YEH Jump Scribing @ MDHT

Last week I headed down to Loch Moy to volunteer at their YEH qualifier as a scribe for the jumping phase. The Young Event Horse program is a set of classes aimed at 4yos and 5yos to evaluate their potential as future upper level event horses.

You might remember that last fall I attended the East Coast YEH Championships up at Fair Hill, specifically attending Marilyn Payne's YEH Judging Clinic. I wrote a little bit about it here (there were an awful lot of blogger meetups happening around then lol!), and posted more pics of the 5yos during the jumping phase here, but didn't get too technical in any of the judging aspects bc... ya know... I don't really have a judge's eye when it comes to these things lol.

only picture of a horse in this post lol. that's me with judges Stephen Bradley, Helen Brettell, with first rider of the day: Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch on her 5yo Abstract Cape schooling the water ahead of her round.
fun fact: Stephen Bradley was the last rider from the US to win at Burghley, which he did in 1993. you can watch the highlight video from that year right here at Burghley TV.

But!! I really love volunteering at Loch Moy specifically (they always give us apparel plus xc schooling passes, which I really need to start using....). So when Sara announced her 2018 Volunteer Challenge I decided to bake volunteerism into my yearly goals, with the intention of volunteering in some capacity at events in 7 months this year.

I went on to the USEA Volunteer Dashboard and scanned through Area II's events calendar month by month, picking out interesting opportunities. Esp looking so far in advance, I was able to lock down some really cool looking volunteer positions before they filled up. So I've actually been looking forward to this event for a while now lol. #nerdalert

the stadium portion comprised 5 fences all jumped first before moving to the xc portion

The YEH jumping phase is set up a bit like a cross derby, and Loch Moy ran the classes out on their schooling course at the entrance to the property, vs the competition course you might be used to seeing on the blog. Notably, this will be the area I eventually school in whenever we finally put all those complimentary passes to use haha.

Anyway, the course is 15 flagged elements. The first five are stadium style fences, set at ~BN for the 4yos and ~N for the 5yos. The heights and spreads are supposed to grow throughout the season such that by the time horses reach the championship, 4yos are doing ~N and 5yos are doing ~T (with maybe a little added technicality).

For this course, the heights and spreads were fairly soft. And the lines were also basically unrelated distances, set fairly far apart. All in all, a very inviting course in terms of the jumps themselves. Tho there was actually a fair amount of terrain and tight-ish turns that would all ask the horse to be adjustable and balanced.

sorry i forgot to take my picture before we walked passed these jumps lol, so this is the back side. they're both just roll tops tho, and i've previously jumped them both before (the N one with Izzy)

Once horses completed the stadium portion, they moved on to the xc fences. Judges were looking for a distinct change in the horse from one section to the next - the style and pace should adjust accordingly.

simple pheasant feeders. i've jumped both of these before too, tho the N only with Izzy too

The first set of xc fences took the riders in one big loop of this front field - around the judge's tent and around all the stadium fences they had just completed.

simple houses - these get skinnier as they go up the levels. you might remember Brita and Rachael jumped the skinneh T version this past winter during one of the arena schoolings when Charlie stayed home bc of that whole 'stepped on a nail' episode..

The jumps themselves were fairly straight forward but again the horses would be facing rapidly changing terrain combined with turns. Honestly it looked pretty fun haha.

these are pretend ditch wall jumps - the ditch is just suggested by wooden framing. they're actually quite inviting, tho i've never jumped either personally. you can see our little judges stand just beyond - with the water right next to it

After that little circuit of the field, riders would come back up toward the judge's tent and through the water to move on into the second half of the course on the other side of the field.

simple water crossing, with the whole rest of the course in the background

The YEH rules are pretty friendly toward these young horses - before each rider starts their course they're allowed and encouraged to let the horse look around a little bit, especially going through the water a couple times first too. Some riders took this maybe a touch too far by letting their horse sniff literally every single fence on course lol, but for the most part they would just circle through the water a little bit before signaling that they were ready.

The judges, for their part, did specifically want to wait until the riders were ready too. Like, obviously within reason, but the whole point of these classes is to set the horses up so that they can best demonstrate their potential. It's not supposed to be a trick or a trap, and nobody really wanted these young horses to be surprised, rushed or confused on course.

i've jumped both of these hanging log things too. they actually didn't jump great on this day, esp the left side 4yo version

Anyway the next little segment on course was probably the trickiest. Small fences but tricky lines with the terrain. The judge Stephen designed this course but apparently wasn't allowed or able to move the xc fences, so he kinda had to work with what he had here. So he chose small and inviting fences for the 11 and 13 jumps, with one long line of ditches situated between as 12.

long line of ditches, from very narrow to a bit wider L to R. then comes 13 - just in the distance. the 4yo 13 is very small, and the 5yo 13 has appeared on both BN and N courses and i've jumped it with both horses.

The 5yos (who went first) maybe had an easier line even tho they went over the bigger ditch, but the 4yo line had more extreme angles and especially going downhill was maybe trickier haha.

A couple riders expressed some concern, and the judges ultimately opted to remove the central flags (the 4yo red 12 flag in the above picture) such that the entire line of ditches was an option. This way, riders could jump whichever portion of the ditch helped give them the best line for their horse's ability.

i've jumped both these garden gates too! plus the smaller version lol

After horses made it through that little ditch complex, it was a simple matter of climbing up the hill to these penultimate fences, the garden gates.

final option: keyhole with very small fence, and larger N ramp table thingy. riders from both 4yo and 5yo did both options as suited their particular horses. 

Then last on course was an option for both age groups: an N ramp or a very small jump through a keyhole. I honestly wasn't really sure which one would be most popular. On one hand, the keyhole is in some ways spookier and more technical, but on the other hand it's a very small jump that an unimpressed horse might not try very hard over.

I think a lot of horses from both age groups may have done the keyhole, but plenty did the ramp too (esp the 5yos). I guess it just depended on each individual horse and rider what was the best choice.

full final field of xc fences. upon completing jump 15, riders would arc left to follow the driveway back toward us demonstrating their horse's open gallop

Anyway, upon completing the final fences, riders would turn left to follow the driveway back toward the judge's tent, demonstrating their horse's open gallop. Again it was a little tricky with the terrain as the first half was down hill, then the second half had nice upward slope to it but then fell away rapidly right at the finish haha. Plus the trailers were on the other side of the driveway and a lot of horses were a little sticky wanting to pull in that direction.

Still, tho, pretty cool to watch!

4yos at the 2017 YEH East Coast Championship at Fair Hill

Unfortunately, I didn't expect to be able to take any pictures or video during the actual competition bc I'd be, ya know, scribing haha. And this did prove to be true.

5yos at the 2017 YEH East Coast Championship at Fair Hill

So for those curious or interested to see what these classes look like in action, see the above video compilations from the Championships at Fair Hill last year. These young horses are pretty freakin impressive!!

top half of the score sheet. each jump is judged separately from 0-3

So let's talk a little more about the actual scribing. There are four components that go into each horse's final score, which is a percentage out of 100 (ie: 75.5%).

The dressage component has a maximum of 30 points that each horse can earn. The 5 show jumping efforts contribute 15 possible points, then the 10 xc fences add up to another 30 possible points. The judge's overall evaluation of the horse's jumping is worth another 15 possible points, and the final general impression from jumping is a maximum of 10 points.

bottom half of the score sheet allows judges to evaluate all the rest of the horse's performance between the jumps and in its open gallop. final general impression reflected their thoughts on the horse's upper level potential. 

Each individual jumping effort was scored from 0-3, with half points allowed. A score of 3 reflected a nice forward effort with correct technique, usually out of stride, or at least with the horse demonstrating an ability to think and adjust as needed.

Points were lost for more sluggish or unbalanced jumps, sloppier technique, or horses that were overly reliant on the rider. The lowest scores went to jumps taken in very poor form, like over the shoulder or hanging legs or deer leaps.

order of go, also including the New Event Horse (NEH) class - which can be horses of any age in their first year of eventing. the NEH horses did the 4yo track and height. some of the NEH horses were 5yos who weren't ready for the step up in height of the 5yo YEH class. others were ottbs or amateur owned and ridden horses. the NEH score sheet was basically identical to the YEH sheet except in the Overall Evaluation section, instead of "rideability" it listed "suitability" and wanted the score to reflect the horse's suitability to be an amateur or young rider horse.

I usually tried to get those scores added up while the judges watched the open gallop, as it was useful for them to hear the overall totals from the jumping sections as they assessed the overall evaluation and general impressions.

Overall Evaluation was basically where the judges conferred with each other to talk about everything that happened on course that wasn't necessarily reflected in the individual jump effort scores. This included evaluating the horse's final gallop, like it's ground cover and lengthening of stride and lowering of frame.

meanwhile, the photographer's dogs provided the comic relief in the lulls between riders

And they also discussed at length each horse's balance and way of going in between fences. Was he changing leads as needed? Balanced in the changeable terrain? Able to think and learn as it progressed through the course?

There were times where the judges weren't entirely satisfied with how the horses were ridden - meaning that in some cases the riders were interfering with the horse's ability to use itself or show its true potential. Or in some cases the horses were maybe too reliant on the riders or required too strong of a ride.

one was very placid, while the other was very very very playful lol

Mostly tho, the overall evaluation scores ranged from 6-9, with tenths of points awarded such that it might be a 7.2 or 7.5, or 6.0 etc etc etc. During this section, judges often referred back to previous horses' scores too - often asking each other whether they liked this one better than that one so that they could score accordingly using a consistent measuring stick.

It was interesting to me that each of these overall evaluation scores was then multiplied by 0.5 and added together to arrive at their max 15 point component to the final score. So your 7.5 becomes a 3.75, and the differences between scorers thus fairly compressed.

she had gone on and rolled all around in the water, then rolled in the blue stone lol

Anyway the last score component, worth 10 total points to the final score, was the General Impression. This was where judges used a 0-10 range (again with tenths of points allowed) to assess what they thought the horse might be capable of in the future.

The number ranges correspond to eventing levels, with ~7 being around preliminary, and ~8 being around intermediate. Again the purposes of these YEH classes is to evaluate upper level potential so riders would really be looking for that 8+ score here.

It was kinda funny to me tho, bc even the horses that the judges didn't find particularly impressive or talented were sorta dismissed as, "Sure it'll get around prelim, but probably not any further than that!" as if prelim were the easiest thing in the world lol. Which, ya know, I guess if you're Helen Brettell and Stephen Bradley, maybe it is! For me tho, if someone sorta shrugged watching Charlie go and was like, "Eh sure he'd do prelim but that's it" I'd be walking on air lol.

she was a happy pupper for sure lol

But that's kinda the thing with this whole other world that is the upper echelons of eventing. Because it really is a whole 'nother world. I thanked the judges after we were done and said I felt like I learned a lot, and Helen was surprised bc she and Stephen had really mostly been chatting the whole time (there were a LOT of lulls between riders - that short class list was spread over 4:45 hours).

When I explained that I really don't get a lot of exposure to this stuff and that even their "chatting" is enlightening to me she was kinda like, "I guess that makes sense" lol, but yea I definitely felt like the meek little amateur in the presence of giants haha.

It was a great time tho, and I honestly really enjoyed scribing for it and would do it again in a heartbeat. And while we saw some really special horses (this lovely gray Frame Gandolf ridden by Martin Douzant I believe was our 5yo winner, for example), we also saw a lot of horses (and riders!) that, ya know, were just regular old mortals lol.

We saw mistakes, missed distances. Sluggish, behind the leg horses, and horses running at the fences and leaping over somewhat erratically. We saw riders that interfered and picked, or who maybe made poor choices. But, ya know, they were all out there doing it and everyone got through the course and the day looking happy and like maybe they all learned something.

So it was fun. And actually I am now kinda jonesing for riding the same course lol. Maybe my friends and I will try to get out there and play pretend and judge each other's rides accordingly haha..

The Hulsebos Zadel Re-Fit Experience

I feel like within the horse world there exists little pockets or pools of riders who all use similar gear or tack. Like social media aficionados who have flocked to PS of Sweden and Lund. Or for instance, at my farm there's like a mini-cult of us who all ride in Hulsebos dressage saddles.

Personally, I blame my trainer P haha. She has been buying custom Hulsebos saddles for years now (fun fact: the saddle I bought from her this past winter was her first ever) and has sold a few of them to other riders at the barn. Likewise, her trainer is also a big Hulsebos fan and has also sold a few saddles to other riders at my barn too. So now there are a lotta us riding around in them haha.

the saddlery recently opened up a US-based branch and now has this neat little van for tooling all around town haha. i'm not totally sure where this van normally lives tho, bc they're only in maryland like.... once a year

So anyway. The saddlery is based in the Netherlands, with third generation owner Jan Hulsebos spending most of his time actually in France. He comes to the US reasonably often, I believe. And seems to come to our farm annually. At which point everyone who owns one of his saddles gets on the schedule for fittings.

lots of horses and riders getting evaluated!

He spends a lot of time with each horse and rider - like 45min to an hour. Many hours, in my case. He watches the rider take the horse through his paces, mostly silently unless there's something specific he wants to see. Then commences a process of problem solving and troubleshooting what might be causing any imbalances.

In my case with Charlie, it actually almost felt more like a riding clinic than a saddle fitting. He seemed more preoccupied with my bio mechanics in the saddle and Charlie's overall frame and carriage than with whether the saddle was a Yes/No fit for Charlie (bc hint: it's a Yes haha).

different saddle that i tried. not the right fit for me - but i guess it was the half blocks that he wanted to see in action?

Specifically, he accurately diagnosed my most fundamental positional flaw: I tip my pelvis forward and pinch with my knees, pushing my seat out the back of the saddle and upsetting my overall balance.

Jan said that this, combined with the saddle's slightly downhill balance, meant that Charlie's shoulders were restricted and that he couldn't truly come through over his back. So he wanted to see me and Charlie go in a different saddle. At first I didn't really understand his objectives here. I'm not in the market for a new saddle and the one he chose was clearly not a great fit for me (like hip pain almost immediately).

commencing saddle surgery lol

After talking more later tho, I understood that he wanted to see how I went with a different block configuration, and wanted to see if changing the saddle improved Charlie's way of going and allowed him to carry himself in a better frame. Which, ya know, seems reasonable haha.

cutting open the seams to expose the foam block

After watching me go for what felt like forever in the heat, Jan settled on his plan of action for my saddle. The mission, should I choose to accept it, was to completely remodel the knee blocks, cutting off the bottom half to turn them into half blocks - to the tune of ~$125.

exposing the foam block completely

His idea here being: if he took away the bottom half of the blocks, I wouldn't be able to jam my knees into them. And thus wouldn't be pushing my seat back up against the cantle of the saddle. This would allow my seat to come more forward in the saddle, and my leg to hang longer down through the thigh.

In turn, Charlie could be better connected over his back to translate his engagement behind into more freedom in his shoulders up front. And thus a better frame.

cutting through the foam to remove the bottom half of the block

I was on board with the plan, so after Jan finished the next rider's session (during which time I gave poor sweaty Charlie his second bath of the day, parked him in front of his stall fan, and retreated to my own air conditioned car....), he commenced a full on operation of my dearly beloved dressage saddle.

contouring the foam

It's always kinda shocking to see these saddles get taken apart, ya know? Like our tack is so treasured, so valuable, we're all usually really careful in handling them and storing them. Meanwhile to actually work on a saddle like this takes a fair amount of brute force lol. Leather is some tough stuff!

using a cheese-grater type tool to give the foam more shape

I was excited to watch tho bc I find this stuff fascinating. Like, c'mon tell me I'm not the only one who has browsed all through youtube looking for saddle making videos, right?? And he seemed happy to explain what he was doing, and what the process was, and why it's advantageous to do this right here and now vs shipping it away for the work.

(Hint: the advantage is that we could put it back on Charlie and ride again so he could assess the work and tweak if needed).

lots and lots of cheese grater action haha

Basically what he did was: carefully cut the seams where the leather covering the foam blocks met the sweat flap. He cut the entire way down the block (leaving the front edge at the face of the saddle intact), exposing the entire foam piece.

the flaps of removed leather that previously covered the bottom portion of the blocks. he said these would be my "lucky leather pieces" lol

This piece was then cut in half with a razor, then shaped with a cheese grater type tool. Once the block was contoured to Jan's satisfaction, he trimmed the excess leather covering and hand stitched it back into place on the flap.

hand stitching the leather up around the newly remodeled half blocks

Then repeated the process on the other side, using the first cut piece of foam as a measurement to ensure both blocks were the same size.

more stitching, lots of careful, deliberate stitching

And just like that, in the space of about an hour or so, my saddle had "new" blocks.

assessing the flocking

Next he moved on to the more standard part of the re-fitting process: adjusting the wool flocking in the panels to improve overall balance and fit for horse and rider.

moving the flocking around

For me and Charlie, this meant changing the front-to-back balance of the saddle. It currently has a bit of a tendency to sit a little downhill on the horse. And since the horse himself can sometimes be a little downhill, and since my habit already is to tip forward in my pelvis, we end up with kinda a snowballing bio mechanical disaster lol.

adding more wool

So his plan was to take down the back of the saddle a little bit, and lift the front. Seems like a simple change, but hopefully this combined with the new block configuration should give me basically a whole new feel in the saddle.

Oh, and also combined with longer stirrups. Jan was a BIG FAN of lengthening basically everyone's stirrups lol.

ta da! fresh remodeled half blocks!

Once that was done, another rider had their session and I went on back down to the barn to retrieve Charlie again. Poor guy, he was not really super happy to be going for another ride in the heat lol.

tools of the trade - surprisingly compact little tool box too

Esp considering we had to walk up past the big July 4 party preparations and Charlie was pretty sure they were roasting his pony friends on the grill and that maybe he was next. At least his "spook" habit of just stopping and staring happens to make him look mighty handsome ;)

nothing left to do but retrieve the pony for more testing! meanwhile charlie went full-blown DEFCON MAJESTIC walking past the house as they were setting up tents and grills for the impending July 4th mega party haha, after which he spent the rest of the walk whinnying pitifully. perhaps he thought that was one of his friends on the spit??

Anyway we finally made it back up to the dressage ring and got Charlie saddled back up again in the newly fixed up saddle.

new fit with adjusted balance front-to-back, and new half blocks

I got back on for another ride and definitely felt a difference in my knees - esp in not bracing. Tho I ended up shortening my stirrups again bc yea I just don't love the feeling of reaching for the irons, and need that stability in the saddle to be effective in my own weird pretzel way.

Still tho, it was a pretty big difference. And especially with the added lift up front in the saddle, I was quiiite pleased with that feeling. Anything that helps me feel less like Charlie's about to drill a hole to China with his front end is much appreciated lol.

you can see where the blocks used to extend, and the old lines from the original machine stitching. pretty cool, huh?

So overall I'm pretty excited about the changes. Will need more time in the saddle to really see the results. Like, will this be the magic fix I've been looking for?? Ha, probably not. Like, probably I still need to modify my own position to really be more correct. But this should help.

Also helpful is the bottle of Hulsebos conditioner I picked up from Jan too lol. This saddle is kinda old and spent a few years sitting in a closet and... you can tell lol. So hopefully I can get it some new TLC post face lift!

All said, it was an unusual saddle fitting experience for me - I definitely didn't expect the all out reconstruction process that happened. But it was pretty cool. Jan liked my horse too, and right away acknowledged what a good, kind boy he was. Always nice to hear ;) Also nice was the fact that Charlie was more or less his normal level of soundness for the appt. Small wins, y'all.

I'm sure I'll have more to write about later as I spend more time in the adjusted saddle (and esp after I can get some pics of what we look like now to compare to older pics). For now tho I just wanted to get this all recorded for the sake of remembering everything.

Have you ever had a similar fitting experience? Or made any major adjustments or modifications to your saddle? Have you ever had a fitter that basically just took the thing apart right in front of your eyes? Do you like seeing how these saddles are built too? I'm always super fascinated by this stuff lol and would love to hear what all work other folks have had done.

mid year evaluation

Hokay folks. It's July, it's hot, and we're now halfway through the year. Time flies, eh?

today's photo selection is a random review of moments from the past quarter. like the above, from when a train accident and subsequent cancellation left me wandering around DC for a little while to observe all the strange statues lol...

Per usual, things seem to be a little bit up and down around 'Fraidy Cat Eventing. With more down than up this past month. Naturally it's hard to look back in a more comprehensive way when current feelings are kinda.... not great.

On the other hand tho, it's totally worth doing bc this quarter taken as a whole was pretty positive. So. Let's review how things went vs the actual plan, and then take a look at what the next three months might bring, shall we?

that one time we packed up and went to a starter trial just for the dressage phase....

Quarter 2 Evaluation

• 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. We did it!!! We moved up in May!!!! And then went for our second attempt at N and.... catastrophe. Womp. Entered four total events this quarter, but withdrew from the first after Charlie popped a splint, then scratched from the fourth entirely (a planned BN run at Fair Hill this past weekend) bc Charlie isn't sound. So.... Yea. I'm calling the move up a win bc Loch Moy was freakin baller, and the disaster at Plantation had less to do with the jumps and more to do with... cantering away from everything else. But I'm reserving the right to be fluid between levels until Charlie's more confirmed in "Go Forward Now, Or The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves."
• 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. Yes. The horse was fit, strong, and happy. Uh, until he wasn't...

"can we just do this forever plz?"

• 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. Not really..... Just as good ground conditions aligned with a sound and physically ready Charlie, the jumps all moved to Shawan Downs. And upon returning home, they mostly sat in a pile in the front field :( However!!! We did school at Shawan and it was fabulous!
• 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. The curb chain seems to work, but honestly the schooling seems to be paying off more than just a big bit. Turned out we needed more Go than Whoa anyway, whoops!
• 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. Went back to leather pads for his hooves and started elytes months ago. So far, so good on that note! Still some pesky persistent lamenesses tho...
• Keep him on a regular bodywork schedule too. Hasn't been as often as I wanted for budget reasons. 

still completely over the moon about the fact that this happened <3

• 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. We're kinda week to week with this, but I think we're finding a good balance. Ahem, when he's sound.
• Likewise, I want to be more disciplined in working on our dressage. Consistency is key for Charlie to really understand my expectations. So....... We mostly hacked out the first two months of the quarter haha. And Charlie felt happy in the work, and fantastic in his body, so I didn't worry about it. But then he suddenly *didn't* feel happy in the work and our lack of consistency proved to be a huge issue at a very inconvenient moment. Lesson learned?????
• 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! If you had asked me to respond to this a month ago, my thoughts would have been very different than they are today. Horses are hard, guys, and June really fucking sucked.

among this quarter's highlights: trail riding with awesome friends and bloggers!!

Phew. Ok. Nothing like waking up on a Monday morning to some depressing goal reviews!! So let's move right on along to seeing where we are against my 2018 overall hopes and dreams:

Mid Year overall check in:

• Move up to Novice by Q2-Q3. Done!!! But... uh, still a lot of work left to do.... 
• 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.

going to Kentucky for the 4* was also so freakin awesome tho omg!

• School some of training by Q3, ideally full height elements but smaller sized technical questions are acceptable. Whelp. We've got our work cut out for us... This is happening in small doses in our normal lessons, in terms of just plain height independently, or complexity with bending lines, combinations, and skinnies. We're a long ways off tho. 
• Research options for an "adult event camp." So far no progress. This may end up being more informal with me and my friends.
• Schedule a clinic(s) with Dan at OF. I need to focus here.
• Keep the horse on a regular massage and/or chiro schedule as needed. So far, so good.

feelin like a million bucks and poppin' bottles after finally riding a novice course again!

• 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. My friends and I have been imagining up some fun ideas for July in particular. We'll see what actually happens tho.
• 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. First level still feels pretty far away, honestly. I'm hoping tho that if we can make some breakthroughs in Charlie's lateral and longitudinal suppleness, that suddenly some movements will feel much more attainable. But like, also sometimes we don't steer or brake. So. Ya know....

what else can i say but that i really like this horse??

• Trail ride at Fair Hill!! Ideally with other bloggers! Done!!!!!!
• Volunteer. A lot. Look for opportunities monthly, and aim for doing some type of event volunteering in 7 of 12 months. This continues to be ongoing. And I'm having so so so much fun doing it!! Thanks Sara again for the great contest!!
• Try to maintain at least some microscopic degree of poise if there are setbacks. No matter what, have fun! Also ongoing. Forever and ever, amen. It's a grind sometimes.
• 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!!

lots of favorite pictures of him from loch moy <3

• 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! There were a few unexpected bumps along this road this past quarter. Some unexpected snide comments, some condescension about Charlie's wild and woolly season opener, and some folks who straight up accused me of bad horse care. All of which caught me off guard and really bugged me. I had always felt like our little equestrian blogging community was so encouraging and supportive; and maybe a little sheltered from the polarization, vitriol, and straight up cruelty found on other social forums. But seeing some of that same behavior show up here made me reevaluate how much I share, and how honest I want to be about the struggles or low moments, or about judgement calls where the choices aren't always easy. I legitimately considered changing how I write, becoming more guarded. Like what if after a horse show I just post 2-3 of the very best pictures and a few lines about my horse being perfect, and leave it at that? Instead of the intensely nitty-gritty play by play format I so enjoy creating (and reliving!!). But..... Ultimately I decided not to make any changes. To keep telling my horse story the way I want to, to keep sharing the moments that mean the most to me (both good and bad), and keep sharing the less than perfect or downright low moments bc realistically that's what it means for me to be an adult amateur doing my best with what I have. And to keep maintaining the same honesty I've made habit when it comes to details about lamenesses or decisions around care. Folks will always disagree with my methods - that's horses, right? Ask two horse people, get three answers?? But this is my blog, and honestly I really love it. Would probably keep writing even if nobody wanted to read or participate in the comments section. But the fact that people *do* read, and *do* comment truly makes it so much more special and I'm grateful for it every day. So. The blog goes on!! And if you don't like it? Or don't like me? Eh, fuck off, m'kay?

Ahem. Cough cough. Moving on.

we need more of this in our lives STAT

Lastly, let's take a look at where I'd like to be going in the next couple months. While fully recognizing that, ya know, things change quickly in Charlieland haha.

Quarter 3 Goals:

• School more xc at home, idk why this is so challenging haha! But we need more galloping in our life for sure.
• School off property too - Loch Moy & Windurra!
• GO FORTH, CHARLES! FORWARD TO GLORY!!!! Make novice great again!
• More dressage lessons with trainer C, possibly substituting for some jump lessons. Charlie's got it in him to score well in a test, we just need more work.
• Jump some T fences!!! And maybe some smaller sized but higher technicality combinations!

height ain't a problem for this giant horse, that's for sure

• Don't ignore hacking entirely even as I hold myself more accountable for our consistency in schooling.
• Sketch out idealistic/aspirational/omgyoucrazy/realistic/pessimistic/BN4lyfe fall season options. All roads lead to Rome, right?
• Use "summer recess" from shows to consider options for getting our butts back in gear and recovering some of the mojo we lost at Plantation: clinics, jumper shows, paper chases, group trail rides, etc.
• Mostly tho I really want the next few weeks through the heat of summer to be focused on enjoying the ride and remembering that Charlie has all the ingredients to be my eventing partner for a long time. I just need to keep us healthy and happy. 

just gotta make sure charlie always loves this view as much as i do!

• Stay on top of Charlie's hooves as weather and ground conditions require. Consider pros and cons for getting Charlie drilled and tapped for studs.
• Adjust Charlie's nutrition if needed - I don't want him getting too heavy for his body, but that might prove a non issue if the grass becomes less luscious in summer heat.

So... Uh, wish us luck?? Haha hope you all had a great weekend and for those of you in the States, hopefully you've got some time off this week for the 4th!!