let ‘er rip, part ii

There were a lot of really thoughtful observations and comments on my last post about shifting tactics in the training while also trying to proactively cover all the ‘wellness’ bases with Doozy. 

Sometimes I wonder if this sort of unique aspect of horses — this constant tension of trying to understand all the various puzzle pieces — is part of what draws us to them in the first place?

hangin out at the trailer until lesson time

Or maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe it’s just kinda relatable to be in a place where it feels like… It’s hard to know if we’re going in the right direction? 

It’s been my steadfast belief with horses that there are very few “wrong” ways to enjoy them. If everyone is safe healthy happy and having fun… What more can you possibly need? Tho, obviously, there ARE ‘norms’ and ‘best practices’ and conventionally accepted methods when one is pursuing specific sports or disciplines. And given that one of my chief goals with Doozy is to continue developing my own knowledge and skill set as a rider, this is important to me too.

this is a horse blog, but it’s also *my* blog, so sometimes there are cats too <3 <3
we had to say goodbye to my sweet longtime kitty Martini this summer after a long battle with cancer

And naturally, that means I’m eager to immerse myself in training programs in a way we couldn’t with Charlie, especially by the end of his riding career. We had too many compromises, he was too fragile, we had a good thing going, and that was good enough.

There are very specific things many trainers want to change in my way of riding, and generally for good reasons, particularly around my rein contact. And not gonna lie — I feel a lot of insecurity in general about my ability to maintain a ‘steadier’ contact that isn’t stifling or restrictive to the horse. 

he has been very much missed — especially by his lifelong best friend OG, who stuck by his side even thru illness

In my lesson earlier this week, new eventing coach Woodge and I spent some time talking through the various brainwaves that sparked that last post. Basically that, it’s hard to feel like we’re ‘safe healthy happy and having fun’ when Doozy is in a full blown chaotic doom loop in the warm up ring. 

Yes, it’s true that she’s becoming better and better schooled in these lessons. But Yes it’s also true that legit none of that schooling is accessible when she’s overwhelmed with tension. And at this precise moment, it feels like a good time to step back and work on that piece — even if it means compromising a bit on style.

so there’s a new face in town, Jojo

To be honest, I wasn’t sure Woodge would agree — and in fact, she only did in part. She remained adamant that just because I wanted to carry a loopier contact or a longer rein didn’t mean I had carte blanche to do weird things with my hands like burying them in Doozy’s mane at the pommel, or letting them drift hither and yon, etc. Nor should I be allowed to collapse in my position or fade away to “passenger” instead of “pilot.”

But beyond that, she was actually super open minded to the adjustments in style for Doozy, including integrating canter earlier and/or more often if it felt appropriate. 

And in fact, she took it a whole step farther. She wanted me to make it *super* obvious to Doozy what I was doing. Specifically, consistently looking for moments when maybe the balance felt a little tenuous, the mare felt a little bit on the edge, and choose those moments — the exact moments when I’d typically be most likely to snatch at the reins — and give a big obvious release and softening of the hand.

introducing adult kitties is tricky sometimes, but so far Jojo is settling in to our quiet intimate apartment life well <3

Note, tho, she meant “release / softening of the hand” in a clinically precise way — as in, do NOT throw away my position or just like, let go of the rein. Just push my hands forward, give them to the horse. Right when she’d expect me to take, instead I give — but nothing else changes. 

We worked on a number of exercises that have historically produced somewhat explosive results in the horse — including (omg) trot poles (omg). But somehow this weird alchemy between being relentless with my own self about posture etc (including maintaining my post and tone even when I thought Doozy might break into canter at the poles), while also calling Doozy’s bluff with the exaggerated releases… Doozy totally got it. 

And she kept it even when we integrated cantering away from the poles to approach some little jumps. Woodge set us up with a ground pole one stride out on landing, with the explicit instruction that I should still *ride* the landing — I didn’t have to wait for the pole to do anything — but the release and give with the hands needed to be there.

aaaand back to the horses… now that doozy’s grass finally died off (a full MONTH later into the season than last year) maybe she wants to come chill in the apt too LOL… isn’t it crazy tho how you can almost SEE the grass fat melt off of them from top to bottom the second the grass is gone??

And sure, Doozy did kinda bolt away from the jump once or twice, and sure I still had some positional difficulty myself in keeping my weight and balance down through the inside leg (vs my tendency to swing all my weight to the outside, esp when tracking left). 

But here’s the thing. The mare IS more schooled now. She DOES understand the individual elements of what we’re trying to do. And she LIKES feeling balanced and steady on her feet. So when I released the contact in those moments where my tendency would be to grab and hold… She was just like, “OH!” And pulled herself together, and in fact was better and easier with repetition vs increasingly fizzy. 

Wonder of wonders, guys. Even after all these years, it’s still me. Hi. Yes. I’m the problem. 

BUT!! That’s cool, tho, that’s a wayyyy preferred conclusion to the alternatives, right? 

eximo kiss

I wrote in last week’s Friday Foto Finish about an upcoming saddle fitting appt — it finally happened yesterday, and I’m excited about how the whole experience went! 

arrived early to hang out and chill while the fitter worked on other horses

It was serendipitous actually how it came to be… We’ve been having a nagging pressure point issue with Doozy’s lovely County Solution monoflap jump saddle, and despite the local rep being super helpful and attentive, the issue hasn’t resolved. 

So at a recent lesson I asked trainer C who they use for fittings. It turned out they already had the Veritas owner booked for a visit — and we were invited to crash the party!

she literally acted like this was the most normal thing in the world #love

Some real talk first, tho: I am *not* a saddle fit expert. And in fact, over the course of my extensively documented and varied saddle buying + fitting experiences, I’ve only grown increasingly skeptical about the field in general. 

It is my personal opinion that you can have different fitters (esp those from different brands and training schools, all of which have their own philosophies and brand ideologies) examine the same animal, the same saddle, in more or less the same conditions, and each fitter might arrive at a different (sometimes extremely so) conclusion about whether the saddle “fits” or not. 

To me, it’s sorta like how the man with one watch knows what time it is, but the man with two is never quite sure. Typical horse stuff, guys.

holy shit, emma’s in a dressage saddle!

Therefore consider me an agnostic-cum-anarchist on the subject. My guiding principles are basically to focus first on the horse, and second on the individual professionals* themselves (to a degree), and otherwise stay open minded on brands, construction, materials, whatever. 

And in this case, I have immense trust in trainer C: she has referred me to various other specialists over the years whom I’ve also come to trust (like our longtime chiro / acupuncture guru who we might be seeing at the same exact moment you read this!). So we went along for the ride. YMMV.

(**Note: dearest reader, you may consider yourself an expert in this field and perhaps are literally brimming with advice you’d love to offer me. Please have no doubt, however, that unless we’ve had direct private conversations (and perhaps even if we have lol) you are not among the individual professionals I’m using for this experience!)

it remains true that nice tack does not solve every issue, but it certainly helps!

First order of business at the appointment was obviously assessing the County. That particular brand identity, at least in my experience, seems to include believing that horses appreciate a more snug, narrow fit. Tho, depending on who you ask, it might be said that a County “narrow” is more like a “medium” from any other company’s stamp. Again, ymmv. 

It is true, tho, that every County person (and there have been a few now) who has assessed Doozy has classified her as a ‘narrow’ horse, and she goes in a ‘narrow’ stamped saddle. But….. the pressure points, bleh. 

much closer to actually sitting the canter omg

This new fitter declared Doozy a medium narrow, however, which I personally perceive to be synonymous with a ‘County narrow’ in general… Tho he also observed that the saddle was in fact flocked snugly at the tree points. That, combined with likely side to side movement from Doozy’s and my combined biomechanical asymmetries and poor girth choices (in the fitter’s opinion), could very likely be the root of our issue. 

Ooh, and the fact that Doozy is, erm, plushly upholstered at the moment. Ahem.

might be ready to #riskit for the biscuit

Fortunately, he was optimistic he could make all the needed adjustments via reflocking the saddle. AND, in the meantime, wouldn’t ya know it but he just happened to have a couple dressage saddles with him that matched our specs, and wouldn’t I like to try them while he worked on my jump saddle?? 

Which. Obviously, yes please — don’t mind if we do!

Because, as any of you who have been following along will recall — I’ve been low key trying to get us into dressage tack for, um, a while now. We’ve tested quite a few different saddles at this point, but idk if it’s just me being far too noisy of a rider for that much touching omg, who knows, but we have not had good experiences.

first clip is the first test saddle; 

second two clips are in the saddle i took home on trial

But Doozy had clearly remembered to take her #PrincessPills on this particular morning, and was a DOLL for the rides. And both saddles felt super comfy! AND trainer C, who was in the ring with us on another horse, was able to snag some video — yesss!!

Please keep in mind while watching the video: we were not in a lesson, I was not getting real time instruction, yes I still ride crookedly and tip forward and sit to the outside and look down and do weird things with my hands and hold Doozy counter bent even tho all I’ve been talking about for legit months now is inside bend. Yes I still don’t sit the canter well and yes I still go floppy the literal second Doozy gets soft bc “omg holy shit wow we’re doing it what now omg.” Ahem. 

“does this mean i’m grown up yet??” — doozy, skeptical

But guys. It felt goooood sitting in these saddles. Omg. both of them. The first had bigger blocks, and the second had a deeper seat, so they felt a little different, but both quite nice. Obviously just sitting in a dressage saddle isn’t enough to resolve muscle-deep positional bad habits, but it’s crazy how much more attainable certain postural changes felt.

I opted to take the second home on trial (with generously flexible terms) bc let’s be real — trainer C’s barn has weird magical juju that always brings out the best in horses. I need to see what happens when that spell breaks and we’re alone at home lol — will it still feel so good? 

So wish us luck. The saddle is a slightly older model Veritas Eximo that’s so pretty I forgot to get a picture of it lol, whoops. The fitter went ahead and flocked it for Doozy too, so I’m extremely hopeful that we’re set up for a representative trial. 

Wish us luck! Ooh and also cross your fingers that the adjustments made to the County did the trick for our pressure point too…. It’s always something, amirite!

points for consistency

Happy Monday, y’all! Hope you had a nice weekend! Doozy and I have been busy gathering the ingredients and starting prep work for a nice little fall season (touch wood for us) — you saw last week’s xc schooling already, and there’s been another lesson with longtime dressage trainer C. 

Sadly I haven’t gotten around to writing about it, and without compelling media may not ever… But it was a good one, with Doozy really starting to understand the work. At least, ya know, when I’m under direct supervision of a coach who instructs as if by puppet mastery lol.

idyllic morning with almost a light chill in the air!

Regardless, it was a good lead up for our favorite combined test series at Thornridge! I really love this venue, the vibes, the schedule, all of it, and also was somewhat eager to prove that our less-than-stellar experience here last May truly was a rusty fluke. 

Verdict? Mare was absolutely back on her best behavior this time, good girl!

less idyllic: pic taken from within pasture, taken of pony without pasture, oops
fortunately he was recaptured without too much fuss or delay! 

I opted to stick with Starter level (2’3) for the CT bc, to be completely honest, that height feels so comfortable and easy for us, and I really appreciate not stressing about it. We still haven’t accomplished much in the way of jumping in lessons, and I’m reluctant to push too many boundaries on my own at this point. That’ll likely come up in conversation at a lesson in the near future, wish me luck lol.

safely arrived!!
also: when #hoarding pays off: she’s wearing an old stained trailer saddle pad bc somehow i legit forgot to pack a nicer one, oops.

Regardless, tho, I also opted to add a second dressage test to our dance card — with a request to ride the tests back to back, or close to it. Idk about you all, but sometimes I get halfway thru a test before realizing that.. Hm, but what if I considered being a more *active* participant in this exercise??

Plus, so much of Doozy’s tension seems to come from anticipation. She’s so smart, she knows what’s coming, and she just gets so fizzy when she thinks she’s being held back from the inevitable. 

rode through the test twice in a row, back to back, trying to help her understand that it’s just a game

So I figured, we’d go through the first test and do our best, but realistically just do whatever Doozy was gonna do. Then, take a deep breath, reorganize, and go right back in and do it all over again. Like maybe if Doozy better understands the pattern, she’ll better understand why I make her wait to canter?

she’s got the ‘free walk’ trick figured out, tho!

Who really knows, honestly, except that I felt a lot better about our second test. Sure sure, it’s virtually indistinguishable from the first in allllmost every measure LOL, we are (for better or worse) extremely consistent. 

But there were a few key moments in the second test that made me feel it’d been a positive experience to do two in a row. 

trotting the other way, i swear i’m trying so hard to bring my shoulders back, sigh

For example, Doozy slipped into our right lead canter in the first test a fair bit early, tho it was close enough that I let her roll with it instead of fighting her back down then pushing back up again. In the second test she was more patient and waited until I asked (at which point, I naturally biffed the cue and we picked up the wrong lead, oops!). 

trying to be better at cantering too

A few other times, it felt like I was able to soften and push my hands forward into the bend, and in the second test she was likelier to soften with me vs spurt off or fall out onto her outside shoulder as she had in the first. Down transitions seemed to come a little more easily as well.

remembering to salute, yay me

Overall, tho, the scores were very similar — with comments mostly revolving around tension, too quick a tempo, and the overall balance being against the hand. 

video of first test, 40.7%

video of second test, 39.3%

we are remarkably consistent LOL

You can decide for yourself, tho, since both tests are on video, yay! IMO, I’m happy with both tests and believe both are an improvement on earlier tests this season, even if they’re still sorta objectively bad. 

I swear Doozy is learning to soften her top line and come into a lovely contact in lessons, but as with all things with this mare and me, it’ll take the time it takes. And that’s all good!

click for full size. 1st test on left, 2nd on right

And anyway, it’s hard to argue when that same tricky tense beasty transforms into an easy, straight forward and fun horse to jump around! 

anyway, onto the fun part!

Like sure, she’s still tense and all that for the jumping — but I honestly believe she just better understands it. Like it makes more sense for her. 

And something about just letting her canter on in a rhythm is so much easier than the starting and stopping of frequent transitions or the “one jump at a time” type exercise we’ve done in lessons. Bc once she’s in a rhythm, all the bolting and chaos seems to melt away.

this course always features some slightly funny turns and angles, but doozy was aces despite some pilot steering errors

Anyway. I felt decidedly positive about the course after walking it in the morning. Nothing terribly technical, but a quite proper 3 stride uphill line, and naturally all the same eccentrically off-kilter terrain and turns we’ve come to expect in this charming little grass ring.

we had a funny little uphill 3 stride line so it was worth getting our shit together before approaching

And Doozy warmed up like a super star! Like, was hot and touchy and tense, but also just proceeded with trotting the X, cantering the small vertical, cantering the large vertical, like she absolutely understood the assignment. Good ‘nuff, let’s go do the course!

she’s got such a great stride length, esp when i can trust her to travel forward

And she just… did, lol. Literally every jump was perfect. No notes, good mare. 

Well. Ahem, maybe a note or two for the pilot, uh, *me.* Namely: I was super careful to get deep into the corner past the in-gate for that weird off camber turn to the black and white vertical at 3 — the tricky ground often makes this an awkward jump. We got a good shot at it, tho, except that even with all that space I’d given myself, I hadn’t planned a good line to the next jump and ended up needing kinda a big readjustment to get straight to 4. 

locked ‘n loaded!

Doozy made it over 4 just fine, but all that disruption meant that we landed too disorganized to make the turn to 5 (the far end jump). Like we allllllmost got there, I think if I’d asked Doozy to jump she would have, except that the combination was coming up next so… 

Eh, I just accepted that we’d missed the turn — technically you’d call it a refusal but I don’t think Doozy ever really had a chance, let alone realized she was meant to get there — circled around, caught it on a lovely balanced stride, then proceeded in the perfect rhythm to walk up the 3 stride line easy as pie.

nailing the final jump, easy as pie

Final little arc to another left lead end jump, and voila — a beautifully jumped course! As far as I’m concerned, the only mistakes we made were my own, which is my favorite type of mistake. There are other nitpicky details beyond steering that I’d love to fix in my style of ride too… But ya know. That’ll be part of the future conversation re: lessons.

video of show jump round

And in the meantime, I remain so pleased with this critter, in the face of what could be understandable temptation to be frustrated by the flat work. But ya know. The sport is hard anyway. And we have extensively documented history that dressage is not exactly my personal strength… Plus, Doozy has proved to be a bit uniquely challenging for me overall.

But!! We are doing things!! And things are my favorite thing to do!! So, we persist lol.

all roads lead to rome

Happy Friday! We finally — finally — made it out for another lesson with longtime dressage trainer C this week, much rejoicing!! 

For the last couple months we’ve kinda been focusing all our resources on lessons with the new 5* trainer. Not necessarily bc one is better than the other or whatever, but actually bc I kinda wanted to see what would happen if we hunkered down with weekly lessons in one ‘program.’ 

always with the #snacks

Verdict? It turns out, there is no silver bullet, no Disney FastPass. The process takes the time it takes, and no one single method is the only “way.” We are loving the process, tho, the lessons are energizing and productive and I look forward to where they take us.

But ya know, I’ve also always loved riding under the guidance of a variety of perspectives (provided they are complementary v confusing to the horse). So when scheduling conflicts arose this week, I leapt at the opportunity to get back on the books with dressage trainer C, who hasn’t seen Doozy since our ill-fated CT at Thornridge last spring.

farrier used a new substance under the clips this cycle — it hardens like epoxy, tho apparently isn’t sticky and doesn’t need all the same rigmarole. the idea is basically to “minimize the damage” from just being a thoroughbred existing in summertime

And it was honestly a great lesson! Nothing new, nothing “ground breaking” per se, but in a weird way, it feels like with Doozy I’m somehow hearing some of this stuff with new ears. Understanding the mechanics on maybe a deeper level.

Don’t get me wrong, we’re very VERY much still in the kiddy pool haha. But thinking back on my riding history, especially as it pertains to dressage… Well. Realistically Isabel was the first horse I ever tried to do “dressage” with, and let’s be honest here — I really got lucky with her. She was talented and game, and we could be successful even with my limited education. 

it comes in this cool little tube, applied by hand before he fully finishes the shoe with a few more hammers on the clips, clinching the nails, last few rasps etc.

Then with Charlie, obvi we had a few good years of working on continuing that education, pushing our boundaries etc. But frankly, the work never came easily to him. And in his early days I was in such a rush to get him moving up the levels that I definitely skipped a few steps. Then by the end of his riding years, after we’d been through so much together, I was decidedly disinclined to pick on him, push him, or drill him through work he didn’t love.

So, yea. Maybe it makes sense why it feels like I’m still kinda learning some of this stuff “for real” now with Doozy. My sweet young mare whose first and foremost job is to help me continue learning and expanding my education in this lifelong sport.

anyway. back to our scheduled programming: #snax at the trailer, apparently tail-less

In our lessons with Woodge this year, we’ve been laser focused on lateral balance — straightness, suppleness, bend, etc. With my understanding of the approach being to start with outside aids and control the outside shoulder while working on that inside bend. And as such, we work almost entirely on small circles.

In this lesson with trainer C, she wants the same outcome, the same lateral balance and flexibility (bc you can’t have the longitudinal balance without the lateral), but we took a bit more of an ‘inside to out’ approach in this lesson. 

mirror selfies!! this is one indoor i *never* mind

Really really focusing on making sure I could always see an inside eyelash no matter what figure we were riding or where we were on a circle or on the rail or whatever. Again — this isn’t exactly a new directive, but our results this lesson were fantastic. Crazy how continual practice actually moves the needle like that LOL!

We spent almost the entire lesson working on getting that whole-of-body inside bend in both directions, using sweeping circles to find the bend, then straightening onto a quarter line (without losing the bend) and going instantly into a leg yield to the wall. Again and again, rinse repeat.

paying the meter before getting started lol

For my part, I tried to stay very conscious of my posture: sitting tall and with weight traveling long down my inside leg like rebar for Doozy to form around, holding a steady post and hands hopefully not going too wild.

I had a recent discovery about our leg yields too, actually. I want to get super pretzel-y and feel like I’m “doing something” to create the leg yield. But strangely, with Doozy — hell, maybe with every horse and I’m only just now figuring this out lol — it turns out that our best leg yields come with almost the absence of a direct aid. Almost like a quiet opening of the door to the outside, and she goes. 

(Provided, of course, that I’ve got myself seated and balanced where I belong.) 

ooooookay so indoor screenshots from the wall-mounted helmet cam are… not persuasive haha. watch the video if you’re curious

None of this happens in a vacuum, right? Like we have spent the last 3 months working weekly with a trainer to establish clear consistent outside aids with the horse. Both Doozy and I are benefiting very much from that work — esp with consistent supervision and eyes on the ground. 

It makes sense, then, that in this lesson where we worked on refining the inside aids, we’d see the cumulative effort come together into a really nice result with the horse. 

video makes more sense than screenshots i promise

Doozy, for her part, was super for this ride. Really really trying, really staying with me. Even when we started up again after a break for our next little work session — the part recorded in the video above — I felt like our tempo started a bit fast and somewhat less consistent, but it doesn’t look that way at all in the video. 

Well, ok, you can decide for yourself LOL, but I thought she looked super workman like and way steadier than it felt.  

doozy was a very good girl tho <3 <3

That last session of work continued with the same themes — sweeping circles to the quarter line for instant leg yields to the wall, then back onto the circle. Only now we intermixed transitions into and out of canter, a couple times in each direction. 

It was kinda funny to me bc this is almost exactly how I’ve been schooling canter at home — just quick hits a few times in a ride, a circle here, then trot, a circle there, then trot again. Mostly to help Doozy stop anticipating and learn how to trot nicely even after a canter. So it was super helpful to keep this approach going in a lesson too.

lots of pets for a good effort <3

Also just a fun lesson overall, too. Let’s be real, there’s a reason why I’ve been riding with C on and off for ten years at this point (hard to believe, but that’s the truth!).

My absolute favorite era of riding was when I was consistently working with 3 distinct trainers on a routine basis each month. A lot of that was circumstantial + geographical luck (whether I realized it at the time or not), and it’s been extremely difficult to replicate the same alchemy again… But maybe with Doozy there will be a new era upon us? 

keepin’ up with mondeuse

These crazy weather systems that have devastated friends farther south or west (thinking about you, Texas and North Carolina!) are blowing through Maryland this week — not nearly at the same scale or violence, but still with plenty of drama (and rainfall).

it’s been an unusually wet summer just about everywhere, it seems

A former barn mate once absolutely blew my mind when she randomly — and very nonchalantly — mused that she “didn’t really believe in weather forecasts.” 

grateful for indoor riding spaces

Idk about you all, but part of my neuroses charm as an obsessive planner includes a desire to constantly have informed expectations about weather conditions. Tell me I’m not the only one LOL! For real, tho, especially when it comes to the horsey side of my life, so many key decisions revolve around the weather — like when / where / how I want to ride, for example. 

also grateful that the daily evening thunderstorms break up the heat

Perfect case in point: deciding to skedaddle on over to Tranquillity last weekend bc conditions were so fleetingly perfect. Or other examples: scheduling when to ship out for lessons with our new coach. Obvi there’s more to those logistics than just the weather, and we can make do with the indoor at that farm as needed… But ya know. Who doesn’t love to optimize when possible?

i swear i did not edit the colors in this pic

Overall temperatures have fallen since the nationwide ‘heat dome’ a couple weeks ago, but it’s still notably hot and humid — with brief respites when yet another thunderstorm blows through. I figure, if our outdoor is too wet to ride in anyway, might as well time our rides to capitalize on maximum temperature relief when it’s stormy out, right?? I mean, that’s just common sense haha.

another day, another trailer ride. we were a bit early tho so opted to chill inside the shady trailer with the fans rather than bake out in the afternoon sun

Tho, for whatever reason, most of our lessons end up getting scheduled in kinda the opposite orientation: mid to late afternoon, when conditions are maximally oppressive right before the storms blow by. C’est la vie amirite? 

these Ryobi mini fans have been the absolute best addition to my trailer set up, i literally cannot believe it took me 10 years to figure that out lol

It’s funny too bc Doozy’s barn and my coach’s barn are sorta in slightly different weather zones, and a front was about to hit at home so I opted to get Doozy loaded up to ship out slightly early vs waiting until the front was truly upon us… But then arrived for our lesson in still scorching 90*F sunshine, with about a half hour to kill. 

Woodge said we were welcome to hack the xc fields while we waited but… bleh, the sun was so strong it honestly felt better to conserve resources inside the trailer with shade + a good cross wind + these little Ryobi mini fans that I absolutely love.

the two fans are zip tied in strategic locations, and each 1ah battery lasts a few trips
(ignore the weird distortions it’s a panorama shot and doozy was obvi movin around)

Soon enough, tho, it was show lesson time! AND!! We got to play in the dressage court set up for eventing camp, yessssss! One of my biggest goals over the winter was to manufacture as many opportunities to ride inside the boards as possible. Which… obviously just like everything else I had planned over the winter, that never happened. 

But I really was eager for the opportunity to just “ride as normal” inside a proper court to help Doozy realize it’s no different from any other ride.

oooh there was a dressage court set up for eventing camp — obvi we played in it for our warm up!

And guys, omg I don’t know what it was about this lesson or this particular day… maybe Doozy remembered to take her Princess Pills in the morning or something LOL, but she was suuuuper rideable. Really relaxed* (*for her), really responsive to my position and aids, and for once not particularly inclined to spurt off at the least provocation! 

Like, I felt like I actually got to focus on myself and the coaching each step of the way, making small adjustments and seeing a difference in the horse — vs kinda just whipping around hanging on and hoping for the best. What a great feeling lol….

picts from a ride at home, but representative of both of us trying <3 <3

Also a timely feeling, too. I had been thinking a bit about the clinic rides we did last summer with Dom, that had been so monumentally transformative for us, and was wondering why things felt a little more ‘stalled’ this summer… 

Except when I went back and actually reread those posts, whether I realized it at the time or not, Dom’s biggest focus was still on exactly what we’re doing now: lateral bend and flexion to improve longitudinal balance. But now we can *actually do that,* where as last summer in those lessons it was almost a miracle if we could make it through a corner with the neck “straight,” let alone in true bend. 

#Perspective, y’all. It matters haha. 

mare was a full blown perfect princess for this ride <3

Anyway, tho. The flat work in this lesson felt really reaffirming that Doozy is ‘getting’ it, and learning, even if it’s maybe not super realistic to expect that same quality in the show ring this year / century LOL. Who cares, tho, we’re here for the journey and here to celebrate small wins!

straight up gangsta posin’ for the camera

The jumping was still a bit remedial, tho, but still insightful. Still working over just a single crossrail with placing poles, still working on being less explosive to it. Interestingly, a couple times I felt like I got fairly well left behind, but Woodge actually liked my position in those moments. 

She observed that sometimes I’m making too big of a move, being too ‘snappy’ right at the jump — and that sure, my intention is to ‘go with’ the horse and be soft, but the effect is basically just adding to the chaos of the moment. Her advice was to just focus on straightness, and try to “do less” with myself, to help really reinforce to Doozy that we don’t need to make big moves.

she’s a special biscuit <3

Overall good food for thought, and another productive session. And we managed to allllmost outrun the next storm on our way home lol, tho still got properly drenched womp. 

Ah well, ‘tis the season, I suppose!

crayons for the kiddo

Happy Friday, y’all! It’s been the kind of week where I almost don’t even really remember everything that happened, except that things felt pleasantly routine and productive. I’m still not super sure that we have Doozy’s situation figured out, but felt optimistic enough to schedule another lesson with the new local 5* coach. Yay!

pretty biscuit went to another lesson! and was sound!!

I warned her that the horse would almost certainly be lame, even tho she seemed sound for all the rest of our rides earlier in the week… Bc that’s honestly just how things have been for us so far this year. 

yours truly ran a bit late tho bc apparently my gps doesn’t have a setting for “avoid bus routes” at school o’clock

But I figured, eh, it was worth a shot. Worst case scenario, it would be just another off farm exposure, possibly with another set of experienced eyes weighing in on what might be going on with the mare. 

it’s a very pretty farm. maybe eventually we’ll get out to explore the xc fields

Naturally, tho, Doozy surprised us all — as is her way, apparently — and was sound! Yay!! We still kept it super low key, tho, and just focused on the fundamentals. 

no media from the lesson aside from where our halt transitions suddenly got a whooole lot crisper when a friggin wild turkey randomly sauntered across the ring LOL

This coach is really great about calling out all my positional bad habits and flaws etc in a positive and productive way, which I LOVE. But she’s not so rigid that she requires I completely abandon my core base of strength — even as she may want to evolve that over time too.

anyway. speaking of randomly spooky objects…..

Mostly, tho, her focus is on helping me be more effective in improving Doozy’s way of going and overall training. She zeroed in fairly quickly to my delicate handling of the hot horse, and wants me to be more proactive in getting my legs on and actually touching the horse more.

oh no!

She used a really great analogy for Doozy that reminded me a lot of our early days together. Remember how, back when Doozy was brand new we sometimes struggled to just like… hand walk around an arena? But literally simultaneously, if I had to do some sort of little task like picking up manure, setting up ground poles, or opening or closing a gate while still …hand walking the horse around the ring, Doozy was always totally aces for all that?

so #controversial

At the time, this behavior in Doozy really struck me as reinforcing that I needed to be keeping her occupied and engaged — like with the little ‘micro tasks’ — bc otherwise in the absence of any clear direction or objective, mare would fill the vacuum with her own ideas haha. All of which were, naturally, a bit chaotic. 

she might be silly but she’s so sweet <3

So this new coach’s analogy was that Doozy is a bit like the kids out to dinner at a restaurant who stay occupied by coloring in the place mats with crayons. She needs something to do, beyond just “trotting around a circle.”

and hey, how about MOAR unrelated pics??? went on a gorgeous hack the other night too

W’s suggestion was to be more proactive in finding feelings of leg yield and counter bend while going around on our circle. And to be sorta strategic with whether I want to leg yield out or in based on where we are with the circle and Doozy’s natural affinity to drift one way or another vis-à-vis the gate. 

it’s crazy how fast the hay fields grow this time of year

We practiced getting the feeling right while mostly staying on a figure 8 of 20m circles, spending time getting balanced and connected in one direction, then achieving a walk transition to change bend and direction, then trotting again the other way. All while working on those sorta subtle micro adjustments in Doozy’s balance and bend.

  

nbd just wandering the hillsides

This was super useful bc my own crookedness has only gotten more pronounced with time out of the saddle. Changing directions while staying mostly on small figures really helped me be aware of what my own posture was doing from one direction to the next. 

looking back across the valley to the barn yard

Another comment from W has also really stuck with me — she advised me to make our exercises take more time. My tendency is to try to rush through things and get them done. Whether bc I’m not feeling confident about it, or feeling like the mare is unspooling, or whatever. But the point is to really slow down my own approach and be more intentional about making the exercises take the time they need to take in order to actually have the desired effect on the horse. 

majestic mare!

That isn’t necessarily a ground breaking observation, obviously, except that it really helps me stay focused about what I’m doing in our schooling sessions. And go figure, Doozy has an easier time not rushing when *I’m* not rushing. Crazy stuff, guys lol.

my friend always gets the most epic shots <3

Doozy, for her part, responds really well to these lessons. Another great reminder that she will, in fact, go as correctly as I can ride her. Assuming she’s sound, obviously. Which… she was for this ride— woo hoo! 

it ain’t a bad gig!

I don’t want to get ahead of myself or count my chickens before they hatch or whatever… But we’ll just keep sorta tentatively proceeding and see where it gets us. And mayyyybe try thinking about making some plans again. Maybe lol. We’ll see ;)