back on the chain gang

Obviously I hadn't really expected last weekend's horse show plans to get derailed by yet another leg issue in Sir Charles. Rather, we had spent the week in advance going through our normal preparations. With the added priority of continuing to experiment with bitting solutions.

i have no idea why this curb chain is so freakin long tho

The idea being: during cross country at Loch Moy a few weeks ago, Charlie grew increasingly strong, dropping his shoulders and flattening to the fences. That makes it really hard to find a good distance to the jumps - and virtually impossible to get a good half halt through so that we could still ride forward to the fences. But backwards is never the answer, turns out.

And we all saw the pictures right? The result of our unbalanced canter was jumping from a half stride, climbing over a couple, or just basically cantering over the fences.

That all feels even less comfortable than it looks haha, I promise. Tho at least that bad feeling is counteracted by Charlie otherwise feeling completely honest and genuine to the fences.

He went everywhere I pointed him, stayed straight, and tackled everything with gusto. Just.... in a slightly uneducated and careless manner that could be problematic when the fences aren't 2'7 and below haha.

snoozing over the swedish oxer / barrel jump
also THANK YOU Sarah for the video + pictures!!!!! :D

Ultimately tho, it's pretty apparent that Charlie actually has a reasonably correct technique over the fences when he cares to. When properly motivated, his form and expression (and auto-changes) wouldn't be embarrassing in the hunter ring.

And while we often leave lessons with paint smudges on his hooves (bc homeboy is #careless about small jumps. also sometimes I suck #realtalk), he does actually seem to have a conscience and tries to avoid hitting the fences after an early mistake.

The horse can jump. He's got a good eye, seems to enjoy the game, and so far has found it all very easy. Charlie's not particularly impressed by anything, and is maybe growing a little cocky. He thinks he knows all the answers, while simultaneously he doesn't really apply himself fully. Not the worst problems to have, if I'm being honest, but still real problems.

i actually had to push to make the 30' 2 stride work

So we keep working on it. From a training perspective, my focus has been in trying to develop a better half halt in the horse (we're talking long term here, guys lol) while also being stricter about the horse getting behind my leg.

He must move up and lift his shoulders when I push him forward. Must. We need that well-conditioned response to my seat and legs to get Charlie pushing up in front of me. If I can keep him up in his shoulders, it'll be infinitely easier to get cleaner jumping efforts from him.

But the precursor to that lifting process has to be the fully functional half halt - the dramatic re-balancing of the horse that rocks him back and shifts more weight to his hind quarters.

Ideally, at some distance from a fence (let's call it six strides in a well-schooled horse) I should be able to get that half halt through to check in with the horse, adjust our balance, and then shift into "managed maintenance" as we ride forward to the jump. You can see this idea in action in Ingrid Klimke's SAP-enabled helmet cam videos (in fact, I wrote a whole post about it a while back!).

eager to the triple bar

That's the goal, right? The holy grail. The feeling of a "well schooled" horse. Charlie is... not there yet. It will take time. He's also very different from Isabel in that he pulls. He's not the first TB I've ridden that pulls hard (hi Lad!), but he is the first I've taken xc. And it's definitely a different experience.

The key for me will be figuring out how to not get baited into a tug of war. Because that's how I end up riding backwards. And again, backwards riding is never the right answer.

The feeling I'm looking for is: How can I get that half halt through to Charlie in a way that he understands, such that he has that moment of re-balancing where I can then put my leg on and ride forward. A lot of this is mental for me too - feeling like I can push my hands forward and put my leg on. It's a trust thing, right? And it's hard to trust dull brakes.

has #feelings about the curb chain. was #happier when we loosened it

So my intermediary step in this process involves bitting options. Taking away Charlie's ability to blow through me, without putting so much on him that he backs off.

There are literally endless options in this respect, and plenty of folks who have ideas or bits for me to try. So far I've kept it pretty simple tho - working with what I have on hand. We tried the hackamore and I really liked it, but missed also having a snaffle for our warm up and flat work.

Next up was continuing with my normal jumping bit: a Sprenger KK with elevator ("universal") cheek pieces and double reins. Except I took off the leather curb strap and replaced it with a curb chain. Small difference, and honestly I wasn't really sure it would do the trick since Charlie was already pretty familiar with the curb chain / leverage combination from the hackamore.

video of our quick course here

But actually I think we might have a winner here! It'll need more testing bc this particular ride was one where most of our conversations revolved around GET IN FRONT OF MY LEG FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU SLUG.

Ahem, cough cough. There may or may not have been a pony club kick involved....

Mostly tho the feeling was pretty good. At first I had the chain on too tight bc again I expected him to not react much to it based on our hackamore experiences. But actually he was quite sensitive - and we ended up loosening it part way through the lesson.

I really like that it's a normal KK snaffle (no curb action at all) off one rein, with the curb only coming into play when I specifically use it. But the curb *is* there when I need it, and it appears to be influential enough to get the message through to Charles. The biggie here being: I could use the curb, then let go, push my hands forward and put my leg on, and ride forward to the fence.

chain did what i wanted tho: allowed me to keep riding charlie forward to the fences instead of resorting to a backward feel

That's the feeling I want. So I dug out Isabel's old sheepskin cover that I used for the hackamore chain when it was hers, and planned to use the cover during our jumping rounds at the show. Just for that slight dampening effect, since I didn't want Charlie too sharp as show nerves often make me ride tighter.

Obviously the jumping didn't end up happening at Full Moon, which is fine. And Charlie's getting a little extra tlc this week bc I'm all aboard the "Rest not Risk" bus right now. More on that later (he's fine, tho, fortunately!).

But hopefully we'll get a chance to bust out for some more test rides soon. After scratching from last weekend's FMF HT, and next weekend's Loch Moy Spring #2 HT (*sigh*), we've got a bit of a break in the schedule until the end of next month. Hopefully with lots of time to get out and enjoy ourselves!!

What about you, do you enjoy playing around with bits? Or are you more like me, once you find something you like, that's what you try to stick with, whatever may come? Do you have a certain "feeling" you look for or has it mostly depended on each individual horse's preferences or ways of going?

FMF Spring Thing Dressage

One of my hopes for this year is to get out to new-to-us show venues. Partly for the sake of variety, and partly to test how comfortable and confident I feel when facing unfamiliar obstacles. Since, ya know, so much of my mental game revolves around making things feel routine and mundane, what happens when I push out of the familiar and into lesser known places?

With that in mind, Brita and I packed up the ponies early Sunday morning to head over to the local Full Moon Farm for their Spring Thing Starter Trial. We came here once before in 2015 for their Aloha trials, tho I was fresh back from a business trip and therefore left Isabel at home while Brita took Wick through the Intro level.

there's a lot of effort happening in this picture

Unfortunately, however, upon feeding Charlie his breakfast and wrapping him up for the trailer, I discovered an issue with one of his legs that meant scratching our jumping tests. Sigh. More to come later. Short story tho: he's fine, I promise, but I'm trying to learn my lesson and be more proactively careful even with the small stuff.

But I figured, if we'd be going through all the rigmarole of hauling out to a show (even a local one) for just a single BN dressage test... Well, dammit, I wanted to make that test count haha.

happy with his steady obedience here

So. We set out to do a "good" dressage test. I had in mind the Janet Foy "Through the Levels" clinic I audited a couple years ago. One of her concepts was about about test strategy, and asking "What are your movements that are going to be a 6 no matter what? And where are the places where you can really make a difference?"

Her point was that some movements (the example in the clinic was a medium trot) just won't be standout scores for some horses, and the rider's attempt to keep picking might actually make the score worse (as in, instead of an easy blah 6, the fussy horse/rider issues drop it to a 5.5 or 5). So she encouraged riders to instead focus efforts on movements where they can really move the needle positively vs negatively.

we've been practicing our trot-walk-free walk-walk-trot so so so much lately. it's paying off bit by bit

My takeaway was that sometimes by trying harder, a movement can become worse before it gets better. That a horse might plod around quietly and obediently enough when left to his own devices, but that as soon as you start poking and prodding at him, he might fuss right back.

Charlie's currently a training level dressage horse, and the whole point of this level is to begin influencing the horse in every facet of how he goes. This was Janet's Point #1, and it's basically all about making the horse rideable. Nothing is off limits, no detail falls into the category of "well that's just how the horse goes, so that's that!"

In other words, I should not at this point in Charlie's training be resigned to "Well, that's just going to be a 6 no matter what so I'm not going to try harder." So my attitude going into this test was to try harder to improve on every portion of this test relative to our last performance at Loch Moy two weeks ago. While also acknowledging that my increased efforts might result in more mistakes or tension or whatever.

more trying. not perfect, but trying.

I planned a lengthy warm up of about 40 minutes, anticipating mostly to walk. But to walk with purpose - no slug walk allowed (a new rule for our arena rides) and frequent transitions between walking on a freer, looser rein (still marching tho, sir!) and walking on more contact.

And basically I wanted this ride to emulate a normal schooling ride for us. All too often I get a little complacent in my competition warm ups, esp for dressage where I rationalize this by "not using my horse up" when we still have so much work left to do in the day. Since we weren't jumping on this day tho, I had no excuse.

emmmmmaaaaaa sit uppppppp lol

That said, the warm up felt a little too long. We warmed up fully in the designated grassy area (on a hill, natch) before getting the green light to head into the arena to warm up around the court and between the stadium and dressage ring.

This was useful bc there was a LOT going on and a LOT to see - horses doing stadium in the same ring, warm up and cross country in the distance, plus the entire trailer and office and food truck area surrounding the arena.

But the judge was on a break so we just kept working and warming up, and I ended up feeling like we might have been better off going in for our test 10 minutes sooner. It was fine tho. The judge eventually rang us in and I entered at A determined to stay present and keep trying for literally every single moment in the test.

trying to werk werk werk werk werk on that K-X-G movement

All in all, I'm generally pleased with the test too. Positives include:

- All the transitions happened where they were supposed to,
- The circle geometry wasn't perfect but was better measured than some of our past efforts,
- We got both canter leads in the right places,
- Charlie's trot work was very steady and I was happy with our energy in this gait,
- All our worst moments of bracing were when our back was to the judge (lol)

and getting a nice halt for our efforts, tho still not quiiiiiite straight on centerline. maybe next time!

Areas for improvement:

- Canter should be Charlie's best gait but I don't successfully show it off in a test setting.
- Charlie's free walk is sluggish, but we broke to trot instead of stepping up more.
- Holy hell this horse is just tight tight tight in the base of his neck.
- Needs more suppleness overall.
- Our balance in corners and turns suffers from lack of suppleness.
- Also needs more engagement and step up from behind.
- We've got a lot of bracing against the hand happening, a result of insufficient engagement.
- Despite my efforts, we still halted haunches left after the K-X-G line. Needs mirrors!
 

test video here with movement scores + commentary

Honestly I felt a little frustrated with the test itself because there were a lot of moments where we left points on the table. Particularly: jigging in the free walk, and the walk-trot transition at K that is combined with the second trot circle. And just a lot of bracing against the hand in general.

My impression is that it'll be really difficult to get a good score for that second circle no matter how good it is if the trot transition is hollow and braced. So I've been working on those transitions a ton lately, but again without the suppleness and push from behind we still got a lot of bracing in the test.

 

comment: "Handsome horse obed/steady test. Work to show more suppleness/bend with more weight to HQ less on FH.
final penalty score: 33.6%

It's a good kind of frustration tho. The kind of frustration where I knew I had tried, knew I had pushed to get the result I wanted. As opposed to our last test where we kinda just cruised through without asking for much.

So in that sense, it was a satisfying experience. I don't have to wonder "what could have been" had I just tried a little bit harder. Rather, instead now I have an even better idea of how to keep working and practicing to keep improving.

scritches for an itchy good mare after one of their nicest dressage tests!

All the same tho, I braced myself for getting a similar score, estimating we'd get a 35%-40% for our efforts. So I was happily surprised to get a (generous) 33.6% instead, tied for third place with first place scoring a 31% and change. Not too shabby from a competitive perspective. Especially considering there's so much I still want to fix.

charlie generally being a nuisance while bella just minds her own business getting studs in. i appreciate this picture bc the angle and coolers make them look like two reasonably similar sized beasts

So ya know. It wasn't necessarily a feel-good kinda day, what with Charlie's new leg issue (blargh) and a dressage test that reflected just how unconfirmed we are in so many of the basics.

But it was a good day, still. And a good learning experience. I was pleased with myself for being more disciplined and being able to show real and quantifiable improvements in this dressage phase over our last outing (even tho, uh, yea this scoring was certainly generous. see: scoring a 6 for a free walk where we broke gait...). And pleased with Charlie for rising to the occasion.

the truth comes out in this pic tho haha. also i'm experimenting with ways to keep charlie's tail tidier in the trailer since he likes to poop all over the butt bar then mash his tail into it. this wrapping method worked quite well, but is too fussy to put on and off, on and off, throughout the day as charlie goes on and off the trailer. 

As ever, tho, there's still more work to do. In time tho haha. Because uh.... Yea all things are getting put on ice for now (including that leg, bleh). It'll be ok tho. Soon enough.

putting in what i want to get out

We all know that a truism in horses, as with life in general, is that you get what you give. In other words, you get out what you put in. Garbage in, garbage out. Guts in, glory out. Etc etc etc.

This doesn't always prove true, of course. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes we work our butts off and do everything the "right" way, and things still go badly. Which like... really sucks. And is so disheartening. And depressingly common in horses. They are fragile animals and this is a hard sport.

panoramas from moving horseback are hard, so instead i knit two separate pictures together. charlie loves being the filling in this mare sandwich haha

Generally tho, the reverse almost never happens: wherein we get something for nothing. There is no "lottery" in horses, where you can buy that elusive winning ticket and be set for life. Unless like, I guess if you actually *do* win the lottery and can afford to buy the nicest horses and keep them in full training with the best professionals money can buy.

But ya know. The odds being what they are, it's a safer bet to accept that we are the drivers of our own horsey destinies, whatever may come.

sunset hacking is fun too

And as such, as the driver of my own horsey destiny, I've spent a lot of time reflecting on what that means. What matters the most to me? Where do I want to go? How do I define my happiness in horses? What does that mean on a day-to-day basis, and from a more long term perspective?

Everyone's answers to these questions are obviously extremely different. Which, naturally, is one of the most amazing things about horses: there are so many ways to enjoy them.

esp when joined by friends! one of my favorite things about this barn is that there's almost always riders around who are game for a hack through the fields!

For me, personally, I've identified my journey and progression as a rider to be one of the most meaningful and rewarding aspects of my horse habit. I don't necessarily want to be the "best" rider, but rather be the best I can be. If that makes sense haha.

The underlying assumption is that horses just in and of themselves are an important part of my life. My day to day life is better for having horses in it. Even just the time I spend in the company of horses - just those quiet in-between moments - has the power to be a refreshing boost to my mood. Something tells me that many, many of you feel similarly haha.

esp when there are new baby ottbs to introduce to the water! Cherry was such a star!

So in short - I'm a horse junkie whose driving force is improving my skills in the saddle. I also happen to really really enjoy horse showing. Like, horse showing is literally one of my favorite things and is simultaneously an excellent measure of where I am as a rider.

I love the entire emotional cycle. The vague intangible build up of anticipation that begins with penciling in a date, sending in an entry. That gradually expands in the weeks of preparation: the schooling rides and tack cleaning etc. Finally reaching that visceral crescendo of arriving on the show grounds, swinging into the saddle, and riding. And, of course, what is hopefully a sweet release of riding your best and giving it your all. Then settling down to relax (and possibly get a little drunk) with your friends back at the trailer / tailgate.

That, to me, is an aspect of horse sports that I adore. Just adore. It's so fun. Naturally tho, an important part of that cycle is the whole bit about "riding your best, giving it your all." That's the release, right? That's the part where all those endorphins come rushing in.

often our hacks follow dressage schools, of which there have been a few lately. this simple cavaletti exercise that brita set up has been surprisingly versatile! in addition to the three circles that can involve just one or both cavaletti, there's also the option of serpentining through with changes of bend happening over each cavaletti

Because it's kinda hard to get that euphoric sense of accomplishment and fulfillment after a ride that made me feel like shit, right? Ask me how I know....

Not that I care very much about winning, personally (and I don't). Rather, for me, I want my rides in competition to feel like reasonably accurate demonstrations of my and my horse's current level of training.

I'm a pretty mediocre rider, and Charlie's a green horse. So that's usually a reasonably attainable bar for us. Like our recent performance at Loch Moy was riddled with mistakes, miscalculations, and misjudgments. Mostly on the part of the rider.

I'm cool with it tho, bc that's basically where I'm at as a rider. I make a lot of mistakes, and my green horse will reflect those mistakes. Luckily, it's pretty easy to pick apart how everything went to identify areas where I can try to do a little better next time. So I got to enjoy all the highs of that experience, while also figuring out how to improve down the road. Win win, right?

ooooh we did a few jompies too! this horse is such a prince

Now, the onus falls on me to make good on that. If I go out to the next show and make all the same exact mistakes and errors again.... well, then that starts getting really frustrating right? So that's where my main goal of improving my skills as a rider comes in. That's where we get to the day-to-day aspect of all my horsey hopes and dreams.

For Charlie's and my purposes at this specific juncture, there are two main areas I've been addressing in our schooling rides.

1) Experimenting with bitting (or lack there of) over fences to clarify my aids to Charlie when he may be otherwise distracted by OMG GO FAST GO JOMP YASSSSS. ahem. lol.
- and -
2) Being more consistent and accountable in my dressage rides so that Charlie doesn't constantly have changing expectations and moving goal posts.

gosh he's fun <3 this jump was off a nearly C-shaped six stride bending line. homeboy nailed it

The jumping part has been fine, really. We're kinda at a place where I don't want to jump a ton, but want the schools we do to really count. Charlie knows his job, and I'm finally feeling pretty comfortable again, so we just need to refine.

We've jumped a couple times in the hackamore and I really like it. Except, one big issue: It's not sufficient for warming up. Sure, plenty other riders out there might say that good dressage and good flatwork shouldn't rely on a bit to get the job done. But, for me? For my skill set and abilities? Yea, I need a snaffle to get the horse really working haha.

Warming Charlie up for jumping is all about softening and flexing his topline, getting him more supple. He's not a naturally soft horse, and often needs some convincing to lift his back or push more from behind, vs just shuffling around. And it's best for everyone involved if this "convincing" happens before we actually try to jump things lol.

So there's still more experimenting to be done here. I've got lots of ideas tho!

pictured: half halting with the help of a hackamore lol. i actually really like the feel of this bridle for jumping!

And in the meantime, I've been really digging in to our flat work. Trying to be really consistent in what I ask for, how I ask for it, and what I accept as an answer.

If on one day, I'm cool with Charlie jogging around disengaged with his nose poked out, but the next day want him really pushing and round? Well. He's going to be a little bit unclear about whether he really has to work that much harder.

Considering he isn't exactly the most naturally gifted dressage horse to start, it's easier for everyone if I can just say, "Charlie when I apply my aids like this, the answer I'm looking for from you is that. Every time, always." So I can just focus on my use of aids (like fixing my whack position, nagging legs, too-backward while simultaneously too-unstable contact.... the list goes on forever!) and Charlie never has to guess about his job.

esp when the half halts go through and we get clean jumps!

I've been using a lot of cavalleti lately in this effort. They're so helpful for me because they create physical and visual landmarks in terms of keeping me honest about how much bend I need, while also giving Charlie a place to go that isn't just me constantly kicking him on to .... somewhere.

The exercise a few pictures up was particularly helpful, plus easy to set up. The turns are hard for us tho. It's a challenge for me to get Charlie more engaged and pushing off his hind end, so he ends up feeling like his shoulders are super stuck and nearly impossible to push around the turns. Which, incidentally, is possibly why we often get the comment "Labored" on our dressage tests lol...

and careful balance through the shortened 30' two stride!

The cavaletti are also useful bc I'm trying to be more disciplined in expecting Charlie to move off my leg. No more slug trot for a couple laps while we warm up! I want more responsiveness. Charlie has been resistant to being driven forward since basically day 1, but we work on it. Aiming him at something helps a lot tho haha.

We started playing with the faintest ideas of lengthenings too! The kernel being: create a bigger trot across the diagonals, then transition clearly back to a working trot. It's tough bc Charlie doesn't understand it yet, or have much flexibility in his trot (we also have basically zero compression in trot). He either wants to canter, or get strung out and trail/trip with his hind end.

There were a couple really good moments in a recent ride tho where he stayed round and gave the briefest most fleeting feeling of that "thrust" off the ground that was so easy for Isabel. So it's fun to play, especially if it reinforces the idea in Charlie of developing different gears within his gaits. We'll see!

also unrelated: i added a snap between buttons on my show coat. i'm a very amateur seamstress so this involved making stitches on the outside of the coat, but they're not visible from very far away. and the snap completely resolves my pet peeve of extreme gapping between buttons!

So, ya know. We're chipping away at it. I have goals, hopes and dreams. Things I want to do with horses. Fun I want to have. There's no rush, tho, in anything. Rome wasn't built in a day, and enjoying my day to day work with horses is just as important, if not more, as reaching those big ultimate goals.

I enjoy this process of learning tho. It's rewarding when something "clicks" - either for me or the horse. Like realizing Charlie's finally at a point where he's pretty freakin well-schooled to 2'9 course work. Or like trying to teach Charlie lengthenings, as a rider who has only ever done them on a horse who was freakishly gifted at them. We're figuring it out and it feels pretty cool!

Plus all that stuff about loving horse shows: getting out to do the things, having that culminating moment where the work pays off. I won't get that feeling without any of the actual work, right? So we put in the work, put in the time. And hopefully I'll eventually be a better rider for it.

Do you ever go through similar thought exercises of really thinking deeply about your ultimate horse goals, and how they play out in your day-to-day rides?

I know everyone has wildly different goals, and defines their happiness with horses differently, but perhaps you feel similarly to some of the above? Or perhaps it's less about the goals of tomorrow for you? That enjoying your horse here in the moment is what really counts? Or just seeking a balance with all of life's other priorities and callings? I'm all ears!

the dream machine

One of my favorite things about having this blog is the opportunity it creates for highlighting landmarks and milestones.

And I've recently gotten to celebrate a few things!

the sweetest horse <3 and so many more lovely pictures from Austen Gage - all pictures in this post credited to her

Superficially: Last week's cross country recap was officially my 1,000th 'Fraidy Cat Eventing blog post. Which is crazy. Crazy that I've managed to stick with it. And crazy how much things have changed since I started writing in August 2014.

he's so patient for bridling too, which is useful considering it takes about 15 minutes to get all these straps adjusted on his face....

It felt fitting that the 1,000th post coincided with a cross country recap too. That wasn't intentional, but I was oddly satisfied to realize that's how it would shake out.

he's certainly got the "look of eagles" thing down pat

It's especially fun to consider this most recent xc play-by-play in comparison to my first ever two cross country runs - first at OF, and then again a few weeks later at our first Jenny Camp. Or in comparison to some of Isabel's last runs, like our novice at Loch Moy, or our 2nd place finish in the 2016 season opener. Such memories!!

it makes posing for pictures easy no matter what we're doing haha

Last weekend's season opener also gives me the opportunity to mark a another special milestone. Namely, moving beyond the nitty gritty rehash of the rides to focus more on the big picture.

I love digging into all the details in a ride, trying to understand what happened and why so that I can use that knowledge to keep improving and learning. But there's more to a ride than saying "this went well, that needs work," ya know?

relaxed in the warm up ring

So what stands out from a big picture perspective? Well. Considering I'm still walking on air after Charlie's thrilling (in every sense of the word lol) performance, it's safe to say it felt like a pretty triumphant return to the competition scene.

i like that he watches what all is going on around him

Charlie last raced in Aug 2016, and became mine in Sept 2016. He debuted as an eventer in early 2017 and completed 7 cross country courses throughout the year. Plus we schooled cross country on 4 occasions (only counting times when we actually, ya know, jumped things).

cool calm and collected heading down to the arena for our round!

Since then Charlie lost about three months of training and work between his surgery last fall, and stepping on a nail this winter.

And yet so far in 2018 he's had 2 successful cross country schools, and has now completed his first event of the season (and third BN ever) with clear jumping and a 3rd place finish. He feels like a real, honest-to-god event horse now.

the actual handsomest tho

And he feels really good. Still pretty green, as you might imagine, lol. Lacking polish for sure. Bc, uh, let's remember here - I'm the only one who rides this horse. He hasn't had trainer rides. He doesn't get schooled by professionals. He gets.... me. That's it.

happy interested expression even when he's basically just cantering bigly over the fences lol

That's not a brag, or commentary on the relative value of training rides (which should be obvious bc I've previously written about investing in pro rides for Isabel when things weren't going well). Rather, just a reflection on what it's taken for us to get here.

burning around the corner after finishing the round

"Here" might not look like much in the grand scheme of things. I get that. Flying around BN cross country on a runaway thoroughbred and finishing on a dressage score of 41.1% isn't exactly brag-worthy either lol. Let's be real. And it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

It means the world to me, tho.

dis charlie's swagger

I pour so much of myself into this sport and am finally feeling like I have a horse who's ready and able to match me each step of the way. Sure, Charlie goes a little too fast and can be slightly careless.... But he's so uncomplicated. So brave. And so so so trustworthy - I have complete and utter faith in this horse.

looking big and beafy on cross country too

He inspires me to want to work harder and be better, so I can give him the rides he needs to keep improving and stay happy in his job.

happily cruising out of the water

Just browsing back through the last 1,000 posts.... it's kinda crazy to see what an impact Charlie has had on my attitude in riding.

I was at a pretty low point when I got him, and even at the beginning of last year I was still dealing with so many confidence issues. So much fear. Insane amounts of self doubt. Wondering whether I was using my horse's greenness as a shield, copping out from pushing my own limits.

it wasn't a ride everybody would have loved, but it was just the ticket for me

This year feels like a fresh beginning tho. The start of something entirely new. It might not look meaningfully different to an outside perspective. But it feels different. And I'm really excited.

already looking forward to the next time <3

There's never any telling what the future will hold with horses. Especially a horse like Charlie lol. I can only imagine what things might look like in another 1,000 posts. With Charlie, tho, it's finally so easy to dream again :)

checking in: the plan

April is finally here, guys! Meaning, the season is heating up and it's time to get serious. And also, coincidentally, time to check in on my ambitious 2018 hopes and dreams.

Things didn't go exactly as I had hoped this first quarter of the year, mostly bc we lost about ~6 weeks after Charlie stepped on a nail in early February. All's well that ends well, however, and we still managed to close out the month with a promising season debut.

pics today are completely unrelated haha. i went to a point-to-point race day at Shawan Downs this weekend and got to see a lot of fun stuff, like a side saddle steeplechase race!! this pair won the award for best turnout in the class

So, let's see how each specific goal shook out:

• Sketch out the bones of a competition plan for the year. Likewise, consider timing for clinic options - on the flat or over fences. Competition plan is sketched for the first half of the year. In pencil, obvi. It's a very flexible plan. Clinic options haven't materialized yet - lots of our favorite trainers are still in Aiken and haven't gotten organized yet.
• Research membership details for USEA/USEF. Likely won't do anything recognized.
• Stay focused with twice weekly lessons with trainers P & K, schedules allowing. Should have written "if the horse is sound."
• Aim for at least monthly lessons with dressage trainer C, traveling to her farm if needed. See also: "if the horse is sound."
• Keep myself accountable while schooling between lessons. This doesn't mean grinding ourselves down - we want freshness and variety - but I gotta at least show up. The schooling rides we managed this quarter have been wonderful. We've made huge progress in balancing pressure and release in our training, and Charlie has been able to stay happy and fresh in his work.

it was a big field too - one of the largest we saw racing all day!

• Balance it all out with lots of low intensity hacking and conditioning - no more excuses about fitness, either horse or rider! Ideally, Charlie should be fit enough by the end of Q1 to not immediately pass out after crossing the xc finish line. You're a thoroughbred, dammit. Act like one! We've hacked a ton. A TON. So much hacking. Tho, alas it was less about fitness for competitions, and more about legging up again after repeated lamenesses. Horse is definitely not fit. Sigh. We'll get there, tho!

• Use cold winter indoor rides and hack rides to improve rider fitness: no stirrups work, 2pt work, double posting, the rider strengthening exercise DOC described here, etc etc etc. Ideally at least a little bit every ride. No excuses! I'm happy with our work, but lack of saddle time overall has been an issue. Tho oddly I've felt solid in the saddle while jumping/galloping despite it all. Perhaps it's more of a function of confidence vs just strength?
• Kick season off with a Cross Derby (weather permitting). No pressure on placing or time, just focusing on riding with a little more polish and a little less green than we finished last year. Ideally, make it to a full three phase by end of quarter as well. Weather / schooling permitting. Well.... we entered three cross derbies. One each month. The first was AWESOME, tho I skipped the timed ride to focus on schooling.And then we were lame for the next two. Womp. The full three phase tho? Yasss this happened as planned and was thrilling haha, tho we still gotta work on that whole "polish" thing. In time!

can you even imagine a flat out gallop while side saddle??? they were jumping at a gallop too!!

• Charlie: Stay sound. Seriously buddy! Plz??? Stepping on that nail was not part of the plan :(
• Charlie: Also stay happy in your work. Evaluate entire ensemble for all three phases to make sure each piece satisfies Charlie's delicate sensibilities. When the rides did happen? They've been wonderful. Just wonderful. I love this horse. He loves his new dressage saddle, which has eliminated some of the extremely sour behavior we saw at the end of last year. And the myler bit continues to be our bit of choice right now for flat work. We need more experimentation with bitting for jumping, tho, haha. Ahem.
• Stay ahead of the game for what's gonna happen to Charlie's hooves when the spring grass comes up. Keratex: prepare yo'self! This has been a tough quarter for Charlie's tootsies.... So. Uh. Yea, I'm on it. Keratex and thrush buster are in full circulation!

it was damn impressive for sure haha

As for the overall 2018 goals, honestly while I've got some anxiety after falling off the map in the middle of Q1, I still think these goals are still about right for the year.

I'll know more by the end of Q2 how realistic some of this is, methinks. But checking the temperature right now, things look.... maybe ok:

• Move up to Novice by Q2-Q3. There's no reason this can't happen if Charlie can stay sound. **knocking on wood**
• Do a recognized show, level not important - timing of this depends on schedule of friends who need recognized shows for qualifications purposes for their own goals. Not a priority.

these grays were GIANT omg haha. and fast!

• School some of training by Q3, ideally full height elements but smaller sized technical questions are acceptable. Feel good about schooling most, if not all of level by Q4. 
• Research options for an "adult event camp." I have some exciting ideas :D
• Schedule a clinic(s) with Dan at OF. 
• Keep the horse on a regular massage and/or chiro schedule as needed. So far, so good.
• School the bejesus out of our cross country course at home. No excuses! Also make trips to other venues - Windurra, I'm looking at you! Down banks in particular need attention. We've been haunting our home xc course like ghosts! Ditches banks and water are our bitches, and the BN course is familiar and easy!

hey wait a second, how did Charlie end up on the field?!? lol this outrider's horse was literally the spitting image of charlie, looked and moved exactly like him. it was uncanny lol. i even ended up asking the rider about the horse's breeding, but apparently he's locally bred (whereas charlie is from Kentucky).

• Continue developing flatwork. Would like to be passably schooling all of first level by Q3. Would like to finish at least one event on my dressage score, and would like the dressage scores to be competitive. Finished on our dressage score at our season opener! The score wasn't competitive tho, but we're working on it.

• Trail ride at Fair Hill!! Ideally with other bloggers! Michele, you're not allowed to move until we do this! :(
• Volunteer. A lot. Look for opportunities monthly, and aim for doing some type of event volunteering in 7 of 12 months. Yessssssss. Thanks again, Sara, for the motivation!
• Try to maintain at least some microscopic degree of poise if there are setbacks. No matter what, have fun! ......Debatable. I admittedly struggle a bit when my horse is out.

wheeeeee steeplechase!!!! the fences in these particular races really weren't even that big either, tho the track was quite long and obviously the jumps were taken from a gallop. still tho, it actually looked kinda accessible

• Be the type of competitor my friends enjoy being around at shows. And be my friends' biggest cheerleader. Nothing has revolutionized my horse habit quite like having great friends to share it with - don't take this for granted! Trying!!
• Keep the blog going: this space has been so meaningful to me, both as a means of documenting all of my horsey escapades but also as a way to participate in the wonderful equine bloglandia. Y'all are great! It's been a real challenge to keep writing through repeated lamenesses. My words well runs a little dry. Hopefully tho there will be plenty of exciting things coming our way to keep me inspired!

seriously tho these horses are so badass, and were absolutely FLYING! tho you can see the bay broke the top rail of the jump. the rails are actual notched specifically so that they break easily on impact. 

Phew. Ok. Having reflected on our first quarter of the year, I've got a couple ideas for how I'd like to see the next three months go. Knowing, obviously, that it's horses and anything can happen at any time. But specifically, I've got the following goals/plans/hopes for the next quarter:

• The schedule I sketched for the first half of the competition season is intense. And possibly over-ambitious. There are 7 potential events on my wish list, one of which is penciled in as our N move up. This is my biggest goal.
• Simultaneously, however, it's critical that I remain flexible in the plan and receptive to feedback from Charlie. He's my #1 in all this, so he gets a say in everything we do.
• Fitness and conditioning stay on the list as major priorities. The lion's share of our ridden work should be focused on getting the horse really fit and strong in his body.
• This includes spending a lot of time in our barn's cross country fields. There's a lot of good stuff out there that we haven't done yet - particularly the biggest ditch and banks, and some jumps near the water. Introducing Charlie to these elements will be part of prepping him for N.
• Also a part of prepping for N? Uh.... brakes haha. Obviously I'm working hard on developing a better half halt in the horse so I can slow him down while keeping him in front of my leg. We also need a bitting solution here too, tho. And soon.

i thought it was clever how all the rest of the jockeys aimed their horses at the lower broken section where possible lol

• Meanwhile, stay vigilant about Charlie's overall well-being. Particularly, keep an eye on his hooves and body condition as the grass comes up and the horses transition back to pasture. Get him started back on electrolytes early.
• Keep him on a regular bodywork schedule too.
• Evaluate lesson schedule in light of events schedule as well. I want to avoid over-jumping the horse, and focus on limiting the reps while making each school count. 
• Likewise, I want to be more disciplined in working on our dressage. Consistency is key for Charlie to really understand my expectations.
• Overall, it'll be important that I keep the big picture in mind and don't get too caught up in my plans that I miss the forest for the trees. Horse showing is literally one of my favorite things, but it can be stressful too. Remember to always put horsemanship first, and always have fun!

jumping from field to field!!! so thrilling to hear the thundering hooves as they flew by!

So there ya have it! Big ambitious plans written out to tempt fate going into spring and early summer. I'm sure something unexpected will happen, some wrench will get thrown into the works to set me back on my heels. It's horses, that's just how it goes.

I'm also sure that I'm missing something obvious from the above list.... But then again, maybe it's best to keep things pretty focused. Really, moving up is the #1 goal and everything else is designed to be a supporting part of that process. It feels pretty attainable too, honestly.

We'll see, tho. The cool thing with Charlie is that it's so easy to just take each day as it comes with him. Easy to just take one step at a time. Bc eventually all those steps will lead to somewhere, right? ;)

Do you have any big "Top of Mind" goals for this quarter? Or month? Or year? Anything that's really high on your list that you're working toward? Or maybe you're kinda in place right now where it's less about goal-centric focus, and more about the big picture?