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!!
You may have heard that the Maryland 5*, one of only two such rated competitions in North America (and the penultimate international 5* of the year) was this weekend at Fair Hill!
early morning view from the YEH volunteer's tent
Obvi being locals, my friends and I always like to make a big to do of the event. My typical habit is to spend the leading Thursday and Friday volunteering as jump crew for the associated event, the Young Event Horse Championships.
Anna Jones making easy work of the **triple bar** set as Jump 1 for the 4 and 5 year olds
The event holds classes for qualified 4 and 5 year old horses, with conformation, dressage, and jumping phases. The horses are judged on their potential as future upper level superstars and most entries are piloted by professional riders (tho not all!).
omgosh look at this Doozy Doppleganger in the 5yo class <3 <3 her name is Nausicaa, owned and ridden by Daphne Soares (jc Look Up to Heaven)
The jumping phase is my favorite -- it's set up a bit like a derby, starting with a mini show jumping course, then transitioning to a short xc course with limited technicality. The 4yos compete over novice (0.9m) sized fences and the 5yos over training (1.0m) level.
Each entry gets 3 minutes of ring familiarization (including being allowed to walk up to all the fences and through the water etc) and then complete the course -- with each individual jumping effort receiving a score, plus overall scores on rideability, gallop, way of going, and potential.
pictured: #goals for Doozy LOL
For my purposes, I just like watching the class! It's really cool seeing the Big Name Riders out there with their greenies and then watching those same horses develop over the coming years. One of the most impressive this go-round was Blacklist, ridden by Allie Knowles. They didn't win, but he's one to watch out for in the future!
onto the main event --- XC day tailgating tent, all set up and ready for the party to arrive!
Anyway, the other benefit of volunteering in the lead up days is that I get a free general admission pass for the rest of the weekend, including the feature event -- Cross Country Day! This is the third year my friends and I have hosted a tailgate and it's just so much fun.
We've got our system down, we like our location (Timber field for the curious), and it's a great opportunity to meet up with all our horsey friends that we don't regularly see otherwise!
friends from Charlie's barn joined the party too <3
This year was particularly special bc obvi a lot of my horse friend group scattered into the four winds this past summer, with the mass exodus transitions from the last boarding barn. Obvi we all try to keep in touch and talk regularly, but this was a really fun reunion party! PLUS -- changes in everyone's boarding situations meant there are a lot of NEW faces in the friends group!!
legit the only video i took from XC day, this is the 5* course
Having the tailgate location is particularly useful at a venue like the Maryland 5* too, bc it's VERY spread out. Like the distance from the main arena to Sawmill Field is very very far. It's nice to have a meetup space replete with food and water for the weary!
We typically hang out and mingle during the 3* competition, with folks wandering around to nearby jump complexes and the shopping zone... But once the 5* starts, we're on the move! There weren't many entries in the 5* this year, and even fewer finishers... But we saw a lot of great action -- including Tamie Smith and Mai Baum making tidy work of the tricky angled tables in Hay Field before opting to call it a day after climbing the big hill into Sawmill.
Finally, tho, after all the xc is finished, we usually gravitate back to the tailgate for a little rest / snacking / drinking before packing it up for the day. Bc there's still more to do! Final day of the weekend is yet another whole new flavor -- show jumping day!!
The nice thing about the last day of the event is that all the action is much more centralized, for anybody who may have been a bit weary (or blistered and/or sunburnt) from a lot of walking on Saturday.
Show jumping obviously happens in the main arena, surrounded by grandstands (pro tip: definitely splurge for the covered ringside stands bc you never know what the weather will be!). And all the shopping encircles the whole area. We like to arrive early to shop, then catch the 3* show jumping in full, then shop* some more, and then obvi watch the 5* jump.
(*I was super boring this year for shopping, tho, and only just got a pair of Kerrits paddock boots to replace my falling-apart Blundstones).
Again, being local means a lot of the riders are familiar to us -- like Sally in the 3*!! -- so it's really fun cheering everybody on. Plus, lots of cheering for the top placed American in the 5* -- another local, Buck Davidson!!
Obvi it would have been even cooler to see the title go to an American, but overall it was an awesome event from start to finish! Every year gets better and better as the organizers fine tune and tweak the set up and arrangements, esp including logistics like shuttles and parking etc. It's still a relatively "new" event (it's organized by a different group from Fair Hill's former Fall International 4* and 3* events), so still working out some kinks, but overall a really fun time.
We'll definitely be back at it again next year ;) Have you been? Or are you planning to go?
"how could you do this to me, tho??" -- charlie, definitely trying to hide how much he loves getting fussed over haha
still a handsome horse, tho, chuck!!
"i'll see myself out :( "
probably commiserating on the difficult life they lead LOL
unrelated. enjoy some gifs from volunteering at fair hill last weekend! here's a shot of the USEA Volunteer Program's first gold medal winner -- 2,000 recorded hours wow. (my thoughts on this program remain unchanged, for those curious)
Sally Cousins & Wizard sailing through the Intermediate coffin complex
Laine Ashker & Call Him Paddy make easy work of the Prelim coffin
why go all the way to Paris when the Olympians are right in your back yard??? here's Boyd Martin & Joey Fiddlesticks on the Modified track
Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Sebastion wrapped up our day in the Training division
I'm doing a lot less volunteering this year now that I actually have a riding horse, omg haha. Ya know. The whole "Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing" deal. But it's still fun to get out to my favorite venues once a month!
Might actually be jussst enough to button up my bronze ranking (500 hours at recognized events) in the Volunteer Medal Program!! Gotta get that pin and certificate, yo.... lol....
Doozy officially made her eventing debut at the Fair Hill Starter Trials this weekend, contesting the open elementary division -- 18" fences + Intro C dressage test!!
It was a long day full of challenges, self doubt, and lots and lots of hand walking...., but ultimately a deeply rewarding experience. So let's dig into the details!
got to ride our dressage test in the big international ring on the Gallaher side!!
We brought along another favorite young rider from our barn, with her sweet spicy little nugget of a lease pony Austin. You might remember this pony from many past adventures over the years -- both with this YR, and lessons and adventures with his owner** from even longer ago.
Austin is just generally a good-vibey type pony to be around, with the advantage of being not a mare, so Doozy didn't get attached. Plus, our ride times were essentially perfectly shuffled such that they did their dressage, then we did ours, then they jumped, then we jumped, with enough time for everything that we could always accompany each other to each phase. Perfect!
(**Fun fact: his owner (who is about to go into her senior year of college, omg, time flies!), came along too so we all got to spend the day together!!)
for a horse who won't reliably just... trot, Doozy sure can pull out a walk when called for!
This meant Doozy got to hand walk in each of the riding spaces before her actual rides. She was a serious handful our first time through the tunnel while Austin did dressage... But I discovered tactics to keep her earthbound: She strongly preferred strolling up and down all the various pathways -- marching boldly toward the unknown -- vs walking in circles in a relatively fixed position. Noted.
Regardless, she was much more self contained by the time we returned under saddle for our own test. Tho, not gonna lie. I didn't do a whole heckuva lot in warm up. Realistically she'd already hand walked for close to an hour, so physically she was loose. It was just a question of getting her as much onto the aids as she can be right now. Which... Isn't saying much.
And ya know. Our test wasn't much, either. We walked. We cantered. And very occasionally, we also trotted, lol... The mare was lit up and leaping around and not particularly inclined toward introspection... But we did the movements in the correct order and stayed a little less crooked most of the time. That.... about sums it up LOL!
good girl <3
Again tho, I'm gonna be honest with you guys. Everything felt really really hard. And, as is my habit, I seriously considered whether we should just scratch the rest of the day. Fortunately tho, my friends are supportive but firm: "You can stop at any time, but you must start, first."
Also, realistically, jumping comes a LOT more easily to the mare. Plus, she was much more manageable in hand while we accompanied Austin and his YR first to show jumping (on the Gallaher side), and then over to xc in the Sawmill field. She's had enough experience now being around running and jumping horses that she doesn't pay them much attention.
walked Doozy past the crowded bleachers (positioned right at Fence 1, natch) before the whistle
All the same, we were a little late to our own show jumping round so I was fairly expeditious in the warm up. Again, we'd been walking almost continuously for hours at this point, so it was just a question of tuning her into, "Ok it's jumping time!"
Our first trip over the warm up X was a bit wild... but she settled for the second attempt, and then was very good over the vertical. I figured that was good enough, and we strolled over to the in gate to patiently wait our turn. Which, incidentally, she stood beautifully at the in gate -- a habit I will happily aim to normalize!
Fence 1 also featured major leaguestandards lol
And guys!! She was so good for our round!! So so so so good! There were bleachers full of spectators and judges on a trailer and kubotas driving around and a generator buzzing and a PA system and horses in warm up and all the extra jump poles and standards they'd needed for the FEI classes stacked up outside the ring... So much stuff, but she just sucked it up and proceeded!!!
was kinda fun getting to ride around the 'fancy' equipment generally reserved for the major classes!
We are kinda in a tricky place in our training right now where we are on the verge of being able to carry a canter around to all the fences --- except she still rushes at times. So I'm in this constant head space of, "Do I pull her back down to trot? Or let her keep rolling?"
And you can kinda tell in the video that in some places I intend to trot... but then we end up in an ok canter and I let her just go on along. It's easy to watch a video like this too, and think, "Hm I really should be more allowing!"
look who just clocked right on around!
And maybe that's true... But it's also true that the horse just doesn't have a lot of experience yet. And when we arrived in canter to Fence 6 at a slightly funny distance, Doozy just doesn't really have an answer for that yet. Like, she has an exceptionally good eye -- but she's going to make mistakes too. Especially in a distracting and intense atmosphere.
So we basically clobbered thru the fence, and then were a little funny to the out jump of that line. Nbd, tho. In retrospect, maybe I should have brought her back down to trot knowing that we were going into a line. But, eh, the mistakes are going to get made one way or another eventually. We're just learning as we go here!
ok we did have a little 'oopsie' going into this related line... eh, nbh
Tho lol... I do try not to make the same mistake twice in one class haha, and determined we'd trot into our last fence just to reinforce that slow 'n steady often produces a good experience.
Doozy was honestly great, tho. The jumps were small and easy -- it was 100% apparent that she felt like she understood the actual task, even despite all the other stuff -- the distraction of significant external stimulus. She's a brave bold horse and felt super confident around the course.
And actually, I felt reassured watching the video too. Sure, any of us can pick ourselves apart mercilessly... But, eh, this video looks basically exactly as it felt, and it felt good.
So ya know. There wasn't much left to do except hack over to the Sawmill field for our cross country phase. Doozy seemed a little confused when I didn't immediately dismount after the show jumping... Like, "Wait, there's more??" But eventually fell back into her power walk mode and marched right on out past the trailers.
She was super funny in this field -- both while hand walking during Austin's xc, and while out there under saddle. For some reason, she was SURE that we were supposed to just... keep going once out into the field. That -- quite possibly -- the Promise Land Itself must be just on the other side of the hill!
Which... Actually worked quite well for my purposes bc I had two main concerns with our course:
1) Getting out of the start box and away from "home," historically a big issue with Charlie;
2) Not getting run away with on the downhill turn toward "home."
first time leaving the start box!
Considering Doozy's internal GPS seemed to not be registering that "home" was technically behind us, and that she was, in fact, strongly inclined toward heading out up the hill and away... Well, that worked great for me!
Again we kept the warm up to a bare minimum -- two trips over the little log -- then went over to the start box to wait patiently for our turn. She stood like a pro while the starter gave us a 3min buffer to the horse ahead of us (since we could hear over the radio that there were some refusals and I didn't want to go blasting up somebody's butt when they were already in trouble, if Doozy took off on me).
obvi a lot of the xc pics are hella zoomed, you're better off just watching the videos!
Doozy did not take off on me, tho!! She walked politely out of the box, picked up a trot, carried it nicely to 1, cantered away.... then came back to balance for 2... and on and on just like that all the way around the course!
Again, it felt like she understood all the jumps -- felt like she was looking at them and measuring them up, but not thinking too too deeply about them and definitely not questioning them. Just enough attention to not be careless!
We made it around all the funny little turns in the course (and there were a couple lol), and made it around the turn toward home without drama. We did kinda get cooking down the line from 6 to 7, a fairly straight downhill line...
But it was nbd. I opted to bring her back to walk afterward anyway, tho, to approach what was kinda the funniest little part of the course: a somewhat significant terrain question for the level, imho haha, with a tiny little log. It also felt nice to take the little walk intermission just to help Doozy understand that it's not actually a race.
Either way, she walked just fine, and once we got closer to the little downhill log, we picked up an easy trot and just proceeded!
From there it was an even steeper descent into the lowest part of the 'bowl' that makes up Sawmill field (where they have all the ditches and whatnot), and I was a little defensive to Fence 9 down there... But then we finished with a perfect uphill cruise to 10 and the finish line, and Doozy absolutely aced it!
clear over the last and thru the finish!
Plus she came back down to walk almost immediately -- at which point I *did* finally dismount and lavish praise on her.... What a good girl!!
It's crazy to say it, but that little trip around the cross country course was probably the easiest part of the day --- followed closely by the show jumping course itself. It's just everything else that is such a challenge with this horse haha.
Tho, obvi, I mean "challenge" in the most endearing way. She's a handful, but she's not naughty, mean or bad. In fact, she's honestly really really good. And she's so brave, so full of herself, so entirely sure that She Knows Everything, and We Should All Just Listen.
And, eh, maybe she's right haha! So it was a good day. I'm glad we did it, and honestly it all went probably a bit better than I had any reason to expect. We definitely need to work on the flatwork, but all in good time!
Guys!! I'm officially an eventer again!!! Woot Woot!! And Doozy too!!
holy moly i'm at another horse show --- this time with iconic landmarks like the tunnel lol
I mean, I guess only if you count the itty bitties to be "eventing." Which, well, I do.
And while it might not be a recognized level (or show), our classes were actually integrated into Fair Hill's Spring International wherein they hosted FEI classes, recognized national divisions, AND a starter trial!
stewarded the FEI dressage warm up rings on friday as a pre-game :)
A few details made this show particularly attractive for us. First up - I was already signed up to volunteer on Friday for the FEI dressage (as I do every year), which meant I could get the lay of the land and walk my courses well in advance.
who recognizes our spicy little pony trailer mate?! doozy has good taste, she immediately recognized him as Good Company <3
The format would also be a bit different bc of the confluence of integrating the starter with the international. Namely -- we'd park in the stabling on the Gallaher entrance (vs the fairgrounds... if you know, you know). And! We'd get to dressage and show jump on the Gallaher side too ---- fancy!!
passed through this tunnel no fewer than 8x throughout the day....
Sure sure, it meant passing through the tunnel underneath the road a whole bunch of times... But, eh, we had our spicy little chili pepper of a pony compatriot with us -- entered in the level above, which meant they rode earlier.
So I spent legit ages hand walking Doozy around (in a chain shank while wearing gloves bc we are both #learningfromexperiences), meaning we got to familiarize with basically every single riding zone in hand first before having to ride there.
dressage judge commentary summed up as... "disobedient" lol, but actually the mare was a star who just doesn't understand the game yet
I'd like to say it was "worth it" to be able to ride dressage in the iconic international ring from all the 3* & 4* events predating the 5* (which now uses the arenas inside the racecourse on the fairgrounds). Buuuuut, y'all already know. Our dressage is marginally better than "disorderly" at present. Meh. We'll get there.
First step is to 'get thru.' Which, Doozy did quite well, actually! Like, she definitely knows to stay inside the boards. I count that as a HUGE win!
this game, however... she gets this <3 <3 <3
Another huge win?? My friends at this show. I'm always so full of self doubt, so quick to say, "Ehhh maybe we shouldn't, maybe it's too soon, maybe it'll over-face her...."
But everyone was so quick to remind me that all the jumping phases are ultimately just one jump at a time. And ya know, at any show, but especially at a starter show, you can stop at any time.
tanking up after a #JobWellDone
At any moment, if I felt like we were spooling out or melting down... I could just... stop. Which, obvi we all know sorta academically. But it's always nice to have that gentle prod forward from trusted friends.
So we went forth and jumped our jumps, one jump at a time. And it was good!
so excited to be a participating member of the squad again!!
I'll have more to share later, obvi, complete with so many pictures and videos lol... But in the meantime, I'm just so pleased with this handsome red mare!
And for her efforts, we earned a lovely and large brown 8th place ribbon --- suitable for this sweet mare, progeny of the great Big Brown. Feels kinda like a win, not gonna lie! Stay tuned for more soon <3
