So legitimately I think this needs to be a real thing. Seriously. That feeling (all you bloggers must certainly know it) of knowing you should probably get a post out... but not being all that sure what the hell to even write about. So you start swiping through your recent photos like, wtf have I even done recently?
And so. Dear readers, friends, fellow horse ppl who maybe just kinda have lots of random pictures on your phones: may I present a Friday photo dump of lots of little things that will be forced into one single horse-shaped post.
For starters - let's see a show of hands here, who streamed the Olympic games while at work? All of you, I'd wager, at some point or another haha. Alas, I ran into the struggle of not having actual cable (bc of course I don't, I live under a rock, remember?) so Austen was kind enough to provide her mother's cable login credentials so I could watch. Um, thanks mama G!
We also made another trip back to Olde Hope Farms for Brita and lesson director R's horse show. I mostly just played spectator and pretend groom (meaning: person who hands you cold water and beer), and not very sadly at that seeing as it was super hot out. Still tho - what a fun day. All horses and riders performed very well, with Brita and Wick even locking down their first dressage score in the 20s at novice!
Our show set up was aaaaalmost on point. Almost. So close. Except. Well. My canopy (the blue one) died a sudden and tragic death at its first outing at Plantation earlier this summer (Allison was there to witness lol). It still.... kinda? does the job? But... not really. Idk. It stood up for the whole day tho so I'm gonna call it a win - we needed that shade!
Especially bc Brita got a puppy!!!!! And this little puppy needed it's shade for naps!!
Seriously tho, how sweet is she?
And then we found an EVEN SMALLER PUPPY OMG!
On a slightly less cute note, my ensuing week kicked off with a flight out to Memphis for quite the work-related roadtrip through the South - a region that I hadn't previously gotten to know. But we certainly got to see a lot of it on this trip, with plenty of stops along the way! (Tho, in all honestly, we didn't actually stop in Greenville or Greenwood, but they were notable landmarks along the way all the same).
My colleague roadtripping with me has actually lived in the Delta before, and knew all the history and all the landmarks and had very personal connections to everything. Including needing to make a quick pit stop at Miss State for a picture to send his daughter.
I gotta say - all that insider info definitely gave the trip a better shape than had I just gone through it all by my lonesome yankee self haha (nvm that Maryland is technically south of the Mason-Dixon line - we like to say that Baltimore has all of the Northern charm and Southern efficiency haha).
Once back in Baltimore, things continued on their hot August summery ways. Including the hatching of all our cicadas. Such crazy weird bugs. Kinda creepy actually, watching them emerge from their armored shells. But cool. If you're into that kind of thing... (which obvi I am lol)
Mostly tho it's always nice to come back home bc of the kitties. They haven't gotten too mad at all my absences bc it's been balanced out by working remotely for the first time ever. So even tho I am technically out of town and away more than ever before, they are actually still seeing more of me bc of working from home. So I guess the cats are the real winners in my life choices haha.
I'm trying to fix that balance tho. #needsmoarhorses, ya know? I'm working on it. An intro lesson at a new barn with this elder statesman Remmy went a long way towards remedying that. Not an awful lot to share yet - but I'm feeling optimistic about getting back into a regular riding routine with actual full-sized horses who probably aren't neglected problem children lol.
Like this poor problem child. Oh Krimpet, sweet thing. She was SO TIRED OMG before this ride. It's camp season and she's workin' her little butt off apparently. Which isn't the worst thing... except for some reason they decided to free jump her for camp - having her go pretty high for a pony (tho as you have seen she's actually quite a nice jumper).
Which. Well. She jumped that 3'6 fence no problem, and proceeded to jump right on out of the arena. Bc guys. This pony aint stupid haha. I'm not totally sure why they chose to take a sour baby horse with a poor work ethic and run it through a scope test... Especially when it resulted in teaching an already-naughty pony a new trick... But whatever. Nobody asked me and it's sure as hell not my horse, so I don't call the shots.
So whatever. Greener grass beckons. In the meantime, my cats are kinda judging me for even considering life outside the walls. Well. OG is maybe still curious, but Martini knows. Ohh he knows. He's got it figured out all right haha.
What about you - what story would the recent photos in your phone tell?
Well. Sorta, kinda. Maybe the type of groom who really doesn't do all that much work. But I can be a cheerleader! And provide transportation!! (Tho actually Brita is getting quite confident behind the wheel and we split the driving up).
So, maybe in other words, I went to a horse show this weekend with exactly zero intentions of riding myself. And it was actually kinda nice!
al fresco bathing
Tho it was also kinda sad in some ways too... I love horse showing and I especially love horse showing with Brita and Wick. And we were off to Olde Hope - site of our first (triumphant) novice last year. And also the site of Oktoberfest, where I foolishly chose to crutch around all day less than 24hrs after breaking my leg.
It's a fun venue with a fantastic party-like atmosphere - tho I was oh so very grateful to be sans crutches this time around haha.
this mare was not invited
And actually it was nice to not have to worry about anything at all. I could keep busy helping get the horse tacked and untacked, walking courses, or making sure Brita stayed hydrated (it was HOT!).
Or... I could also kinda just sit around not doing anything if I so chose. After all, we've got a well-practiced routine down for the trailer, and Brita had a pretty good handle on everything.
party city!
Our farm's lesson program director had a couple students riding too, so it was a regular party. We may not be a very large or very fancy program, but it's still awfully fun to set up the little caravan of trailers. And we've all collected a nice assortment of gear to make the scene extra enjoyable - from camp chairs to coolers and just about everything in between. Ooh, except one of those canopy tent thingys.
A parent brought one along and it definitely improved the entire experience. Methinks that is a purchase worth making in the near future. Any recommendations?
people friends and horse friends - all three equines happened to be field buddies too
Brita's rides went very well too. Wick was lovely in dressage warm up, but maybe fell asleep on the way to actually ride his test and never really brightened up. But true to form, their jumping was fantastic and more than enough to move them right up the leader-board to finish 5th.
not sure what's happening in the saddle, but the background is unbeatable!
I should probably be taking some notes from them haha. Isabel might often be well-positioned after dressage... but damn if I don't struggle to cling on to that position through the jumping phases. Our three outings so far this year have netted us 24 penalty points in stadium alone (8 from refusals, and 8 from near refusals). Ouch.
feeling extra fancy with our newly acquired interchangeable bridle tags!
So.... yea maybe not too sad to be missing the show after all haha. It's a real shame timing-wise, tho. My upcoming work and travel schedule, combined with not entering anything until our jumping issues are repaired, means we can expect June to be a total loss for competing. And July is usually a mid-season lull for starter trials - fine for me, given the heat.
Oh well. At least that gives us a nice long time horizon to smooth things out and get back on the same page, right?
goofy horses. i love 'em all
And in the meantime, this show weekend wasn't without it's own grief - a reminder that pretty much anything can happen with horses. Especially when jumping horses. And especially jumping horses cross country. Alas a couple riders and horses parted ways, and another wasn't able to complete bc changes in footing are apparently very scary (Isabel relates).
Fortunately tho, everyone is fine and in one piece(ish), and will be back to try again another day. So I will be right there with them, working to come back better and stronger.
And other events from this long holiday weekend served as step 1 in laying that foundation. More to come later, but rest assured - just because Isabel got left behind on show day doesn't mean she didn't get her own share of excitement too!
Today's post is mostly the media from yesterday's post that I didn't have time to edit before hitting publish... Uh. So I guess this kinda constitutes cheating maybe haha. Sorry?
Regardless, I wrote yesterday that Brita got in some saddle time with Isabel during my work-related absence this week. And omg she sent me pictures haha. Hahaha. Isabel's FACE, omg.
"who are you and what did you do with my step mother?!?" - isabel
By all accounts they had a blast, so ya know. That just makes me happy. But seriously. This mare and her expressions. Obviously I couldn't not share with you.
And speaking of expressions, here's another little pony mare who isn't quite sure what the fuck just happened to her and who authorized this abuse:
"i'm experiencing a wide range of emotions right now, mkay?" - krimpet
Poor Krimpet. She really had no idea what was coming. Sad long suffering soul. As previously mentioned, I set up four poles on a large-ish circle (thus not quite reaching 'death' levels, but somewhat close - especially given the high temps for the day).
We only stuck with it about 15min, just long enough for Ms Bend'nSnap to settle into the pattern and actually make an effort when asked. She was very honest about it all too. Seems promising.
also honest in saying it nearly killt her
Looks like she'll be getting a couple days off in the immediate future tho, as the vet was able to isolate some serious ouchy spots in her hind end that might account for some of that bend'n'snap behavior of late.
Regardless, it's been oddly exciting (in that bizarre feverish kinda way) to text and brainstorm with her owner about ideas for continuing to develop Krimpet's strength and muscling, as well as her work ethic. Something about green horses - I kinda just love getting to play with such a fresh slate! Very grateful that C has been so willing to let me experiment a little.
So perhaps (if the scheduling gods permit) there will be more coming later. In the meantime, C and Brita and Kaitlyn will all be heading out to Olde Hope for an event tomorrow and I'm so pumped for them!! Alas I won't be able to go - but will obvi be rooting them on from a distance.
That distance being from my seat auditing a Janet Foy clinic. Stay tuned for an approximate metric fuck ton of notes!
Many of you already know that Isabel and I have partners in crime in all our eventing adventures - Brita has been a barn mate and riding buddy for a couple years now, and officially hopped on the party bus with her new lease horse Wick last January. We do just about everything together and it's been so awesome to share these experiences. Barn buddies are pretty much the best for celebrating progress - even the most incremental steps forward - and also for dissecting and downloading when things don't go the way we hoped. Obviously now that I'm sidelined from the action, I plan on living vicariously through Brita as much as possible. As such, accompanying her to Olde Hope despite my busted leg was never even a question - obviously I would be there to cheer her on! And I thought you might like reading about her big move up to BN in her own words, rather than my outsider perspective. So Brita very graciously agreed to do this guest post. Hope you enjoy it!
***
Hi everyone! My name
is Brita. Wick and I travel most places
with and get to learn and experience the awesome horsey adventures with
Emma! I am guest blogging for Emma about
my awesome first experience on the beginner novice course at Olde Hope
Farm.
decorations were on point at this show - look at that horse!!
Unfortunately the day before the event Emma made a wrong
step out of the trailer and broke her leg.
It was a terrible fall but Emma toughed it out. Although Emma wasn’t able to ride in the
event, she was an amazing coach, cheerleader, and friend to have by my side
while I moved up to BN. I’m not sure if
you all agree, or are lucky enough to have a great person to learn from and
travel with from show to show but having Emma really makes a difference in my
confidence when I’m facing new challenges with Wick. Emma crutched around the show and really
helped me through each phase. Thank you
Emma!!! :)
horses + crutches = not the best combo. still totally worth it tho!
When we got to Olde Hope, we were lucky enough to park next
to one of the trainers from our farm where Isabel and Wick live. We were able to talk to the five students and follow how they were doing throughout the day {editor's note: it was the first off-property horse show for most, if not all, of them! and they were great!!!}.
Petal's tail has never looked so good!
Caballo is ready for some dressage action!
Once we parked I went right into the same routine of unloading
the millions of things I needed and unloaded Wick. I ended up tacking Wick up a little early so
I could watch some of the student’s dressage tests which was great to see! Then I warmed up for dressage. I haven’t really gotten my dressage warm up
routine, which would be beneficial but I am about as green to showing as Wick
is. Thank goodness Wick is a forgiving!
I was pretty useless helping Brita get everything set up
Our dressage test was BN B. So much trotting!! Our test was rather
terrible {ed. note: not true - they had some really nice moments!}. Dressage is definitely our
weak point but we have progressed so much since we started less than a year ago
so I can’t really dwell on this phase.
We scored a 41.5 and needed a lot more of a lot...if that makes any
sense! We’ll get there though! After dressage was over, Wick and I were able
to breathe.
but I can take pictures!! isn't Wick super classy in his dressage tack?
Going into the event, I heard from most people that the
course will be easier than most beginner novice courses and it would, more or
less, be a step between intro and BN.
So, needless to say, I was going into the event confident that Wick and
I would do fine in the stadium and XC rounds.
Our toughest phase is dressage so it was nice to think that we wouldn’t
have to worry about the jumps being too much higher. Later Wick and I found out that Olde Hope
decided to raise the standards! Wick was
happy about that…I, on the other hand, was umm scared!
LOTS going on here!
Emma attempted to walk the course with me but soon found out
that there were too many horses running the course that it would be extremely
difficult to dodge galloping horses as well as crutch through the tall
grass {ed. note: FAIL}. One of the trainers from our
farm, R, was able to walk the course with me, which was very helpful. The most XC jumps I have done, before this
event, is 12. This time I needed to
remember to jump 18 of them. (insert eyes popping out of face) I have the memory of a gnat so I was a little
nervous that I was going to get on the course and have no idea where I was
going. After about every two jumps I
would retrace which jumps I needed to jump and move on. I didn’t miss a jump so I guess retracing
worked!
Each jump looked big while I was
out there. I’m still very new to jumping
2’7”, so on foot these jumps are scary.
When I’m on a 16hh horse they don’t look as bad. Not only is Wick
forgiving, he is very good at making sure he is always between me and the ground. He definitely takes care of me out there! So I’m lucky there! (insert unicorn with a
halo).
not a unicorn, but c'mon - how awesome is this?!?
So after I walked XC, I tacked Wick up and went over to warm
up for stadium. There were only 8 jumps
in stadium so I was confident about that….until…we warmed up. We trotted over the cross rails a couple
times and that was fine. We went over
the vertical 3 or 4 times and knocked it over about 3 or 4 times. Emma was coaching me through everything and
attempted to set the jump up but crutches are not very friendly for that
particular activity {ed. note: ugh kill me}. When are doctors
going to realize that all medical equipment needs to benefit equestrians!
Geez! I had to call over to my dad to help
set up the jumps. He didn’t really know
what his new job entailed but that’s ok!
Brita & Wick warming up. Wick is unimpressed by these dinky fences haha
We ended up having an interesting yet clear stadium
round. If you can picture a round of
race horse, mixed with allergic to jumps, mixed with a rider forgetting where
to go, that would be our round. My dad,
who is not very familiar with riding said “So Brita…..Wick…..he jumps so
much……wider…..than the rest of the horses.”
Wick was overly clearing everything.
But anyway! We were ready to move onto the next phase.
but he gave all these gorgeous flowers plenty of room!
wheeeeee flying!!!!!
how gorgeous is this scenery?!? also Brita's bright colors make her easy to spot from a distance :)
Now onto XC….. I decided not to do a lot for the warm up.
Wick has his winter coat and I really didn’t think it was necessary to make him
any warmer. Going into XC two horses
before me couldn’t make it over the first jump so they were disqualified and
the horse right before me refused the keyhole jump 3 times. It was a warm welcome to the course... The judges flagged me on and it was go
time.
they *nailed* this bending line!
Wick was on a roll. A race horse roll. We cleared the first 4 jumps with no
problem. He tested me at the 5th
jump, the keyhole. I gave him a little
swing of the crop and he was over it! {ed. note: Brita rode the *SNOT* out of
that fence!!!} Woohoo!
We then rode through the woods and the next jump that
attempted to trump us was the ditch. The
ditch was about a foot wide in my eyes {ed.
note: nope, it was definitely wider than that!} but it was about 9 feet
wide by 20 feet deep for Wick. I
definitely almost came off but yet again Wick saved me and kept himself between
me and the ground.
not deep, but verrrrrry wiiiiiiide! (pics from last time I was there)
Then we jumped a couple roll tops and jump 12
had a water option. I decided by the
speed we were going and the result of the ditch, I opted out of the water and
jumped the jump beside the water. Jump
14 was a bank going down with a jump option to the side. I chose the jump.
another old pic - but shows pretty clearly how spooky the bank is compared to the stile option fence.
We then finished the last couple jumps and
when we were done I asked the judge if I missed any and they said they didn’t
think so. That was refreshing!
final fence options! Brita and Wick chose the big coop
Before my jumping rounds, I was in 7th place and
then at the end of the show was 4th so it was a great outing for
us! I am really glad that we moved up
and glad that we were ready to take on the challenge, mistakes and all! Thanks so much for reading about my
experience! I wish you all the best in
your horsey adventures and look forward to hearing about them! Thanks again!
Today's post isn't really what I expected to be writing. It was supposed to be about show day today at Olde Hope - for their Oktoberfest HT, rescheduled from earlier this month.
LOTS to like about this course
They post the courses online in advance and I just love it. Lots of familiar stuff here - like that whole bottom right corner, fences 12 through 17, was on course last month. The Holly Hill Garden fence was that biggie that had me so worried.
Also lots of new stuff too, tho, and a longer course all together. Some familiar fences were re-purposed too - particularly fence 8, the Water Coop. Last month we came over the coop in the opposite direction, heading toward a drop into water. We barely made it over the coop last time, and this current set up looks even more challenging for our particular tastes. Canter through water, up a bank, 3-4 steps to a full size coop. Tricky tricky!
Plus there are a couple areas that look like potentially exciting combinations - like fences 6 & 7 - the ramp to a ditch. All in all, looking over the map made me feel like we were gonna get our money's worth on this novice course.
not looking good...
But. No. Won't be riding. Not today, and not for a little while. Because I'm a fucking idiot and broke my fibula taking a bad step down out of my trailer yesterday. Ugh.
what, like you've never seen a curious cat before? he obviously wants in on the ice pack.
The pain isn't too bad, really. Tho initially it was a tad searing. I kinda knew immediately that... probably would be scratching today. And from Loch Moy in two weeks. This might sound insane, but the crushing disappointment has me feeling lower right now than any actual pain from the leg.
Sigh.
cute pony travels! (and you can see the offending trailer step behind him. i fell moments after snapping this pic. good boy didn't flinch at all when I landed more or less underneath him)
So idk. Gotta see a specialist to get the full story, but will probably be out of commission for 4-6 weeks.
In the meantime I have a couple more things to update about (like how Bali came to a lesson at OF and was sooo good!!!), and will still be going to Olde Hope today for moral support for B and Wick in their official BN debut. Bc obviously walking xc courses on crutches is totally normal. Ugh.
After writing about Milagro last week, I went through my phone looking for examples of him doing his thang with tiny lesson kiddos. Sadly nothing presented itself, but I uncovered these photos from earlier this summer when some of the more advanced kids signed up for a lesson with Dan.
left to right: Caballo, Special & Bali, all OTTBs
Because omg, these kids are too much. They took this lesson *super* seriously and dressed the part with all matching everything. It was really a sight to behold lol.
Caballo in blue and Bali in pink (being a butthead about going down the hill, natch)
This particular group of students can be found at the barn pretty much any day of the week and are always eager to help out with lessons and chores and pretty much whatever. They are a great group and have the dedication and drive to become quite talented riders. It's been really cool to watch them progress and improve, especially as they start focusing on showing off property.
Special lookin sharp in green
Meanwhile, today was supposed to be show day at Olde Hope Farms for our second attempt at Novice-lite, and we had planned to make a party out of it. B & Wick were slated for their BN debut, and the lesson program director R planned to bring five students and two horses as well. So I was really looking forward to more of a 'big farm' feel to the show, and especially helping out and cheering on some of these students at their first real off-property show.
Alas, the hurricane and heavy rains put the kibbosh on those plans and the show is rescheduled for Oct 25. So far it's looking like I'll be able to attend, fortunately, but it is a bit of a disappointment.
see, Bali used to be a solid member of the lesson horse squad!
My goals for the outing were simple: pull out a repeat performance from last time (winning score optional... tho they also had NECK RIBBONS and saddle pads as prizes so... not too shabby). I wanted a nice dressage test (tho we haven't had a lesson in forever so it probably would be a little less spectacular than last time) and smoother jumping rounds.
Really the biggest goal was a more confident xc round. Sure, last time was fine, and Isabel handled all the novice-sized fences like she's been doing it her whole life, but we lacked rhythm. Especially with the ditches, banks and water. Ya know. Just like, the holy trinity of cross country. Nbd, right?
I also figured it would serve more or less like glorified schooling again. Oh well, le sigh. Hopefully I can get a schooling in one way or another (maybe with Dan?) sometime in the next few weeks because we'll be heading back to Loch Moy for their second MDHT Fall Starter HT on Oct 18. And... well... I mayyyyyybe made a somewhat gutsy (and peer pressure enabled) choice about which division to enter...
Onto everyone's favorite phase: cross country!! We were already a little hot and sweaty, and I was concerned with how stuck behind my leg Isabel felt. But I also felt really good about the course. There were challenges but I felt prepared and had a plan.
perhaps looking a little more awake than she did before dressage? (sugar cubes help lol)
Going into the event, my intention was to treat it as glorified schooling. Very unlike my plans for Tranquility's xc round - where my number one priority was going clear on cross country (for the first time at BN). And recall at that outing we took every single easy option available.
But that's the thing with me and goals - I set them and stick to them. At Tranquility I *needed* a clear round and made decisions to give me the best shot. At Olde Hope I wanted a taste of novice, but low pressure. So I would take the high options but not beat myself up for mistakes.
fence 1 was shared with BN - kinda an arrowhead shape channeling you to a small berm
I didn't bother with any more warm up fences, preferring to save the horse. Plus the stadium jumps looked pretty solid anyway. And our first two fences on course had no reason to pose any issues. Tho Izzy did honestly look ever so slightly at all this shrubbery surrounding 1. But she ambled over anyway.
a cute skinny also shared with BN (tho still actually sub-BN size)
Fence 2 was hot on its heels and another gimme. Nice and easy. I'm actually not sure which I prefer: a very easy or a very serious first fence or two on course. I like the idea of easing into a rhythm... but then again a more challenging first fence requires me to immediately snap into gear. Idk. These were fine tho so who really cares.
reasonable little coop
My chiro had referred to Olde Hope as 'flat' - which I guess technically it is bc there isn't any change in elevation over on the eastern shore. But actually the course had quite a bit of terrain built in. And we had a little down hill dip going into this coop.
line of ditches!
Then we arrived at the first option fence on course. Three ditches in a row - tho they didn't appear to be any different size (mayyyyybe getting shallower towards the far left) - and a small black pipe jump as the easy option.
not very deep.
Per the plan, I would jump the ditch and aim for the middle one - lest we end up drifting one way or another we'd still be right in front of the obstacle and between the flags.
but actually quite wide
I didn't honestly expect any issues. Our first two ditches ever were at events and Izzy jumped them out of stride (tho she looked). Lately we've schooled them a bit and she always goes over, but hesitates. So I knew she would go over but allowed the hesitation. In retrospect I should have tried harder to drive her over out of stride (since we got there quite nicely) to really establish that we jump the jumps on course. But.... whatevs. We were over it and on our way to fence 5.
another option - shared with BN and Intro
I had to pep talk myself a little bit about sticking to the plan at fence 5. It was a small built-up mound to a drop vs. a teeeeeeeny tiny panel jump. Idk why I even questioned what to do. Maybe bc I thought the change in footing would be spooky? Whatever. Stick to the plan, Emma!
back side of the drop. #notthatbig
I did bring her down to trot, and she did look a little bit... but dropped down without hesitation. Down banks have never caused issue with this mare. Good girl.
wishing wells!
I actually really liked the look of fence 6. Not entirely sure why... but the brain is weird like that. We got a sloppy tight distance anyway tho... but it worked in my favor since I wanted to detour off course with a tight left turn after the fence, and the conservative jump made it that much easier.
this combination..... this raises red flags for me
Because, you see, fence 7 did not look nearly as innocent as the map suggested. In fact, this was one of two areas on course that struck me as likely problem spots.
The fence itself was fine - a level-appropriate coop - but all that stuff behind it looked pretty claustrophobic. It was 2-3 strides to the water (dropping in, natch), with those other un-flagged fences kinda boxing us in.
the drop into water, with fence 8 hangin out in the upper right hand corner
I spent a while pondering what to do here. The water wasn't flagged, so avoiding it was an option. I could have tried to jump one of those other fences instead. But I wanted to ride the line as it was intended. Schooling, ya know? Except I was also a little worried about Isabel backing off of 7 because of all the stuff directly behind it.
my alternate route in red
It wasn't until I walked past the course on my way to stadium that I settled on this plan. Instead of going directly from 6 to 7 on a left hand turn, I would detour left earlier to go around the back side of the water to get Isabel through, so that when we approached 7 from a right turn, she'd have wet feet already and maybe it wouldn't come as such a surprise. Obvi this isn't really how you'd ride a timed course... but whatever. We were just schooling, right?
And I'm glad I did it. Isabel went in without issue, but she DEFINITELY backed off 7 anyway. Like, almost a refusal. But over she went, and down into the water she dropped. Good mare.
i also kinda really like this fence
Then we were off on our merry way - with only one other fence looming large in my mind. But looking back on 8, it's actually a bit bigger than I remembered from my course walk. Probably bc I purposefully didn't get too close to anything that looked like it might be novice-sized on the course walk. I just spotted this from a distance and thought "yep we will jump that" and yep, Isabel jumped it just fine.
wagon!
Same idea for the wagon. Didn't get particularly close while walking. Also purposefully tried not to pay attention when others struggled here (the start box was behind that tower on the left side, so we had ample opportunity to see how this obstacle rode).
I rode it super aggressively tho - you can tell in the helmet cam footage bc my upper body gets really busy when I ride that hard and the view gets shaky... oh well, c'est la vie. It's more important to be effective than soft, right? And we jumped the jump. I was getting pretty tired at this point (Izzy was using up as much support as I could offer) so the footage kinda stays shaky for most of the ride.
kinda a strange up bank - top of the rail is not level with the bank itself
Kept up the hard ride to 10. Isabel backed off but still stepped up the bank with relative ease and just trotted off toward the next fence.
nice let up fence
Fence 11 was just a plain old log. Good for a mental break for hard-thinking pony. She was kinda looking around at this point wondering why there were so many more 'questions' vs. just plain old roll tops and coops to jump but still felt pretty game.
raised path between the woods and the pond
The path from the log down to fence 12 didn't reeeeeally worry me, but I couldn't help but remember the little raised path on course at Waredaca that had Izzy a little jumpy. I think the problem there was just that it was gravelly, and she cantered right along here no problem.
terrain!!
Then it was another example of how Olde Hope wove their terrain into the course. They called 12 the 'berm bump' presumably bc you dropped down from the berm on a fairly steep angle to hit 12 in 2-3 strides.
very simple fence
It was fine tho. The fence didn't look particularly problematic, and I learned on our last schooling outing that maintaining a quality canter is actually easier down hill vs. up hill - the descent helps keep the horse more naturally collected. So we just skipped right over, tho I actually misjudged my line and should have jumped it going left instead of right to set us up better for 13.
probably the biggest fence on course - with 8 a close second
Because fence 13 definitely gave me pause on the walk. And was another one I didn't go anywhere near enough to actually assess size. Nope. I did not need to know haha. All I could think was that we were gonna jump this jump or get eliminated trying.
And I rode my ass off to it (again evidenced by the shaky helmet cam) but she jumped it beautifully. Nice spot, nice effort, nice everything. Up and over with ease. Guys the size is definitely not a problem for this horse.
baby trakehner??
I was SUPER tired by this point but still kept my wits about me. Fence 14 looked like NOTHING - except quite a few riders picked up penalties here. It's a sorta natural ditch with a log over it. Small in stature but perhaps asking the same question as a trakehner? Maybe? Idk. Izzy took a little look but hopped over just fine.
blurry woods!!
Then I opted to trot along through the woods for a little breather (for both of us). Again, I was clearly riding way too slow for a timed course - but that's not really a concern of mine at present. I was more concerned with keeping the horse happy and forward for the final two efforts - plus the ground was hard and rocky. Trotting is totally acceptable under these conditions, in my book.
exit from the woods
I actually took the wrong path out of the woods initially - but fortunately noticed the error of my ways quickly. And Isabel is just so easy - she just slowed back down and turned around and continued trotting down the wooded path like nbd.
back out into the open
Then cantered up out of the correct path to 15. We had a shitty canter tho (my fault) and kinda chipped over it. But nbd. Then it was just a question of navigating a little more terrain and making it to our final fence.
one last option!
Final fence 16 was another option shared with BN and Intro (intro sized fence is not pictured above). I actually had to think a little bit about which was which between BN and Novice. The coop looks like it might be a hair higher, but the ramp/table thingy was much MUCH wider. So that's what I went with. Again with the strong riding (and shaky helmet cam) but she hit it beautifully and cantered through the finish lines to finish the course free of penalties!
Yay!!! First Novice is in the books with a clear xc round! I'm definitely SUPER pumped about this. The cross country round was VERY different from last week's easy romp across OF's course... we had a lot more hesitation here and Isabel needed quite a bit more support from me (including both stick and spur).
But I think I'm ok with it. Most of the fences were soft for the level height-wise, but the questions were still there. Up and down banks. Ditches. Jump right before the water (itself a drop). Something that mayyyyybe resembled a trakehner if you squint hard enough. We definitely spent a lot more time thinking on this course than we did last week at OF, that's for sure.
Ultimately tho I'm quite pleased with how Isabel handled it. We were slow, but careful and ultimately correct. Still not sure exactly what the future holds for us re: BN vs. Novice... but more schooling is probably merited regardless.
verrrry sleepy - but not too sleepy to eat lol also - see how pretty this ribbon is? with the floral streamers?!?
It wasn't until I hopped off from xc that I learned how well positioned we were, too. My decidedly non-horsey mother asked to take Izzy for the walk back to the trailers so I jetted off to the office to check for dressage scores. And learned that I had been in first after dressage!!! The rail in stadium should have dropped me to 3rd... but the xc course proved influential enough that I managed to hang on to the top spot. My first win at an HT ever!!!
isabel loves my parents haha
I'm just so excited about this! What a fun event - definitely glad I went! :D
