated the same adventures but with the addition of some friends the next day too.
and hacking and hacking. so much hacking.
I'm definitely grateful for the saddle time. And honestly just being able to enjoy my horse. So. Ya know. That counts for a lot. I'm greedy tho haha and I want more.
We'll see. I kinda want to go all crazy helicopter mom and start throwing ridiculously expensive diagnostics at what is almost certainly an abscess. Or ya know. Just fly entirely off the handle and buy a second horse to have another saddle to sit in. But, knowing my luck, then I'd just end up with two lame horses who break my heart haha. So.... yea.
For now, we're just passing the time. I've got a couple upcoming events on the calendar (like fox hunting! and our first horse trial of the season! and the one after that too!!) that look a little less likely with every passing day. But ya know. We'll see. I gotta say tho, the extra daylight hours definitely make everything a little bit better!
This past January I laid out some personal goals for my horsey endeavors this year. Specifically through the first quarter of the year, but also included a few overarching, longer-term biggies.
Most of these goals revolve around my own riding and Charlie's well being and development as an event horse. But one, in particular, was: "Be my friends' biggest cheerleader. Nothing has revolutionized my horse habit quite like having great friends to share it with - don't take this for granted!"
matching smiles post-ride :)
While the latest in Charlie's never-ending string of dings has taken us back out of the action again, all is not lost! Because our little team of riding buddies still got to head out to Loch Moy's Cross Derby last weekend, and I happily settled into my role of horse chauffeur, chief cheerleader and videographer extraordinaire.
Rachael and Birdie sailing like stealth ninja warriors over the corner
And it's funny because I'm so much braver when I'm not sitting on a horse in the moment lol. Like it was so easy for me to be like "oh you should totally jump that" when I knew my friends couldn't turn right around and likewise encourage me to challenge myself too haha.
Brita and Bella making a big jump look small
As it was tho, both riders had really great rides. Same as last time, the format at these Derbies includes about an hour break between each level for that level's riders to school whatever they please.
Bird's gonna need a bigger oxer!
Brita already had a pretty clear idea of her objectives after our first outing last month. Namely: school more of the T course. And Rachael aimed to knock some of the rust off and get solid, confidence-building reps for Birdie's first outing of the season. You'll be able to see in the video below that both riders were basically pretty freakin successful in meeting their goals lol.
Bella says, "follow me this way, Birdie!!"
So obviously I was pretty happy to see both of them have so much fun. And also it was kinda reassuring in a weird way. Bc I definitely had some serious fomo going on, and admittedly had moments of feeling really bummed that Charlie had to be sidelined from an event yet again.
Birdie made the skinny T house look downright easy (hint: it's not easy!)
And lately those feelings of disappointment have been manifesting as self doubt, and hindsight that makes me question some of my choices.
For instance, it's no secret here that I'm naturally a pretty conservative rider. I plan things out very carefully, and spend a lot of time on incremental, intermediary and possibly unnecessarily small steps. Anybody who's ever asked me for advice on something like moving up will know that I'm a big believer in building confidence rather than trying to prove confidence.
Bella meanwhile cruised over the skinny T wedge like a heat seeking missile
In the moment, these choices make sense to me. They were made in the interest of establishing a rock solid base so that my horse and I would be as prepared as possible for challenges that lay ahead of us. And all of these conservative choices are made with the expectation of continuing the steady push upward and onward. I kept Charlie at starter level in July last year fully expecting him to go novice in November.
Birdie strutting like the superstar she is
We all know how that turned out tho. And history is repeating itself in miniature this winter too. I make these conservative choices early in the plan with the hope to be ready for an upcoming big challenge -- but then something happens (an abscess, splint surgery, a nail hidden in arena footing, another abscess...) and the 'big challenge' is postponed.
and Bella giving us a sliiiiiight heart attack pulling up three-legged in a dramatic reenactment of Charlie's nail impalement -- luckily she was just protesting a slipped boot!
And I'm left feeling.... underwhelmed by our accomplishments in hindsight, being only able to point to the fruits of my very-conservative choices. I know that Charlie is capable of so much more, probably capable of more than I'll be brave enough to face. I know in my heart that he will carry me to experiences I would've never dared dream of even a few short years ago. I know this.
But right now it's all kinda conjecture, ya know? And sometimes I wonder if maybe I've been making the wrong choices for Charlie. Like maybe I should have moved him up earlier last year. Or maybe I shouldn't have scratched from our timed ride last month. Maybe I need to spend less time thinking about my rides tomorrow, next week, next month, and spend more time thinking about where my rides need to go in the *now.*
happy horses all well back at the trailer post-ride, plus our favorite Lyra dog!!
Idk tho. That's not really my style. I just..... Idk taking the long view in riding just makes more sense to me. And knowing my own style as a rider, my own strengths and weaknesses, I know that being very careful with laying a strong foundation in the now will make for a safer, more fun experience later on when things are not so easy.
So mostly I'm just trying to resist that mind trap, resist that feeling of self doubt that says "you should have gone for it when you had the chance!" And resist giving in to the temptation of skipping ahead to where I so badly want to be.
Because watching my friends last weekend -- friends who have similarly taken their time with their horses and been careful and purposeful in developing their foundations -- Watching them go out so early in the year and knock it out of the park was really reassuring to me.
The process works. Charlie and I *will* get back out there soon. It's all ahead of us. It'll just take time. Probably just a little more time than I expect, given Charlie's status as King of the Dings.
I know I can't be the only one who deals with thoughts like these, fears of missing out or being afraid of going too slow, being too careful? Or maybe you're the opposite, likes it's always been easier for you to push onward?
Yesterday I wrote about the magical dielectric grease that helped get us back on the road. Obviously we needed more than just that, considering last we heard my truck had blown a brake line..... But we got that fixed too: with a full replacement kit of stainless steel lines all the way around. So, theoretically, corroded lines should be a thing of the past! Yay!
Perhaps it was all for the best too, since almost every circumstance of this planned outing has also improved: particularly, the weather! It was in the 50s!! And SUNNY! Ah, paradise!
The long and short of the story is: Brita and I took our horses to Loch Moy's Cross Derby held on their all-weather arenas. They pull all their cross country jumps into three giant arenas to create fun and challenging courses. Each level has about an hour to school whatever they want before their rides begin.
sorry but there are exactly zero photographs of us actually jumping. but the shadows from my helmet cam video (below!!) are pretty fun to watch haha
I opted to school with the Novice riders so that Brita and I could ride together (I entered BN), tho we kinda biffed the timing anyway. By the time we were saddled and mounting up, we had about 30min left in the schooling break.
Next time we'll plan to be on and already warmed up on the flat (the warm up area they use for stadium at horse trials was available for the derby too) when the arenas open for schooling. This way we'll have enough time to do everything we want (like schooling a level above our competition height) without feeling rushed for time.
is this the face of an excited event horse?!?!?
As it was, I actually scratched my timed ride anyway to just focus on schooling as my and Charlie's main event, for reasons I'll describe more below. But had we continued, the derby format is: begin trotting or cantering around one arena with a start similar to a stadium round, they blow the whistle and the clock runs when you cross the start line.
The course winds through each arena (with some very creative and fun pathways between!) with a focus on optimum time. All penalties are converted into time, and circling on course is allowed. Stadium fences are intermixed in the course - particularly in challenging spots like after a more galloping style fence or combination, or after a downhill or uphill between arenas. The objective is to hit the optimum time dead on - any time over or under is converted to penalties.
Anyway tho, let's talk about the schooling since that's what Charlie and I did for the day!!
this is the face of an excited event rider tho!! lol.... and if you compare this pre-ride selfie to one from about two years ago, the differences are pretty stark. if that 2016 selfie was an omen of the season to come, let's hope my happier more relaxed expression here is likewise a harbinger for 2018!
Needless to say, we're both a little rusty! So I went into the day fully prepared to focus on the schooling above all else. And the schooling was GREAT. I'm SO PROUD of Charlie, he is just such a great horse for me <3
naturally, we couldn't go on adventures without our buddies!!!
So let's dig into some details, starting with what went well:
1) None of these jumps were remotely scary to me. In fact my nerves were shockingly settled, despite panicking slightly when ride times were announced.... But I studied the course maps in advance, knew which jumps were where, and which elements of the course were likeliest to challenge us. So by the time Charlie and I walked into those arenas, I felt confident and prepared.
While we didn't do ditches, banks or water during the schooling, I feel confident in saying there's nothing at BN that isn't within our ability. We still have lessons to learn, pieces to smooth out. But we can do it. Charlie continues to feel bold and uncomplicated at this level.
2) On a related note, I've spent a LOT of time visualizing improvements in my position: hands more forward, shorter reins. This, I've come to believe, is the secret sauce in getting more comfortable and in sync with Charlie over fences. When my hands are farther forward (with shorter reins plz!), it's 1000% easier to see the more forward going long spot, and to actually go with Charlie from said distance.
Even without photographic evidence, I'm proclaiming this ride a win. Sure, there were still moments when I stayed in the back seat and slipped my reins at funky distances... But more often than not, I felt more in sync with Charlie and like I could ride his jump more smoothly and effectively.
it helps that he has great role models!!
3) Another thing that went well was introducing Charlie to new styles of fences, and larger variations of some styles he's seen before. Specifically, we jumped our first corner, skinny chevron, true table, and log oxer during this ride. He also jumped a bigger faux brush style fence than he's previously seen. None posed an issue.
And 4) Both horses were extremely cool customers about the atmosphere, despite neither having traveled much in months. They were excellent coming off the trailer and getting speed-tacked to hurry off to school. Excellent for the riding itself. And excellent chillin at the trailer afterward.
They're just good, reliable horses, and it's so reassuring to both me and Brita to feel like we can count on them.
fun things we jumped included this little stick horse in the pathway through the parking lot between arenas
On the flip side of the coin, let's also talk about what needs work after this ride. There are really two main biggies here, that are both kinda related to each other.
1) I need to get more comfortable riding Charlie up in front of my leg in a forward canter, and Charlie needs to get more reliable in the brakes department. He's not bad or naughty about braking... just... green, like he doesn't always understand what I want. Or also like he's not strong enough to take a half halt to shift his balance back while still staying up in front of my leg.
Meanwhile, bc I'm uncertain about being able to stop him or slow him down, I end up riding him too under paced. Case in point: That related line from log oxer to log coop rode in a long 3 our first time through, then felt we needed to gallop to get the 3. But when I walked it later in the day? It walked in exactly 48'. Like, on the dot.
That is not a long distance for Charlie, unless I'm riding him too compressed. I need to ride him forward, need to keep my leg on, need to put him in front of my leg. Need need need.
BN tables likewise posed no issue for Sir
The main struggle here is trusting that the brakes work. I got better as the ride progressed about keeping my leg ON even if I felt like we were going too fast, and we subsequently got a lot of really nice jumps jumped from a forward stride (particularly the table rode very well for us, esp when I steered haha....).
However we typically did not land in the same balance we jumped from, and thus recovery on landing took too long.
this log oxer was deceptively chunky - one of the biggest we jumped for the day. and in a related line, too. twas nbd tho.
Which brings us to the other part of our ride that needs work: 2) Basically everything between the jumps haha. Because we aren't recovering very quickly from jumps taken on a forward stride, the turns on this course proved incredibly challenging for us. Elements like stadium jumps placed soon after xc jumps that wanted that bigger forward canter would also suffer from this issue.
Ultimately that's why I scratched my timed ride: the individual elements posed no issue. Rough around the edges, sure, but totally fine. Better than fine, honestly. Considering Charlie hasn't had a normal jump school in months, and we haven't jumped many BN sized things recently either.... Considering all that, I'm pretty fucking pleased with how easy this was for Charlie.
the water was too ice-filled for any real schooling, unfortunately. served as a good mid-ride drink break tho!
But we actually aren't at present able to string it all together in one go. At least, not in a manner that I felt was productive given Charlie's current level of schooling / fitness. We need a reliable half halt. We need to be strong and balanced enough in our more forward canter that we can land in balance too. I.e., shorter recovery times after fences, especially when we take a longer spot.
A lot of this falls to me, in being able to hold my position no matter what, or recover my seat and reins more quickly to really sit down on Charlie and half halt on landing. Some of it is just Charlie's strength and schooling tho. It's hard work to hold himself up in balance on a longer stride -- falling flat and on the forehand is so much easier! Just needs more practice, tho!
look at all that ice.... it's more ice than when we were here last year in below freezing weather. on this day tho? it was 50s and sunny. perfection!
Which, incidentally, the practice imho is just as fun as the actual competitions when done right! And this arena eventing stuff... wow it was actually SO FUN! It's a whole different feeling jumping these cross country fences on flat, well groomed surfaces. And the venue organizers took advantage of this by using their biggest, widest and most fun fences for each level.
skinny chevron roll top! this was also a pretty substantial jump, with a face just over 4' wide (i measured). technically seeing this jump on a BN course strikes me as 'course creep' ... but whatevskis, charlie didn't hesitate!
We started in the upper most arena that's typically used for stadium at the venue's horse trials. The jumps in there were mostly stadium fences tho (which I skipped) with only two BN xc fences. Both of which were kinda small and straight forward. Good for warming up, then we moved on.
There's a ditch built into the path from that first arena to the largest middle arena (typically where they put the dressage rings and the intro/elem stadium course). But that ditch was in a trakehner for the PM / T courses so it's saved for another day.
fun brush jump!! charlie's seen the starter version of this jump but finally got to tackle it at bn height!
The middle arena had the biggest and most fun jumps, as far as I was concerned, and we spent the most time here. The atmosphere was also the most challenging for Charlie since you can see basically the entire property from this arena, and it had the most horses in it. We experienced a few episodes of running sideways (which you can totally tell in the video lol), and Charlie had a harder time settling even during walk breaks.
He was really very very good, tho, and legitimately did every single thing I asked of him. And even when some of our fences were kinda awkward the first time, he was able to come back around and smooth it out on the second try. And we only almost ran into other horses a couple of times. Not too bad!
definitely a super fun video, esp if you're watching the shadows too lol
The third lower ring saw Charlie become his most settled. It's a quieter arena with its low lying position limiting visual distractions. Plus, most of the jumps in this space had right handed approaches. Charlie continues to be a little more reliable jumping from his right lead, and a little more explosive on the left haha. Nbd, tho.
post ride snax!!!
After schooling the BN jumps in this third ring, the schooling period was ending so I opted to try one last pass over the most challenging portion in the middle ring: long gallop to the corner, long gallop to the table, to a super sharp left handed turn to the related line (which would have then taken another sharp right turn to a stadium oxer, but I skipped all the stadium jumps).
Everything honestly went pretty smoothly, Charlie met all the jumps great, but we still weren't quite able to make that left turn from the table to the line. Ah well, in time!
austen snapped this shot of charlie looking like an absolute hunk at the trailer (with ubiquitous sugarloaf mountain in the background!). also looking like he was feeling like a macho studly hunk too, lol.
That's also not really a turn I expect to see often on more traditional courses, so it doesn't worry me. Plus Charlie has an automatic lead change in there somewhere, even if he seems to have forgotten about it during his rehab. Once that's back in working order, left turns will become easier on this horse who almost always lands right.
And I'm fairly positive we could have pushed through and made it happen if we needed to.... But for my purposes I preferred just doing individual elements as well as possible, rather than pressing on in a rushed or sloppy fashion. Trying to develop correct habits here! Or something like that, lol!
best part of a great day of riding? chillin out at the trailers with friends afterward, with sandwiches and a beer
Honestly my only regret from not doing the full course in my timed ride was that I didn't get any pictures. Sigh. Makes my inner media junkie sad. That's ok, tho. We'll get pictures next time, bc as far as I'm concerned, Charlie got exactly what he needed from the schooling! And it's only whet my appetite for moar fun things!!!!
Plus he got to hang out a bit longer just chillin in the atmosphere while we watched Brita do her ride (which she slayed, btw). And then we all hung out at the trailer afterward, tail gating and soaking up the sun and warm weather. What's not to love, right?
