First Year Event Horse

With the competition season winding down and holidays looming large on the horizon, it feels like a good time to pause and reflect on Doozy's first year as my event horse!

It's been a long journey with this mare... Lots of ups and downs... From flunking her 30 day performance review to absolutely winning me over in her first jumping lesson, and everything in between - and that was just her first 3 months with me, last year's news! 

So today, I wanna keep it high level -- focusing mainly on the big training milestones and competition landmarks, with a representative photo and brief memory of each ride. And obvi links to the original post should you be inclined.

sweet doozy, it's been quite a year!

Starting back in January 2024, with a decidedly ill-advised Dressage Clinic with Lauren Sprieser. I say "ill-advised" bc we were in no way, shape, or form ready to truly benefit from this caliber clinician (recall, we could barely trot a normal circle) and it was very expensive. 

Buuuuuut... It was at a lovely facility close to home, with a friend (who **really** wanted the clinic to fill so she could ride in it) stepping up to help ensure we had a successful first trip off property. Verdict? #WorthIt

 

i tried to choose a single representative photo from each big ride this year. apparently pickins were slim from this clinic LOL

Living through that first experience shipping out to lessons with Doozy gave me confidence to sign up for our next adventure, a Jumping Clinic with Sally Cousins (slightly farther from home). Again, we needed a lot of help from very capable friends, plus a full hour of hand-walking before my lesson... But again, it was so worth it -- this lesson was a huge boost in believing Doozy might really be the horse I hoped/thought she was.  

legitimately one of my favorite pics of this mare like.... ever -- pc Niamh O'Connell!

It was still slow going, tho. The flatwork in particular with this horse was (is?)... challenging to me. And we had a somewhat frustrating go at an at-home Dressage Schooling Show in February.

trying hard to do the thing, stupid white gloves and all <3

We persevere, tho, amirite?? And anyway, I serendipitously got home a day early from a trip to California (Ram Tap - loved ya!) and managed to snag a seat on the bus to XC Derby Schooling @ Loch Moy!!! Holy cow, guys, this was a great day! Sure, it took something like an hour of wandering around all the rings familiarizing before we could actually attempt to do anything "real." But once Doozy was like, "Oh, we're jumping?" We were JOMPING, MA'AM!

wherein doozy blew us all away by being an absolute rockstar

What a horse, guys. Next on the agenda was a perfect playdate with friends that, for me? Really encapsulates the types of formative experiences that are so beneficial for green horses (and nervous riders). We went to the Blue Goose Schooling Dressage Show at the Stables at Fox Crossing, wherein we completed two dressage tests (completed them quite badly, but did in fact complete them) and then headed out for a lowkey play in the adjoining xc field. 

None of it was perfect, but all of it was fun.

this day really encapsulates my approach to bringing doozy along

So I tried to remember that feeling bc the very next week was, OMG, Doozy's first real "show" - Hunt Club Farm's Starter Trial!! We just did the combined test of dressage and show jumping... But still. I was pretty nervous. And probably didn't ride very well. But it was fine -- better than fine. Doozy was so so so good. Like. Ok. Hard to ride in the warm up rings, an enormous handful when she first came off the trailer... But she soaked it up, sucked it in, and was a solid citizen when it counted.

holy crap we did it!

So obviously, the next key milestone was figuring out that third phase, with an XC Clinic with Sally @ Windurra! Not gonna lie, I was mostly just hangin out on the periphery while my two friends had more advanced lessons on their N/T horses... But we jumped some stuff, played with banks, got in and out of the water, and generally learned the rhythms of an xc lesson with horses coming and going, often at speed. 

Similar to the Sprieser clinic, we probably could have accomplished this at a lower cost than Windurra... But, eh, it was a great day so #yolo

we didn't jump much or particularly well, but it was a lot of fun <3

Anyway, it was around this time we started semi regular dressage lessons with my longtime trainer C. I'm not going to link to all these posts, esp bc I didn't even write about them all, but do want to emphasize the impact these lessons have had on us, esp when framed by our overall journey and timeline.

lessons <3

Tho. Lol. It's still me and Doozy we're talking about, here, so the impact in terms of performance at actual competitions will take a while to see!

But we proceed with the competitions anyway, bc we wanna!! And by late April, Doozy attended her first 3-phase Starter Trial at Fair Hill! What a day, guys. Soooooo much hand walking. Doozy was a huge handful. I thought more than once about scratching. But I didn't scratch, and am so glad for that. Doozy just went out and jumped her jumps -- esp the xc phase. It was literally the easiest part of our whole day!

holy crap we did it AGAIN -- this time ALL of it!

Sooooo. Ya know. It was starting to become apparent that, maybe this horse might actually really like this whole jumping thing. Not to mention that she was growing up and maturing considerably with each big trip off farm. We finished April with another low key reaffirmation -- a CT at Thornridge that had some bloopers but was overall another solid experience.

chaos normalized

It was around this time that I sensed we were getting into a phase I remembered from Charlie's early days. That phase where the green horse thinks they know everything. When. Cough cough, they absolutely do not. This phase, in my experience, usually involves going very fast over jumps that suddenly feel very small. Case in point: another lesson at Kealani with Sally, where we kinda had to break it down again for the mare. 

doozy started getting pretty big for her britches lol

Sally encouraged me to still keep getting out and about, tho, that it was just a phase and exposure would be the cure. So we kept it up, including more lessons with Trainer C.

starting to figure out the game along the way

Because the biggie was still ahead of us. By May it was clear we'd be moving farms after having Charlie at the last place for 7 years. So all my focus shifted to orchestrating the barn moves and planning big "Last Hurrah" adventures with my longtime friends and barn mates. Including a lovely evening spent  schooling the xc courses at Shawan with Amy!

had a last hurrah schooling adventure with our longtime friend Amy

In a way, I'm grateful that our next show - the MCTA Jenny Camp @ Shawan Downs - had this sorta larger external framing, bc on its own it was a pretty hard show - esp given we moved up to the 2'3 level. Doozy was almost unrideable in dressage warmup (and we had a decidedly not sympathetic judge), and extremely strong bordering on frantic in show jumping. We also had a little trouble getting out the start box on xc. 

Knowing that it was an important day in terms of closing a very important and deeply meaningful chapter in my horsey life helped me keep my perspective and not get too bogged down in the difficulties of the rides themselves. It helped that the xc was downright wonderful tho, yet again. Are you sensing a theme here from Doozy? 

omg we did it again AGAIN! was a little wild tho

So anyway. A few days later, we unloaded at the new barn. In retrospect, this was fortuitous timing. The move gave us space to slow down, reestablish our basics and partnership, and untangle everything Doozy had learned about jumping from the somewhat frantic feeling that begun creeping in to our jumping.

and then everything changed. for the better.

Moving barns also helped/forced me to take a fresh look at our coaching landscape. And as luck would have it, a summer clinic series with Dom Schramm popped up close to home. These lessons were hugely influential for us -- Dom had a heavy focus on reaffirming flatwork fundamentals within the jumping that made a huge difference for helping Doozy slow down, take a breath, and regain her confidence. Lessons one two and three linked here.

embarked on a summer series of clinics with Dom, and really figured a LOT out

Those lessons also served as an effective launch pad for getting back to my own privateer roots. As much as I'd love to completely immerse ourselves in a program, it's not realistic and I can't just wait around for someone to have time for guiding me through every activity I wanna do. 

So. Armed with fresh skills, we embarked on operation "Put Together a Fall Season!" Starting with, naturally, a self-guided XC Schooling @ Tranquillity in early September. Our first time out xc since Jenny Camp. And it was a good ride. Not perfect. But good.

got serious about creating our own xc schooling destiny, #PrivateerStyle

Tho we did enjoy some proper coaching at our next outing - a Schooling Jumper Show @ Swan Lake with trainer Kelly, where we did a round at .70m in the pouring rain. Doozy was again LIT UP in all the atmosphere at the show, it was a big ask for her. But I had a plan to help her settle and feel prepared for when she entered the ring. And Kelly gave us a really solid warm up, so that by the time it was our turn? Doozy was honestly very good. Very green, but very good.

dipped a toe in HJ land in the pouring rain

If Swan Lake felt like a LOT of work for a little ride, our day at Loch Moy in late September for the Pick Your Test / Jumper Rounds was kinda the opposite. I knew we needed more exposure, and wanted to get Doozy back to this facility before the next starter trial, so we came back for a quiet day to run through our test and an easy (and tiny!) show jumping round. It still wasn't easy, but it maybe wasn't as hard?

this day was more about preparing my own head space than anything else

Anyway. I made some adjustments to Doozy's mgmt in late September, including introducing more gastric support esp re: trailering and training, and a body work session that quite possibly helped Doozy release an entire year's worth of tension from her muscles. Bc her next dressage lesson was legit lovely, and she's kinda been a new horse ever since. 

doozy saw her body worker again and magically melted off months worth of ingrained tension

We went back to Tranquillity with a friend for another quick xc schooling trip before kicking off our Fall Season in earnest, and Doozy was just.... perfect. Like I still made mistakes and stuff, but she's just really starting to get it.

casual xc, nbd

And at our next big show? The Starter Trial & MDHT Loch Moy Farm?? Well. Doozy was just spectacular. This was clearly a horse who knew what to expect from each phase, and knew how to do it nicely. Well. Ok, not "nicely" for the dressage, but that's more a reflection of her trainer (me!) vs the horse herself! This day was better than it had any right to be, and I'm still so over the moon with how it went!

Queen of Jompies, Knower of Everything
(the mare, not the human!)

So obviously no rest for the weary, right? It felt like a lot of what went right at Loch Moy was related to the routinized schedule and preparation. Doing the things makes the things easier to do, and all that. We therefore hit up the Combined Test @ Thornridge Manor, but this time at BN, to keep the momentum going and also give the mare a bit more of a challenge. This was without a doubt our best dressage test yet, and the jumping was honestly quite good even tho they were bigger fences and I made a couple mistakes.

jumping slightly bigger sticks <3

We snuck in a final trip for more xc at Tranquillity again at the beginning of November. Not necessarily bc the mare needed it, but bc it was clear that this routine has been benefiting my own headspace and anxiety too. Honestly, we should probably be doing this every few weeks or every month for as long as the ground can take it, bc it's just been SUCH a good routine for us!

routine preparations

And that brings us to the conclusion of Doozy's first year as an eventer -- finishing the season at Waredaca a week or so ago! 

what a mare

Virtual cookies if you actually read this far LOL! 

For real, tho, I'm so proud of this little mare. She's come so far, has become so consistent, settled so nicely, that it's easy to forget how tricky the early days were. But this actual eventing 'job' seems to come quite naturally to her -- and the more she learns about it, the easier everything else seems to get! 

There's always more to come -- and plenty of fun off season adventures hopefully on the horizon. But for now? It's nice to sorta step back and feel appreciation and gratitude for it all.

2021: Greatest Hits Edition

One of my favorite things about maintaining this little corner of the internet is how it serves as a thorough and comprehensive documented history of my horsey life since 2014. 

Sometimes it's hard to keep up, and there are definitely many many details that fall through the cracks, ultimately forgotten or lost in the passage of time haha. But, for better or worse, I usually get the big stuff captured (events, notable clinics, adventurous outings, etc) and indexed via my Events page. 

True story: you can scroll to the bottom of that page and work your way up to get a complete rundown of literally every major (and many minor!) horse event I've done with Charlie and Isabel since 2014. Fun memories, yo! 

So.... Rather than reinvent that particular wheel for 2021 with a down 'n dirty rehash of the year, here's the indexed greatest hits version, complete with links to the full posts!

~~~~

 

January 10 - Gymnastics Clinic @ Good to Go Farm

epic gymnastics clinic at Good To Go Farm. So. Many. Bounces. OMG.

March 7 - Arena XC Schooling @ Loch Moy Farm

that time i completely 'noped out' after driving all the way out to Loch Moy for a derby... ugh. got on and still jumped like 5 things so it kinda still counts tho?

May 1 - CT @ Thornridge Manor

1st Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 33.8% 

Stadium (max 2'11): clear

getting my shit together at Thornridge! would be a theme for the year ;)

May 5 - XC Clinic with Sally Cousins @ Shawan Downs

legit the only xc lesson we took all year, and it was a banger with Sally at Shawan Downs!

May 29 - MCTA Starter Trial @ Shawan Downs

W: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 33.3%
Stadium (max 2'11): clear
Cross Country (max 2'11): W

still 'noped out' at the actual Shawn Downs HT bc mental health is hard sometimes.... tho show jumping was lovely, hands down one of our best rounds of the year. if you click through to watch one video, this might be your best bet

June 6 - MDA Schooling Dressage Show
2019 USEF First Level Test 1 - 62.9%
2019 USEF First Level Test 2 - 62.3%

struttin around 1-1 and 1-2 at the MDA show!! yep, turns out he was a first level horse all along!

July 17 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
1st Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 36.7%
Stadium (max 2'11): clear

gettin into the groove with Thornridge CTs, these events were so good for my mental game

July 24 - Cross Derby @ Fair Hill

there goes charlie just casually blowing my mind at the Fair Hill derby <3 <3 yea yea i fell off at the ditch, but eh who cares when your horse is just gonna go jump around like that!

August 21 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
4th Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 31.7%
Stadium (max 2'11): 16 penalty pts

bein a good boy again back at Thornridge CT, even tho we kinda went bowling whoops... 

September 5 - Hunter Pace @ Tranquility Manor Farm

dressing up in wings for the tranquillity hunter pace bc obviously

September 12 - MDA Schooling Dressage Show @ OF
2019 USEF First Level Test 3 - 59.86%

ooooh we did 1-3 at the next MDA show too! fancy pony <3

September 18 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
3rd Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 32.6%
Stadium (max 2'11): 8 penalty pts

truly, it was the Summer of Thornridge lol

October 10 - MDHT Starter Trial @ Loch Moy
6th: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 35.5%
Stadium (max 2'11): clear
Cross Country (max 2'11): clear

did manage to squeak in one full 3 phase horse trial tho, at Loch Moy <3 i'm really glad we made this happen even tho i fully expect to still deal with some anxiety paralysis about bigger shows womp

October 30 - CT @ Thornridge Manor
1st Place: Novice Level
Dressage: USEA Novice A - 30.7%
Stadium (max 2'11): 4 penalty pts

halloween CTs are best CTs. ok let's be real, any CT is apparently my jam!

November 8 - Fall Hunter Trials @ Tranquillity Manor Farm

or any derby sorta thing -- like the hunter trials pairs class at Tranquillity!!

December 23 - XC Schooling @ Tranquillity Manor Farm

tho obvi we never get tired of fun low key xc schooling, finishing the year off at Tranquillity

~~~~~

2021 was an important year for us, I think. Charlie was the healthiest and happiest he's been in the 5 years I've had the privilege of calling him mine. And I am proud of the work we did in solidifying our basics, while also staying true to the reasons why we do all this in the first place: to plain old have fun and enjoy this horsey life to the fullest! 

sitting the trot?

So. Ok. This blog is home to a long and tortured history on the various ways in which I kinda suck at riding. Specifically -- that whole bit about how to actually sit on the horse. Rider position and all that. 

This last year FINALLY felt like we opened a new chapter in that regard, tho -- aided almost entirely by the roughly half dozen(ish) lessons I've taken with Molly since September. 

photo of my attempt at sitting trot, circa 2019 dressage clinic at Thornridge. this pic basically serves as a comparison for all the others included below -- note the rotation of my legs from hip to toe. pc Austen Gage
(also, if you're reading this post on your desktop computer using a feed reader and the images aren't appearing... ugh, i'm sorry, i don't know why it's happening but it seems widespread across the platform... the mobile app doesn't seem affected tho, and of course all images appear directly on the site itself!)

Long story short, in that September lesson, Molly basically completely changed my leg position. Or, at least, she guided me toward the "feeling" I needed to recreate in order to commit this new position to muscle memory. 

The "feeling," for me, is like having my toes point toward Charlie's armpits, and when I want to turn, positioning both legs as if I'm on skis. So, if I'm turning left, both toes (and accompanying attached limbs) rotate left, bringing my inside left leg onto the horse at the girth, and my outside right calf off, with right thigh on. 

video evidence of said attempts here: link to youtube

It was not news to me (or to any of you, or to any of my many past trainers) that my clinging, nagging legs were counterproductive and poor form. But ya know. Knowing a thing is not the same as doing a thing. 

throwback picture to this summer, during the lesson where Molly first started addressing the rotation of my legs, working to get my calf and heel off the horse 

So finally being able to develop the right feeling and positional awareness was apparently what made all the difference. And we've been practicing that feeling ever since. 

link to footage from that influential lesson

The craziest part, tho, has been the almost immediate and undeniable positive validation from Charlie. I literally trained this horse with my legs glued to his side full time. Everything -- and I mean everything -- he has learned from me, was learned via a shit ton of leg. 

putting the new positional mechanics to work in 1-3 a couple days later

So imagine my absolute shock when I took my leg off..... And suddenly Charlie just, idk, breathed deeply (thanks to a newly liberated rib cage, I'm sure), and proceeded to instantly transform into a soft and supple and delightfully capable dressage horse. 

link to test video

I'm not even exaggerating -- we rode First 3 in a show something like two rides after that transformative Molly lesson, and it was hands down the happiest and most attentive Charlie's EVER been in a dressage show environment -- despite being his most advanced test yet, natch. 

ok i know i know it's a different saddle from the very first picture, but i see real differences in how my leg hangs from the hip

I always thought part of what makes dressage so hard is that it's not "self evident" for horses. Like, you don't have to explain a jump to a horse. They don't need help understanding when a distance feels uncomfortable, ya know? Or when they knock a rail -- that's their own appendage hitting a pole. They experience it directly. 

yes of course there's video, i'm glad you asked

Dressage tho... How do you explain a perfect 20m circle to a horse? Or a "late" transition? How does the horse know what is "good"?? 

Turns out.... It really is all about that feeling. Charlie knows when something feels good. Like stretchy trot. Sure, he can still lose balance and run onto his forehand... But he can feel that too. And the more Molly adjusts my position on the horse, the more easily I can stay out of Charlie's way so that he can just sorta innately achieve that softness and balance and suppleness -- longitudinally AND laterally. 

stirrups are at least 3 holes too short here haha but i like this pic bc you can really see how the change in leg rotation gives me a whole new foundation from seat through torso

This is playing out in our rides in two main ways:: 

Laterally.... Charlie just.... goes now. I used to think that lateral work with this horse required massive amounts of energy and manhandling and literally molding all 1,400 pounds of Charles into shape using my own 5'3 frame as rebar. But.... Now that I'm not death-gripping his rib cage with my calves, it's like I can sorta just adjust hip position, thigh contact, and rein flexion and Charlie just merrily floats right on along. Crazy. 

last but not least, test video from 10/2021

The second main way these changes are playing out is that... All of a sudden, I can actually sorta sit the trot. Like, don't get me wrong, it still kinda sucks. But I can DO it. Compared to that first video at the top from 2019, where I could only go a couple steps at a time then had to post again -- all the while being almost completely useless with the rest of my aids while attempting to sit.... Yea, it's completely different now haha. 

thank you charlie for being such a good dog while i try to learn this stuff!!! pc Amy Flemming Waters

And it's not like I can even specifically say what I'm doing differently either -- there isn't like a bulleted list of "My Top 5 Tricks for Finally Sitting the Trot!"  And naturally I currently have exactly zero videographic evidence that I'm even telling you the truth haha. 

But. It *is* happening. And to me, it's crazy. Honestly kinda exciting, too. Especially right now with the nasty weather and limited riding options, it's nice to have some new tricks to play with during our otherwise monotonous evening rides under the lights. Nice to have some "winter bootcamp" goals that are all about me, knowing that Charlie is basically already primed and ready to go once I get my shit together. 

Charlie's Great Hoof Year

I went into 2021 determined to reframe my overall goals and ambitions relating to horses and riding. The objectives didn't necessarily change -- I want to enjoy my horsey experiences to the absolute fullest, while striving to be the best rider and horse person I can be. The methods, tho. My attitude and approach -- that's shifted. 

pictured: possibly the single most important puzzle piece in charlie's stellar 2021

Put simply: my intention going into this year was to be ready for tomorrow, whatever may come, but not ruled by it. 

In practice, this means avoiding situations where it seems like any given thing has to happen RIGHT NOW in order for LATER to be possible — even (and especially) if NOW is not ideal.

march 2021 -- last cycle before going into leather pads for the season

A specific example is feeling like we *need* an important schooling or lesson to be ready for a show, even if that meant working hard on bad ground. Instead, this year, I aimed to capitalize on good ground whenever possible, while avoiding heavy pounding during the driest hottest months.

 

flashback picture (you can tell bc there aren't stud holes drilled) -- but representative of the leather pads 

Obviously it helped sticking to all things Novice -- where we're experienced, comfortable and don't need a lot of "prep." Bc ya know.... if we really *needed* that last practice to be ready, despite bad conditions.... well, eh, maybe that meant we just weren't ready, right? 

flashback to Nov 2019 when we pulled a shoe while xc schooling with Martin Douzant -- but a good view of the leather pad side profile, and the considerable cushion it adds

Anyway, possibly as a result of this new approach - combined with other maintenance aspects I’ll get into - Charlie had his absolute BEST hoof year with me yet. 

We didn't lose a single shoe!! And Charlie was very sound all year long! Sure, we did our routine maintenance, including joint injections and a box of Adequan. But... That was it. Considering the hoof struggles we've had before (including necessitating coffin injections in 2019), this was kiiiiinda a big deal haha.

flashback to May 2019: charlie's front hoof condition by late spring with no pads. pretty hard to bounce back after this sort of chipping -- esp so early in the year

Because the hoof care reality is... The toothpaste just won't go back into the tube. Literally — inflammation and effusion are expansive forces that can compound soreness significantly when trapped within a rigid hoof capsule. 

It’s MUCH better to prevent it altogether rather than deal with resolving it once it’s begun.

compare to May 2021: charlie's front hooves at 5 weeks with pads, shoo fly boots, and near-daily keratex

Charlie has fairly normal thoroughbred feet -- they're proportionally a little small for his big body, and they tend toward being shelly and crumbly. His soles can also be thinner than is ideal.

flashback to June 2020 : still no pads, looking really shelly and crumbly, with older nail holes chipping out completely

His hooves spurt into growth nearly instantaneously at the earliest signs of spring. But they grow out soft and crumbly -- and as seen in the 'flashback' photos in this post, they usually chip and crack excessively around the shoe clips and nail holes by May or June. 

In past years, we've transitioned Charlie into full leather pads up front around June-ish. But.... ya know.... The thing with hooves, at least for me, is that by the time I'd recognize a problem, it was usually too late.  

compare to August 2021 : charlie's front hooves looking solid at 5 wks in August, despite drought 

Once the hoof wall gets so compromised, the only solution is to grow it out. Except those existing cracks and holes obviously aren't particularly stable, tending to spread and create new vulnerabilities even as the hoof grows. 

So we'd walk this fine line between 1) long enough shoeing cycles to grow more new wall between new and old nail holes; or 2) risk Charlie losing a shoe, possibly along with big chunks of hoof -- thus setting us even further back. 

Sept 2021: charlie's hind hooves at 5 wks. he doesn't wear pads behind, so you can see more advanced crumbling here -- tho near-daily keratex helped keep the walls intact

This year we got Charlie into full leather pads up front starting in March 2021 -- months earlier than normal. Which... I'm now convinced had two main advantages: the pads substantially reduced all that early spring chipping and cracking; plus we got the pads on *before* Charlie had a chance to get sore on hard ground. Yessssss!

Oct 2021: a good looking hoof growing out an old defect. leather pad is clearly visible here

My farrier also suggested applying Keratex as close to daily as possible. He said polymers in the compound accumulate with repeated applications, giving the hoof wall the strength and flexibility necessary to resist cracking or chipping.

Nov 2021: transitioned to leather rim pads in time for wet pre-freeze ground conditions. he'll wear the rim pads for a cycle or two, before ditching pads altogether for winter.

I also added fly boots to the mix -- tho he mostly just wore them up front. Ideally, fly boots reduce stomping on hard summer ground. Charlie's Shoo Fly boots work great -- they're easy to get on and off, loose enough to not cause restriction or harbor leg funk, and brightly colored so they're easy to find if one falls off in the field. 

flashback to June 2017, when charlie went into rim pads for the first time

It's impossible to know what made the biggest difference for Charlie this year. If I had to pick *just one* practice to carry forward, it'd be the leather pads. But the keratex and fly boots seem effective enough to justify the cost. For those curious -- we went through 5 keratex bottles this year, costing about $200 total.

Also notable -- Charlie discontinued ALL feed through supplements last year. Bc, eh, he already has a great diet, and IMO the supplements were the least effective and most expensive part of Charlie's hoof care. 

whatever it takes, buddy!

So. Long story short: We made some big changes this year. I was more selective about footing and ground conditions for our training, and Charlie got into hoof pads ~3 months earlier than past years. Plus we continued basic mitigation efforts like keratex and fly boots. 

And gosh.... It's made ALL the difference for Charlie. Not one lost shoe. A very sound horse. And *ZERO* comments from dressage judges about irregular or uneven steps. Yessssss! 

Obviously I'm tempting fate writing it all out like this. And lord knows Charlie could go step on a nail (or a bit of mulch, ahem) tomorrow lol (plz don't tho, buddy!). But, eh, as a first-time horse owner, it feels like we finally got it right this year with Charlie's hoof care. 

Here's hoping I can keep it up, haha, and not have to learn any more lessons the hard way -- at least on this one subject LOL. Bc damn... hooves really are the epitome of the "long game" with horses, it seems. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has taken a couple tries to figure out the secret sauce for their horse?