Firecracker Derby

We came.

We saw.

We went really, really fast.

most of my ride was trying to get this freight train under control

For the first time in probably ever, I went into a jumping show not anxiously worked up about the jumping. I knew this was going to count towards nothing--we were just doing it for fun with zero expectations--I knew the courses were going to be small and doable, and I brought along a super fun friend from the barn who was also showing with those same thoughts. It was low key, stress free, and full of laughter.

....almost like the way showing should be....

the intro was as tiny an boring as i expected. which was okay!

We left ourselves with little time to get warmed up and jump a few things before getting called in, which for my crazy brain is just the way it should be. Opie was lit right out of the gate, and I quickly gave up on trying to make him trot like a normal horse and just let him rip around in a strong canter for several laps. He jumped the vertical and oxer in warm up very politely though, and before we knew it were getting called down to go in.

first jump

The first time we went in, Opie balked for a second at the gate having to leave the other horses, but I gave him one smack on his bum as he tried to wheel away to return to his friends and he got over it. The second time he went in, he knew what the game was and was hopping up and down ready to GO FAST.

There was no question he was going to handle everything fine for the Intro round. Everything was tiny, and the kid was ready to DO THE THING. REALLY FAST.

So fast I spent most of the time between fences ripping his face off to gain some semblance of control, and there were a couple of jumps that we didn't meet straight because by the time I got him back under control we were at the fucking jump already--which would come to bite us in the ass in round two!

We ended up with a fourth out of over a dozen riders for Intro, and we went back to the trailers to pull their bridles and give them a quick break before bringing them back over to the course to graze while they set BN so we could go walk it.

The two xc jumps they set out were legit BN, but I trusted that Opie was feeling bold enough to go over them. There was one stadium jump that gave me pause--a big solid green gate with a rail on top off a weird line, but other than that everything looked perfectly doable. I had to ask them to raise the warm up jumps up, and the oxer suddenly looked not quite as friendly, but he went right over it without hesitation so I knew we were good.

intro warm up

bn warm up

We entered for BN and Opie was fucking ready. I was hauling on him to slow down the second the bell went off. He was polite to the fences, and he really wasn't getting to bad spots to start, but he would land and GO. GO FAST GO.

fence one again

running instead of turning leads to this, sir

didn't even blink at these rocks

We got to the fourth fence (the rocks above) which led to the weirdly angled line to the gate that gave me pause. Opie once again landed and started running while I hauled on him and tried to get him pointed to the gate. By the time I got him angled correctly, we were pretty much on top of it and he slammed on the brakes like, "Oh holy shit, where did this come from?!"

"who put a jump here??"

I gave him the benefit of the doubt--that he wasn't running stupid--and circled back at the trot in case he was afraid of it instead. But nah. As soon as I got him pointed at it, he picked up the charge again all on his own and hopped right over. He just straight up hadn't seen it because he was too busy GOING FAST.

clunked the rail off this one with a hind leg

He was still going TOO FAST for reliable steering and he got to the panels a little weird, too, but no hesitation about jumping anything. We finally got up to the second field where the first new xc jump was. It was off a weird AF turn as well, and I kind of sat there staring at it instead of doing any sort of riding, but Opie was a good boy and did it all on his own.

me: imma just sit here in the back seat like a clueless lump
opie: what's new

From there he had to step down a teeny tiny bank drop. I walked him up to it, but he still skittered to a stop and had to think about it for a moment before jumping down. From there we turned and finished over the roll top which he attacked with ease.

There were only seven of us in this division and my barn mate got eliminated so we got the participation sixth place ribbon.

having himself a weaving party

Overall I wish I had ridden the BN a bit better--like staying with him over all the fences--and I wish he had deigned to slow the fuck down some which would have made riding him easier, but for doing it spur of the moment and going in with zero expectations it was a lot of fun!

Coming up this weekend is our xc schooling.

We don't

We don't go to the horse trials that is.

We also don't canter like a dressage horse anymore either, but more on that in a moment.

yep, looks like our circles today.

We did the hunter pace on Sunday. Dopie was A Very Good Boy. Craaazyyy up and downhills, creek crossings that were more like gorges, in the woods, out of the woods, passing horses, over bridges, over jumps, behind Momo or in front, he tackled it all like a seasoned veteran. If anything he was a little too keen, but definitely brave and up for the job of tackling BN.

I, on the other hand, had a really hard time with the heat...and with the ole quarantine fifteen. I didn't feel fit enough for my horse, and when we got done I felt confident in my decision to not shell out hundreds of dollars for a show I was so waffley on. Probably if it wasn't so hot, I would have been able to cope a little better, but the show is in the middle of July, and BN will be run smack in the middle of the day. It's not going to get any cooler.

We still have our jumper derby this weekend and a cross country schooling the weekend after that, with more paces on the horizon to keep us amused. Cheaper and stress-free!

Even with more jumping coming up, I felt it was prudent to put in at least a little bit of a dressage ride. I pulled the saddle cover off my $4k County and was HORRIFIED to find mold on the seat. Hubby would strangle me! I quickly dug out my soap and gave it the cleaning of its life while apologizing profusely to it.

Opie started off LIT AF, spooking and snorting at everything and even trying to spin and run away at one point. Fortunately he settled down after awhile and we were able to get some decent trot work in, and then work more on those turns on the haunches--keeping the hind feet moving and not planting and pivoting (good) while also not pulling (damn it, not good).

he looks like a tank here, but he's actually getting a little light. they got the dumbs
and stopped eating their hay outside even though the grass was dead. fortunately the
latest hay delivery is basically candy and they've gone off hunger strike.

Then the canter.

Sometimes this horse's canter just flows and jumps and is lovely and soft. And then other days, like today, it feels four beat and shitty no matter what I do. I was able to end the left lead on a good note, but it was especially bad to the right today. I was really, really struggling with keeping him upright and not feeling like he was going to fall over if I took my inside leg away, and all attempts to get him straight and under himself were met with much drama that I tried to match with brute strength. Needless to say no one came out the winner. I got it better, but certainly not good.

Then he got his gold star for not dumping my ass when we were cooling out on the buckle. The horse getting done by the farrier broke the crossties right as we passed him and they went ricocheting off the metal wall that's shared with the indoor. Opie shot forward a few steps and threw up his head and trembled a bit, but he kept his feet on the ground and stood there quietly if on mega alert while I waited to hear that mess get sorted before getting off. (And then the asshole broke the crossties again and got booted from the farrier's list because this is what happens when you don't train your horse. But I digress.)

always a good boy for the farrier. because anything less is unacceptable.

Needless to say, more dressage work is on the docket even if we do need to fit in at least one more jump school before Sunday.

Do we or don't we?

Or: My horse is a very good boy, but is he good enough to carry the both of us?

Or: OH GOD DO I RETURN TO EVENTING OR NOT?

BM told me I needed to talk a fellow barn mate into taking Mo to an upcoming recognized horse trial. I was like, "Heck yes, do it and I'll do Intro!" And then that very quickly spiraled into, "Okay, but what does the BN look like? Let's spend a lot of money and do that instead!"

Which then brought us to this morning where I had set a measured stadium course out in the pond pasture at 2'7" with turns and related distances and a line and some terrain to contend with.

Instantly I was mentally not in a good spot. If we had been out there just for fun, I wouldn't have blinked at anything. As it was, the jumps themselves didn't look at all intimidating. It was the total mental switch of "you are now preparing for a horse trial" that turned me into a nervous, backwards riding, staring down the jump, hot fucking mess. 

I kept my warm up very short because I knew I didn't have the mental fortitude to keep trotting and cantering around overthinking the whole thing. We headed to the tires first--a xc jump and therefore not (in my head) scary. Opie took me right over, landed kind of in a heap, but I turned him to the astroturf anyway, picked, pulled, stared it down, took my leg off, threw myself at him, and he barfed over it. 

But he went. And that was a good start for my anxious brain. Violent stopping really takes the crazy to a whole new level.

Feeling mildly more with it, we went over a vertical and then turned right to take on what I thought was going to be our bugaboo--a solid oxer. Out-loud yelling at myself to RIDE FORWARD, I kept my leg on, drove with my seat, and Opie pricked his ears and happily went for it, no questions asked. 

In fact he never once hesitated at anything. Slow him down and shove him into a shitty distance? Okay! Let him rip? Okay!

So the question is, do I want to go in feeling like an anxious, nervous, on the verge of a mental breakdown psycho because of stadium, even though my horse will probably be A-OK, especially if I man up and ride even somewhat competently? 

(BUT WHAT IF HE DOESN'T WHAT IF HE SEES ALL THOSE NEW JUMPS IN A NEW PLACE WITH NO FRIENDS AND IS A STOPPING MACHINE AND WE GET ELIMINATED OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD)

I wish we had time before this xc schooling a few weeks to send in our entries. But all we have is the hunter pace this weekend. I don't know. Part of me wants to do it, a large part doesn't. I think part of me just wants to show, and doesn't want to miss out on other people showing, but I don't know if this is the right answer.

Turn and Burn

No, not barrels again, but a super fast jump jump horse.

The course from last week was still mostly set up. With a few quick adjustments I was able to get it back in order and present it to Opie.

everything set around 2'3 - 2'6.
the circle is a single barrel on its side

Opie warmed up fantastically, although his canter started off a little boring. We got the distances, but he was having to put in extra effort over the jumps to compensate for the lack of jump in the canter. After not getting his knees out of the way from sheer blah-dom and knocking a PVC rail down, I got him revved up properly--a canter I could take something away from because I do so love to pick and pull, even if it's just a little bit.

This suited Opie just fine. He was like, "Game on, bitches!" The course was also a lot of fun for him because you could essentially just land, turn, and jump over and over again from anywhere in the ring. We were able to work a lot on me in that way because I was able to just keep stringing jumps along and not get caught up on one single fence which is my strong suit.

"where the jumpies at?!"

We also practiced once again over the single barrel. This fucker. (Opie that is.) He's jumped these a ton of times before. He knows what they are. He's not afraid of them. Yet two times in a row on first presentation he pulled the old rearing pirouette move--the second time was a double and he almost had me off. But he will jump it when I force the issue, aka smack him on the ass and tell him to go. By the end he was taking me to it and jumping it big but normally. Whatever, bro.

By the end of the ride, he was also taking me to everything. To the point where we had to have a few e-brake checks because he was starting to just run fast. But we got that sorted and jumped around a few more things like a respectable citizen before calling it quits and getting extra cookies.

I'm definitely starting to feel the boredom and need to go out and do things. Hunter pace with just BM this weekend (thank fuck), cross country schooling in two weekends, and in between that, I decided to enter a jumper derby.

Cheap, close fun in big fields over jumpies? Count us in!

No sweat off our back

Taking an innumerable number of adult amateur riders--heavy emphasis on the amateur--to the park over two days this weekend went about as well as expected.

In short, it was a shit show.

But instead of listing all the bad things caused by grown ass women who can't follow simple instructions, who got in their own heads and became over-horsed on lesson ponies, and who I might never agree to ride with again (with a few exceptions), here's all the good things about my horse. My seven year old and therefore ten years younger than the rest of the herd horse who's two years off the track and rode with no bit all weekend.

ponying fellow ottbs at the gallop in big open fields we usually
race momo across? no bigs.

• He got stuck ponying Wym both days. Through woods, past "scary" dogs and people, up and down hills, across open fields. W/t/c, didn't matter. Wym trying to climb his shoulder, didn't matter.
• On Saturday, as we were hauling Wym to a stop at the end of a field, Momo came crashing into my other side out of nowhere. BM's thigh somehow ended up hooked over my knee and it almost unseated her as Mo went ricocheting off us. Didn't matter. Opie didn't even look his direction.
• Even after a strong canter that turned into a bit of a free wheeling gallop on Sunday (because it kept Wym from biting me), as soon as we stopped, I dropped his reins and he strolled on the buckle at a steady walk like nothing had happened. Even with Wym still breathing fire next to him and Mo bouncing in the air like an idiot in front of him. 
• Leader, second horse, the caboose, didn't matter. He was okay with being shoved anywhere.
• On Sunday we took a shortcut to the top of a hill so someone could use the bathrooms. It was more like a worn down footpath with a log halfway up it. I pointed his nose in that direction and off he went without hesitation. He popped over the log only for me to see ahead that the leaves of the trees were lower than his head, let alone mine, to get into the parking lot. Didn't matter. I dropped down on his neck, he ducked his own head as he calmly marched out, and then stepped to the side and stood patiently while everyone else came crashing out.

we babysit mo a lot.

• Half the barn wandering around "getting tack and untacked", half a dozen other trailers with horses coming and going from them, people darting around all over the place, loose dogs romping around? Didn't matter. He stood tied to the trailer watching it all with a hind leg cocked. 
• Scary bridges Mo used to have to lead us over? It's fine, he'll lead everyone else over now. 

rly rly enjoys splash parties

In short, this is why you buy brains. This is why even with a good brain as the foundation, you sit your ass in the saddle and put in the miles. This is why you train your horse and hold them to your expectations. Because when everyone else starts melting down around you, you can sit back and say, "Doesn't matter." 

(This post written after my horse hung out quietly getting his feet done while I ran around trying to catch other people's horses who refused to come in from turnout to get fed. Because that's such an arduous fucking ask, I know.)

This Week

I've been a bit all over the place with my rides this week, but even so we've gotten some fun shit accomplished.

the riser pad made the balance and fit much better, but it
definitely needs a rear cinch (which is on the way) just because
it's so light it's not really holding itself down

Monday

I ran through 2-3 in the indoor for the first time in eternity. There were some areas to target that were a little sloppy, but overall he showed up to work. The double has almost made him too reactive to my seat though. He's already very in tune to what my butt cheeks are doing, but the double has made me ride with my body that much more so he's on top of every twitch I make. That's apparently carried over to the Micklem as well which I guess is good because it holds me accountable, but finding that balance point where he tunes out some of my ammy flopping while still remaining responsive is currently in the tricky stages.

It showed up most in the simple changes where he wanted to fall to the trot for a step or two, so I sat deeper and he slammed to a halt instead. That needs finessing again to say the least. But the lateral work was good, and the medium to working/collected canter is A+.

We also spent a good amount of time working on the halt. He wanted to keep cocking a hind leg in it which is not okay. But that's been resolved in later rides.

Tuesday

I pulled out the western saddle, set the barrels up in the indoor, and went to warm up in the outdoor where there were a bunch of different pole exercises set up. I had him leg yielding in and out of them which he was super for.

Then we went to work on the barrel pattern. In my head, I want him to go L-R-R because the L-R lead change is the easier one, but upon further reflection, I don't think this is going to work. Mostly because he doesn't turn right.

"fuck your right turns!"

I had him going mostly reliably and was ready to quit when a barn mate pulled in and I asked her to video one run. That quickly devolved into several failed shit show runs.

fake it til you make it

I was able to quit on a somewhat reasonable note, but it's definitely going to be a continued education thing for him. I think he'll have an easier time in the outdoor where there's way more room between the first two barrels. And switching to R-L-L.

Wednesday

It was ten million degrees with ten million percent humidity. I didn't ride.

Thursday

Fifteen minute stretchy ride which Opie was here for. He dropped it right to the ground was trotting his little stretchy heart out. We finished up working on turn on the haunches. Always and forever. After watching this video I tried to tell myself they were basically just square turns that kept going. We do square turns all the time. That imagery helped me keep his hind end moving a bit more instead of him planting and pivoting. Now I need to stop automatically opening my inside hand to my hip. He'll turn without that, so stop doing it.

we need more stretching!
he's bulking up, but we don't want to lose the long muscles in the process.

Friday

For whatever reason, I was super inspired to do some serious dressage work. I almost faltered when I saw there was a new course set up that looked fun, but dressage was on my brain.

It took Opie awhile to get locked into real work. He was doing fine, but I wanted him to strut. Let's produce, sir! After spending more time in canter than I usually do--bringing it back and forth from the medium trot, lots of counter canter, half assing the simple changes again (damn it)--we worked on a little medium trot, and moved on to the lateral work. Namely the half pass.

At the trot he's got it. I have to be cognizant not to let his haunches jump out into the lead, but if I'm on it, he's on it. He was finding that so easy both ways, I picked the left lead canter back up.

I asked for a little shoulder-in first which he felt comfortable and confident with so I want ahead and asked for the half pass a couple times. They were shallow and short--intentionally since this was his first time working on them--but he just oozed right into them. After that success, I dropped the reins and gave him huge praise.

We cooled out on the trails where he tromped right over the bridge like a boss.... and then spooked at a buttercup. Gotta keep it real.

This weekend we're going to the park both days, escorting two groups of adult riders around. Not at all my idea of a fun time, but I could use the extra money for a supplement the dentist just sent me as a suggestion for Opie's EOTRH. It's supposed to strengthen bone and reduce inflammation in the gums. It will also cost me my soul to afford it, but I really don't want him to lose all his teeth before he's ten so we'll give it a go.

Wow, you're so bad! ...not

I warmed up for my ride Saturday morning in the indoor while talking with a barn friend who had just finished up. We had plans to ride out in the front field for some xc jumping the next day, and when I pulled in she was out there flatting. It was twenty minutes of mutual bitching about how hard horses can be.

She complained about Momo going full Bobby over fences--bolting to the base of the fence and then jumping from underneath--and I unloaded about how Opie's dirty stops the other day kind of got into my head and made me uneasy about jumping him again. I was riding in the double, and we also bemoaned how annoying changes can be to put on a horse.

When she left, I moved to the outdoor for more room and less dust (omg you could rain a little bit, NY). I went right into the canter since we'd already done lots of w/t inside. He softly stepped right into it and went around super balanced so off to the changes party we went.

why no, i do not know how to sit up in jump tack, thank you for asking.

I need to get better about doing more transitions before I get to work on these because the first couple of attempts he's paying no attention and offers me nothing. Once we got on the same page though, the L-R is a solid 80-85%. The troublesome R-L was the same old story--late behind. The changes themselves are getting way less dramatic though, and there's no longer any bolting afterwards.

Finally though!!!!! I came across the diagonal, waited waited waited, got him super straight, and then asked....AND GOT HIS FIRST CLEAN, INTENTIONAL, WHEN CALLED UPON IN DRESSAGE TACK R-L CHANGE. Obvi I quit right there with tons of praise.

The next morning we headed out front--also Opie and Mo's turnout field--with Mo and another barn mate. I can't ride Opie out here by himself because he spends the entire time wondering where his soul mates are and being an unholy demon. Even as we walked out, Mo at his side, he was snorting and looking all around. Bro, you live out here. What is the problem.

even bobby used to take great offense to this jump.
opie coasted over without a blink.

We did a lap or two of walk before picking up the trot. Right away Opie was tense and tight and sewing machining his way around the field with his head in the air. I did a few trot-halt transitions, but I was really ripping on his face while he gawped at everything and kept tripping on bare ground. I brought him back to the walk for another lap with several halt transitions before oozing him into a jog in sitting trot. He immediately started softening and relaxing. After a couple laps, I was able to start posting and let him out which he remained zen about. I think he just needed his brain slowed down with something he was familiar with. It's dressage on grass, Opie! No bigs, right?

first time jumping this ever and he popped right over

I took him over the tiny coop out of the trot and then let him canter off and do a couple laps before doing the coop again, and then the tiny vertical around to the coop from the other direction. He was in the best canter and he never got out of it. We literally hit every single jump from the perfect spot every time.

ADORABLE

He didn't think about saying no once. He never got anxious or rushed or tense. He stayed in his beautiful canter and made beautiful jumps.

he'd never jumped this one either. he had to leave his friends far behind, sneak
through between two giant bushes, and come out the other side right to this jump.

We even went over the ditch. His first one was xc schooling last fall where he went, but it was a big launch every time and he had to follow Mo the first time over. I was sitting deep, left leg closed to shut off that escape route, crop at the ready, and....yeah, he trotted right up to it and cantered over like it was barely there.

me: prepare for giant go-round! anything can happen!!!
opie: whatever.

As soon as he landed I let out a loud, "Holy shit!" and started cracking up with my barn mates.

are you guys seeing my horse be totally normal?!

Circling back around to bitching with my barn mate the day before, we wrapped up with Opie being foot perfect for his first time out front in over a year the day after nailing his first clean R-L change--both things I was telling her he was so bad for omg. I told her I was going to have to complain to her before every ride because clearly it made my horse do the complete opposite.

Fortunately for everyone, that doesn't seem necessary as I tacked up in the snaffle this morning and rode through 2-3 with great success. The medium trot needs work again (surprise), the halt needed to be sharper behind, he was almost too sharp with the simple changes, and I'm confused about the turn on the haunches again (surprise), but he was soft and supple and just with it from the first step.

Maybe we'll do another intro event or two this year if GVRDC hosts them? Eventing sure does fucking suck around here though.

Two Takes

Take One

I wanted to do some jumping with Opie yesterday. I used the course that was still up from the last time we jumped, setting everything around 2'3 to 2'6, well within Opie's comfort zone. The lawn people were there mowing and trimming, but Opie's not a spooky horse so out we went.

He warmed up on the flat great, popped over the first fence fine, and then we came around to a pink vertical right as the girl with the weed whacker whipped around and started trimming the arena's fence directly in our line of travel. Opie slammed on the brakes in response. We took a detour until she moved kind of out of the way before trying a couple more jumps. They were all shit. Bad distances and me not trusting him to not stop.

So I took a time out and we went and had a canter around the neighbor's field, popped over a couple of xc jumps, and eventually made our way back -- to where they were still fucking around. I tried to wait them out by walking around on a long rein while Opie stretched, shooting them death glares the entire time.

Bitch was straight oblivious though. She'd stop trimming, put the weed whacker away, and then find something else and bring it back out again. Because, you know, the manure pile really needed trimming! When she got bored with that, she pulled out the fucking leaf blower and started blowing the gravel parking lot.

Opie wasn't spooky about any of this, but he was certainly distracted and it had me in a downright foul mood. He gave me a couple more dirty stops, blew past my aids for shit distances, and just wasn't there, even after I dropped everything by two holes. I managed to trot him over a couple things, but it was gross and after being on for over an hour trying to wait out the useless trimming party going on, I finally waved the white flag and got off.

When did they quit? Once my saddle was off of course.

logged a couple more trail hours on sunday

Take Two

I was prepared to do a dressage school this morning instead of jumping redemption since we got storms overnight with more rain in the forecast first thing today, but the footing was still in great shape and the rain mostly held off until we were done so jumps it was!

I made everything small again at 2' because I was determined to make this a short win. Get in, get out, be a good boy the whole time. Warm up was one lap of walk, two laps of trot, and a lap of canter each direction with some halt transitions thrown in to all three gaits.

The jumping was exactly what I was looking for. No thoughts of stopping or ducking out, a relaxed canter, and not supermanning over the oxer.

There was one line set--a big X bending line to a low, wide oxer. Yesterday the oxer was very impressive to Opie. He launched it every time, often from the worst distance possible making getting to the X pretty much impossible. When flipped, he wasn't jumping the X that great either so it kept the oxer shit show going.

My goal for today was to ride that line like a boss which we did--the perfect, quiet jump into and over the X and then remaining in that quiet canter for the perfect spot to the oxer which he jumped like a normal horse. I quit right there.

All in the ride was ten whole minutes. The ups and downs of being an amateur's horse: Sometimes you get pulled on, bounced on, run into shit distances and are expected to still jump, and stop and start a hundred times. But then you also get ten minutes of Grade A riding doing fun things followed by a marathon grooming session while getting your favorite snacks shoved in your face the entire time.

we ran into farrier and her surprise baby mustang. the cutest!