let ‘er rip, part ii

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

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

hangin out at the trailer until lesson time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

so there’s a new face in town, Jojo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

friday foto finish

Happy Friday, folks! Anybody else feel like schedules are starting to get a little chaotic with the close of summer and impending fall? At least around here, esp with all our recent events and whatnot, we’ve kinda been running from one thing to the next, without much downtime.

the softest schnozz <3 <3

I like being busy, don’t get me wrong — but I also like being able to sit down and reflect on the totality of what all is up in the Land of Dooz erry now and again. So let’s take a quick trip thru all the various random photos that have accumulated on my phone in recent weeks without landing in any dedicated post.

such a pro at the trailer these days

For starters, a couple recent lessons have slipped a bit thru the cracks — but maybe deserve some attention. In the weeks leading up to Waredaca we rode with both longtime dressage trainer C, and new eventing trainer Woodge, and both lessons were excellent. And then we had yet another lesson with trainer C yesterday. So let’s get caught up, yes?

young bucks were racing around the cornfields outside of trainer C’s ring like they were running the daytona deertona 500 lol

I’m continuing to really enjoy intermingling these two trainers, and feel like Doozy benefits so much from the slightly different approaches. Idk if it’s just a dressage thing, or maybe just a trainer C thing, but we seem to be able to let Doozy travel along a bit more in these lessons while helping her find her balance in the forward — vs feeling constricted or held back.

we had a good lesson anyway <3 not that it made much difference for waredaca tho, womp

The focus has stayed on continuing to establish and sustain a fluid inside bend thru Doozy’s whole body — utilizing circles, serpentines, spirals, and leg yields to help achieve the right positioning and posture in the horse. 

In one lesson, Doozy was really getting it in one direction, and really locked up going the other way, so we used one-loop serpentines to slowly introduce the difficult bend in more ‘bite-sized’ steps when she was already traveling well in her stronger direction. 

and yet another pre-waredaca lesson, this time with new eventing trainer, and we jumped jomps!

For my purposes, I’m working on thinking more about ‘lifting my chest’ vs ‘shoulders back’ as that seems to be a more effective mental trigger to help me sit taller. Also thinking about ‘knee down’ vs ‘leg long’ as again this slight variation on the terms helps me arrive in an overall better posture. 

Other current inner mantras include reminding myself to feel the balls of both feet pushing equally into each stirrup footbed — to help me stay sitting centered and down on the horse. And trying to unlock my arms in canter while keeping my torso more still. Feels like rubbing my tummy while tapping my head, but y’all know how it is lol.

we changed farriers at the end of last summer and our experience this year has been so much better. note that little white squidge of some sort of epoxy-esque substance he’s started using under the clips to reduce chipping and damage 

Our recent lesson with Woodge was a good one too — and she moved us fairly briskly thru our warm up and into some jumping exercises — including multiple jumps in a row, and approaching jumps in canter omg. The whole focus seemed to be on utilizing shorter turns on landing to try to show Doozy the importance of not blasting away from every jump. 

another day, another ride. we practiced circles in this session lol, can you tell?

Doozy, for her part, has been an absolute princess for all of these lessons. Which again, can be hard to believe considering how we performed at Waredaca. But I swear, the mare is really getting it. 

And when the pieces come together and she finds her balance, it suddenly becomes so easy — for both of us! Suddenly I feel like I’m sitting up tall like the queen and all my body parts are where they belong. And Doozy feels like she’s floating along, continuing to unlock stride length and suspension. 

slicked with mtg… #pray4us

The trick, I think, will honestly come down to management. Doozy is so sensitive, she has such big reactions, I suspect even the littlest issue or discomfort or complaint can morph into a giant problem in the added pressure and atmosphere of a big show. 

clever biscuit knows how to customize her hay nets for a perfect fit

Her saddle fit situation, for example, has kinda been a nagging low grade issue for a couple months now. I don’t think anything is wrong with the saddle itself — it looks like it was made for the horse. But we think it sat unused for probably a couple years, and the flocking keeps doing weird things. 

My local rep has been super helpful with frequent visits for ‘micro adjustments,’ but we haven’t quite resolved a somewhat specific issue. So we’re gonna squeeze in to an appt at trainer C’s next week with a very established longtime fitting professional who travels the region, and see what he has to say. 

ta da!

Another management area I want to shore up revolves around gastric health. Doozy doesn’t have any indications you’d associate with a classically ulcery horse — except the extreme tension and reactivity (at times). And, obvi, her lifestyle of frequent travel and training. It’s not hard to believe she may have low grade inflammation at the very least, and probably maybe more than that — even if it’s not a raging case.

post-lesson, feeling like a princess <3

So we started another month long treatment of omeprazole, and will continue to supplement with the sucralfate — which I rely on heavily for routine management. Ooh and that Triple Crown Stress Free fortified forage — that’s just so so so useful to have on hand for keeping bellies full of forage even in stressful situations (like at a horse show or while trailering).

Personally, I *do* expect to see a positive difference from the treatment. And hopefully from there, a positive difference in her ability to cope with stress or tension, fingers crossed lol.

and so it goes, on and on!

Presumably a better rider than me would have more tools or abilities for getting Doozy unlocked when she’s as tight and explosive as she was for dressage warm up. IMO, tho, it’s a helluva a lot easier to not let her get that dialed up in the first place. 

And if that can be accomplished through management practices? All the better lol. We’re all happier when Doozy is happy!! Plus, there’s still so much more fun stuff ahead of us in the coming months, and maybe even this weekend! So we’ll do what it takes. Hope y’all have a good one too!

getting it

I’ve said from the very start with Doozy that the plan was always to ‘take it slow.’ Charlie taught me many, many lessons — more than a few of which I was not quite ready (or entirely willing) to learn. Chief among them: there isn’t some magical destination which, upon reaching, aha - we have unlocked fulfillment!

another lesson without compelling media, sorry guys!

Going bigger, higher, faster is not necessarily a reward unto itself, it turns out. Especially when the dogged pursuit means rushing through or under appreciating what should be special memorable experiences. For example, like when I’d walk away from a horse show feeling frustrated bc it wasn’t “good enough” for our move up plans, when actually in reality it should have been a happy and fun day and literally nobody robbed me of that joy except for myself.

In fact, it’s easily arguable that this overall approach is what ultimately took a lot of the fun out of competing entirely. If you only want one thing, and you ‘fail’ at that thing… it’s hard to not feel like, well, a failure, ya know?

did remember to nab pics of our new stirrup leathers tho — Henri de Rivel nylon lined in chocolate, paid ~$55 at Dover.
first impressions: they feel great under the leg — flat, smooth, and unobtrusively easy to put my leg where i want it

So with Doozy, I’m really trying to do things a little differently. Tho, human nature being what it is, it’s also been easy to subconsciously slide into old mentalities and thought processes. 

Like when Doozy finished the season so well last year, and was out and about starting to jump bigger things in clinics, it felt natural to assume that, well, we’d probably move up to BN at the beginning of this year’s season — and maybe even finish the year at N. 

it’s a tougher leather with exposed nylon backing, compared to a very soft leather encasing a nylon core on pricier styles

It seemed like a reasonable idea at the time — bc doesn’t it always?? But obviously we all know by now how very vastly differently this year started out for us. And real talk? I’m kinda a little grateful for the interruption and reminder to think through what it is I really want. 

Bc…. What I want is to have fun at horse shows, feel confident about what we’re doing, and not feel like I’m betting quite so heavily on the good will and nature of my horse to carry us through sketchier moments. 

i loved these Passiers and perhaps 5 years is a reasonable life span for that style (paid ~$85 new on ebay in 2020), but they are well and truly dead. maybe the tougher HDR leathers will last longer?

In fact, reading back through this post of Charlie’s second season opener (which I linked to in an unrelated post a couple weeks ago) really drove home that… While that experience was well and fine for that era in my riding life, I’m really kinda trying to go for something, erm, a little different now haha.

anything for Ms Princess, who had to have another saddle check (just 6 weeks after the last flocking) bc we are having a recurring problem likely related to our codependent crookedness… her back looked all clear after our lesson tho!

And. Obviously, Doozy is not Charlie. I got lucky with him in so many ways, I got away with a lot haha. Not quite sure the results would be the same with this funny little firecracker mare lol.

anyway, the rest of the pics are from hacking out. can you believe this is AUGUST grass??? unreal

She is an exciting horse tho, and I’m excited with the progress we’re making on this new and different approach — this rigorous dogged pursuit of…. wait for it… the fundamentals. 

We finally had another lesson with event trainer Woodge this week (recall she was traveling for her own competition last week and so we snuck in a reunion with dressage trainer C), yet another session of “remedial trotting.” And guys, Doozy was brilliant omg <3

 

doozy likes marching me straight up to these clusters of mouth-height tall grasses lol

No media, obvi, so you’ll have to take my word for it. Which, natch, is up to you haha. It’s hard to go from earning 50% on a dressage test to swearing up and down that a horse is fantastic on the flat, but here we are lol.

woods are still full of (suspicious) ferns! they cut a new high trail too — on soft loam vs the rocky stream bottom, so we actually got to do a few little log jompies omg, and doozy was super chill about them!

We stayed almost exclusively on a 20m circle for the full lesson, and only ever did sustained walking and trotting (a few bits of canter snuck in, but only temporarily). 

The circle had jump standards with poles at 3o’clock and 9o’clock (ie bisecting the circle, and we essentially carved a horse-width sized track into the footing. Noting: the width of our track should be equally narrow all the way around, not just where the poles were.

i love how her hacking confidence keeps growing <3 <3

The focus was all about posture — both mine and Doozy’s — while maintaining inside bend and outside shoulder control. Which actually felt like a really really complementary next lesson after riding with Trainer C last week. Like we kinda put the ‘yin’ and the ‘yang’ together finally.

happy marching across hill and dale, away from and back toward home!

And Doozy was so good — was able to have moments where she really felt on the aids, stable, balanced, could do thoughtful balanced serpentine changes of direction inside the 20m circle at trot, could shift down to a 15m circle over just one of the pole exercises while Woodge adjusted the other, and basically just settled into trotting over the various pole configurations like it’s easy and boring. Good girl!

oooooh the butterfly bush is blooming again!

The pole configurations included going from single poles at each end, to sets of two poles (at trotting distance), to three poles (still trotting), to one side actually having a little cross rail — which was SUPER EXCITING the first time, but boring thereafter — then back to finishing with four trot poles on each end. 

Not groundbreaking stuff, guys. But it was incredible to feel the difference in how easy it was for me to sit tall and still with long legs, shoulders back, and hands together and down when Doozy was so secure in her own balance and posture. It’s really clear how much we feed off each other’s instability in the chaos lol.

i love riding out with friends, but sometimes going solo is nicer for letting doozy power walk to her heart’s content

And funny enough, more than once (more than three times, if we’re being honest) Woodge asked what I did differently in a moment of softness… and all I could do was just shrug like, “I dunno, Doozy just got it?” Again it really felt like the pieces we’ve been working on since riding with Trainer C were super complementary to the approach Woodge is taking with us, which may or may not inform my scheduling choices for the foreseeable future. 

Regardless, and kinda back to my main earlier point — It’s exciting to see where Doozy is right now. And liberating in a way to remind myself that there’s no clock, there’s no rush. The reward is in the positive experience, the horse that “gets it.” 

And it’s giving me an entirely new and unfamiliar — but GOOD — kind of rush when I click “submit payment” on entry forms. Who knew that was even an option LOL :D

keepin’ up with mondeuse

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

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

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

grateful for indoor riding spaces

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

also grateful that the daily evening thunderstorms break up the heat

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

i swear i did not edit the colors in this pic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#Perspective, y’all. It matters haha. 

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

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

straight up gangsta posin’ for the camera

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

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

she’s a special biscuit <3

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

Ah well, ‘tis the season, I suppose!

lesson + a little xc

Happy Monday, y’all — hope any US readers enjoyed a long weekend full of fun activities, horsey or otherwise! We managed to pack in all my faves, including a lesson, some xc, and a reunion vineyard trip with former barn mates, all without feeling overbooked or frazzled. It was nice!

somebody, not naming any names, but somebody finally chewed thru her expensive rubber nathe bit…
she’s wearing the level 1 Myler comfort snaffle in this pic, for those curious

At one point in my blogging life, I would have split everything into individual single-topic posts… But. Eh. There isn’t really enough compelling media for that, and plus… I promise, there aren’t really all that many associated words either. 

sorry to only ever really have pics of the horse at the trailer for these lessons… it is what it is!

The lesson was another good productive session that was still more or less ‘remedial trotting.’ Continuing to lean in to the idea of using bend and lateral flexion to achieve the pace I want. Which, apparently, will be our focus for the foreseeable future LOL!

ooh i took a pic of her in the ring tho!

Basically doing our best to always stay on some sort of circle — even if that means sorta spiraling down a long side to get where we wanna go. Changing bend and being more obvious and guiding with opening reins to really make it super clear what I want from Doozy. And being more intentional about truly round circles, not letting Doozy get pancake-y falling in or out on one side of the circle or the other. 

and a little snapshot of our remedial cross rails lol

Woodge was a fan of the new bit, which we wore for the first time in this lesson. She felt like our reasons for going in the nathe these last few months made sense and it was probably an effective ‘era’ for us, but that Doozy is ready for something a little more sophisticated. And that with this bit we could get more lateral bend, compared to the sort of “elevator music” reaction we sometimes got with the nathe. 

post-lesson goofy faces

And Doozy went pretty quietly in it too — none of the rattley jittery bouncing off feeling we got in the KK, which had a bit more play than this comfort snaffle. Even when we got to the jumping, she stayed pretty quiet in her mouth didn’t throw her ears into my face any more than usual (lol). 

 

another day, another set of gymnasties. this time bounces at home!

The jumping itself was good too, tho still in what I’d consider “remedial” territory. We just focused on trotting a single cross rail with placing poles, halting after. Circling off each rein until quiet and balanced with correct bend, then approaching with a careful focus on straightness. 

A big focus this ride was letting Doozy travel more forward in trot vs holding her back on that itty bitty little restrained trot that kinda gives her no choice but to explode at the jump. But… It’s a balancing act bc the space between “more forward” and “too forward” is very very small lol. 

oooh and lookie, we’re back at the trailer again

All in all, good practice tho, and we carried all of it forward into our schooling ride at home the next day, including continuing to work on our circular circles, true bend, and traveling more forward while still in trot to a fun little bounce exercise. 

xc schooling at tranquillity!

Which, naturally led to the weekend’s most fun aspect — another little xc schooling trip to Tranquillity! Y’all might remember we sorta made a habit of frequent low key visits last fall, and I’ve been eager to get back on the band wagon. 

Tho timing can be a little tricky — most of the nicest jumps travel to Shawan for the MCTA events in June, and as of two weeks ago when we were here for the Mill show, the jumps were still just sitting in piles from coming off the trailers. I figured there would be plenty to jump regardless, but luckily the jumps have since made their way back out into the fields, yay!

the more things change, the more the stay the same lol

It was a good schooling session too. Nothing really new, nothing we haven’t really done before, but that’s also kinda the point. Just keeping it regular and routine. And in this manner we achieved a ride that was productive and efficient. Including starting with a warm up of trotting around in the field that *wouldn’t* put my coach to shame lol! 

(Compared to my normal approach of kinda just surviving a few trot and canter circles before starting to jump things)

wheeee up bank combinations!

The jumps were almost all pretty good efforts, too. No inverted deer leaps, and for the most part I was able to avoid any moments of just pulling straight back on the mare by again working to use turning and lateral bend where possible. 

trying to be civilized on long lines

It’s clear that we don’t get a ton of practice cantering fences, tho. For as much as I understand my coach’s approach in the lessons, I’m also not sure she really realizes how much better Doozy is at cantering jumps vs trotting them. Which, fair, I can totally appreciate why you might think it’d be a hot mess express lol! 

finished with something just ever so slightly bigger lol

But the same thing we worked on in the lesson at trot — traveling more forward than the tightly compressed holding back stride, but not too forward and bolting the fence — we need to practice at canter too. I made a few mistakes about holding for one-too-many (an old habit of mine) but we finished well, and got some nice practice with both single fences and semi - related distances. 

helmet cam video for those inclined

The forecast is calling for something like 3” of rain coming off the Atlantic this week, plus that crazy storm system that just devastated Texas over the weekend… So I’m not sure how much more we’re really going to get done in the coming days.

back at the trailer, yet again, ready to go home lol

I’m glad we made it out this weekend, tho — for once, the weather + timing gods seemed to smile on our plans. And any good routine has to start somewhere, amirite? Doesn’t have to be perfect, we’ll take our positive mileage and enjoy it, and hopefully look forward to the next time!