returning from whence we came

Or, in other words, returning to a sense of normalcy. 'Tis the season for shifts in routine anyway: the clocks, the weather, and now the barn's turnout schedule. Horses are now out during the day and in over night.

So in a way it's a new routine for us, tho it's nbd considering Charlie hasn't really had anything like a 'routine' beyond "just still sitting in his stall" for quite a few weeks now. And actually, it's maybe kinda nice. Am I the only one who somewhat resignedly appreciates the clock change bc now I can finally just accept the darkness instead of rushing to try to beat it? lol....

excuse the grid lines -- i was trying (and still failing) to true the horizon without actually chopping off his cutey pie ears or toes. so. you get a screen shot of my efforts with the grid lines lol

Anyway, I thought this period of adjustment might serve as a check in on where Charlie is in his life and wellness. He is emerging from his cocoon of stall rest and hopefully easing back into the life of a sport-horse-in-training, with all of winter ahead of us to regroup.

During his first taste of freedom, he struck the above pose -- not exactly a classic conformation shot, but maybe close. Close enough for me, anyway. So naturally I took a screen shot and tried to make it more level-ish, sorta, for the purposes of evaluating.

eye spy with my little eye.... somebody (who shall remain nameless) walkin the fence during turnout

Safe to say: this a FAR CRY from the race horse I met last September who had just run a race four weeks prior. Charlie's now rocking what I fondly refer to as his "Dad Bod."

And? I actually really like it haha!

see that star face staring out from between the boards????

While he lacks any real muscle, most notably along the full length of his topline and that hay beer belly, this is maybe the best he's looked weight-wise since I've owned him.

The angles of that hind end are still just flat planes instead of rounded features, sure. But there's so much more fullness now. No more jutting points, esp in the hips.

clearly he needs more action haha - as he expressively nods his head here as if to say, "Yes plz! I would also like to run and jump like Bella again!"

And hopefully with the reintroduction of "real" work, we'll be able to lift his back up again, tighten up the belly, and generally add muscling in all those hollow places along his topline.

The last few days have been tricky for making the "work" happen, but I've been trying. Charlie got to hack out with Brita and Bella and some other barn mates a couple times this past week - one ride during which I legitimately thought he might really finally kill me (it's just that same sassy move he pulls all the time, but it's a lot of horse to be that sassy!).

bc yea, brita and bella are killin it

And another ride where he was actually pretty freakin good, tho I could feel the sass coursing beneath the surface as Brita and our other companion flitted hither and thither schooling some of the xc fences.

I legitimately cannot wait to get back out there with Charlie - to just be allowed to let him go and RUN! Hopefully the ground is still good by the time he's cleared for takeoff!!!

charlie gets to .... play in his own way tho. back in le dressage tack

For now, tho, we walk. And finally (finally): a little bit of trotting too. Basically reintroducing trotting as if we were rehabbing a soft tissue injury. We won't stay on that same timeline for very long, but the name of this game is "gradual."

So we walk and walk and walk and walk.

And we either do so hacking out all over the property in Charlie's hackamore and jump saddle, in which I care not how he goes so long as he's being generally respectful of any direction I might give. Or we dress all up in dressage tack (complete with snaffle instead of hackamore) and I ask that Charlie goes to work at the walk.

making eyes at himself in the mirror, natch haha

What does "work at the walk" mean, you might ask?

In an ideal world, this would mean working on things like: Schooling three distinct walks - free, collected, and working - and transitions between. Practicing lateral work at the walk, including leg yields, shoulder fore, and maybe even turns on haunches or forehand. Perfecting general figures such as circles of various sizes, spirals, and serpentines. Ya know. Fanceh stuff.

new concept for a shoulder guard for us, instead of his "muscle shirt" from last year that i always worried was maybe also problematic in its own way

The reality is playing out a lot simpler than that tho. Like, sure, those are the ideas that bump around in my head. But. Ya know. Charlie's still green, and now has been off for weeks and has no strength. Plus. Also. Haha, I'm still the same rider I've always been.

So the rides play out a little bit more like: Emma thinks really deeply about her own position and focuses first and foremost on getting Charlie supple and giving to the bit. We don't have three distinct walks at all - we have "Dis How Charlie Go" and "Ok We Can Slow Tempo A Little. But Only Bc You Won't Shut Up About It."

this is just a silky loose bib by Snuggy Hoods

And I still only really have one rein, my right rein. Idk why. It was a major problem with Isabel too, tho both Bali and Velvet were opposite sided so I dunno. Chicken or the egg, it hardly matters at this point. All that matters is: we do not track left the same as we track right.

Since we're limited to the walk tho, we've got the perfect opportunity to really dissect that further, to explore and experiment. It's not like I've got anything else to work on, right?

little loop to keep it fixed in place

Actually, just in general, I'm trying to be really disciplined with myself to take time to focus on all those little nagging imbalances and issues in our combined way of going that I always kinda just rushed past previously.

Practicing counter canter is so much sexier than exploring why we're so uneven from side to side.... But that lateral imbalance won't go away just bc I ignore it. So. No time like the present!

like so

This discipline extends to being super explicit to Charlie about what I want in the walk too. Historically the walk was our "take a break" gait. Typically I would take time to pick him up a few strides before a transition, and ask him to hold himself a few strides in walk after transitioning down... But beyond that, the walk was kinda a.... go-between, an intermediary. It's never a focus in and of itself.

Rehabbing tho? I'm pretty sure Charlie has spent more time walking on the bit in the last week than he has in the entire year I've owned him lol.

also charlie needed a whole new sheet after i wrecked his last one, oops

The amazing thing is how quickly he got on board with this. Like, at first it was really hard. But if I was quick enough with my praise he just.... kept doing it. And now he just knows that I want him on the bit, that pressure on the reins means something and he's developing this whole new softness even at the walk that he never had before.

this is a bigger size than the last one, fits him better too, phew!

The most obvious, yet somehow still unexpected, outcome of all this is that when we do trot? He.... just stays on the bit. Right now we're only really trotting a single lap of the ring at a time. And only a very few laps total for a full ride. And in the interest of full disclosure: Charlie isn't really very correct in his carriage while trotting -- he's much too deep and overbent right now.

Mostly tho I see that as a sign of A) weakness (duh); and B) Charlie knows I want him to put his head down. He doesn't really have the game figured out fully beyond that -- except that he also knows I don't want him leaning on me.

so the charlie monster is free to move about the cabin!

I already know from pre-surgery that this is Charlie's interim step before I can put my leg on and push him out across his back (if we can ever get those shoulders out of the way). We're just.... not there yet. And that's ok. Obviously haha.

But I'm hoping that by taking the time to be super disciplined in my walk work while he rehabs, that we might find ourselves either exactly where we left off training-wise. Or, maybe if we're lucky, Charlie will actually have himself a fuller education on expectations and carriage and lateral balance from all this rehab at the walk and we'll end up not having missed a beat.

while hopefully that shoulder bib will keep things nice and frictionless!

A girl can dream, right? And anyway you might be reading this feeling like, "uh but yea walking forever is still boring as fuck" lol, and.... you're not exactly wrong.

But I can still honestly say that getting back to even some semblance of work is just so refreshing and exciting to me! And those first few trot steps (well, ok, after those first few where he was like "omg but i have so many body parts tho and they're all moving!") were just the freakin BEST.

anything for that goon <3

So yea, winter is coming and it's dark and chilly now when I get there after work. And that's kinda a bummer.  BUT. That's completely outweighed by relief and excitement at Charlie's continued return to regular programming.

This time last year I was getting all excited about even just the possibilities of how Charlie might handle his introduction to the sport. We had only just had our very first jump lesson on Nov. 5th, after all. Now I have the advantage of already knowing that he's basically everything I could hope for as my event horse. Just gotta keep on keepin' on.

What about you? Do you feel winter closing in? Are you already turning your sights inward toward bootcamp for all those little details that get overlooked when there's other fun stuff to do instead? Do you have any big objectives or plans for your down time this winter? Or do you just basically treat it as vacation for the horse during the worst of the weather? Or maybe you're still hoping to squeeze a bit more out of this year before calling it?

the big guy goes off leash!!

This past week marked 4wks since Charlie's surgery to remove the infected fragment of his splint bone. I'm very grateful that so far things have gone reasonably smoothly in his recovery, and am hopeful that he continues to chug right on along.

wouldn't be so blurry if he didn't insist on coming with me

He was cleared for hand- and tack-walking two weeks ago, and I've been as diligent about that as possible. Lots of hacking, lots of wandering, lots of just chillin in the arena while our friends did their rides. Anything to get Charlie out of his box, considering he had yet to be cleared for turnout.

fanceh dressage horse workin on those fanceh walk moves

This past week we actually upped the ante ever so slightly too. I put a bit back on the horse (we had previously just been bummin around in the hackamore) and asked him to do a little bit of real adult horse work in the dressage ring.

At first I had the sinking feeling that we would be starting over from square one.... But by the end of the first ride he seemed to remember more of what I was asking, and by the second, more 'purposeful' school (walk only, obvi) he was pretty quickly on board with the situation. Here's hoping that continues as he's able to do more and more real work!!

rolling is basically the best thing ever these days

For now, tho, we're crossing another important milestone in Charlie's recovery: The big bad boy got to go out in a little paddock all by himself!!!! With no wet towel Emma and her blasted rope halter telling him not to behave!

oooooh but there's the sass monster i've been hacking around! he only really has this one move tho haha

Obviously Step 1 was to roll. I've gotten him up to the indoor a couple times to roll (while still safely attached to the line) but not nearly as often as he'd like. So he's been rolling a lot in his stall and is absolutely disgusting for his efforts. Ew.

it's a speshul move tho. wheeeeeeee wild child!

Step 2, tho?? Lol Charlie. Much fierce. Many wild. So wow.

such extension, so grace!

Big boy finally got to let loose and snake his head around and grunt and kick and heave his shoulders hither and thither!! As only an awkward, goofy long-legged TB can haha.

lol my friend asked if i could photoshop buck teeth on this pic. such a dork lol

And..... It lasted all of about three seconds haha. He was very impressed with himself tho, let me tell you!

video (with gratuitous slo-mo) here

also, check out charlie's newer, fuller stall-rest-induced dad bod!

And bc I'm basically the quintessential helicopter mom, naturally I kept the camera rolling for your viewing pleasure ;)

aaaaaaand we're done here. hay is good. 

With that very important mission accomplished, it was time for the final Step 3: chillin out at the hay pile. Good boy, Charlie.

yep. wild man in turnout for like.... 3 seconds haha. then parked it at the hay for the remaining hour and a half.

Part of me felt like he wasn't really getting as much movement as he would have had I actually hacked him around.... But the emotional impact of being loose in a field felt 100% worth it, even if it meant I just hung out at the farm setting jumps for friends for a couple hours just so my horse could get that turn out.

So this new milestone means Charlie now returns to a fairly regular turnout schedule, albeit in a small paddock. Should everything go smoothly, he'll be back out to his full field in another week. Fingers crossed!

friday fotos: 5yos @ fair hill

TGIF!!!! For your efforts in surviving the week, here are photographs cell phone video stills from the 5yo Young Event Horse East Coast Championships held at Fair Hill's October Festival a few weeks back.

They ran through a derby-like course with the first half set as stadium fences. The height grows progressively through the course of the season, finishing at about training/prelim heights. 

After the stadium, they continued directly onto the xc test.

Most of the jumps were of very inviting design - encouraging a good gallop and forward jump.

Tho naturally the course also included the hallmarks of all classic cross country tracks.

Plus riders were encouraged to demonstrate their young horse's gallop - both between the jumps and in a designated 'gallop lane' following the final fence.

The stadium portion itself was fairly straight forward - mostly single fences except for two lines: a 6 stride (the second of which came down almost every ride) and a 2 stride in and out, above.

I was quite impressed that these 5yo horses were so game to tackle the course - we saw very few oopsie moments, tho there were a couple misses at the bank (and one fall into the henceforth dubbed "exploding" trakehner that we missed). 

This particular rider pulled out an impressive save tho after scrambling at the bank and still managed to get out alive over this house two strides later.

There were, naturally, quite a few familiar faces among the riders, as this was predominantly a pro class.

Which made the green moments all the more.... fun to watch haha. Pro riders, but the horses are still just 5!

Mostly tho, it was a very cool class to watch.

Lots of gorgeous eye candy, obvi. But also, in case you can't tell from the pics (and video below), we were really able to get right up close and personal with the action.

Trainer Dan always used to encourage me to go to big recognized shows to specifically watch the big world class pros (the Phillips Boyds Bucks etc of the world) ride their BN / N horses around.

He said there was the most to learn from watching them ride these greener horses, as opposed to watching them on their very seasoned and well schooled horses where it's harder to see what's going on in the communication between horse and rider.

So in some ways, this class was the perfect opportunity for that. Esp as some riders apparently specialize in the young'ins and had multiple horses in both the 4yo and 5yo classes. 

Mostly tho, this was basically just an opportunity to ogle some gorgeous and classy horse flesh.

While also trying to learn ore about developing my own eye in terms of identifying and recognizing talent, style, ability and technique in an upper level event prospect.

I admittedly have a decidedly amateur eye - ain't gonna count as anybody's idea of an expert judge any time soon lol.

But, ya know. I have a curiosity. And I enjoy watching the ponies go. So even if I'm not an on-point judge of exactly what is crossing in front of my eyes, I can still be an enthusiastic spectator!!

Tho actually, after watching so many horses go through the course of the two day program, it did become easier to see what sets an event horse apart from a horse maybe better suited for a different discipline.

Mostly tho. I was just in it for the ponies haha. And for capturing loads of media (there's still the 4yo class, and all of the 2* and 3* cross country that I haven't even touched yet!) to share with y'all. 

video of the class here

So. Ya know. Hope you enjoy it too!! Happy Friday Foto Finish, everyone!

2017 Two Point Challenge: Winning!!

November is here. Fall is in full swing, with winter undoubtedly on its heels. All this to say, the annual equestrian blogger challenge 2ptober has come to a close.

It's been a hell of a ride, with quite a few riders laying down monster times. Quite possibly with a few record breakers thrown in there as well. And while we can only award four final winners, it's worth taking a moment to celebrate the group as a whole:


Stats & Accolades: 

- 17 Riders doubled their baselines or better
- Average longest time spent in 2pt position was 8 minutes
- That's quadruple the average baseline time of 2 minutes
- Total sum of all riders' longest times was over 3.5 hours

Those of you who gave the challenge a shot this year deserve a major pat on the back. And esp those of you who kept on working, week after week, burning muscles and all, toward your own improved strength and ability as riders -- Y'all are basically heroes. Well done!

Rider	Blog	Baseline	Max Time	% Improved
Aimee	SprinklerBandits	2:13	2:13	0%
Alex	TheHorseDream	0:22	8:00	2,082%
Amanda	Bel Joeor	0:25	8:12	1,868%
Anxious Eventer	Anxious Eventer	2:36	2:36	0%
Bee Tea	Riding to B	3:00	3:00	0%
Beth	A Truby in Tucson	0:23	1:51	383%
Britt	A House on a Hill	5:04	5:04	0%
Chelsey	Horseback Writing	2:47	2:47	0%
Emily Frank		5:38	19:40	249%
Fig	Topaz Dreams	0:07	1:03	800%
Holly	Marescara	2:02	6:03	198%
J. Alexander	It's Cosmic	2:00	40:14	1,912%
Kaity	The Repurposed Horse	4:07	9:15	125%
KateRose	Peace & Carrots	2:24	2:24	0%
KC	The Pilgrim Chronicles	2:37	21:49	734%
L Williams	Viva Carlos	5:25	43:20	700%
Laura Anne		1:11	2:05	76%
Maddy	CTR+Halt+DEL	1:15	3:15	160%
Mandy	The Everything Pony	3:00	8:00	167%
Megan	Phoebe the Freebie	0:20	4:03	1,115%
Megan K	Go Big or Go Home	3:13	3:13	0%
Molly	One Bud Wiser	2:09	5:46	168%
Nadia	3day adventures with horses	4:40	23:26	402%
Niamh	Misadventures of a girl and her OTTB	2:43	3:17	21%
Nicole Sharp	Zen Baby	1:58	1:58	0%
Olivia	DIY Horse Ownership	1:17	1:17	0%
Sara	The Roaming Rider	0:32	4:38	769%
SarahO	Autonomous Dressage	2:05	2:05	0%
SarahW	My Red Mare	2:00	2:00	0%
Teresa	Journey with a Dancing Horse	1:44	8:40	400%
Tracy	Fly On Over	1:45	1:45	0%

For your efforts, please right click on the below Participation Ribbon Badge to save it for upload and display on your blog's sidebar or in a post!

We'd also like to take a moment to congratulate the Top 5 Finishers for each division:

Longest Time			Most Improved
Rider	Blog		Rider	Blog
Nadia	3day adventures with horses		Megan	Phoebe the Freebie
KC	The Pilgrim Chronicles		Fig	Topaz Dreams
Emily Frank			Sara	The Roaming Rider

Congrats to you too - and please grab the below Ribbon Badge recognizing your extreme prowess at holding your two point position for longer and longer times!

And finally, we'd like to congratulate our 2017 Two Point Challenge Champions and Reserve Champions for Longest Time and Most Improved:

Longest Time			Most Improved
Rider	Blog		Rider	Blog
L Williams	Viva Carlos		Alex	TheHorseDream
J. Alexander	It's Cosmic		Amanda	Bel Joeor

Champions and Reserve Champions - each and every one of you laid down a very impressive longest time! My hat is off to both L. Williams and J. Alexander for lasting a muscle-melting 40+ minutes, you're both winners in my book!

And special congrats to Alex and Amanda for proving why this practice is so valuable by blowing your original baselines out of the water to finish with very respectable 8+ minute finishes. Way to go!

In addition to your Ribbon Badges, please get in touch with Allison from PONY'TUDE on her contact page or FB to claim your real life omg so awesome prizes!!!!!

Thanks again to all of the 2017 participants for sharing in on this excellent community challenge to be the strongest riders we can possibly be! I hope you enjoyed following along, and especially hoped that you maybe found a few new blogs in the process! Be sure to check out all of this year's participants linked in the table above!