a sticky situation

Poor Ms Doozy was left all alone for a few days while I was out of town for work. The sadness, my friends, it was extreme.

the saddest biscuit

I’d let her have the couple days prior to my trip off from riding too bc honestly it was just sorta like, ‘eh, what’s the point?’ when I really had some other stuff to get done anyway.

poor thing, living in such squalor, brutally exposed to the warm spring sun… truly. she’d MUCH rather be working, but — *alas!* — she lost a shoe in the muck. what a shame, eh?

And then naturally, the weather warmed up, the horses were all kicked out to frolic in the mud, and roll and roll and roll around, scratching that spring shedding itch… Truly. A difficult life!

there’s zero chance this survives the mud lol, but it’ll protect her from rubs while stalled

Sweet princess managed to survive all that catastrophe with heroic stoicism, however. And was hale and hearty when I finally got home and saddled up for our first ride back. And naturally she was a perfect princess for that ride too! Perhaps the first time I’ve EVER been able to say that about Doozy after so many days in a row off work lol…

bright eyed biscuit legit lives for being fussed over lol

But, much to Doozy’s intense dismay (obviously!) she was not able to repeat the achievement, having subsequently lost a shoe to the deep sticky mud the very next day. 

it’s soft enough outside she doesn’t really need the cloud boot, but hopefully by wearing it while stalled we’ll reduce the chance of her getting sore?

Clearly her regret was palpable… Especially after the clocks changed this weekend and the barn decided to let the horses have extended turnout hours… Obvi she would have much rather been working!

lol she’s already bored tho, and getting ready to spook herself touching the trash can ha

But no. Circumstances being what they were, we couldn’t possibly run the risk of bruising her delicate tootsies. Siiiiigh, such a shame.

 

anyway. unrideable horses must suffer the consequences. and suffer for their beauty, ahem.

Tho. Joke’s on Doozy, I guess, bc in Emma’s world, horses that can’t work might find themselves subject to other, ahem, indignities. 

snip snip, mother fuckers!

Like, say, whatever the opposite is of “world class grooming” haha… hahahaha.

washed a winter’s worth of grime out of the tail, and gave that a tidy little trim too!

Tho before you get too worried for Doozy’s overall safety and wellbeing, I will say we’ve been having pretty decent luck keeping her mane in order with the solo comb pulling method (basically where you tease up the hair as if you were pulling, but then snip the solo comb as close the root as possible).

“bitch did you just cut me?” — doozy, aghast

Her bridle path is still a scissor job, tho. And, ahem, a pretty bad job at that. Bc with Doozy, you really only get ONE snip. So, uh, make it count? 

This horse, I swear. You can practically hear her whining, “but my hair hurts!!” with every little snip. Her chiro / acupuncturist once observed that Doozy has a ‘long pain memory,’ and it really makes ya wonder what they must have done to keep her trimmed up on the track. 

“whatever, so long as there’s #snax”

And so it goes, tho, amirite? I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to get the shoe reset asap. But in the meantime, I’ll probably keep her in the cloud boot at least overnights in the stall to provide relief from any soreness. Presumably the boot wouldn’t stand a chance against the same mud that claimed a shoe, right? We’ll see, tho. Cross your fingers for us!

anyway. enjoy some mountains, pic snapped from the window of my uber bc i just had time for meetings while traveling, womp

And in the meantime, if temps stay so warm and pleasant, Ms Thing might find herself subject to an actual first full bath of the season!! 

We’ll see, tho, let’s not get too crazy haha, it’s still early days of March! Happy daylight savings, friends!

beaver moon

Whelp it finally happened. The clocks finally changed, and we’re officially into post-season territory. 

it’s so pretty at dusk — almost makes up for the early nightfall!

As much as I’d like to complain tho… Well, eh, it’s actually been a pretty mild and pleasant week, all things considered. Still practically t-shirt weather (maybe with a light layer), and obvi a pretty relaxed vibe this week given our last big outing of the season is over.

pic from our last lesson before the show, but also representative of what we’ll be doing today too

Or at least, last big ‘competitive’ outing. Realistically speaking, I’ll probably stay on the books with Woodge until she heads south for the winter. And I’m also looking to more proactively front load the winter season calendar with educational activities like clinics and things.

last lesson before the show focused on the small footwork grid in top left corner

Last winter I put together a calendar of epic proportions, with all manner of dressage and gymnastic sessions with some very exciting clinicians (like an old favorite, Martin Douzant!). 

But we only made it to the first big to-do  — an xc clinic on the Loch Moy derby course with Sharon White. The rest of our plans fell apart when winter hit us with two big back to back storms, and then Doozy got that suspected hoof bruise and spent the next four months NQR….

set myself a grid at home with more, er, *height* to finish show prep. naturally it poured buckets the day before so we had to be inside, but made it work anyway

Naturally that could happen again this year. Somehow, despite being such a manic control freak, I still haven’t figured out how to bend mother nature to my will, le sigh. 

pretty mare + pretty moon

But ya know. Hope springs eternal. Or something like that. November is my birthday month, and I always like to treat myself to something horsey. There are two clinic opportunities this month on my radar that look super exciting, too. And I also have a Loch Moy schooling pass set to expire by the end of the year burning a hole in my pocket. Hopefully will find a use for that too!

she’s trying to figure out why i’m so late in arriving

But ya know. Scheming aside, we’re mostly kinda just easing into the season. Our outdoor ring at home isn’t lighted, so we’ve been mostly relegated to the indoors since the time change. It’s not my favorite for a few reasons — 1) it can be pretty spooky to Doozy when we’re alone; but then 2) it’s hard to do much more than loose figures and circles when sharing with lessons. 

“where have you been????” — doozy, eager for her #afterdinnersnacks

So the nature of our rides naturally has to shift a little bit. Less of a focus on immersing completely into one of our Brit-bot ride guides, bc realistically it’s just not practical to go deep on specific exercises, gaits or figures when you’re sharing a 30x40m space with lesson ponies who may or may not cut every corner. 

who could resist that sweet face???

Instead, it’s a much more relaxed vibe. Riding Doozy as long and low as she’s willing to go, loose floaty forward gaits, sweeping figures, changes of directions, transitions, riding our footsteps intentionally and smoothly off minimalistic seat and leg aids, as we thread the needle amidst the lesson kiddos. 

For now, that’s good enough to still be a lovely way to unwind and unplug after yet another day spent working in spreadsheets or on zoom calls lol. Tho maybe as the season wears on I’ll get more ambitious and try to spice it up with grid nights or something. 

Who knows, we’ll see! And in the meantime, we’ll enjoy our lowkey casual rides <3

on suitability

Way back when Doozy had her first ever jump lesson in a random pop-up clinic, the clinician surprised me by asking whether the mare was ‘for me’ or intended as a resale project. 

Not ‘surprised’ in a bad way, per se, but rather… idk, it’s a red mare with crooked legs. She ain’t exactly the most marketable horse just at face value — and that’s before you even consider her temperament or training. No no, I bought the mare for myself, for better or worse.

pics today are unrelated. doozy just loves her ponies lol

My criteria were relatively simple. I’ve known and loved a LOT of horses over the years, and was confident about picking my kind of disposition. Beyond that, I wanted an OTTB aged 6 or younger (since I expected to have Charlie for many more years, and wanted a big enough age gap to avoid owning two late teen / early 20s horses) that had nice movement and build.

The idea was to get a horse that I could continue to grow and develop with, to keep pushing the boundaries of my own education, and to continue gaining experience in the sport of eventing. 

i think opal loves her too <3

And Doozy is all these things! Granted, she’s less quiet overall in temperament than I expected based on my first meeting her. But she is still absolutely the horse I thought she was. I can watch this video again today and see the qualities that originally drew me to her: namely, her strong desire to connect with the people (and dogs lol) around her, her overall style of movement, and general forward thinking and interactive nature.

omg could it be?? our first ride **outside** in MONTHS???

So far, our journey together has been basically exactly what I’d hoped for in terms of getting back into competing. The mare loves to jump and seems particularly well suited to eventing. Obviously the dressage comes a little less easily given her natural tendencies toward tension and hollowness, but even so, it still feels like we’re advancing and making progress and that’s basically all I ask haha.

we both just adore this ring

I still think about contingencies, tho, especially after such a rough January with the mare’s presumed hoof bruise and subsequent slow recovery. Doozy had some straight up wild and unhinged rides trying to get going again after that time off. For better or worse, she is NOT going to be the “same horse” after a break. 

In fact, I wrote this past summer that the best way to think about her is along the lines of, whatever she was yesterday, she’s a little more that way today. And even more tomorrow. Meaning, if yesterday you had an “ok” ride in that it happened and nobody died, then today maybe your ride might be ‘actually not bad!,’ and tomorrow the mare might be legitimately lovely.

It cuts both ways, tho. If the mare had yesterday off, then today she might be feeling quite pleased with her liberty, and by tomorrow might be borderline feral.

spent some time picking up all the standards that blew over in recent wind. left all the pole piles for next time tho

For a lot of folks, depending on how horses fit into the overall balance of your lives, this can pose real challenges for consistently enjoying a predictable horsey experience when other priorities in life keep us away from the barn. This has proven true for me too — whether it be bc one of my (favorite, but still) colleagues keeps selling me into projects that require more frequent travel… Or ya know, bc Doozy was lame.

pretty sure doozy was happy to be out again

The lameness itself was particularly concerning. Charlie, may he be resting in wonderful horsey heaven, was always a fragile sort of dude. The King of the Dings. We were always dealing with random stints of time off or rebuilding. But he WAS the same horse no matter what. Mr. Reliability. And by the end of his riding career, I’d found all sorts of ways to manage around his fragility while still enjoying fun adventures together. 

That’s…. not quite the case with Doozy. Doozy is straight up not currently of a temperament and disposition to be fragile lol. She needs ridden. Consistently, every day, and occasionally with some degree of exertion. Like I am NOT a “wet saddle pads” kind of horse trainer, but Doozy does best when she’s had a chance to move out.

she likes spying on all the distant fields

Ideally at some point she’ll grow up a bit more and be more “confirmed” in her training that I could imagine her in a broader variety of riding jobs with different types of riders. Bc let’s be real, if she ended up not being suitable for *me,* it’s not exactly likely that somebody with greater skills or aspirations than me would swoop in to snatch her up, ya know? 

oooh we had company too

Tho ya know… obviously at this point it’s all just academic navel gazing anyway. Sure, the mare challenges me and is a handful, but as long as she’s sound for the task I’m so excited for the future with her and have exactly zero hopes of needing to actually execute on any alternative contingencies. 

She might not be suited for much else, but she’s *exactly right* for the job as my eventing & adventuring & go everywhere & do everything horse lol. 

she’s adarlyn <3

Topics like this are interesting to me, tho. Suitability in general is such a huge topic, there are so many variables that can go into it — with massively different emphasis or prioritization depending on your own personal preferences. Like, for some folks, having a horse that can reasonably cope with a more sporadic schedule is a must. 

good mare

For a lot of folks I know, actually probably most, any ‘performance potential’ in the horse is absolutely secondary (or tertiary) to disposition and temperament. The vast majority of horse enthusiasts I’ve known over the years are riding within the realm of 3’ jumping or 1st / 2nd level dressage — activities most sound + reasonably built horses can accomplish easily. 

lol #wild

So it’s all the other qualities of the horse that grow in importance. Do I like spending time with the horse? Is the horse pleasant to be around, do I feel safe handling it? Riding it? Does our time together bring joy more often than frustration? Am I able to do the sorts of things I *want* to be doing with the horse, or is there an obstacle related to the horse itself that’s stopping me?

spring is coming!

For me, personally, my answers to these questions might be fluid and change over time. What I want in a horse today might not be the same as in 5 years, or 10. And ya know… As was true with Charlie, sometimes we adapt and evolve with our horses’ changing abilities over time too. 

There are so many ways to derive joy and fulfillment from a horsey lifestyle, ya know? Tho at least for me, at this moment in my life, I’m still really eager to get that saddle time every day — to be working toward competition goals that involve running and jumping lol. And so far, Doozy seems to be all aboard with that objective. 

Here’s hoping for more of the same in the year to come!

cursed chaos

If for some weird reason, archeologists from the future examined my credit card statements to analyze what Doozy and I got up to this past month, they might reasonably believe our January was… Epic.

winter: not as epic as advertised

Like all well-intentioned plans, ours was slated to be awesome. We’d capitalize on the momentum from the December clinic with Sharon White by starting the month with an entry in Loch Moy’s January XC Derby.  

“Reading the News Feed”

Then, straight back to basics with another clinic — this time with Martin Douzant, with whom I lessoned a few times with Charlie to excellent effect and have been very eager to try again. 

Derailment #1 of 2025

Then the next week, another cavaletti clinic with our favorite dressage trainer C (one of the last real activities Charlie did before retiring), and the week after - another dressage clinic but this time with a different local professional who has long been on my list. And ya know, a few other options for shuffling things around should need be. Gotta have options!

It was a worthy experiment i guess, but the bit wrap had to go

Except. Well. Options or no options, literally NONE of that happened. Wompppp lol.

Somebody has been a bit wild. Must be the other red one tho…

It all started innocently enough — Doozy got a nasty bruise from ice accumulations jammed up in her shoe that already had me doubting if we’d be ok for the derby anyway. But Lo! The polar vortex arose and they rescheduled once, before ultimately cancelling entirely.

Trying to persist and persevere thru the cold weather

Meanwhile, Doozy was slow to recover from the bruise while somewhat less slowly descending into winter-induced Cabin Fever with a Capital F (the “U” is implied).

But wait, something’s not quite right here!

Eye I warned Trainer C that Doozy was likely to be a certifiable lunatic for the cavalleti clinic since we’d missed so much saddle time. But ya know. Joke’s on me anyway, as usual.

Ugh, derailment #2 of 2025

Doozy must have been watching me hook up the trailer from her field, bc once I brought her in, it was easy to see (puns, I have them) she was in no shape for a schooling session: her eye was swollen weepy and sore, poor nugget!

Luckily resolved without prescription intervention

Technically I could have waited to see what the eye would look like the next morning before calling it on the clinic… Except…. Ehhhh I really don’t love cancelling at the last minute when it can be avoided. Plus. Real talk. The mare needed ridden in order to be prepared for the clinic. And she couldn’t be ridden with her eye like that. So she wouldn’t be prepared. So we wouldn’t go. End of story. 

Barn cats are getting more use out of my trailer than me :(

Naturally her eye WAS totally fine the next day (tho I’d consulted with my vet anyway and treated with some OTC flushing solutions), but them’s the breaks sometimes. 

You’d never know there’d been a problem!

Oh, and I skipped the part about the Martin Clinic. Ugh, that got eaten by the polar vortex too — and rescheduled for a date when I’m not available. Curses, yo. 

she’s trying to look civilized lol

And yet, we persist! Bc we love it and are fulfilled by the process etc etc etc, right?? So I finally was able to get some semblance of a routine under saddle going again, with a deep focus on just getting our work done while overlooking / ignoring all the ‘noise.’

Pretty biscuit

Engaging the tension and ignoring the drama, right?

Looking suspiciously serene in the snow

And I will say, even tho Doozy and I have decidedly gone a bit backwards in our work this month (for example, this ride feels almost unattainable at the moment) — the quality of the brief moments we do accomplish gives me a lot of satisfaction. 

It’s no secret this horse thrives on routine and consistent work. It’ll naturally be harder for us when that routine gets blown up. I’m sure we’ll get right back up to it once conditions improve.

Nooooo!!!!

So obviously Doozy got herself another new ding in the meantime LOL(sob).

Ugh mare, pls just be pretty :(

This one is (fortunately) just cosmetic, at least, tho she was a little ginger on it at first. 

So many things we could be doing

Oh and then I had to leave town for a work retreat, and picked up one of the many nasty bugs going around on the way home and have been basically flatlined for a few days — thus spelling doom for our final clinic scheduled for this past weekend with the other local dressage trainer. Siiiiiigh.

It’s all ahead of us, tho, i guess

So ya know. As they say, the ‘best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.’ But, the silver lining is that, as far as Doozy is concerned, not only does none of that even matter — it might as well never have even happened! (Well, ok, it legitimately didn’t happen, but you know what I mean).

From Doozy’s perspective, January was basically one big vacation with the occasional silly schooling session. She’s looking great and feeling fiiiine, so eh. Bring it on, February!!*

(*But like, maybe less chaos pls!)