PONY. WEEKEND.

doin this again

Pretty much all my posts this month have been horse show related, which is super weird for me. But eh, it's been fun. 

We have another show this weekend (event derby at ground poles. omg! maybe I won't puke and/or pee myself in the warmup this time. or maybe i will. stay posted!). We also have some pony fun times planned at our old barn. Jumping lesson! Riding in fields! Friends! Froyo! Good things.

last jump lesson was 4/19. yikes!

Then a little R&R and then a legit dressage show. With a judge who is paid. And ribbons. Annnnnnd yeah let's not think too hard about that right now. (Has anyone noticed how training level tests are a lot longer than intro? omg. Another thing we're not thinking about). 

All that to say. I fully expect to be mostly dead on Monday. I hope that's because I'm recovering from the most amazing weekend in recent memory, but with a green horse at a new venue, it's anybody's guess. 

Uhhhh. Fingers crossed?

Time Off

so cute. so tired.

The truth about me is that I haven't shown regularly in years. I'm pretty ok at dealing with the day to day of horse training, but until our first two shows this year, I had COMPLETELY forgotten just how exhausting the whole thing can be.

Especially if you're new at it.

Which we are.

I forget if I mentioned this or not, but Courage was totally wiped out after our super exciting dressage show.

And coming up this weekend, we have an exciting pony fun day at our old barn and our next meeting with the (omg!) ground poles event derby. Plus hopefully a jumping lesson.

most attractive outfit ever. oh well.

And all that will be exhausting. I'm proactively giving Courage a little time off this week to prep for it and we're planning on at least two days off next week to recover.

Whew. So are we just wimps? Who else has down time around shows/clinics/lessons?

Ground Zero

need this ride every day

This is going to be a highly dressage-centric post, so my apologies in advance to you jumper folk out there.

I've always maintained that dressage is fun once you get to the point of having the horse connected inside leg to outside rein and Courage is teetering precariously close to that point. That means some days are spectacular and some days are really horrible and depressing.

and this

I made a joking comment on Marissa's blog the other day about every ride starting at ground zero and some of them never leaving.

But it's true.

I've been lucky enough to have two really fantastic dressage rides this week--both of them started at the walk, just stretching and asking Courage to lift his back. Then walk/trot transitions. Then changes of bend in the trot.

recycled show pics til i get something new

Then trot/canter transitions and circles in the canter. Then back to walk, and transition after transition of working walk to free walk. All of this is couched in incessant praise and lots of releases to make it really clear to Courage what I'm looking for.

We're starting to add in "fancy" things like little leg yields in the walk and trot and trot stretchy circles and we're even starting to toy with actual transitions within the gaits, sort of.

None of it is mind blowing or amazing, but I am absolutely in love with the progression. I mean yeah, some days we barely even get to trot transitions and the whole thing is about relaxation. But other days, it feels almost magical. Courage is starting to really get some of the ideas.

my matchy matchy soul is dealing quite well with this

He's stronger and more balanced and more rideable than he ever has been before. It's hard to describe how proud I am of my little man when I pick up the reins and flow seamlessly between the gaits (BOTH directions) and know that finally, we are progressing together.

Teach Me Tuesday: Jumping

no groundline. no problem.

I used to board at a show barn where there were always fun exercises set up in the arena and a trainer on hand to teach lessons. And then I boarded at a sweet ass jumping barn where we set our own exercises and had all kinds of fun together.

And now I board at a dressage barn, which is cool when I pop over some teeny crossrails and my fellow boarders are like "OMG THOSE ARE HUGE AND YOU ARE AMAZING", but less cool when I have to set up/take down all my own exercises and rarely have a set of eyes on the ground.

yeah so that was awesome

So for those of you who jump outside of lessons, how do you handle it? I find myself avoiding exercises that involve setting a lot of fences or that are "technical" because I'm on my own if I get stuck. I'm always happy that my horse has a severe wood allergy. However, this is our normal right now and I still want to progress.

Do you just get on and off a lot? Set lots of alternates? Just do cavaletti and wait for lessons?

Getting An Education

He's a Sprenger man

After two shows in 4 days (which officially doubled the number of shows Courage has been to in his entire life), we've been having a little down time.

Which is to say some days are literally ambling around on the buckle with our rehab buddy and walking for 40 minutes.

I did ride by myself on Saturday morning and had a truly magical dressage session that really blew me away.

yeah this noseband is making my week

This is what I'm really loving this year--Courage and I are signed up for two more shows this month. We don't really have to do anything to practice for them because he's actually broke enough now that we should be able to get through them even on our bad days.

Some people are all about show nerves and excitement and adrenaline and competition and I'm over here like "I just wanna have some low key fun". I'm not saying that I don't ever want to be a serious competitor.

Just that right now, both Courage and I are finding out what's fun about going to shows.

And that it's ok to be really exhausted after them.

And that we don't always have to suck at them.

having great stirrups helps

I mean, yeah, a braver rider than myself could probably jump Courage around a beginner novice course RIGHT NOW.

But eh. Why? We have nothing to prove and nowhere to be. I'm actually enjoying the process of making my own horse, and when I reduce showing down to it's most basic elements, it's turning out to be fun for me too.

I feel like Courage and I have gained so much confidence together this winter/spring that I'm much happier riding through what he throws at me.

And (dare I say it?) I think he's starting to trust me as his leader.

So I don't care if we win all the ribbons or none of them. I know this year's showing is all about getting exposure and I'm totally shocked and excited to learn that exposure can actually be, well, fun. Who knew?

This year is about learning and growing together.

I like it.

Finders Keepers

my little man

Courage and I have had some difficulties this past month/spring/fall/year/etc. After his infamous non-loading-incident, I was beyond frustrated. I felt like I'd put over a year of my life into this horse and all I'd succeeded in was making him go backwards in training.

When he came to me, the one thing he did know how to do was get on trailers.

Anyways. I was too frustrated to see straight and there were certainly credible threats of dog food and double deckers to Canada.

adorable even when he's naughty. and tired.

But. I told Courage (and a few trusted friends) that if Courage and I weren't have fun by the end of May, he was gone. I was done fighting with him and I wanted to actually have fun.

JenJ pointed out that my goals needed to be more specific than that.

I said that by the end of the month, I wanted him to hack quietly around the property, jumps small courses without being an asshole, and give me more good rides than bad rides. And I don't know, I had to want to do it again, because right then, I really didn't.

this was fun

So.

I started hacking Courage outside the arena almost every day. I learned to growl at him a little and kick him forward when he wanted to be naughty and I learned that if I do that, he really isn't that bad or dramatic.

I started setting jumps up and incorporating them into our routine more regularly. I learned that Courage is still a fun, kickass jumper who oozes talent.

this picture makes me happy

I kept a tally of every ride for the rest of the month. I learned that while I had two determinedly bad rides with very few redeeming characteristics, the rest were actually average to good.

It was rather serendipitous that our first show was the last day of the month. I did my best to set him up for success by hauling in a day early, but the point was, Courage showed me what he was capable of, and I fell in love with him all over again.

He isn't the easiest and he never will be, but he's the horse that still gives me the confidence to just keep on trucking in the hard times. I love seeing his gorgeous blaze face every day and I look forward to where the future takes us.

ALL THE HORSE SHOWS

only decent media from the show. sorry.

Show #2 of 2015 is officially in the books! We hit a little local schooling dressage show where you literally pick you own test and sort of just go whenever you're ready. There are no ribbons (since anyone can do any test) and there's no pressure.

I know I said I can't expect to be absolutely perfect for every show this year, but not gonna lie, I was hoping he'd do it again.

Eh, no.

He had a little over an hour to just hang out after we arrived and while he started kind of wild-eyed, he settled in pretty quickly. Then I tack up and hopped on.

He was perfectly fine for a green horse at his second show this year, which is to say he was tense and a bit unfocused. I tried to just keep calm and ride smoothly without getting him riled up with too many hard things too close together.

It seemed to mostly work.

looking so perfect at the derby last weekend

Then the judge was ready for us, so we went to make our circuit around the outside of the dressage court. We were about 3/4 of the way around (and the farthest away from his friends) when he spun out from under me so fast that I nearly slipped off. Then I was like "I WILL NOT HAVE MY FIRST FALL OFF THIS HORSE AT THIS PARTICULAR SHOW" and shimmied back into the saddle as we gallop-leaped (it's his favorite gait) back around the arena, past the judge, and almost into the laps of some friendly eventers.

Fun fact: at home, he wears a martingale so that when he tries this stunt, I can be all "HEAD DOWN BITCH" and I still have some leverage. We left it at home because it's dressage... whoops.

Anyways. I was actually not that shaken up, which is a bit surprising. The judge was like "um are you ok?" and I'm like "yeah sure why not". She let one of our friends (on a non-green horse) go stand in the spooky spot on the side of the arena. They tell me birds flew up. I saw nothing and don't believe in spooking at birds anyways.

need to channel this ride

Regardless.

We muddled our way through intro B first. I rode better than I would have last year or even earlier this spring, but it wasn't great. I let Courage be kind of artificially soft and never rode him forward. We got all 5s and 6s with one 7 for our last centerline. I thought the judge was kind in the collectives though--she dinged us hard for not moving forward, but gave me another 7 for riding. Advantage of almost jumping her? I guess.

We re-grouped while another rider went. I literally just did walk transitions (free walk to working walk) for a few minutes and never trotted him. That maybe wasn't the best plan for improving scores, but I'm trying to teach him that shows aren't hard or stressful so maybe? I dunno.

Anyways. I felt a bit better about intro C (and our friend was safely parked in the scary spot again). We NAILED our first centerline (EIGHT!!), and then sort of putzed around without riding forward into much of a contact. That said, it was our first ever cantering test and the canter was a total non-issue. I hadn't even asked for a canter in the warm up, but he nailed it in the ring. I'm also massively failing at geometry, which is embarrassing.

Again, mostly 5s and 6s for not ever going forward with one seven for (get this) our right lead canter transitions. I only got a 6.5 for riding because I had a better horse to ride the second test, but I didn't ride him better.

Oops.

Still, our first ever dressage show. Courage's first ever busy warm up. My riding near-miss, and we walked about with a 57 (B) and a 58 (C). The scores are definitely fair, but now I'm just itching to improve them. I'm going to geometry boot camp.

PS My apologies for the total lack of relevant media. I also have a picture of C hanging out because his best girl was in full on raging heat and he thinks he's a stallion, but it didn't seem blog-appropriate. so here it is you pervs.

SB's Updated Guide to Horse Showing on the Cheap

just riding at a horse show

I horse showed some as a kid/young adult. I had a couple of ways to cut corners and make things more affordable for myself. Now that I'm showing again as an adult, let's revisit those.

1) Eat your friends' food instead of bringing your own.

Theory: This is a really great idea when you're a kid--even if your parents don't come to your shows, your friends' parents will have pity on you and you'll never be without.

Practice: When you hit adult ammy ranks, you can't count on parents to show up. If your friends are anything like you, then you'll all forget food and you might die. This is bad.

that moment when there's a line

2) Avoid drinking too much water so you don't have to keep taking bathroom breaks.

Theory: Should be a big time saver, right?

Practice: This is a terrible idea. If you actually survive the day as an adult (unlikely), you will be so wiped out that it takes DAYS to recover.

NEED COUCH NOW

3) Drink cheap alcohol at the end of the day. You're so dehydrated that you get double the punch for half the price.

Theory: right?

Practice: OH MY GOD NO DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU EVER WANT TO GET OFF THE COUCH AGAIN.

4) Only enter at shows that matter so the pressure is on and you can PERFORM.

Theory: helps avoid spending money on entries for shows that aren't important, guarantees only getting sweet ass ribbons instead of cheapie nasties.

Practice: You are too old and nervous to perform under pressure. Use all the schooling shows to get yourself and your horse ready. You'll need them.

toyz

5) Only have the absolute minimum of required show attire. Show used, buy on the cheap.

Theory: spend all your money on entries, not toys.

Practice: Well, this sort of holds up. Except when you get a grown up job and you're like "F*** YEAH BUYING TACK", which happens from time to time around here.

All that to say. Horse showing is really expensive. It's also strangely addicting. I sent in two more entries yesterday and created a sidebar to track our progress. I realize that I basically just jinxed myself, but I am SO EXCITED to have a horse that I can (gasp!) have fun with at shows again.

The Smoking Gun: Horse Show Progress

Well, you all knew this was coming. On account of me competing the same horse at the same show two years in a row, we obviously have to do a progression post. Today I'm doing a dressage progression.

Let's start with the halt. Both of these pictures are taken at the final halt in the test, but I want to look at them first as an overall snapshot of Courage's condition/tack at the time as well as my riding.

2014

2015

Let's start with the similarities: I am wearing the exact same outfit (except gloves) and Courage is going in the same saddle pad. 

Which is to say he's had a complete tack overhaul and I didn't buy new clothes. 

More importantly, look at how he's filled out and filled in--the whole picture is longer in the second photo as Courage continues to develop a sporthorse body. My position has started to become less defensive and more dressage-ish. I'm intrigued that his color is actually somewhat different as well. 

Then we walk:

2014

2015

You may notice that my reins are habitually too long. I don't think either picture is bad, but Courage looks so much soft and pleasant in the second shot. Why is my left hand doing that? BECAUSE REASONS. 

For a little reference, in 2014, Courage was closing in on a year off the track. Now we're full-steam-ahead towards two. I think the derby was the only show we actually went to last year? We talked about others, but life circumstances were not permitting.

2014

2015

These angles are a little harder to just compare straight across, but I love how much more Courage is moving across the ground now, rather than up and down over it. It's hard to see if you don't zoom in, but his mouth is open and resisting in picture 1, while he's actually started to close it most some of the time now. 

Yes, my position is different in part because of the dressage saddle, but more importantly, dressage lessons have been HUGE for both of us.

So... Progress has been crazy slow and uninspiring, but look! We're getting somewhere. Eventually.

First Show of 2015

dressage warm up

Whew. What a weekend. I'd drag it out into a ton of multi-day posts because I definitely have enough pictures for that, but I also have a schooling show Wednesday and content waits for no man, apparently.

Let's just jump right in. While auditing the (really fantastic, highly recommend) Jan Byyny clinic on Friday, I had the revelation that no one really likes having money anyways, so I might as well pay for a stall and bring Courage to the show a day early so he could see the sights.

Best. Idea. Ever.

He hacked around and was pretty freaking good.

trotting around the outside

Then came show day. Due to my very large and advanced division needing to get going (ok all two of us in ground poles), I was the very first ride of the day. It was great--I was the first person on the grounds, first in the arena. Everything was calm and quiet.

And OMG YOU GUYS you should have seen my horse. I sure didn't recognize him. I hand walked him once around the arena, hopped on, and like... he was perfect. Rideable. Rateable. Relaxed. Balanced. It was the same horse I had for my completely fabulous schooling ride at home two days prior.

we dressaged

WTF HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE I CANNOT EXPLAIN

I'm not complaining--I was 1000% THRILLED to have that horse. I just had absolutely no illusions he was going to show up prior to actually seeing him.

My goal for dressage was to keep my brain engaged and ride, no matter what.

Courage made it easy. I mean, yeah, it's intro A and there is nothing inherently hard about it. But still. Instead of hanging on for dear life and trying to channel his greenness, I was asking for more and better throughout the whole ride.

you sexy thang

And he delivered.

Our free walk is only so-so at home. I got the best free walk I've had in weeks IN THE FREAKING SHOW RING.

We did get a 5 on one circle because I completely forgot how to ride in the small arena (oops, #dressagebarnproblems), but we got a lot of 7s and even an 8 on our last centerline.

hullo dressage horse

The test felt kickass and it was.

Plus we got 7s on all our collective marks (except geometry. That was a well-earned 6.)

I am so thrilled with this. I can't even tell you. It really didn't matter what our score was (32, if you're wondering). It was just that Courage brought his A game to his first show of the year (also third show of his life) and OMG I know I can't expect that every time, but given all we've been through lately?

It was a moment of "Hold on, you're doing the right thing" that I really needed.

warm up!

On to XC!

Which I informed all my friends they were not allowed to call XC. It was a f****** trail ride.

Because I knew if I thought about it or said anything, my brain would completely implode.

I tried really hard to talk myself out of the nerves, but yeah. It's a good thing we entered ground poles, because I was about an inch away from full on meltdown mode by the time we were tacking up.

Of course, then I put my saddle on and looked at my beautiful blue iridescent Lorenzini stirrups and for a moment, it was really peaceful as I was like "I so love these stirrups and I feel so secure in the saddle with them".

it's really hard to make ground poles look interesting

And then back to brain melt.

It's ground poles. And hacking. And I can do it.

Except not.

I survived the warm up. Courage was tense for like 2 seconds and like "hey look there's horses galloping around" and then he was over it. Totally fine.

Again, my goal was just to use my brain and keep riding the whole time. 

Off we went. I walked the first pole, trotted the second, walked the third. Things we going well. My brain was still screwed in and I was starting to breathe and be like "ok we can do..."

...and the next pole was in between the UBER SCARY JUMP JUDGE and OMG F****** COWS (on the other side of the fence).

Courage spun around as fast as he could and headed for the barn.

I yanked him back around, but failed to put any leg on. We made another very fast and tiny circle and then I was like "I AM NOT GETTING DISQUALIFIED OVER COWS YOU M****** F****** S*** HEAD HORSE" and stuck my spurs in him and then he was So. Polite.

It was never about the cows. We walk/trotted the rest of our course. We had no other problems.

best dressed ground poles horse ever

I even thought about cantering at the end, but I didn't. I felt it was enough of an accomplishment just to finish. Something. Finally.

The truth is, if I started the course with the same grit that got us over that one stupid pole, we wouldn't have had any problems at all.

But the other truth is, it was all I could do to get out on that course and it took until pole #5 to have enough gumption to growl at him and make it happen. That's the sad truth of me and XC. It's why we aren't even trying to be eventers. We were at this show for exposure. And that's it.


I unfortunately blew my tidy lead after dressage and dropped to 2nd after the incident in the field.

But you know what?

I have never been prouder of a second place ribbon in my life. I kept my brain on and I rode. Courage responded well. He's not ready to just pack me around, but he's green (and a jackass) and that won't happen for a while yet, if ever.

We were a team, we both showed up to play, and we can be successful together.

It's a little piece of satin that tells me all this work is worthwhile, and if we keep at it, I won't regret hanging to this special little horse.