my wild orchid

We’re supposedly finally getting a reprieve from the intense heat dome that’s stretched across much of the country this past week… And not a day too soon, either. Endless days of triple digit ‘real feel’ temperatures are exhausting for everybody, bleh.

bunnies. bunnies everywhere

Well. Almost everybody, LOL! 

I like to joke that Doozy is impervious to heat, that she IS the heat, she is one with the hotness haha. The rest of us might be wilted and begging for mercy, but not Doozy!

106*F put the kibbosh on basically all riding tho
(also, feel free to ignore my tire pressure warning, as i do every day!)

Tho a friend was talking about how the orchids she planted outside were thriving and going wild with all the heat and humidity, and I was like, Aha! Maybe that’s the perfect analogy for Doozy!! I mean, we always knew she was a hot house flower anyway, right???

“garçon, my snacks!” — doozy, impatient

Anyway, she might not mind the conditions, but even I have my limits, so it’s been a fairly quiet week around these parts. Not really the worst thing in the world, given her current rehab status. 

Like, sure, I’m still all inspired from a lot of the conversations, feedback, and ideas I got from Windurra camp — and actually a few preliminary sessions prior to the heat dome felt really really promising in terms of getting us back on track on a more traditional rehab schedule. The mare actually trotted 4 whole minutes under saddle with zero shenanigans, no tiny circles required!!

sample serving of purina replenimash came in the windurra camp auditor’s goody bag

But all the same, time is still our best medicine for any sort of recovery, so a week off is just fine.

Tho obvi I’m still out to see Doozy every day just to check on her, scratch her bug bites, and feed her fancy snacks. As one does! That’s perhaps my favorite thing about being a thoroughbred person: it’s easy to just keep plugging her full of foodstuffs without really having to think too deeply about it lol.

doozy was a fan!

Like this fancy Purina RepleniMash that was part of the Windurra Camp swag bag. It’s marketed as basically a wholesome mash with ingredients like electrolytes and their Outlast gastric support product, intended as a supplement to regular feed, or quite literally, to “simply let your friend know you care.” (assuming, hopefully, that your friend isn’t an air fern!)

she’s still loving her triple crown stress free fortified forage too

Does Doozy already get a lot of gastric support from me? Do I already give her electrolytes? Yes and yes lol… But, eh, Doozy thought it was delicious, plus a nice big sloppy mash when it’s a million degrees out seems nice too, so I ordered a bag LOL. 

stübben grooming spray + a baby pelham in their fancy flexible plastic composite

I’ve also been eager to play with some other goodies from the camp swag bag — like this fancy grooming spray from Stübben! It’s different from other grooming sprays I’ve used bc alcohol is a main ingredient, but it’s supposed to make them super shiny and dirt repellent. So we’ll see!!

Oooh and the bit I ordered arrived too. It was not part of the swag bag, tho we did get a nice discount code to use. The baby pelham cheek pieces are apparently among Boyd’s favorites for a variety of reasons, but I’m also really interested in this mouth piece too. 

reader poll: is my bebe kitten already giant? or is this the littlest yeti you’ve ever seen?
(trick question, the answer is yes to both… they grow up so fast!)

Only time will tell if it goes into regular rotation for lessons or shows, or if it’s more of a specialty use bridle, like our hackamore. Time will also tell if this fancy flexible plastic material holds up any better than the rubber nathe Doozy chewed through in just a few short months, too.

“garçon! it’s spa time!!” doozy, itchy, ready for a cool down bath!

Regardless, I’m eager to give it a try, and get back to riding again too. We’re hopefully signing up to lesson with Matt Brown again in the near future, and ideally I’d like to show him a slightly… more civilized version of how we go this time around. 

this stuff usually lives in my trailer for rinsing off after lessons, but it’s the perfect refreshing rinse in these oppressive heat dome conditions

The new approach we started experimenting with prior to the heat dome includes a bit more ground work — a mishmash actually between feedback from Matt in our last lesson and also some pointers from Peter Wylde and Steph Simpson at the Windurra camp. And you already saw a few pictures from Doozy’s first foray into our at-home round pen. 

probably a lot of you are already familiar with this stuff, it’s got great ingredients

None of it is necessarily groundbreaking stuff in the grand scheme of things, probably it looks like exactly the type of routine practice and work that most people do with young or green horses.

kitten is trying to create his own spa day too,
natch by making a mess of my AC tower’s condensation drainage…

I’m learning with Doozy, tho, that so much of our success (or lack thereof) in deploying any given tactic or technique is honestly rooted in my own understanding, framing and approach. That it’s not enough for me to just do it with this horse, but I have to have a really clear sense of why, how, and for what purpose. 

#loveabletrouble

Bc at the end of the day, this horse is too sensitive to distinguish a muddled signal from all my noise, ya know? She hears it all, whether I mean it or not.

We’ll see, tho. Hopefully this week will be a bit more normal conditions, at least normal for July. So probably still moderately malevolent mugginess lol. I’ll take it, tho. We’re officially half way thru the year and I’m eager to keep chipping away at our 2026 goals! 

click beetles + boat houses + trot steps, oh my!

Well the festivities have finally concluded for MDCTA’s annual recognized event, and follow on unrecognized Jenny Camp Horse Trial. But just because the party’s over doesn’t mean the fun stops, amirite?

these boat houses are some of my favorite jumps at all levels — charlie jumped this T one a couple times, like in 2019. they definitely deserve some TLC and fresh paint!

There was still jump painting going on right up through the day before the starter trial, and in fact a couple more got done afterward too. It’s so much easier to get them painted nicely when they’re out in the field vs stacked up in storage, ya know? And some of them were pretty desperate for attention…

taking the club into the digital age with an actual database for the jumps, complete with printable reports!

I’m not the world’s best jump painter, tbh — I’m a little too fast and sloppy and not as disciplined about the scraping and prepping as some others… But I *am* good at compiling, cataloging, and recording information into usable data and shared information hubs. So I finally took pictures of everything and made a digital jump inventory!

this N version of the boat house used to live at our last boarding barn, and charlie and i jumped it literally zillions of times, memorably that one time we actually won an event

From my experience as a volunteer, storing and sharing information centrally is so much more efficient than having everything residing inside key individuals’ heads. Not that there’s anything wrong with key individuals who generally know all the things, but… ya know. Being ‘key’ and all that, they’re typically busy and doing a million things. Much easier to just have a list.

and here’s the legendary USEA VIP original gold medalist volunteer Sue, painting yet another of the boat houses, this time the P version!

That way, when some of the country’s most amazing volunteers show up ready and eager to beautify our precious jumps, everything is ready to go for them! And voila! More jumps get painted, less time is wasted tracking down busy bees, and everyone is happy! By my count, something like 17 jumps total got painted for this event!! Amazing!

the club receives grants for introducing new groups to eventing — here’s a set of actual small children, apparently accomplished steeplechase riders, warming their race horses up before schooling xc

The schooling week in between horse trials is always a big hit too. I don’t know the final numbers on how many folks came through, but it was a LOT. Such a great resource for the local community to have full competition courses available to school so close to home! 

what goes up must eventually come down: unflagging is the least sexy task

I’d personally love to see the club offer more events at Shawan Downs throughout the calendar year. It’s apparently more feasible than I dared hope… but ya know. It’s a LOT of work, especially for a skeleton crew of board members and volunteers, almost all of whom are either retired or working full time jobs on top of, ya know, having lives and stuff.

new flexible pipe flag attachments recommended by the xc builder were a solid win!

But there are some ideas bumping around. Including opportunities to streamline some of the fussier tasks and chores — like this new method for flagging the fences, recommended by the cross country builder. Sure, it takes a little time to install each tube, but once it’s set, the flags go in and out, no muss no fuss, no friggin zip ties, AND — this style counts as frangible for narrow jumps and corners!

Only trick is to buy the right type of tubing, bc the really flexible stuff will completely relax and lose its shape once you cut it open. Ahem. Cough cough. Ask me how I know….

everyone knows hypothetically about staking jumps… but few spend much time thinking about unstaking jumps… blergh, 2 stakes + ~4 screws per fence x ~100 fences…

Anyway, tho, for many tasks, there really are no shortcuts. Like staking the fences. Sure sure, plenty of facilities out there get away with leaving jumps unstaked. And sure, plenty of oopsie rolled fences don’t result in major accidents — like that time Charlie and I rolled a house at Windurra. 

it’s a fun way to get intimate with the local bugs — meet the Click Beetle,
a gigantic native bug i’ve somehow gone my entire life without ever seeing before

Buuuuuuut…. when there ARE accidents, they can be legitimately catastrophic and fatal for everybody. Thanks but… no thanks. The few hours spent staking and unstaking is cheap insurance, as far as this club is concerned. It’s just hours that need to be accounted for in planning any additional events.

if bugs aren’t your thing, here’s cats instead, in a very good box

The neat thing about accounting for hours, tho, is that it’s all just numbers at the end of the day. If you know what things need to get done, and how long* those things take to do, it’s just a matter of assigning tasks, budgeting for paid professionals where feasible, and working backwards from a date, right? In theory??

(*And I mean the REAL time things take — like including the 20 minutes spent looking for the drill bit you dropped in the grass, or the extra trips to the hardware store bc you bought the wrong material — not the ‘aspirational’ guesstimates LOL)

anyway tho. doozy. she’s still a weirdo LOL

Well. In theory, all things are possible LOL! Like, maybe in theory, if the club decides to host a fall event at Shawan, mayyyyyybe Doozy will be fully rehabbed by then? 

and we’re still tack walking with friends!!

I still honestly don’t really have a sense of timeline for that, and am trying not to set any expectations, consciously or unconsciously, even as I may or may not be trying to manifest opportunities LOL.

do we look happy? <3 <3 <3

But we’ve been tack walking for a couple weeks now, and have started introducing little bits of trot, one long side of the arena at a time. Well. Ahem. And the occasional accidental canter step, bc Doozy is who she is. 

ain’t a bad way to spend an evening!

The mare feels like a million dollars tho… A million feral dollars LOL, especially compared to all those nice obedient well-schooled dressage horses I’ve been taking lessons on haha. Like. Doozy, some horses just ya know, do the thing without all those feelings and opinions!

oooooooh but the rehab continues!!!!
(not pictured: lots of feelings and opinions! oooh, or cohesive color coordinated outfit choices LOL #dontjudge #allthebluesatonce #andalittlegreentoo)

I have this beautiful fantasy that perhaps we can use this rehab period to maybe polish over some of those little rough spots in our schooling… Ya know, like, if we have to be walking and doing lots of transitions bc we’re only doing littles bits of trot at a time… might as well make the practice count, right? 

Seems like a nice idea LOL, we’ll see how it turns out in the real world tho. As long as we come out the other end with a happy sound horse ready to go run and jump again, I’ll be happy regardless!

So… yea. Lots of wishful thinking going on at the moment — hoping and wishing for more fun club stuff, and hopefully a happy sound horse to do the things with! Now that the club stuff is wrapping for the spring, it’s time to get serious about that other part!

on taking the plunge

I participated in my 75th yoga class this week, which feels like a good milestone moment to check in on what I’ve learned and what it means for me, particularly through the lens of my horsey endeavors and goals for the year. 

Not so much from a physical tactical exposition of how the poses align with good equitation (answer: they do!) or whether that means I’ve seen massive improvements in my own position as a result (answer: not really!). But rather, there are other observations I’ve made from the practice that resonate possibly on a deeper level.

“oh boy, here she goes again….” — doozy, probably

In particular, a teacher offhandedly mentioned the book Eastern Body, Western Mind in class one day, so naturally I downloaded it. While driving to our first event last month, I listened to the chapter on a parable of describing a stream — first from the perspective of an observer on the banks, and then again from the perspective of being fully immersed in the stream.

Perhaps, while observing from the banks, you might note the stream’s size, width, color, the surrounding foliage, how it looks and sounds. But upon taking that step down from edge and into the stream, your perception might change entirely. Now you might describe the stream from a more sensory perspective — the temperature of the water, the texture of the riverbed beneath your feet, the push and pull of currents.

everything looks (and feels!) a little different from that first person perspective!

The gist is that there are two modes of “knowing” a thing: observing from the outside, vs experiencing from within. Description vs participation. And that there’s this threshold moment, transition, inflection point when you take that step into.

Obviously readers who have been around for a while (or perhaps even just those observant enough to note the title of this website) will know I’ve spent a lot of time grappling with the subjects of fear, anxiety and confidence. And this little parable about observing the stream from outside vs inside is, I think, an illuminating way to consider the idea of anxiety. 

Anxiety is inherent to the transition, the decision to act, to step in. It’s a visceral response to this idea of crossing into uncertainty. We can spend a lot of time thinking about why that is — perhaps it’s fear of failure, performance anxiety, fear of the unknown… Maybe it’s all of those things. 

casually observing professionals doing professional things from the sidelines is… not quite the same

To observe from the sidelines maybe feels safer, there’s more control, more predictability, less exposure. There are different levels of proximity, too — for example, if we’re thinking about horse shows, observing from the distance of a volunteer at a show, or going to cheer on a friend, is ‘closer’ than watching a video on social media. And maybe this sorta incremental inching closer to the edge is a way to create familiarity or “dip your toes in.” 

But I think the point of the story that sticks with me is that it is the act of immersion itself that changes perception and perspective. 

I’ve often said that I love volunteering bc it normalizes the whole horse show experience — including witnessing countless little (or big) mistakes throughout the day that generally are just nbd, just part of the process, and not worth letting yourself get paralyzed from action bc of them.

pictured: not quite the same LOL, but still fun ;)

That’s not really what this story is saying, tho. Rather, it’s saying that the act itself is experienced so differently from however you may have described it as an observer, that it bears almost no resemblance. In other words, ‘how it looks’ never truly encompasses how it feels. Which means it’s possible to miss key details, perhaps the most important.

And this can cut both ways, right? Like at one of my worst ever horse shows with Charlie, at Plantation Field, where we retired after multiple refusals… We have literally ALL seen horses have refusals. It happens. It’s not the end of the world. But in that moment? To me? Well. The fact that I’m still talking about it all these years later is clear enough indication that the experience left a heavy mark.

Meanwhile, last month when Doozy and I had a refusal on course… the experience itself was completely different, and in fact I still walked away feeling like we’d had a great day — even tho literally anybody could have looked at the scoresheet after the fact and pegged our performance as ‘poor.’

fun fact — i was SUPER ANNOYED at Area II Champs last year bc i forgot to pack a saddle pad for show jumping and had to settle for a janky trailer spare… but tell me (and be honest) — who noticed the mouse pee before i pointed it out??

For me, that’s kinda the big lesson here. That what we might have thought from the outside often shifts when we’re actually in the moment, doing the thing. Perceptions of what might constitute failure — or success! — can shift from hypothetical to contextual, becoming less about judgment and more about adjustment.

For me, recognizing this is actually helping me grow my confidence. It’s not just a matter of feeling more prepared or more ‘ready,’ but actually that repeatedly immersing myself in the experience proves that, ‘Yes, I can handle this!’ and that the existential feelings of doom and dread of possible failure are… maybe actually a bit overblown. Actually, the water’s fine!

constantly working hard to reframe my goal… it’s not about eliminating anxiety or perfect performance… but just simply getting in and trusting it 

And back to the 75 yoga classes, obviously it’s not a perfectly analogous activity to leaving the start box on cross country… the scope and scale is obviously entirely different. But it’s still a matter of showing up. Getting into the moment. Practicing doing the thing, getting into the flow. Repeatedly proving to myself that, “Yep I can!”

I think, for me at least and ymmv, integrating this sort of practice and intentionality has been a big longterm goal for me. Horses are hard, the sport is hard, it can be a rollercoaster. But actually, at the end of the day, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of actually splashing around in the stream, experiencing it first hand!

installing buttons

Bad news in Baltimore… We’re already 3 weeks into the new year, and… Yep — *looks outside window* — it’s still winter. Womp.

There’s not really a whole heckuva lot going on right now in our world. And obvi all the warm fuzzy feelings of *inspiration* and *motivation* and *energetic excitement* associated with “New Year, New Me OMG!” can’t last forever, amirite? 

So… eh, let’s dial it back a little. Not ALL the way, tho, bc today’s topic is still entirely inspired by (and based in part on) my experiences of digging into those new year intentions. Specifically related to my foray into a new physical activity. 

Namely, I want to share a couple observations from attending yoga classes… Which, naturally, I’ll attempt to tie back into some sort of equestrian relevance.

sweet mare is so patient with all my shenanigans LOL

Bc it turns out, learning new things as an adult… kinda sucks lol. I’ve never been a fantastic multi-tasker anyway, but seriously guys. Trying to listen to, understand, and act upon a whole new set of vocabulary words in real time and real heat (did I mention the studio is heated??) while **simultaneously** not falling on my actual literal face during said actions, which themselves seem to defy physical laws of gravity and flexibility… Yeeeahhhhh, it’s been. Hm. Wobbly. 

The first few classes were a constant struggle. I burned so much energy just concentrating on following the prompts and remembering to breathe, that I often couldn’t make it through the full sequences. 

Soon enough, tho, things started clicking! Suddenly the words, poses and sequences became more familiar. My experience in class shifted from an overwhelming bombardment of sensory stimuli to organized flow. My stamina increased, my pants magically lost their post-holiday snugness… I felt good!

And what a trajectory, right? Exponential achievements unlocked! At this rate, I’ll be well on my way to nirvana in no time flat, right?? Right?!?

“nirvana?? yea right, get real, lady!” — doozy, 100%

Ahem. Cough cough. Yeeeahhh. About that. 

Anybody familiar with the phrase “regression to the mean” (or, I guess, familiar with the basic regression curve itself) recognizes this pattern. Starting from zero, followed by a period of rapid growth / improvement, before tapering onto a near-flat trajectory toward infinity. 

In other words, results tend to plateau over time. Not bc we suck or whatever, but bc it’s legitimately a long, slow, incremental process of building skill and proficiency in just about any and every endeavor. Like it or not, I’m probably stuck with the wobbles for the foreseeable future.

Relatable, right? Sliiiiightly discouraging, sure lol. And probably a big reason why a lot of new habits or intentions often don’t stick. Bc unless you legitimately enjoy the activity itself, that long slow grind isn’t super fulfilling lol.

Obviously there are plenty of parallels to riding just in that concept alone, too. Like how with Doozy, all those exciting new milestones from the early days — our first sit! our first jompies!! our first jompy lesson!!! — eventually gave way to the slow steady grind of incremental progress 2.5 years (really) later.

Have no fear, tho, this whole blog is basically a shrine to the grind LOL. So I promise not to dedicate this entire post to that subject. It’s been interesting and enlightening, however, to experience it more directly and personally, that’s for sure!

pictured: the face of a horse who is *astonished* at the suggestion that our progress has been slow
“don’t look at me, it ain’t my fault!” — doozy, without a doubt

So let’s move onto my other big main observation from these yoga classes: what that regressive concept means for understanding reproducibility in general, and the conditions for success in particular.

Sure, it’d be easy to believe that having finally accomplished a tricky twisty balancing pose for the first time, that now it’s part of my ‘repertoire,’ it’s something I can do. Or, in a more horsey jargon that I personally find mildly obnoxious, it’s a “button” that’s now been “installed.”

We’ve all heard it before, right? Maybe about some sort of flat work exercises — lateral movements, flying changes, fancy dressage stuff — that a horse has a ‘lot of buttons.’ 

And sure, there are some very nicely schooled horses out there who are capable and confident at executing upper level maneuvers with relatively minimal input.

But real talk…. there are some things I can do at the *end* of a yoga class that… I can not do at the beginning. And don’t even TRY to ask me for that same degree of flexibility or muscle tone when I’m standing at the bathroom sink, brushing my teeth after waking up in the morning. Bc it ain’t gonna happen like that. 

maybe i just have ‘warming up’ on my mind bc i’m trying to manifest to the universe??

Obviously this is NOT rocket science and I’m not telling you anything you don’t know by saying it’s actually the progressive warming up, stretching and activation of different muscle groups throughout class that suddenly makes those trickier poses more “available” to me. It’s not that we install a headstand “button,” but rather that the conditions for achieving a headstand* — aligning the spine, stacking hips and shoulders, etc etc — are met such that the headstand is possible. 

((**Obviously NOT referring to myself here, ain’t no way, no how, I’m stacked in ALL The Wrong Ways LOL))

Academically, again, this is not new information. For me, for you, for any of us. But going through the experiences personally, recognizing the differences in my own body between when I’m not ready for a particular movement vs when I am, has been enlightening.

And it’s made me think in new ways about how we go about “warming up” in a typical schooling ride. Bc again, let’s be real, it’s super easy to fall into a pattern of treating the warm up like a check list. Like, ok, let’s walk for 5minutes, trot for a bit, change directions, work both sides, introduce some figures, maybe a little canter, then voila! we’re ready to jump a couple jumps.

That might not necessarily be wrong either — perhaps it’s a normal pattern bc it basically normally gets the job done. But now it’s got me thinking more deeply about exactly which muscle groups I’m asking the horse to activate, when, and to what degree of intensity, and how that sequence can progress through a ride. 

looking forward to a day when we’ve got better things to do than navel gaze!!

And more specifically to that whole idea of “buttons” in the horse, it’s so easy to think that once we’ve schooled a horse to a specific movement or maneuver, then the horse should always be able to do that thing. When, in reality, it’s all the underlying conditions, circumstances, situations that have progressed to make that “button” available.

A horse that’s on the aids, in front of the leg, and relaxed but attentive will have an easier time stepping immediately into a new gait transition or lateral movement or whatever, compared to a horse for which some or all of those criteria are not met. 

More thoroughly trained or well schooled horses might get there faster with less fuss or rider input, might also have the conditioning necessary to do more “advanced movements” with less preparation (for example: plenty of folks can wake up and whip out some fancy poses while brushing their teeth cold at the sink,** right?)… sure. 

(**Tho there probably aren’t too many PRs recorded cold at the bathroom sink!)

But for the most part, I’m guessing a lot of us probably need to spend less time thinking about achieving specific movements or transitions or whatever, and more time focused on those basic fundamentals: on the aids, in front of the leg, relaxed but attentive.

The basic ingredients that make an activity possible and reproducible in the horse. For me and Doozy, for example, that could mean reframing how I think about practicing for dressage tests. Shifting focus from just rehearsing the test pattern itself to instead really working on practicing that ‘readiness’ to perform a test.

Not really an earth shattering concept or observation, obviously. But maybe interesting. At least to me LOL, on this cold wintry day, staring down yet another snowstorm! What do you think?

2026: What we pay attention to, grows

I’ve been reflecting recently on Doozy’s and my year together in 2025. It was, on the balance, pretty excellent — even with lots of lessons and learnings to carry forward into the new year.

And for whatever reason, that’s where my thoughts keep landing: the time ahead of us. Perhaps I’ll still get around to reviewing the past year in formal posts (it is winter, after all, with every reason to predict more snowbound doldrums lol), but for today I wanna talk about what’s on my mind and set my intentions: I want 2026 to be about showing up well — mentally, physically, and structurally — and creating conditions where positive experiences can happen often, with clarity, sustainability, and repeatability.

To dig into the details a bit, I’m breaking out three key elements to that intention: my mental space, physical capacity, and structural design + approach.

it ain’t always the easiest partnership, but i’m excited to see what comes of it in the year ahead!

Mental Space

I want to continue being intentional about mindset, emotional approach, and overall framing of how I participate in this sport. Realistically, anybody who’s been reading knows this has already been a major focus in recent years.

It’s been a real journey realigning my mindset to a process-oriented vs outcomes-focused approach. To release myself from the idea of “failure” and instead embrace that every experience is just more data. And that nobody will care more than I do.

And all that work paid off in tangible ways in 2025 — especially when it came to just getting out the door, doing the things, and actually enjoying myself in the process.

pictured: enjoying myself <3

That doesn’t mean it’s easy, or that the hard days disappeared. It’s honestly a constant effort — especially with a horse as uniquely challenging for me as Doozy. Sometimes it looks like pushing myself past my existential dread, but sometimes it’s also about adjusting expectations or even scratching when that’s the right call (Plantation being a recent example).

In 2026, I want to keep paying attention to how I show up: staying focused on process over outcome, and feeling present rather than pressured. I also want to leave myself some space — for fatigue, burnout, or the realities of life outside the barn. What we pay attention to grows, and this is something I want to keep growing.

Physical Capacity

On the flip side of the same coin, I want to bring more attention to my physical wellbeing and health in 2026. It feels like one of those universal jokes that as decades of horse experiences really start translating into a deeper knowledge (dare I say, wisdom?), the body…. Miiiiiight be heading in the opposite direction.

just trying to keep up with this spitfire mare!

Between age, accumulated wear and tear, old injuries, and the double-edged sword of a fulfilling career that keeps me hunched over a computer for long hours each day, it isn’t getting any easier to stay physically well, strong, whole, and present in the saddle. My strength, flexibility, and stamina aren’t what they used to be — but they also don’t feel gone entirely. Let’s say atrophied dormant rather than lost.

It’s been easy to rationalize that I’ve historically been sufficiently strong and fit just as a byproduct of my normal horsey habit. And ok, things slipped a bit in recent years as Charlie eased into retirement… but surely I would snap back as Doozy really got going, right? Ahem, cough cough. Perhaps I didn’t give enough credit to the fact that my horsey habit was “enough” when I was 10 years younger, taking 2+ lessons a week, AND doing barn work LOL.

literally the prettiest mare <3

So. In 2026, I want to be more proactive in building my strength and stamina outside of saddle time or lessons. Not in pursuit of some ideal version of fitness, but to be as strong and effective a partner for Doozy as I can be, and to make sure I’m getting the most out of our lessons. What we pay attention to, grows — and at least in this moment, my willful blindness to this reality is over.

Continuing Education and Lessons

I say this every year, and I always mean it: I want to keep learning, developing, and pushing my skill set. A big part of that continues to be lessons with qualified professionals.

perhaps we’ll go back to Area II champs again next year??

I still catch myself pining for the setup we had in 2015 — weekly lessons with a 5* rider at home, plus regular ship-outs for jumping and dressage within <30min drive. That was a halcyon age I didn’t fully appreciate at the time. These days, especially this winter, getting to a proper jumping lesson generally means shipping 1-1.5hrs each way.

In 2026, instead of dismissing that reality as “unsustainable” and rationalizing that “I can get by well enough on my own!” I want to make it work. That means more planning ahead, and obvi all the associated time / energy / resources of travel, but it’ll be worth it. At the same time, I’ll keep looking for creative ways to bring good education a little closer to home.

Competitions

I want to keep competing in 2026, without attaching that to specific goals around levels, qualifications, or results. The focus instead is on staying present and producing predictable, repeatable experiences — especially in the dressage, but also in the show jumping.

ideally we’ll have more to show than just being super shiny in our dressage tests LOL

Some of that should come naturally from continued education and better preparation, but it’s important enough to name explicitly. Last season reinforced the value of early, low-pressure, bite-sized outings as a way for both of us to dip our toes in, build comfort, and set ourselves up for success. That’s definitely a lesson I want to carry forward.

Equine Management

This also ties into Doozy’s overall management, obvi a fairly critical element of overall program design. I’m really happy with how she responded to the care and management choices we made over the past year and hope to carry on as we have been.

That said, nothing here is static or fixed or set in stone. She’s an animal, and her needs shift — with the seasons, with workload, and especially with changes in grass and pasture. In 2026, the goal is to keep paying attention, stay flexible, and continue adjusting her wellness routines in ways that support her soundness, comfort, and mental freshness.

literally the sweetest mare, just gotta keep the hamsters all running in the same direction!

Setting Doozy up for success starts long before we ever get on the trailer, and this is an area I want to keep approaching thoughtfully and proactively.

Seems straight forward enough, right?? Or maybe that’s all a little vague and woo-woo and lacking the specificity necessary to be accountable, as far as you’re concerned. And maybe you’re right LOL. But eh, it’s horses. Anything can happen. For now, tho, this feels like the right course to chart. Anyone else starting to think about goals for the upcoming year?  

Performance Riders Blueprint

Performance Riders, based in Australia, hosted a free live web session with Boyd Martin, Peter Wylde, Lillian Heard Wood, and Brett Parbery to promote their subscription online training module. As such, it was a hybrid sales pitch + teaser of what to expect from the program.

I knew from touring Windurra with Boyd years ago that this man has zero chill with sharing his opinions, approaches, methods, perspectives on literally everything he does with a horse – at a pace that makes you wish you’d hit “record.”

True story: he spat out so much rapid-fire detail on that tour about conditioning upper-level horses – how often they’re ridden, the focus of each ride, how intensity progresses – I literally couldn’t write fast enough, and most of those details blew over my head like dust in the wind.

Not this time, tho! I knew what to expect and was ready to go lol.

that time i fauxto-shopped boyd onto the legend himself, charles <3

So! Here are my notes:

The agenda was to basically create a ‘blueprint’ for our 2026 plans (that presumably you’d start executing by signing up for the program).

Boyd advises creating two sets of plans, one for the horse and one for the rider. Naturally, horses being horses, we should map a plan but keep it adjustable.

For the rider, however, Boyd was more strict: he urged us to evolve as riders, to be really really honest with ourselves about where we are, what’s coming up short, and where we want to go.

He said it’s easy to practice what we’re good at – but that’s not going to help us with…. anything else. Boyd’s personal goal examples included working on flying changes and addressing the ‘stiffness’ that’s creeping into his seat and position as he ages. 

Especially this time of year, it’s easy to talk ourselves out of practicing intentionally. But before we know it, it could be March and he won’t have sat the trot in months.

pictured: a man who is willing and eager to tell you everything he knows, no matter who you are!

For the horse, Boyd’s approach to goal setting was maybe… less relatable to my personal reality. Planning for Kentucky or Burghley obviously requires significantly more logistical resources than Area II champs an hour and a half down the road.

I’ll share his insights anyway, tho:

Boyd starts by picking his big events for his upper-level horses for the year – maybe one in spring, one in fall – then works backward to reverse engineer the steps to get there.

For example:

• Three or four weeks before a 5*, he’ll aim for a 4*-S or Advanced where he can give it a proper physical push – letting the horse go forward at speed across the country
• Before that, he’ll aim for 1-2 easier competitions as lead up events – maybe down a level to the 3* or even Prelim/2* for the veterans to get them started for the year
• Intermingled with that trajectory, he’ll do some show jump rounds as “training days” to get the horses into big rings, big tracks – maybe down in Florida.
• He’ll also pick out a couple dressage shows
• (Editor’s Note: “bite-sized outings!”)

Boyd & Tsetserleg in the MDHT 3* leading up to the Pan American games in 2019

Peter, an Olympian and one of Boyd’s coaches, further emphasized going to the show jumping events to practice, just to take the edge and jitters off. Like literally down to specifically wearing polo shirts and tan pants – just getting horse and rider into the ring, getting comfortable, putting in the reps, since eventers do so relatively few actual rounds.

Peter advised focusing on two main attributes in show jumping practice:

1. Rideability: We want our horses lovely and polite to ride – round, supple, light, not completely closed in the neck, a lighter more ‘up’ frame.
• In our exercises at home, he said to include course work that focuses on the horse staying lovely and nice around the course. It’s not about being a perfectionist, but rather being diligent in insisting that we do things well. Don’t just hop on and fly over the jumps (Ed. Note: me, this is me 100%) – but work on repeatability.
• He suggested using ground pole courses too, and Boyd offered a nugget that he uses with one of his hotter horses Luke: do a trot transition halfway across the course, or add a couple bounces in the middle.
2. Repeatability: Horses are happier when things are consistent. Peter suggested thinking about it like a “recipe.” Try to be consistent, try to figure out what formula you do with the horse for each event, each practice session – what gets the horse the best feeling so that you can make a plan for that.
• The most successful way to train horses and riders is to set up a plan then tailor that plan for approaching each event.
• That way, if the plan doesn’t work, you’ve got a blueprint for making tweaks or changes.

pictured: me and Charlie figuring out what not to do in a show jump schooling round at Plantation, naturally with a somewhat intimidating audience… 

Related to that ‘recipe,’ Boyd gave the following example of tailoring his show jumping warm up at an event:

• Start flatting about 12 horses to go (~24min from ride time)
• Start jumping 6 horses out (~12 min to go)
• Start with a vertical, focusing on rideability and discipline, and do a walk transition on landing to help the horse think ‘slow’
• (Ed. Note: interesting that the practice at home includes more course work, and the warm up includes more “one at a time” jumping)
• Put the vertical up, then go to an oxer
• About 2 horses out (~4min), he hops off the horse to reset the saddle (even if it doesn’t need it) and take 30seconds to exhale
• This gives the horse a minute to take a breath and calm down
• (Ed. Note: Could this be the silver lining to being our own jump crew while schooling at home??)
• Jump your last fence as the rider ahead is on jump 2 or 3 – set it to a tall vertical to get the horse jumping up

His point is to create a predictable routine system. Vertical, land, walk. Vertical, land, walk. Show the horse the routine, use body language to calm everything down, and help the horse recognize the pattern.

Ultimately, the mega goal is success at the one big event, with a game plan to use lead up outings as schooling and prep.

Boyd & On Cue at the Plantation 3* in 2020

Fitness and conditioning are obviously also key components. Boyd outlined the following schema for Kentucky prep:

• December is dedicated to long, slow dedicated flatwork – horse “yoga” vs test riding.
• January introduces long slow stamina work
• February will see the first couple events, again at lower levels and slower still speeds
• March is when more speed and hill work starts, with the goal of eventually hitting 14 hill gallops before the spring 5*

He encouraged us to observe what works for successful people, and adapt it to our programs, recognizing that things go wrong all the time. The people at the top of the sport aren’t doing some sort of magical riding. It’s not like they aren’t facing setbacks too. Rather, it’s the small fundamental details that make the biggest difference.

Boyd really emphasized that riding goals are not negotiable. Especially this time of year, he’s not just going to toddle around in the indoor arena or go for a hack. It’s too easy to just go through the motions (Ed. Note: Ahem, guilty as charged!) – but to improve, you have to go after it.

The rate of improvement is very minute, mayyybe 0.1% a week. Day to day, you won’t feel like you’re getting anywhere – it can be frustrating to put in a huge amount of effort every ride for a minuscule or nearly undetectable reward. But that’s what it takes, and you must be relentless, disciplined, committed.

pictured: me and charlie demonstrating the sometimes frustratingly slow path to improvement at a tricky water question, natch with Boyd again watching (and waiting for us to finish) from the truck 

There are only so many jumps a horse can jump, obviously he acknowledged it’s a luxury to practice on so many different horses. But for each horse, each session has to count. You can’t just whiz them around – you have to be clear minded and committed that your sessions have purpose – that everything you do with your horse has a purpose.

Doing more of it badly won’t make you better. We’ve all fallen into that trap of basically being an ‘exercise rider’ just spinning them around, vs intentionally training every ride (Ed. Note: Hi, yes, the problem is me!).

The true champions still ride their horses with the same window of time, but are more engaged with their sessions, staying true to the real goal.

Brett, an Olympic dressage rider based in Australia, chimed in to observe that a high performance mindset is a mindset of detail. Working on the simple things and getting them right.

He said there are five critical steps to achieving your goals:

• Today, today, today, today, today

It’s what you do today that puts you in place tomorrow. And we need to take the time, break things down, create structure for how to improve skillsets, understanding and knowledge. Horses crave structure in their preparation and development, and it’s our job to provide it.

making the rounds at our local club’s recognized event

Obviously this session was intended to get riders jazzed up enough to enroll in the program (“Today!”), but for me, there’s still a lot of utility and truth in what’s written above. Especially as it relates to engaging more deeply in each session.

With Doozy, it’s always been true that I need to find ways to engage positively with her tension, without indulging in the drama. Staying proactive and mindful in each ride (like with my Brit Bot app!) is a big part of that, and something I shouldn’t abandon entirely even when relegated to dusty laps in the indoor or sharing space with lessons.

Also, it reinforced the importance of preparing through “bite-sized outings,” something that should definitely be part of my plan this year too.

What about you, any big takeaways? Or anything that can be adapted for your own off season work?