XC Clinic Wrapup (super long)

I started the clinic day with two goals: 1) I wanted Courage to have a positive experience and 2) I wanted to ride proactively and make good decisions.

We loaded about a half hour after we meant to, which meant that we literally pulled in to the clinic facility as our group was supposed to start. As we threw tack on, a horse got loose from another trailer and RACED past us. Redheadlins and I breathed a sigh of relief as our horses watched boredly, but then it came around for another pass. Seriously? Of course this happens when it is your OTTB's first ever clinic/xc experience.

Who's afraid of loose horses?

Fortunately, the horse was eventually corralled and Courage seemed to find the whole experience quite uneventful. That's when I realized that neither of us threw in a mounting block, so we were getting on from a 5 gallon bucket. Despite the fact that I quite gracefully fell off the bucket next to Courage, he gave me a second shot at it and stood like a statue. As soon as I was on, I realized that I didn't have my whip and all the spectators were off watching the beginning of my group, so I got back off, and had to utilize the bucket again.

Getting acquainted

Whatever. Courage was having a positive experience, and if I miss the first five minutes of the ground poles group, well, we'll all survive.

We rode over and joined the group. Courage had his head up and was looking, but as we talked with the instructor (and signed releases from horseback, OTTB win), he started to settled in. It was a goup of four and we walked and trotted in a big circle and talked about techniques for riding in large groups safely, from position to etiquette. Courage spent his time figuring out how to balance and stretch. He didn't care at all that the steering of the group members perhaps wasn't what it could be and that the other horses occasionally buzzed him. 

Trotting in a group lesson

The instructor did break us into two groups to canter. I'm pretty sure she thought two green riders on broke horses combined with two recent racehorses was just a bit much to all be running around at once.

Looking like an event horse

Lil' Courage picked up both leads correctly on the first try, and let me practice all three seats at the canter. He wasn't even concerned about the other horse or the changing footing. What a star.












Next we started trotting through some poles, working on our straightness and direction. New poles in a new place? No big. He set the standard for straight lines and I managed not to make a complete ass out of myself, despite the instructor threatening some old-fashioned vigilante justice if I used an indirect inside rein one more time (oops).

Only the cutest horse in the group

The poles went up to a little crossrail. The first rider in our group nearly fell off, then got run off with, none of which Courage really thought was even interesting enough to watch. When it was our turn, he hopped right over and landed in canter. Yeah! I brought him back down to walk to discuss our ride, and accidentally aimed him at a very narrow gap between a jump and the rail. He pricked up his ears and went right through. Impressive.

Heading into the great unknown!

He was one of only two in our group who were sent out to put a course of cross rails together. At this point, the people for the next group had started showing up and unloading their horses. We stopped in the vicinity of the first jump because Courage was so interested in what was going on. Per the instructor, I walked him over the first few crossrails just to get him focused, then was able to trot the last one and canter away. Awesome.

Hello eventing world

Then it was time to head out to the big XC field. Courage boldly led the way past the dressage arena, through the decorations, and beside the canal without so much as blinking. Then we encountered a problem. The ground disappeared right out of in front of him and he was expected to levitate across a dry dip in the ground. I tried to convince him that instead of levitating, we could just walk through on the bottom of the dip.

He thought no. Also, he hasn't been keeping up on yoga and he was embarrassed to try levitating in front of his new friends if he didn't think he could be the best at it. Oh Courage. He finally made it through the little dip with the instructor leading him, but then the other two horses were well ahead of us and Diva had no intention of rushing through a similar meditation.

Trotting by our onsies

Off we went. As we reached the far corner of the field, I realized that my little man was starting to lose it. The bugs were bad, his attention span was used up, and it was hard work for him to keep it together this long. I called out to the two ahead of us to come back and focused on telling him to do something, or "make his world smaller" as the instructor put it.

The horses helped a little bit, but he was still feeling like he wanted to freak out and explode in every direction. I decided that I would help us both out by choosing a direction. I trotted him forward. We half halted just enough to stay in balance, but I wanted that energy to go in a positive direction. We serpentined around and he started to settle even in the big field.

We finished off the lesson by leaving the group and walking over a series of natural obstacles. Courage was awesome once he got the idea. Had it been earlier in the lesson, I would have tried trotting them, but at that point, I thought it was wise to keep things simple.

Baby xc rockstars

When we were done, we hacked back to the trailer (and through the dip of death!) without so much as a tiny baby disobedience.

Diva took exception to loading, so Courage and I had a nice time hanging out with the other members of our group while he ate grass and was generally admired.

All things considered, we definitely achieved our objections. Courage had a very good experience and exceeded my expectations with his good behavior. I am very happy with the decisions I made to keep his feet on the ground.

On a loose rein

That said, it sounds like our next outing needs to be on the trails so we can learn about variations in terrain. Haha. I can live with that.

Help Us Out!

Courage has approved this message

I'm working on my epic clinic wrap up post, but C-rage, Redheadlins, Diva and I are finalists in Eventing Nation and Success Equestrian's photo contest. GO HERE to vote for us to win a cool prize!!

Jumping with Video!!

Because we are overachievers trying to set our horses up for success, yesterday was baby xc day at the barn.

We dragged some cross rails out into the pasture, snagged a couple of competent camera people, and off we went. The biggest thing we wanted to address was just letting the horses figure out the terrain.

They are used to immaculately groomed flat footing at the track, so it can be challenging to learn to look where they're going. No need to worry on this score--Courage and Diva walked, trotted, and cantered all around the fields like total pros and weren't even a little bothered by deep grass and the slight undulations. Win!

With that sorted out, it was time to jump. Again, it was more about introducing them to the idea of jumps being in unusual places on funny footing and that being ok. At this point in the game, I'm not too concerned about height or strides or anything overly technical.

In case you have a lot of time on your hands, there is video!











Our first course was a little rough--we added some decor to the ground poles in the second field and it completely surprised him. What I like about it is that he gave me the same reaction that I got at the show and didn't respond well to. This time, I was able to ride him through it and continue on. The biggest thing was just that I was expecting him to chuck his head and down and start bucking... which he didn't do at all. I rode better, he understood the job better, the video is pretty damn boring. Sorry.

We picked it up and did better the second time. Take away for me--when I know something's going to be new and different, I need to be really sure I have him balanced and then let him take a little look and ride slow and steady to the "fence". He's not unwilling, but everything is very new at this point.

Wild thoroughbreds

Also, in case you have better things to do than watch a big horse jump teeny fences, we jumped our first little vertical! I just pointed at it and he went right over. So proud. 

We hacked around the field to cool out. Our photographers caught some really cute shots.








Also, check out someone's hunky self at not even 7 weeks off the track. He's filling out and putting on weight and looks downright respectable. He was definitely ready to be a sporthorse. Maybe next year he'll even have a tail.

We conquer xc!

Super psyched for our clinic on Saturday! Courage is going really well, and I'm confident we can go and have another positive experience.

Learning the Job

The little man stepped it up and was awesome for our grid night outing and our show outing (and I handwalked him down the road the other day), so I figured it's time to put our big kid pants on and ride in a clinic. On cross country. 

Ok, maybe that was ambitious.

Regardless, since we don't want to get embarrassed out there, Redheadlins and I are buckling down and making sure our horses can at least jump cross rails before we show up. I was going to have her ride him and do some other stuff this week, but she's short on time and I'm having too much fun.

Rock that baucher!! 

In the interest of looking like a legit XC horse, I brought out closed front boots to try that I don't mind galloping through weeds in. I refuse to risk the tboots in cheat grass. I also wanted to try a different bit, since the happy mouth is just flat out too big for him and I didn't want to buy another. Obviously, if you are a tack ho, it is far, far easier to throw the trial bit on a bridle than it is to unhook your current bridle and add the new bit into the mix.

Plus I love how he looks in a figure eight anyways. Also a legit XC thing.

It's almost a tail

He came out really up for some reason, so I hand walked him around the arena. As we passed the hay barn, he had THE MOST GIANT COURAGE SPOOK OF ALL TIME. Seriously. I think he may have gone two strides. Then he stood still and looked sheepish. I hopped on and off we went.

After a nice warmup (in which I didn't ask for anything, oops), we started out working on contact at the walk and trot. I kept him mostly on a circle. Instead of giving in to my desire to just sit around and have a fun ride, I focused on putting him into the contact every time he decided to be a giraffe and then (important) giving EVERY TIME he decided to soften.

Make it obvious. Keep things black and white. He wants to do the right thing, so let him. (Thank you, Lins for pointing that out).

Love this canter

Once he was quiet and steady (ish), we headed off around the arena. He gave me a lovely stretch and then we took a walk break. During that walk break, Diva and Lindsey jumped and cantered and did all kinds of cool things. I was all focused (RIDE THE HORSE) and completely spaced taking pictures. Oops. Bad friend.

When we moved up into the canter, I quit worrying about the contact. I have elbow issues I need to work through and he needs a break. Plus, we are prepping for a CLINIC! Thus, we worked on some forward and back at the canter. I asked him to shorten until he ...almost... broke to trot, then cantered forward down the long side before collecting again.

I tried to stay mostly out of the saddle and go forward from my leg. It was our first attempt, so there wasn't as much difference between the shorter and longer canter as I would prefer, but he seemed to be getting the idea.

crossrail!

And then to jump! At this point, I really want him to figure out that any time he's pointed at a jump, I mean for him to jump it. Looking for the flags, if you will. We set the jumps in places he did not expect, and accordingly, the first time I headed for one, he tried to run out. ("obv she didn't realize the great wall of china is in front of us")

This is where I realized that I had completely squandered my warmup. Instead of meandering and chatting, I need to actively use that time to move him off my legs and get him on the aids. He's not opposed to jumping--he just needs to understand what the desired outcome is.

No one cares about flowers now

I'm working to get myself together, too. The last time I jumped an actual fence was like... April? On Cuna. With Courage, I sometimes forget to ride because he's being green. The result is that I let him get strung out and pick at him and ride from my hands and it's just ugly. Today, I picked one thing I wanted to do better. I decided that I wanted to ride my line after the jump to encourage him to be forward and straight. Magically, that made me ride from my leg instead of pick with my hands and he was much easier to go with.

balance in the corner

I also had to remember to ride around my corners. I'm being really obsessive about not hitting him in the mouth at any point, to the point that I'm not really taking any contact while jumping. Unfortunately, Courage doesn't really know what all that means. He got strung out and unbalanced (for him), then stopped at another crossrail.

To help him, I shortened my reins and was consistent. I let him come in slower with his head up like a giraffe, because that meant he was balanced and looking. My reins were consistent, so if he fell forward, I caught him, but otherwise he just had to hold to the rhythm.

An actual jump! 

It seemed to work. By the end, we were confidently jumping all the Xs on straight lines. Woohoo!!

I realize this is one of those long rambling posts that goes on forever and probably no one reads, but 1) I want to keep track of our progress and 2) I threw in lots of cute pictures, so it can't be that bad, right?

Another ride tomorrow, and then we have to pick out clinic outfits. How exciting!

eeeek!

I made the call yesterday, and Courage and I wiggled in to a local cross country clinic this coming weekend. We'll be in the teeny baby group doing ground poles or cross rails or something, but I'm pretty excited.

JUMP ALL THE THINGS!!!

Of course, in order to be properly prepared, Redheadlins and I are planning jump day in the pasture this week sometime. I will attempt to bribe/beg/borrow/steal a camera person so we can get Courage's first XC PICTURES!! Woowoo!!

Showtime for Courage

Since it was the six week anniversary of Courage coming off the track, it seemed like a pretty good time to take him to his first show and start building up positive experiences for him. We didn't pre-enter since it's such a crap shoot with babies, but we loaded up and headed over about an hour before we thought our classes would run. Our information was based on a conversation with the organizer the day before.

You can see where this is going.

Pretty much as wild as it got

Pretty much everyone around here who jumps had the exact same thought. We barely squeezed the trailer into the parking area and would not be able to leave until a lot of people ahead of us decided to.

Accordingly, the show ran late. Very late. Instead of tacking up and hopping on ASAP, we now had a very long wait. The good news was, standing around is an AWESOME way to teach greenies that shows are boring and easy.







We spent hours standing around in the holding area and just taking it all in. Horses jumped big jumps, kids trotted by to get to their classes, people came and went, the loud speaker got used.

Courage didn't so much as spook.

His beloved Honey Pie Pony

I'm pretty sure it was his first time to ever see a pony and we did establish one thing about his personality:

He LOVES ponies. The smaller and cuter the better, but pretty much anything under 14hh looks like a good friend to him.

Given the opportunity, he wanted to trot after them and be their friend. I didn't let him, since I thought giant prancing thoroughbred might scare the small ones.

Still. Adorable.



After many hours of standing around and visiting and meeting his facebook fans, it was finally time to saddle up and go. Bear in mind that we were here for the experience. We signed up for ground poles and the whole point was just to go out in the arena and see what it was like and let him see new stuff in a different situation. I wasn't planning to push him or work on contact or do anything he'd find challenging in a new environment.

The best.

We avoided the warmup, because it was chaos, but eventually we had to go stand by it while we were in line for our class. As horses cantered past us and people milled around the in gate, the horses in the pasture next to us took off galloping and bucking.

Courage stood on the buckle on watched it all. What a stud.

Finally, it was off to the show ring!

I let Courage walk around the far side of the arena so he could see the standards and the indoor next to us and the spooky hay barn, then we headed for our course.

He. Was. Awesome.

A wee tiny jump

Fancy jumps, flowers, leaving his buddy, whatever. He trotted calmly and listened to me. He did decided to actually jump the flowers, but he listened and I stayed with him.

I kept my reins soft and just asked him to follow the pattern. I let him canter after the poles, but brought him back to trot in the corners.

So fancy

To my complete surprise, he was totally relaxed and easy. He continued working on stretching into the contact of his own volition. Again, he wasn't consistent, but the fact that I could put him in an intentionally spooky environment and have the same work I get at home?

Amazing. I still can't believe it.

A mighty leap

We did have one tiny moment just so I'd remember that he is still kinda green. The last two jumps on the course were an outside line. The first pole was decorated with flowers. He'd been very willing to go over them, but very respectful of their space, which I think is perfect.

It was pretty late in the day at this point, and he cleared them with room to spare. It was definitely the biggest jumping effort he's given me yet.

Crazy!

That was a little exciting, so there was a land/scoot/something to follow it up with. I'm interested to see the video, just because it all happened so fast that I was pretty much riding on instinct.

He got a little hoppy/light in front and I corrected immediately. 

Exuberant

When I think about it, I would have preferred to respond differently. It didn't feel naughty or wild--more like he just sort of surprised himself. The excess energy isn't bad, but I would have liked to put him to work on a little larger circle. As it was, we demonstrated an excellent rollback for everyone and then carried on.

The focus was on having a positive experience, so I rode to the next obstacle and forced myself to loop the rein and trust him.

Wouldn't you know, he was fine.

Looking cute

I'm sure we entertained the judge and spectators by my constantly praising him for every minor thing (you turned!! you're like baby einstein!!), but I was just blown away by how awesome he was about everything.

Jumps, ponies, warm up, judge's tent, loose horses, whatever. At six weeks off the track, he was perfectly happy to hack around on the buckle and visit with new and old friends.








And one last shot I have to share--I am an obsessive groom, but I've been strapped for time lately. I broke down and pulled him mane right before the show.

Now he looks like a proper grownup. Too cute!

Pictures!!

Despite the threatening clouds and sometimes pouring rain, Alyssa of Four Mares, No Money came out yesterday to get some shots of our fancy baby thoroughbreds.

We focused on flatwork, and I was really pleased with what Courage gave me. Without further ado...

Walking in the rain

We saddled up in a hurry to avoid an incoming rain storm, but somehow ended up in the middle of it. Regardless, Courage is flexing his poll and walking forward.

Trotting like a hunter

I'm not asking him to be round and come on the bit at this point. I just want him to carry his head like a horse and give to the bit.

He improves in leaps and bounds every ride.









He's trying to figure his new life out, so he does offer some really nice stretches, but they aren't consistent or into the contact yet. It will come with time. I'm just glad he's thinking about it all.

On a loose rein

 In the canter, I don't worry about contact right now. I just want him going forward in a good balance and carrying himself. I'm starting to add in circles and ring figures to test his balance.

Ready for the jumper ring

There was an incident with a galloping horse in the pasture that I was worried he'd be distracted by. I thought the best way to keep it from becoming a problem was by redirecting his energy and asking for a downward transition to trot.

Instead, he dropped his croup and gave me the cutest little collected canter through the short side of the arena. I'm still in shock.

Like a pleasure horse

Even though we don't work on his frame at the canter at all, our work in the walk and trot is paying off. He's experimenting with carrying his head lower and working through his back.

Again, it's all on a long rein and his frame/contact is inconsistent right now, but I love that he's experimenting to see what I'm looking for.

Using that neck.

The more I look at his canter shots, the more I think that I just plain need to spend time in the canter. It allows him to use his body very well. I'm thinking I need to mix it in throughout the whole workout and see how much it helps him.








We trotted over our tiny pile of poles again, but the little man has totally got it now. I love that he's landing in the canter (on the correct lead), with one ear on me and one looking where he's headed. What a good boy.













His trot isn't dressage ready and it shouldn't be. 

That said, he's taking steps in the right direction and it is so fun to be along for the ride. I can't believe how much he's improved in just the last week. What a star.

Hullo friend

Alyssa was one of our partners in crime at the track, so Courage remembers her as the girl that brought him giant buckets of grain (and took home one of his friends).

After our ride was over, he was pretty cute about coming to see her and insisting that she pet him. Even when she tried to walk away, he followed her around the arena.





The result? Super cute closeups.



I love his relaxed posture and kind eye in this shot. Plus his face is just so darn cute.















And this one is beautiful. So thoughtful and strong. He looks like a fancy dressage horse.














But this one has to be my favorite.

High Octane

Look! A neck!

We're prepping for the incredibly high stakes "Pony Club Schooling Jumper Show" this weekend. As such, we're firing on all cylinders--Courage scored himself a trainer ride on Saturday. It didn't start out pretty, but he's a smart horse and he quickly figured out how to cooperate. Redheadlins gave us some exercises to work on and some feedback to improve my ride in order to help him out.

Yes folks, we have entered the phase of training where I actually have to work again. Huh. I was liking this "cruise on the buckle and do nothing" phase, but I guess steering and a topline would be nice too.

Figuring out contact

As per his schedule, he had the following day off. I worked him Monday, but we kept it easy because we had something else to get done first. More on that eventually.

Cute trotting picture

Today I had just enough time to race out and squeeze in a quick "jump school" before heading to work. We started out with flatwork--mostly walking, reminding him to give to the bit and pay attention to my legs. It's a lot harder for me than for him, since I have to remember to keep him thumbs up, give him contact, and be quiet with my legs so that it means something when I do use them.

I felt moderately successful. I need to get my timing better and make my aids clearer, but the two of us are muddling along pretty well. After he gave me some really nice work, we took a break to get pictures of Diva doing some fun stuff. I have to say, I love that I can just drop the reins and wield a camera while my recent OTTB just chills out. It's pretty amazing.

Proof of circle

I picked up the reins (sort of) and headed off to have a canter. He gave me his nicest transition to date, plus it was to the right and he got it on the first try. BOOM. No idea where he learned that, but it was lovely. He was relaxed through his neck and we even cantered our first circle that was smaller than the size of the arena.

He was similarly awesome to the left--forward and easy and lovely transition.

left of center

Then to the jump school! We had made some strategically placed piles of poles that I aimed for. We haven't readdressed poles or jumping since mid-last-week, so I didn't want to surprise him. He wiggled his way over the first pile in awkward fashion. In fairness, he's probably never seen a pole pile before.

Still. He likes to go over things and he clicked into gear, so I aimed for another pile. I tried to keep him straight to the poles with my leg on and make it clear where I wanted him to go.


He sort of skidded to a stop, but I was like "No way, no how. Forward over the poles."

And he jumped! His first actual little baby jump! Front end, then back end, and he was every semi-coordinated about it. He cantered off and seemed quite proud of himself as I praised him effusively for being such a genius.

My amazing greenie eq

Next we headed for a nice little crossrail. Something had clicked in his brain, so even though we wiggled to the base, he went forward and jumped! And landed in the canter! I was beyond excited. My little dude is figuring it all out.

Cantering off like a grownup!! 

He was much more forward to his fences (Xs) and seemed quite pleased with himself. He never touched a hoof to a pole, either. We just popped over the crossrail a few times since he was being so good and we're really only doing groundpoles at the show anyways.

We have plenty to work on (jump ahead much?), but I am thrilled with how well he's doing, especially since his training schedule seems to be primarily days off.

Good boy

Honesty

This is more personal than I usually am on this blog, but it's a piece I wrote that wouldn't make sense to the non-horsey in my life. Horses have always been the lens that allowed me to understand life, and I'd be sunk without my incredible husband who keeps me steady.

Last fall, I started an adventure. I wrote 100,000 words in four months. I churned out a solid manuscript for the story of a girl conquering her personal demons and coming into her own. That was the first 75k.

The next 25 was the continuation. She had to continue to grow, to deal with the fallout.

She had to see the one who helped her overcome suffer and she had to deal with losing him.

I think that's why I stopped.

I know how to fear. I've learned to overcome.

I don't know what to do with loss.

The one who helped me overcome is still here. He's physically healed, more or less. I see him. I still love him, and yet it's like we don't speak the same language anymore. Our bond was built through a long gauntlet of trust and confidence and mind numbing fear. We've come out on the other side. He taught me to overcome, and yet in the process, he gave up everything.

He's not who he was. I'm not who I was.

I don't know how to reconcile the two.

I want him to be who he was to me for the past year. I want that fire, that passion, that connection. I want to know that we trust each other more than anything. I want to know that we can overcome anything together and we will always take care of each other.

He barely looks at me right now. I'm almost afraid to touch him. I am afraid to know the truth. Afraid to find out where we stand. It seems safer to not know than to find out for sure that we can never be again.

I don't want him to teach me how to lose someone.