HO BOY SHOW PLANS

Well. This is it. The year I've been planning for.

And yes, now that I've said that, I fully 100% realize that my life is from here out jinxed.

Last year, Courage and I hit the event derby series and garnered a GIANT year end award, which was a serious bucket list item for me. I'd love to repeat that at crossrails this year, BUT the whole goal of the last year was to get Courage going as a dressage horse and get him exposed to shows

SO THAT

we could show at first level this year.

Gulp.

And get our bronze medal scores.

Double gulp.

so much dressage

SO. Here's what my tentative schedule looks like for now (the local calendar is not yet complete, so some dates are invented.):

April 

(hopefully a schooling show in April--failing that, we will haul somewhere to do a lesson and get him out)

THEN

May 7-8 Spring dressage show at OUAH. First 1 and probably first 3. This is a non-recognized outing that will hopefully give us that first level feel. And also hopefully not completely freak us out. I want to do both days and really work on my test riding/show warm up to learn what I need to do for the best results possible.

We will then skip the AMAZING AND EXCITING sounding cool new derby the next weekend because A) I only have so much money and B) I need to not wear Courage out completely because then... KIDDING WE WILL DO IT CUZ I CANT DECIDE

May 21-22 Idaho Dressage Festival! Probably first 1 and 3 as well. This is our big hurrah--USDF recognized and all. Need all the $$$ memberships and I really don't want to know how much this will cost me. I plan to stable on the grounds and hopefully not completely lose my marbles.

Ok once that's over with...

June 11-12 League Dressage show at AEB. Again, probably first 1 and 3 unless we're failing a lot or I feel a burning urge to do 2. This is also run concurrently with an event derby that we could cross enter into. Crossrails? Maybe.

June 17-19 Boise River Dressage at OUAH. I need to do some research here. I'm tempted to do the opportunity classes because they count towards league show year end points, but I'll also have all my memberships and could show recognized. I really need to find out if I don't get my Bronze scores in May if I could try to get them here. I don't know and that would change how I approach this show.

this post needs satin

Looks like we'll decompress in July (which is good because the summer doldrums are real), then head on into August:

August 6-7 League dressage show in Filer. Again, this depends. It's a 2+ hour drive and if I haven't done the other league shows, it's probably not worth it. On the other hand, any chance at year-end swag sounds good to me. We'll see where I'm at and how broke I am.

September: There's a cheaper-but-crazy jumper show on the 10th or a spendier-but-nice jumper show on the 24th. If Courage is jumping well and I'm feeling up to it, we might hit one of these. I really like the timing here--we'll have had all summer to get going and see if jumping is something we can do well this year or not.

October 1-2 Fall league dressage show at AEB. First level tests. This is being run concurrently with the derby series we did last year, which makes me think about cross entering. We will see, but it's unlikely my budget will support chasing two different year end awards in two different sports. Maybe. Maybe. I do love swag.

and friends with satin

Haha the more I write, the more I want to try and do the derbies too. I really can't justify the one in May--it's right before our big big show and I don't want Courage to be tired headed in to that.

Or do I? I DON'T KNOW. Obviously, this whole thing is flexible. A lot of my scheduling is going to depend on getting more answers as to how the league shows work and how the bronze scores go and if I think I have a shot at a local year end award at first level recognized (lol a girl can dream) or if the league is really where it's at for us this year.

So. I will figure out memberships and awards and STUFF and try to get this firmed up. GAH NOW SO NERVOUS.

And just because I need to put this out there: Courage and I had incredible success at intro and training level last year. I realize that doesn't/isn't/won't translate straight across to kicking all the ass at first level this year, especially as we try to move up in terms of both level and quality of competition. All my talk about year end awards is just because winning one was SO MUCH FUN and I'd never done it before and it would be mind-blowingly-amazing to pull off a repeat.

Doesn't mean I think we're in contention. Not even close.

but it sure is inspiring

The Three Year Hex

I have this weird feeling that I just can't quite shake right now. As an adult, I have never owned a horse more than three years. Period. I'm on my third (fourth?) horse. I've intended to keep each one forever. It doesn't work out.

Nikki (got as a baby, traded away for Izzy), owned ~6 months

Izzy (bad news bears for me), owned 3 years on the nose

Cuna (worse news bears for soundness), owned two years

And Courage and I have a three year anniversary in July.

I'm committed to this relationship, so I won't sell/trade him away because he's unsuitable like I did horses #1 and #2. I can only hope we don't face crippling and catastrophic lameness like #3.

But each case has been a little different and I'm just twitchy enough (and apparently superstitious enough) that I feel paralyzed. Or at least inhibited. I don't want to pay for lifetime numbers for him. I hardly want to think about plans and goals beyond this spring. I know I'm being weird, but it's a real thing for me.

At least until after July 27th of this year. That's our three year anniversary. That's when we start into untested territory for horse ownership and my adult self.

Crazy? Maybe.

Here's to many more with this guy! (And can it not be winter anymore? That would be ok.)

Project Selfie

I'll be the first to loudly proclaim admit that I'm anti-selfie. My general opinion of them is that they're taken by people who have no friends to take pictures for them.

But.

One of my favorite pictures of all time is this shot from last year:

 And you know what? What I love the most about this shot is that we're ALL in it--no one standing back to take the picture.

So we're doing something new this year: barn selfies. I'll keep a collection of all the wonderful people that make the barn special complete with Courage's silly face. Here's what I've got this year (and one from Christmas Eve, but it counts!!)

just us

old friends in new places

plus redheadlins and horselessinhalifax

 So far, I really love this. :-)

Tack Ho Confessional: Dressage Bridles

I got a question the other day about exactly what bit/bridle set up Courage was going in.

the sparkliest one, obv

Ha! The answer is he's not going at all.

Fact.

Well ok. He had a couple weeks off around the holidays due to travel/work/life (apparently I have to human sometimes? wtf). He's starting back into work now, which is as good a time as any to talk about the biggest time suck of horse ownership: choosing a bridle. Seriously. This takes too long every single day. It's like... do I ride? Hand walk? OH GOD TOUCH THE LEATHER MUST RIDE WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON

ALL SO BEAUTIFUL

This is my primary bridle selection right now. I don't use the franken jump bridle (left, brown and blue and sparkles) much because we aren't jumping and the bit is the least desirable--it's a knock off of the center bit, which is sometimes our favorite bit and sometimes not. It doesn't matter when we jump because I rarely touch the reins, but I don't love it for dressage.

I do love it for looking at and yes sometimes I take it home to clean just because I want to touch it for a while. (We aren't jumping this winter for a variety of complicated reasons. We're hoping to get back to it in the spring.)

That leaves the other two black bridles. Who can believe I own two black bridles? Right? 

so beautiful

This (center in top pic) is my Red Barn Capriole bridle with a Topline Leather browband and Courage's fancy Sprenger bit. There is a flash attachment loop, but we don't school in the flash with this set up. It's supposed to be our show bridle. I really like how Courage feels in the Sprenger most of the time. The reins are my SUPER AMAZING D'yon rubber lined with hand stops eBay find that I adore.

The crank is usually pretty loose and the bit is fat compared to most bits. It was our go-to for a long time. If we could only have one bridle, this would probably be my choice.

But.

Then there's Antares. And I love him.

such class

Antares has a couple features that the Red Barn doesn't. First, the cavesson is not a crank. Second, I keep the flash on here. Third, this is my stupid cheap $10 single jointed snaffle that is the thickest bit ever. Also you'll notice that the reins have martingale stops, which is important when starting an OTTB back into work after a break.

I really love this set up for encouraging Courage to take a solid contact. He's pretty light in the bridle to start with, so the big, thick bit lets him lean a little bit. That would be a terrible idea for a heavier horse, but I like it on him. I also like the bridle for lunging and keeping the bit quiet and for rides where I think he's going to be silly--it's very forgiving and very stable.

we also lunge in a halter now

You'll notice that Courage doesn't go in a loose ring, ever. I know those are supposed to be correct dressage bits, but I actually don't enjoy scraping his brain off the rafters with a spatula. For whatever reason, he CANNOT deal with loose rings.

Whatever.

You'll also notice that both bridle have flash attachments, but I'm only using one flash. There are a couple reasons for that.
1) A flash in dressage is like a standing martingale in hunters. It's just part of the look, though technically not required. I like the look.

2) Courage goes well in a flash about once every two weeks. I'm really playing with this right now since it's not show season--Courage used to just gape his mouth open and brace. Then he'd open-mouthed chew on the bit. Now he's learning how to interact in a more educated way. I throw it on for lunging (which we've done a lot of lately) and I've been riding in it some. I'm certainly not above pulling it off if I think it's causing him tension, but we're just seeing what happens right now. I adjust it pretty loosely, but between bit stability and limiting odd-racetrack-mouth evasions, I like to keep it in the mix.

i mean i love sharing the indoor

So there you have it. Depending on whether I want to work on getting Courage more solid in the contact or relaxed and responsive, I choose a bit+bridle+noseband and roll. I'm really happy with the collection right now and I look forward to longer days and riding outside.

Teach Me Tuesday: Words You Forget to Ride

dogs "should" chase cats

This is a different question. I know when I ride on my own, I try to focus on doing a few things well each ride, whether that's getting my stupid hip angle open, lifting my hands, or what-have-you. Certainly when I ride in lessons, there's always that one phrase that the instructor WON'T STOP SAYING until you actually do the blasted thing.

But let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the one thing you have to leave behind you when you get on.

horse should move freely

For me, it's the word "should". Should gets me nowhere. Should creates pressure. Should causes disappointment.

I can try anything I want, but I have to leave should behind.

What about you? What do you forget so you can ride?

Barn Improvements

 You know when you're like halfway through a REALLY good ride and your horse ALL OF A SUDDEN notices the giant new mirror on the wall (like, in a bad way).

 So you hop off and let him sniff it because you don't have a death wish.

 But you see this look in his eye and you're riding alone, so you just strip his tack off and watch him completely lose ALL THE MARBLES.

 And he admires himself in the now totally-not-scary mirror even while galloping by.

 Like. Hey Sexy. You're so hot.

 Has anyone seen this attractive horse in the mirror? He seems to need cookies.

 Yeah. It was never about the mirror.

Suckers.

(We'll just file this under "horses gotta horse" and "thank god Courage doesn't pull shenanigans on frozen pastures" but also under "still gotta give him indoor turnout to keep his brain in his head".)

TSB's Guide to Sharing an Indoor

We're officially in to the time of the year where outdoor riding is dicey at best in the northern hemisphere. My outdoor has been alternately boggy, frozen, and inaccessible for upwards of a month now (sob), and so we're learning about the finer points of sharing a small indoor with a large boarding barn. Here are some basic rules that make everything go more smoothly.

1) Have a schedule.

This is SO IMPORTANT. I mean, yeah, there are going to be peak times that are harder than others, but if you (or anyone else) has some flexibility in their schedules, this makes sharing about a thousand times easier. If I can see that everyone and their dog are going to be out at noon on Saturday, maybe I'll come at 8am instead.

because no one wants to ride with this

2) Have a sense of humor.

It's winter. Turnout happens sometimes, indoors can be spooky, horse do random shit at the best of times. Don't take it personally that the green rider can't steer or the paint horse is bucking or my OTTB is bouncing off of you AGAIN (cough sorry E cough). Roll with it it. As long as you keep on riding and make good decisions, your horse is at the very least getting more broke and maybe hopefully learning something useful too.

I MISS YOU OUTDOOR ARENA

3) Use some solid horse sense.

This one is a little harder to quantify, but remember that horses are prey animals and spook at things that are out of place or surprising... so maybe... don't whisper, hide, and poke your head out random places. Just talk in a normal voice, be aware of your surroundings, and act like everything is fine.

Really. PLEASE stop whispering, hiding, and popping out of random places so your don't "disturb" me. You're making it worse.

cough or "my tinsel-wrapped monster is coming in now"

4) Communicate clearly with everyone.

If you have a problem, TALK to either the party involved or your BO/BM. They can't fix a problem they don't know about, and just letting problems fester creates drama that no one needs. Sometimes we have to put up and shut up, but most things can be prevented with a little simple communication 101.

Haha, so there's my guide for surviving the indoor. Here's hoping I can stick to it and stay alive until we can escape outside... C'mon FEBRUARY!!!

El Nino and Survival Mode

As some of you might be aware, it's an El Nino year. While that has meant tropical temps and late blooming flowers on the east coast, it has translated to an enormous amount of water here.

On the one hand, we need the water. On the other hand, this is the desert and we're not good at handling it.

ON THE THIRD HAND, NOW IT'S ALL FROZEN.

Snow. Ice. Cold. Grossness.

What that has translated to on a horsey front is not overly desirable. Turnout has been limited at best--we're at a busy facility with a lot of horses on not a lot of land, so in an effort to preserve grazing, the horses just don't go out when it's wet and gross.

Look, from a land management perspective, I get it. Even from a horse management perspective--I really don't need Courage soaking his feet in the mud.

But from a brain management perspective, it's been really, really difficult. My usually brave, level headed (if opinionated) horse has turned into a legit climbing-the-walls losing-his-marbles monster.

this is a thing now

So instead of working towards our riding goals and building a solid foundation, we've been tackling survival mode. Neither of us needs to get hurt or mad. We just have to figure out how to get through this until life becomes a little more normal.

I keep reminding myself that slowing down/taking time off really never hurt anyone. I have to repeat that about 8792 times a day, especially as I watch Courage do things like this:

WHEEEEEEEEE

WHEEEEEEEEE

WHEEE wait what he can do this on his own now????

Huh. It's obviously not all bad. I can't blame to guy for needing to move around, I'm really quite a big advocate for giving stiff/sore horses time off, and ummmmmmm did anyone else notice how my horse learned to stretch down on his own?

Yeah, he did. I mean. He can stretch under saddle just fine, but it's a new thing for him to offer big stretches in his free time. So that's cool.

And there's other things too. When we're spending non-riding time together, I see stuff like this:

redecorating

Mr Personality

I'm so used to the OPINIONS I HAZ THEM side of Courage under saddle and trust me, while entertaining, it's also a PITA. Watching them on the ground just cracks me up. This horse oozes ATTITUDE and I'm loving getting to appreciate it without riding through it.

Ok, loving is a slight exaggeration. I really miss riding and I REALLY want to work towards goals and all that, but until we're ready to get back in the swing of things, this isn't all bad.

he sure does look good in tack

Teach Me Tuesday: Living the Dream

I'm really very lucky. I don't generally think of myself that way because I have a hearty helping of Murphy's law to go with it, but I remember laughing with redheadlins and Alyssa this summer as we struggle-bused our way through our first derby of the year (ok, Lindsey and I struggle-bused and Alyssa dominated). Whatever happened that day, we were living out our little horse-girl dreams:

We had beautiful thoroughbreds. Pretty show tack and clothes. Friends to ride with. Dreams to chase.

It didn't matter that I got 120 time penalties on xc (because yes, they do time ground poles. oops.). All that mattered in that moment was my thorough realization that I had achieved everything my young self always wanted.

So teach me this Tuesday--what childhood dreams have you achieved?

2016 Goals

Well here goes. Life is unpredictable and so I realize that all of these could be thrown out the window at any given time with absolutely no notice.

That said.

Goals are really important to me. I don't necessarily like them month to month, because so much of what I work on is... eh... non-linear? I don't know if I'll do something in a month, but I know that I can check to see if I'm generally trending up or down over the course of a year.

Without further preamble, here are my goals for 2016 that I think I can and want to accomplish on my less-green, still-OTTB somewhat-dressage horse who may or may not decide to play along on any given day.

1) Ride first level at a USDF recognized show.

This is a HUGE goal for us, and it's really hit or miss. There is only one local recognized show, which of course is at the beginning of the show year. I want to put a bunch of caveats on this, but it's the #1 thing driving me to work through the winter right now. Now it's out there.

I want it.

2) Get bronze-qualifying scores (60% or better) at first level at a GMO recognized show. 

I'd really, Really, REALLY like to do this at the USDF show, but it will be my first-ever USDF show and his first time ever at that big facility and GOD ONLY KNOWS what will happen there. Fingers crossed it's good.

So. Bronze scores. Want.

3) School second level moments at home in lessons/clinics. 

We want to keep moving up, obviously.

4) Jump a 2'3" - 2'6" course at home and have a good time. 

I like jumping. Courage likes jumping. Hopefully, all this dressage will make him a rideable and enjoyable horse to jump. If not, I can live with that, but let's at least give it another year.

5) Ride bareback in a halter.

Insane? Yes. But I've always wanted a horse who could do this and I want Courage to be this horse and if it's 105f in the middle of summer, maybe this isn't a terrible idea? In the round pen? Anyone?

6) Audit a BNT (dressage) clinic. 

This is two fold--I want to start developing a list of accessible(ish) (to me) BNTs to ride with and watch in case Courage and I reach a point where that would be useful and I want to get myself more exposed to high level dressage training. Different trainers have different systems and I want to start getting a feel for what might work for Courage if/when it ever comes up.

7) Attend two upper-level equestrian events. Grand Prix jumping or dressage, advanced eventing, International Hunter derby.

Again, this is to get ME out and exposed to high caliber competition. Plus it's fun. What's not to love?

8) GO ON A TRAIL RIDE

I just really want to do this.

10) Qualify to make a freestyle at first level. 

That's 60%+ on 1-3, correct? I don't know that I actually want to do a freestyle, but it's good incentive to ride all the tests.

And then...

REACH GOALS:

10) Do a 2nd level test at a schooling show at the end of the year. 

I can't get this one out of my brain. It's unlikely, but why not stick it here.

11) Ride at a jumping show intentionally and go over something more than a ground pole, intentionally.

I don't know about this one, but if Courage is rideable and fun at home, it might be worth a shot. Or maybe not. We'll find out.

Phew. I think 11 goals is enough. That's basically a goal for every month with one month off for unexpected crap that always happens. (I mean, obviously I won't just do one thing a month and most of those goals are multi-month endeavors. Just counting numbers here.)

Crazy? Achievable? The WORST IDEA EVER? I guess we'll find out. I'll make a tab to stick these in for reference all year long. I'm a little bit sick in the pit of my stomach, which I think means I'm excited.