Our little barn group went xc schooling again at Tranquility last week! We had considered going somewhere new... but couldn't decide where. Tranquility is the least expensive, plus they apparently had mowed a fresh field and filled up the water. So whatevs, we just went back there (it's super close too, always a bonus).
what's with the side eye, isabel?
Of the six of us, five were preparing for events over the weekend. B and I obviously for Waredaca, and the other three for Plantation. One day we'll get all our ducks in a row to show together too - but for now schooling together is plenty fun.
we were out until dusk - the lighting was very pretty
The horses were again in excellent form. There's a video of everything, but I didn't bother segmenting out Isabel's and my individual efforts. We started in this long narrow field FULL of jumps - everything from intro through novice and one or two that may have been training. All of the horses were going every which way - back and forth and all over whenever wherever. The poor kiddos trying to take video didn't have a clue where to point the camera lol. It's cool tho - the video captures the atmosphere well, imo. It just looks like a bunch of horse and rider pairs out having a good time, exactly what it was! Sadly most of my really fun stuff got missed. Nbd tho.
run isabel runnnn!!!
I kept things pretty light for Isabel, and she was fine. We jumped all around that field (tho on the drive out I saw a few more things I wished I had jumped...) then moved on to the water. I tried a new tactic of trotting right in - no walking or halting! And it mostly worked, tho I may have cheated by circling around so she at least got her eyes on it.
fine with banks into water
After getting into the water once or twice that way I tried cantering through to the jump right after the water. Isabel was a tad sticky but jumped anyway. We went through again (in the gif below) and all was well. I am starting to believe the water itself doesn't bother her - it's just new and unfamiliar water. She's fine in our streams at home, fine in the water at Olney - and obviously fine after a pass or two through Tranquility.
why we didn't try this at waredaca is a mystery to me
So I'm not entirely sure what to do. The obvious answer seems to be presenting her with more and more new water - and expecting her to just trot right in and maintain impulsion. And I am SERIOUSLY kicking myself for not even trying the water at Waredaca.... Ugh I need to remember my priorities here! Getting through the finish line doesn't matter if we still have penalties at the water each time - needs work!!
not a very big jump out of the water - but good enough for practicing the question
But really she was a very good girl on this schooling. We strung a few things together here and there, and she helped pony a few other horses around. Generally she was just very enjoyable to ride. We jumped some competition sized stuff and worked on our water issues, and all was well. So we left it at that.
Phew I feel like the week after a horse show is one big mess of trying to catch up. So many things happened before Waredaca - including xc schooling, fun fun! (but that post is still to come) - and even more has happened since. So I'm squishing two lessons into this post: our lesson at OF right before the event (from which I have loads of media) and our lesson with Dan earlier this week (from which I have zero media).
isabel loves the barn rats. they understand how to treat a princess - and are shown here catering to her voracious appetite for hay
Tho if we're being honest - I occasionally wonder where this drive to document everything comes from. Like, will the world end if I fail to write about one lesson? Do I think readers are waiting with bated breath to hear that we went somewhere and jumped something? Probably not. But I think there's more to it than that. The thing is, I really like horses. Like reeeally like them - like whoa. And my life is generally better with horses around. I'm probably preachin' to the choir here lol. But every now and then this little voice creeps in telling me to appreciate what I've got.
See - my current equestrian situation is unlike anything I've ever experienced, especially as someone who has never owned a horse. And all these things we're doing right now? All these lessons and shows, and traveling around wherever whenever? It's a fulfillment of so many childhood hopes and dreams. And it feels GOOD. And the possibilities seem endless. But we know better - we know that there's no such thing as endless, and especially with horses it's foolish to think a good thing will last forever. It's my goal to keep riding at this level and beyond and to keep Isabel as my partner for as long as I can - but someday things will be different. And that's ok. But a major motivation for this blog is to document it so I can look back later and remember these moments.
There is a secondary motivation too, tho. I don't have to tell you that lessons are expensive. And it's not just the fee itself - it's all the time and the effort and all the other related costs. I'm fine with that - but I also want to squeeze as much value from each lesson as humanly possible. Thus, by writing every detail and tidbit, I hope to reinforce the knowledge in myself and create a 'repository' for future reference. Thus - all the nitty gritty lesson details haha. So. Um. In case you were curious - there's a little insight into the 'why' behind 'Fraidy Cat Eventing!
Anyway... slight diversion aside, the OF lesson was a good one for assessing where we were, but not great for doing much about it. The day before a show is not really my favorite day for rocking the boat... so even tho our flat work was very weak and trainer P urged me again and again to get Isabel stretching her nose down and out and lifting through her belly and back... we just never really got there. I maybe wasn't trying too hard either, perhaps bc I thought we could 'fake it' through our test the next day (haha oh BOY was I wrong...) and then schedule a lesson with C from TM pronto to figure things out. I also just thought Izzy was a little off her game from being in season.
As it was, the flat work was not inspiring in the slightest but I was somewhat in denial about it. Perhaps that's another pitfall of riding with different trainers - I just think 'eh, I'll work on that later with C' when really I should be confident in each of my trainers' professionalism and expertise and ability to help us. Hopefully that lesson is learned!
The jumping was a whole different matter tho. We warmed up over a couple smaller fences but kept it to an absolute minimum. Isabel was fine. Then P set up a long-ish competition size course for us. Isabel NAILED it. Ate it right up. We moved up to almost all of the distances and just felt very in sync.
I mean, sure - there were some issues. We knocked the rail over the liverpool for no reason I can ascertain, and could not for the life of me find a nice line to the coop (which required a few re-dos that still didn't really fix it). But I felt really good about it going into the show.
And of course you already read about how stadium went at Waredaca (and I will hopefully have some awesome pics to share soon!!!). Good stuff. Moving on to our lesson with Dan, we continued riding the struggle bus during our flat work. The same issues with getting too deep and curling under were present. Dan diagnosed it as Isabel just not 'using' herself and said to keep working on it without changing bits/equipment/etc. (tho he did point out moments when a dressage whip would be appropriate... and I typically have a whip and spurs in dressage lessons, just not otherwise. maybe that should change?) He wanted me changing things up while we trotted. Don't just get stuck in a certain trot - mess with it. Open it up. Collect it. Keep Isabel with me. He said that if I just get so stuck on rhythm alone we'll run into problems when something like a 10m turn crops up on a test. It is disruptive if I don't already have Isabel present with me. Same story as always for the canter too. Dan didn't want me cantering very long - just working hard to get organized, nice transitions (up and down - no fast trotting in between!) and only a few strides of canter at a time. Oh, and pretty much no hand ever. This is always hard for us... but was especially so during this lesson.
striding to the diagonal jumps was variable based on our line, but Dan preferred that we came out of the poles very straight (no turning early!) and did the add stride
The jumping exercise was really a flat work exercise. Dan actually referred to jumping as a litmus test for flat work - saying that you might think everything is peachy while flatting around. But then you start jumping and chip in here, get a leaper there, and it's all bc of weakness in the flat work. (which for him always seems to mean weakness in the canter). We slowly built it up - starting with two canter poles, then three, then raising the vertical and adding another pole on either side with each pass. Then adding in the turns to the diagonal fences. Then finally putting the whole figure 8 together. He wanted our canter organized and compressed for the 9' distances - and said we'd know when the canter was right when the first pole came up perfectly in stride. And upon reaching the first pole we were to soften our hands and allow the horse freedom through the line. Each individual pass was pretty easy with the right canter (and it was always obvious whether I had that 'right' canter or not). The real challenge was putting it all together and staying on the figure 8 until Dan told us to stop. That shit was HARD! It took soooo much leg. Our first laps in each direction went fine, but then I got tired and wasn't squeezing as much with my legs and Isabel got strung out and we kept missing the poles. But we were still going and going so I had to dig deep to really keep my leg ON and keep the horse together. Finally we got it and he let us stop and I kinda wanted to die. An interesting note tho - Isabel got her leads each and EVERY time, both directions. And I FELT it - and felt like I was actually influencing it. That's a first for me, and was pretty exciting. But yea I still kinda wanted to die after finishing. But don't let that deter you from trying this at home haha! It was actually pretty fun and fairly easy to set up, all things considered :P
I really can't convey how good it felt to complete this event. Honestly up until very recently, I had doubts about whether I'd ever reach BN (low level tho it may be), let alone reach it with Isabel. So it was still thrilling, despite our performance looking fairly poor on paper. Still no photos of us jumping yet (sad face!) but my order is in with GRC Photo, so I'll post when they arrive (you can click through the gallery on their site if so inclined). In the meantime, we can sorta relive the experience through the pics I snapped on the course walk.
course map. sorry it's such crap quality! 17 efforts over 1790m
Just like at Loch Moy, I finished this course walk feeling pretty low. Not exactly near-tears again, but also not optimistic. Tho interestingly my worries about this course had more to do with the general picture: longest ever distance with the most efforts, lots of turns where the next fence wasn't visible (nor was it obvious where to go! I actually got lost on the walk more than once), and some seriously tricky and hilly terrain.
I was also maybe a bit more stoic about the fence sizes tho. Only a couple looked REALLY big to me - but Loch Moy went a long way toward reassuring me that the height really is OK.
get going!
Fence 1 would probably have looked big to me before Loch Moy - but this time it just looked inviting. Like a good fence to set the tone - esp given the lesson learned at Loch Moy that starting out at max height helped make the rest look easy. It was pretty close to the starting gate on somewhat rising ground, immediately followed by a steep dip down the hill that I planned to trot. Isabel jumped well tho and happily (and politely - good mare!) cantered down the hill - tho we drifted left and ended up on the left side of the tree above and had to swing right again (you can sorta see the tire tracks that I wanted to follow) to make it up the hill to a left turn to fence 2.
lattice
I didn't look twice at this fence on the walk. Just snapped a pic and moved right on along. It's not particularly big and seemed inviting. Hah. Imagine my surprise when Isabel hit the brakes 4-5 strides out. I kicked and I growled and I used my stick. No dice. We stopped. I quickly picked my jaw up off the ground and got the mare over in no uncertain terms - tho she actually wasn't too sticky. Wtf. I'm honestly not sure what happened. Like, I wasn't *driving* the ride - but Isabel usually does well in cruise control and I really didn't see it coming. So. I may or may not have plans to build a bright white lattice gate for schooling at home... Anyway, we moved right on along through the fence opening (where the horse is in the pic) for a looooooong gallop to fence 3. This was the longest stretch of gallop that I've ever done with Isabel - ever. Just a huge flat field of mowed grass wherein I got out of the saddle and let go of the reins - only using an open rein to guide her general direction. She FLEW across the grass. It felt incredible - and was perhaps where she clicked into gear. I have no doubt that if this lattice had come after the gallop she would have jumped it out of stride. Because that's exactly how the rest of the course went.
rails
I avoided settling too early for 3 (a familiar looking rail jump) - while still organizing enough to be safe about it (esp given the fact that we had just had a refusal at the last fence). She was fine. Up and over for another long-ish run (but maybe only a quarter of the distance) to 4.
downhill
Fence 4 looked fine to me - we've jumped stuff like this plenty. It wasn't even that big. But what's difficult to tell from this picture is that the landing side slopes immediately down a steep hill to curve right towards the treeline.
I was worried about that big ol' unflagged monstrosity in the middle of the pic bc Isabel has a record of spooking at random big jumps in the vicinity. Plus, both trainer P and I had each heard reports of this hill being a little treacherous - especially given that the right hand turn is blind and leads immediately to...
sneaky green rolltop
Oh hi there massive (and aptly named 'sneaky') fence 5! It's a green rolltop! Made enormous by extra brush! Guys - this is the stuff of nightmares for me. Except - honestly I again felt stoic about it. Isabel has demonstrated repeatedly that she doesn't share my concern about rolltops (green or otherwise), and she did just fine at the brush fence at Loch Moy. Tho, in the interest of honesty I willingly admit that I didn't get anywhere CLOSE to this fence while walking the course. It just seemed very VERY unnecessary to know exactly what size it was. But Isabel was a star. She jumped 4 well, listened carefully down the hill (again in a nice balanced canter!), didn't look twice at the other stuff on course, and locked on to 5 from pretty far out. I gave lots of verbal encouragement anyways (including shout-counting out loud haha) - but she jumped it out of stride and immediately started hunting for 6.
sneaky bump
Fence 6 was sneaky too - continuing the blind bending right line. There was another unflagged obstacle between 5 and 6 (visible in the center of the last pic), and I actually took the outside line just to get Isabel's eyes on 6 a little earlier, even if it meant having less time to actually get our line to the smaller right side of this fence. She jumped it very well.
swale out
There was some very odd terrain around 7 that actually made my gut twist a little on the walk. There was this big sunken area that almost looked like a dried out mini-pond then steeply rising ground to 7 - luckily on the small side. My concern was that Isabel would spook at the ground anticipating it to be muddy/marshy (tho it was quite dry) and then be too under-powered to make it uphill over 7. Trainer P scoffed at that idea tho, and was proved correct when Isabel very handily navigated her way through.
up the bank
Then we cantered past the jump judges in their cars to turn sharply right up hill to a large up bank - to continue up even more rising ground. The bank didn't worry me too much since Isabel beasted a similar sized bank at Jenny Camp two years in a row - but the terrain concerned me (esp bc we had at this point been cantering for about half a mile). She came around the bend on her left lead too - pretty unusual - and I had a bit of organizing to do in order to make the turn ok. Nbd tho. Banks do not faze this mare.
rolltop by the bank
Fence 9 closely followed the bank - tho we were getting into the part of the course where I started to have problems remembering where to go.
feeder
And actually I took the wrong line after 9 and had to sorta wheel back around again to get to 10, the pheasant feeder. This one was way less spooky than the feeder at Loch Moy, plus we had just jumped another one xc schooling a few days prior (blog post to come!), so I wasn't worried. Neither was Isabel, good mare. On my walk I seriously stood around spinning in circles after 10 trying to get the map to make sense of what I was seeing. Luckily during the actual ride I remembered that I had to cross a little road to the left into another field for 11. Isabel maybe looked a little bit at the road crossing but nothing serious.
faux ditch
The faux ditch has never posed a problem for us. Nothing different on this ride. Except honestly I wondered if she would even jump it vs. stepping *on* it. She was fine tho and this came up right out of stride.
table
It was kind of an awkward left turn to 12 - another biggie fence that I wanted to approach on a careful line. We probably cut the corner a little more than I wanted but she jumped well and with power. Then it was a straight shot to 13.
treeline log
I actually got a really uneasy feeling while riding toward this jump that Isabel was going to back off. Not sure why - it's just a log - but something had me super worried and defensive about it. I'm probably crazy but rode strongly anyway and it was nbd.
log after the puddle
The water actually wasn't flagged, but was huge with inviting entrances from all sides. My plan going on course had been to avoid the water if we were clear, but to school it if we had a refusal by this point. Unfortunately I promptly forgot all about that plan until it was too late (and kinda just wanted to stay on our rhythm anyway). This is a big regret - since obviously schooling new water obstacles is important and I should have capitalized on the opportunity... Oh well, as it was, I approached the tiny log from the position this picture was taken from - meaning it wasn't a difficult line at all for avoiding the water. I again got lost on the course walk after 14 and ended up walking straight back toward the treeline above, when I actually needed to turn sharply left and cut across a little trail through a different treeline. Luckily I saw the path during my ride and we managed to navigate it mostly ok (tho we had to come to a halt to make it through a puddle ughhhhh).
sheep shed
We got back up to pace well enough for 15 tho - phew! Then I got lost again and turned right, even tho the path is actually pretty obvious in this picture. Luckily I remembered quickly and got back on track. Isabel did NOT love that dirt path tho - the big pond was on the left, and a marsh full of noisy bull frogs lined the right side. But I think it was just the dirt she didn't like - we drifted up onto the grass and she was happier.
lakeside ramp
Still not reeeeeally happy tho and I kinda strong-armed her over 16. She wasn't really threatening to stop, but felt kinda distracted and I wasn't taking any chances. Esp bc 16 is definitely the type of fence Isabel has plenty of experience with and there would be no excuses for penalties here. Then it was a right turn up another steep galloping hill. Sheesh - I thought I was avoiding all the hills by choosing Waredaca over Plantation this weekend, but wow no. Hills errywhere! Shockingly tho (or maybe only to me?) Isabel still had plenty of gas left in the tank after this mile+ long course and powered up the hill no problem.
waredaca barn
I think we had a somewhat questionable distance to 17 - but nothing heinous. Then through the uber-wide finish flags, and we were finished! Yay!!! I hopped off immediately for the lonnnng trek back to the trailers. Isabel was blowing and sweating, but not even close to what I expected. And actually was more or less dry by the time we got back.
mare says this is her 'innocent' face
I was SO proud of this little mare! She looked happy and bright and seemed to understand what she had just accomplished. That early stop was a HUGE bummer - but I'm determined to chalk it up to our mutual greenness.
moments too late with the bell boots... in season mare wanted to be close to Wick, but not *too* close, as evidenced by her striking out and whacking her foot on my trailer fender... ugh. at least it was after we were finished, and is actually quite superficial...
I didn't know my dressage score by this point and thought we might have had a chance for satin if not for that stop (checking the results now shows we would have finished 5th. le sigh). Tho oddly learning that our dressage test was so rough and non-competitive actually compounded the disappointment...
Luckily I didn't have much time to stew in gloom (only about the time it took for B to walk her course while I minded the ponies {meaning prevented Isabel from maiming herself in her attempts to flirt with Wick}) before shifting into spectator gear to cheer on B.
horses had to be separated after that... naughty mare!
Watching B's amazing rides with Wick went a long way to ease the sting of our own placing. They were 5th after dressage with reason to believe her clear rounds moved them up the placings. The organizers took just about forever to finalize the scores - but imo satin is always worth the wait and it felt good driving home with B's pretty yellow ribbon on the dash :)
So our second beginner novice outing is officially in the books. And my homework? I need to learn how to support Isabel more and stay more 'present' with the ride so that her green moments don't come as such a shock. She exudes confidence most of the time - but I need to be ready and willing to pick up the slack when she becomes doubtful or hesitant.
The clock now resets for another 2 week countdown to the MCTA Starter Trials at Tranquility Manor Farms on the 21st.
Recap time!! I am having so much fun eventing this little mare and truly wish we could do this all day every day. Something about the methodical preparation, careful warm up strategies, then balls to the wall, no holds barred riding really appeals to me haha.
And I think Isabel likes it too. Tho she wasn't exactly on her A game this weekend. Poor mare was in season and maybe not feeling her best. Normally I only have to meet her about halfway-ish for her to be amazing - she's queen of rising to any occasion. But this weekend she was just a smidgen dull. Obviously not actually dull bc duh, she's Isabel. But it required better riding from me, and I am decidedly NOT queen of rising to any occasion...
I don't have nearly as much media as from Loch Moy - and am especially lacking in pictures of us jumping. And the media I have is, um, kinda poor quality even for my own low standards. For some reason these screen grabs are pretty iffy. Luckily you can still get a decent sense of our general picture - except for my torso blending into the background. Rest assured my torso still looks like a hunter rider's torso. Nothing new there haha!
We warmed up in a busy-ish grass field, tho Isabel didn't care about the traffic. She was perhaps a little gate sour tho. Nothing serious, just a decided drift toward exiting stage left. She was good tho - listening and trying and not really sassy. We mostly walked, then trotted for a little while interspersing 20m circles and transitions. I kept our canters pretty short too - just an organized transition up, a circle, maybe a few extra strides, then another organized transition down. We maybe cantered twice in each direction. The left lead was a little sticky, something that hasn't been a problem in a while - but I didn't drill it, just loaded on the praise when she got it right.
We continued the trend from the previous day's lesson at OF (blog post to come) wherein Isabel was mostly just 'posing.' More like this ride in March, rather than our fluid and relaxed test from Loch Moy. And because she wasn't actually connected she was less steady and kept getting above or behind the bit, and generally seemed more tense. Maybe one day I will know how to ride through this to help Isabel become more put together - but on this day I just sorta did the things I know how to do while purposefully NOT rocking the boat, then volunteered to go into our test early.
The test rode much like our warm up. Isabel was a tad tense and curled under, rather than stretching out to my hand. And I had to work a little more for that 'inside bend' especially going left. But I felt like the test was REALLY consistent (haha this might be the one thing the judge and I agree 100% on). I really liked our free walk too and thought we'd at least recoup some points lost to tension here, given the coefficient.
We also did NOT fall apart after the change of rein, and I tried really hard to sit down like a DQ during the canters (still obvi a work in progress). Our canter transitions show no real change yet and are still completely hollow. And the circles during this test maybe weren't great either.
I left the ring with a big grin all the same tho - feeling like I had gotten the best ride from Isabel that I know how to get, given my piloting abilities and her current blah-ish state. I knew it wasn't as good as our last two tests, and certainly had no delusions of scoring anywhere close to the (probably overly generous) 26.8 from Loch Moy. But I was pleased.
I didn't see the test sheet until after cross country and was floored by the score: 45.3. We got 5s and 6s on every.single.movement. It was not at all what I expected - I felt some movements were decidedly better than others, but no real difference was reflected in the scores.
Per usual all the judge's scores and remarks are included in the video, and I can (begrudgingly) see where she's coming from. We got seriously dinged again and again for being behind the vertical, short in the neck, or above the bit.
But idk... This score is officially our personal worst score - and it is tough to swallow coming off our personal best a mere 2 weeks ago. The Loch Moy judge was very generous, yes, and perhaps this judge is just a little more conservative. (tho honestly the bitter voice inside of me wants to gripe, 'that judge just doesn't like arabs!').
The likeliest explanation I can devise is that the judge was looking for a certain level of flow and acceptance of the bridle / submission that we simply never reached - thus the very consistent scoring across the board. However I remain (as always!) open to any constructive feedback!
And this, folks, is perhaps the best argument for not checking your scores in the middle of the day! I mean, yes I would have looked had they been available, but they weren't. And it probably worked out to my advantage bc I felt VERY sour after seeing this test sheet.
Luckily tho - that didn't happen until after I had jumped. So going into stadium my mood was positive and all business. The stadium course was exactly to my tastes for Isabel: mostly right turns and only one super long straight approach (to fence 7). Plus our four-fence warm up (trot x, canter x, canter vertical, canter oxer) went smoothly so we felt ready.
To be 100% honest my memory of our ride is fuzzy. We mostly got our distances, and Isabel felt powerful and game. She saved my ass at least once, maybe twice - tho I can't remember which fences. Could be 7 bc I rode really strongly (including a tippy-tap with the stick) after seeing a number of spooks/refusals there.. We also added unexpectedly in the 3-4 line.
But Isabel was a star and didn't come close to rubbing a rail even on our iffier fences. Good girl! Even better - B & Wick could watch our round on their way back from dressage. Our times were right on top of each other, but a delay in the stadium ring worked out perfectly. Too bad we didn't know about it ahead of time or else she could have taped the ride... oh well!
I really really REALLY hope I can procure some photos from this ride. GRC Photo apparently had photographers on the premises, tho their trailer was elsewhere. So I will be stalking their website for the next few days to see what crops up.
I'm particularly interested to see if all my focused work on *releasing* the mare over fences paid off. It felt better during this ride - I felt looser in my arms / shoulders, while still very secure in my seat and legs, so hopefully there will be some actual supporting evidence haha.
Anyways, the clear stadium round bolstered my confidence going into a long and challenging cross country course. Stay tuned for details tomorrow!
What a weekend! Hope everyone had a good one. It was perfect weather here - and a great outing at Waredaca! Per usual I don't have my ducks in a row well enough to do a full recap just yet - but will give you the quick and dirty version of the good, the bad, and the ugly great.
isabel cheers wick on from the rail (also, is it just me or does her neck look really kinda ridiculously fat in this pic? haha, bad angle i guess!)
The good: Isabel and I completed our second BN!! I finished each phase with a huge grin plastered across my face, and I think Isabel felt similarly - especially after the jumping phases.
cute mare knows she's cute
The bad: I've maybe become a little complacent with Isabel. She's such an amazing and game mare that I forget she's as new to this as I am. I'm so accustomed to her being a total rock star 110% of the time that her honest bobbles and less-than-stellar moments take me by surprise - so much so that I'm not quick enough with a correction. And it takes a fairly major mistake for me to come to my senses and actually participate in the ride. Lately this is taking the form of stops on cross country (wah), tho at this event it showed up in our dressage too.
B & Wick walking on air after finishing xc (actually Wick maybe looks ready for more!)
The GREAT: B & Wick had their best ever event! Everything clicked and they had what I *believe* might be a personal record dressage score - followed by stadium and cross country rounds for which the term "clear" doesn't come close to doing justice. They were in 5th after dressage and their fantastic jumping rounds moved them up to finish 3rd! Way to go guys!
