friday foto finish: seasonality

Happy Friday, and Happy Fall to those who celebrate! It feels like September is always one of the craziest months of the year, not least because it is a month of transitions. 

August is peak summer in Maryland, with the heat and humidity seamlessly carrying on into September.

We were fortunate to have enough late season rain to keep things luscious and green — even after the last cuttings from the hay field!

Still tho, eventually everything goes to seed for the year — our fields get this gorgeous heather-y purple hue that really brings out the contours and steepness of the hillsides!

We’ve been lucky to get out a lot lately too, and occasionally in larger groups! And Doozy loves the groups. I used to worry that she’d be too chaotic and triggering for other horses but she’s proven me wrong (yet again haha). The vibes are good <3

September also always brings a new tenor of urgency to the show season calendar too. Suddenly stuff needs to happen! Preparations need to be made!

Including the MDCTA’s fall starter, which we’re super excited to be holding at Shawan Downs again!! In just a few short weeks all these jumps are gonna be back out and ready for action!

Doozy, for her part, seems to be happy for the routine. Well. Except occasionally — our early morning dressage lessons sometimes interfere with her nap schedule!

“I need a coffee. And maybe a hug too.” — sleepy Doozy <3

It’s not exactly coffee, but she likes sniffing the lavender potpourri satchel I keep in my helmet bag haha.

And hacking, haha. She likes hacking. We hacked a lot this month, apparently!

The low trail down by the creek finally got cleared of trees again too! I just love the woods this time of year.

Doozy’s been so pleasant and happy out there this month that we’ve actually done some hillside trotting and cantering too!

It’s super important to me that hacking remain a relaxing and fun activity, a nice escape. Obvi being free to run can be its own variation of fun liberating escape — but only if Doozy’s on board with that vibe lol. And lately? She has been !! <3 <3

Tho obvi we probably spend equal time stopping and snacking and chatting LOL.

It’s also been a season for starting to get back out to all the major FEI events — starting with the Plantation Field International!! 

I got to steward the 4* and 1* dressage warm up the day before our own show at Loch Moy and it was super inspiring lol.

I also stuck around long enough to help transition the big hilltop ring from dressage to show jumping — picking up all the boards and blocks etc above and putting down the standards and poles and cups and numbers.

I’m always so amazed by the level of organization and professionalism at these big venues. If you ever have a chance to help with set up for one of these events, you totally should. There’s a lot to it!

As it is, I’m super grateful that the gorgeous Indian Summer weather held fast through that event and our own showing at Loch Moy, bc it’s been rainy and cool ever since. 

Soggy Biscuit actually wore a blankie (and fly boots, go figure) a couple nights this week, esp the night before our last dressage lesson. God forbid she be cold and muddy AND have to go to work lol.

The rain brought in a distinct new crisp coolness to the air. A change in the light and color.

And the sun is setting earlier and earlier, as it always inevitably does.

Fall is my favorite season for riding, tho. I’m honestly kinda glad it’s here, excited to see what it brings! Hope you all have a happy start to the season, and a fantastic fall weekend!

ww: scenic strolls

The recent break in the weather meant basically errybody at the barn was trying to get out into the fields and woods to soak up the pleasantness. And naturally Doozy was super jazzed to join the parties!

I’m sometimes a little hesitant to take her out in very mixed company bc she’s so animated and energetic I worry she could trigger a nervous horse or instigate a race to the front. 

But that hasn’t happened yet! Most of our riding buddies either share Doozy’s electric joie de vivre or are satisfied to mosey along and occasionally trot to catch up LOL,

Doozy, for her part, doesn’t really seem to care one way or another what the other horses are doing.

Tho she definitely seems to generally prefer company.

And actually I think she likes following too. We often end up in front on the narrow paths in the woods just bc she’s the fastest walker, but if there’s a horse who wants or needs to be in front, she’s happy to relinquish the spot even if it means being stuck behind a slower walker.

There are a couple trees down in the woods right now actually that look like they’ll be fun to jump - hopefully they’re still there when Doozy’s ready!

Once we’re back out into the hay fields tho it’s easier to sorta mosey along as a group vs single file.

And natch, easier to get pictures of everybody LOL!

Doozy is so funny too… she obvi knows the route bc we take the same loop more or less every time, but she’s often her slowest when we turn toward home.

The happiest clam, I think she would have strolled along behind these horses forever haha.

Tho obvi it’s nice to be back at the barn too bc that’s where the #snax are lol…

“garçon! my snax!!!” - impatient mare

But there’s always another day, esp when the weather is this nice!

Doozy was super happy to go strutting off into the woods all proud of herself the day after her grand return to horse showing at Tranquillity haha.

Honestly, what a gorgeous day!

Tho Doozy was slightly sad that they’d been thru to cut and bale the hay already, it made her “grab ‘n go” snacking technique a little more challenging on the steep hills haha…

All good tho, obvi we stopped often anyway esp for pics!!

All my friends have phones with cameras so much nicer than mine, it’s insane.

Like honestly LOL… I knew my phone was old and clunky but maybe it’s finally time for an upgrade so I can return the favor of getting such nice pics (odd outfit choices aside!) haha.

As it is, tho, ain’t a bad way to spend a summer day, amirite??

spring dun sprung

It’s kinda hilarious because I was in Minneapolis for most of last week, where it, ahem, SNOWED OMG. And then right back to 80*F here in Maryland… Well, ok, it’s 60*F again after a little spring showers, but still.

pictured: NEON GREEN OMG
(and also a fox that you can’t see but doozy sure as shit can!)

We’ve had enough warmth and strong sun that it’s officially green around these parts! Sorry if you have tree pollen allergies lol bc even just these pictures might be enough to make you sneeze!

the big trees are still mostly bare but all the smaller blossoming types are in full bloom!
from here we’ll travel down the central valley crease all the way to the right before going into the woods to eventually emerge again by those top left trees

Obvi with the aforementioned spring showers, our outdoor ring closed again, but it would be a crime to ride indoors on a day like this, so Doozy and I snuck out for a little wander around the hillsides and neighboring woods <3

woods are not super green yet

I personally love capturing the changing of seasons through familiar photos of our favorite hacking haunts… Tho for those of you who feel like once you’ve seen one “between the ears” shot, you’ve seen them all… Well. Feel free to skip ahead to the cat gif at the end of the post — that one’s just for you!

ooooh but we made it all the way down to the stream bottom!! doozy was not as excited about it as i was LOL

Anyway, tho, obvi with my travel last week, Doozy got a bit of time off. Maybe not ideal, but also not really any sort of deal — let alone a ‘big’ one — these days either. Doozy’s first flat school after 5 days of no riding was… perfectly normal, no antics, just a nice little wtc ride! 

as you can see, this path is often blocked by fallen trees

Maybe the horse is finally growing up a bit that she can just be normal after a little time off? Or, maybe more realistically, I’m doing better about setting expectations for myself and riding proactively?? Like, Doozy probably isn’t going to be the type of horse that you can just say, ‘eh let’s just have an easy relaxed ride!’ Not that it can’t BE easy and relaxed, it just can’t in the absence of clear and proactive guidance.

climbing back up again

Doozy will fill whatever voids or vacuums you leave her, and usually not the way you would have chosen! 

verdant green fields are like a siren’s song

She’s been good, tho. Our last couple rides before my trip were solid too — including another lesson with Sally from which there is exactly zero media, sorry. It was at a new to us farm, too — one that was slightly more convenient driving traffic-wise for a week day.  

ooooh but first, doozy’s favorite sort of target LOL

And Doozy was good! Slightly wild, since it was our first time jumping since Loch Moy. Wanting to call the shots a bit. Tho we incorporated a lot of trotting cavaletti at the start of each exercise, and I tried to stay consistent and steady without getting totally in her face. 

i call this “reading the news” haha

I wouldn't say she really got ‘better’ tho until we finished with slightly larger jumps and more of them strung together in courses vs ‘one-at-a-time.’ The starting and stopping is the hardest part for Doozy, well. Especially the starting. She likes to try to turn herself inside out and get really inverted and hopping with anticipation. 

popping back out by those pretty blossoming trees again!

Sally mostly wasn’t worried about it, tho did advise that I do my best to keep us straight. It’s her experience that once a horse starts going sideways it can be a really difficult habit to resolve. This feels like a timely bit of feedback for us too, especially as I continue to experiment with ways to let Doozy travel more fluidly forward with less restriction in the bridle. 

it’s like an emergence metaphor or something <3

One approach has been to integrate more intentional lateral work into especially our canters — as you may recall we practiced with trainer C in our last lesson. The benefits are twofold with this exercise: 1) it keeps me focused on intentionally telling Doozy what to do, where to go, vs reactively just holding her back; and 2) it reinforces the leg aids as a balancing, organizing tool vs just noise and “omg it’s touching me!” 

back out in the big hay fields, next stop will be by that pink circle

My longer term hope is to get schooled enough with the intentional lateral work at all gaits that we can almost get the feeling of replicating the in and out spiral feelings, but even just from one step to the next. And that this lateral work, more rapidly (but also on more miniature scale) suppling from side to side, will make it easier to break up Doozy’s longitudinal nose-to-tail tension and tendency toward inversion so that we can actually stay straighter. 

as promised, heading back to the barn yard

It doesn’t sound like it should make sense — using lateral work to stay straighter vs risking running sideways as an evasion… But in practice it feels like it works — feels like it helps prevent Doozy from shortening so much in her neck? 

doozy! look pretty!! i want people to notice what’s different!

Idk lol, the trick is to remember the approach when we’re actually in the moment while jumping around a course! 

doozy, c’mon!! i want ‘Vanna White,’ not “living in a van”

Soon enough, soon enough. Well. Hopefully VERY soon lol… And in the meantime we’ll have another dressage lesson with trainer C, possibly right at the very moment you’re reading this! 

“what did you just say to me??” — doozy

And also hopefully soon another lesson with Dan… As is predictable, rallying the troops to schedule something at home is hard to do in the best of times, so we’ll see. It may be that we travel to him next time instead.

it’s cool, virtual cookies to anybody who notices what’s different in these pics

Basically just trying to get all the lessons all the time right now LOL, but gettin done what needs doing in the meantime as needed. 

and anyway. cats. 
it’s important to note that Ol Geezer is growling basically nonstop here LOL

That’s the nice thing about Doozy getting more grown up — it’s getting easier and easier to plan out predictable practice sessions to make the most of our time between lessons. I’m also experimenting with a few equipment changes too, tho more on that later. 

In the meantime, spring is here. It’s lovely, and we’re 100% getting into the swing of it! Hope y’all are enjoying it too!! Or at least not suffering too much from allergies!