Walk It Out

MB got me feeling all motivated and smart in our last lesson which Opie took as a direct threat to his superiority and ability to run the show when it comes to our relationship and promptly went lame. 

still rly good at halting tho

It actually started after his previous shoeing where my farrier trimmed him a little shorter at my request because he grows SO MUCH FOOT even on our summer four week schedule they were looking horrible by the time she came back out. Our first ride after that appointment he was in the indoor and felt a little footy up front, but he always takes forever to warm up in there--and he did. He felt just fine by the end of the ride.

In the past five weeks, he would have a day here or there where he came out and it was like, "Well, if I'm being picky it feels a bit like the LF", but then he would always work out of it without an issue. And most days there was nothing to note at all. 

Until two weeks ago when we were once again stuck in the indoor and he was off in the LF. I ended up not being able to troubleshoot anything that would make him more comfortable. I texted my farrier and she said she had several horses this year that she's had to put pads on that have never needed them before because we didn't have rain for two straight months and the ground had been concrete. So that was our plan of action for the next appointment.

I was packing and keratex-ing in the meantime, and then I'd pop him on the longe quick to see how he looked. The LF remained gimpy, but then the hind end started to go as well. Lame on the LF going left, super lame in the hind going right.

Cue spiraling.

Obviously.

wants snacks, doesn't care about anything else

First and foremost in this horse's training, I always try to make sure he is strong. Strong back, strong hind end, all the muscling, all the fitness. But now I'm like, is he not going to hold up to the level of strength he needs to move through the mid levels? Is me trying to pack on muscle and keep the hind end super strong actually breaking the hind end down? Is that a thing?

We're also at the three to four month mark out from his shockwave on the SI which is right on schedule for needing another round according to my vet. So is it that he's experienced shockwave once in his life, and now he refuses to be sound without it? Does he think I'm going to shell out $500 every three to four months to electrocute his ass? Because let's get the animal communicator back on the phone; that's not going to happen, Opie.

Is it time to inject the SI? We went with the shockwave because it was a less invasive test run to injections, but that's something that was on the board at our last vet appointment. 

I dumped all this on MB's head one morning, and she attempted to talk me off the ledge by saying that maintenance comes with every mid and upper level horse, it's just a matter of how much and what it is. The chances of me training and competing my shitty little OTTB through Third and hopefully Fourth level on nothing more than annual hock injections is pretty much nil. 

My game plan became to wait for our farrier appointment and put the pads on to see where that got us. The LF is probably just a stone bruise--he got one last spring and it took him a solid month to get over it. Hopefully he hasn't exploded some soft tissue in there, but I feel like he would be much more notably lame in the foot, and we would also be seeing swelling or heat or something somewhere in the leg as well. Maybe being sore in the front feet kicked off his own spiral and made him sore in the hind end. Maybe he was running around like an idiot (a regular occurrence) in his field and wiped out again. 

The farrier came out on Monday and put leather pads on. Hasn't made a difference so far, he's still gimpy on the LF. And now I'm annoyed I can't do my keratex and hoof packing routine to that foot. 

annoyed he had to stand and wait an extra two
seconds for his bestie to finish before he could go
for a trail walk

Right now, my plan is to walk him. He wants to work, he's sound at the walk, he's all-in for the lateral work and strolling over poles, so we're going to walk. Lots of stretches, he's getting his boujie red light therapy back pad on every day, he gets PEMF this coming Tuesday, and I'm waiting on the chiro to get back to me. 

I'm going to give all that a few weeks and see if there's any improvement. My biggest gripe about this horse is his utter inability to cope with any discomfort in his life. He could have the most miniscule thing wrong with him and he throws the biggest shit fit about it. He would react the same way to a broken leg with the bone protruding as he does when I straighten his browband while he's trying to stare out the door--that is, as if he's having the worst day in his entire life the whole world is out to get him he hates it etc etc etc. A bubbly, winning personality this horse has never had. 

If he shows no improvement with the more moderate approach, I'll pull the gun on the SI injection. Hopefully his stupid LF is done being sore by then. 

I'd be more concerned/faster on the trigger if he wasn't otherwise acting comfortable in his daily life. He's still happily acting like an idiot in his field, he feels sound walking and more than willing to work, and his weight and muscling look fantastic. Everything looks great in Opie Land unless you ask him to trot. 

All that is to say, probably not going to be any riding updates around here for awhile again. It's definitely been one of those fucking years.

A Thinking Rider

It's no secret that actively working through problems I run into under saddle while still in the saddle is a completely novel concept for me. 

Panic first, spiral next, wrap it up with sitting on the couch many hours later ruminating on all the things I could have done differently.

It's funny because inherently I overthink prettyyy much everything, but generally speaking, when I'm in the saddle I'm either frustrated or in lala land just enjoying the ride, enjoying the scenery, yay horses look at me I'm on one. 

look at my horse trotting what more could he possibly need to do

Obviously this shows up the most in the warm up ring when I need to be managing my horse who's tenser and tighter than he is at home and needs me to be running through my Knowlege List to help him out. But I don't. Because I'm at a show wheeeee!

We did our little schooling show on Tuesday afternoon. These shows are put on by the local eventing club, but the last one of the year is sponsored by my GMO so they count towards year end awards. They're still plopped in the middle of a grass field with schooling show judges and minimal volunteers on hand though.

so grassroots they miscalculated my scores by 10% because addition is hard

It was 96* Tuesday afternoon so on top of my usual drifting brain, I was physically fucking melting. Opie was fine, Opie was thriving...Opie should have had his double bridle on. He spent the first test laying on the bridle and dragging me around, and nearly porpoised right on out of the ring in the canter work, at which point I made him halt in the corner so we did not leap out of the corner. He was significantly better for the second test, but me schooling "Do not launch yourself out of the ring" made my favorite judge (so much history with her! #besties #not) PISSED. Schooling at a schooling show? Absolutely not.

MB looked over my tests (I still have not lolz) and was like, "We have got to get this figured out. I'm getting on him to start your lesson Thursday." This being the horse laying on the bridle, but also me not doing anything productive in warm up.

I'm so glad she did, and also glad MB is who she is. Sympathetic to listening to my complaints, but completely unfazed by a "bad" show and immediately on to problem solving. Her takeaway was he locks against the right rein and I just sit there and try to walk it out. That doesn't work. Make him go sideways (SI, leg yield, half pass, whatever) until he fills the reins himself. In the canter when he gets braced an/or anticipates the transition, make him trot instead. Then spring the canter on him. A million and one transitions in and out of the canter, change directions, change the balance.

I feel like I have to save a lot of horse for the tests at shows, and she shut that right down and told me I can walk him for the whole fucking warm up if I needed to. He can do all the things in walk instead. Walking isn't just walking around. DO THINGS.

Once she got done schooling him, she had me get on and first things first told me to SIT ON THE HORSE. I was like, "Oh no, but he is tense and wanting to jiggity jig I could never." And she was all, "SIT ON HIS BACK AND MAKE HIM DO HIS JOB." 

So I did....and then he did his job.

Especially at the canter, let the inside seat bone move, but the outside seat bone has to be nailed down. Use the seat to influence the balance; knock him off balance and let him exist in a canter he doesn't want to for a circle. In and out, always up up up with the shoulders. 

By the time we were done, I could access any canter I wanted and they were all amazing. And this is why we pay trainers the monies.

opie says trainers suck 0/10

We also talked quite a bit about how the next thing to fixate on was strengthening his lower back. He gets so tight there he's not using it the way he should be and it's just straight up weak. This was great news for me because we agreed it could all be done without riding (aka being a thinking rider, that's such a mental strain) but addressing it more as physical therapy. More back lifts, butt tucks, and raised walk poles. Easy peasy. 

plenty of body work too of course

It's finally going to be not hot as balls next week so I'm looking forward to getting back on and attempting to use my brain for at least half the ride. Baby steps, y'all. 

Obey Your Master

In our lesson last Thursday, while Opie was thoroughly objecting to the audacity of asking him to walk along the rail while my legs remained draped along his sides, MB said, "This is a submission problem."

She came in halfway through our ride this morning when I was already well into my warm up. The trot work was good, but I couldn't steer this thing to save my life. And then the right lead canter was all over the place and things kind of just kept spiraling from there. One of the times I went shooting by her as power steering failed, she called out, "Maybe go grab the double?" 

But I was like, "Nooo, it's not a submission problem! It's just a steering problem! And rhythm problem! And he's just tense!"

MB got finished working her horse in short order and parked along the rail to watch me run through 3-3. The heaps of lateral work at the trot actually helped him a lot, and MB complimented us on how good our SI looked both ways--like, we can do them now! I remembered the stupidly placed halt and reinback, he picked up the canter quietly, did his left canter halfpass good enough despite starting to tense up again, and then absolutely lost his shit when I asked for the change. Conveniently timed as MB suggested maybe I just do a walk-canter transition instead since he was getting so tight. 

Instead he went straight up, leapt out of it, and bolted across the entire length of the incredibly large arena before I could get him stopped.

Needless to say, we put the kibosh on finishing the test. Instead I made him walk around. It involved inch long reins while he angrily chomped the bit, but every time I even thought of offering a release he would start jigging or running sideways. 

Eventually he slammed on the brakes and refused to move. Which was fair, being strangled isn't a fun game for anyone. But back to my last post, there's plenty of work to be done in the halt. I got to work on shifting side to side because he kept craning his neck around to shoot me death glares which would knock him off balance. Leg off, leg on made him go running backwards. Finally, he decided running backwards wasn't getting him anywhere so he planted his feet, tucked his nose to his chest, and checked the fuck out. 

I sat there with my legs quietly on because having a meltdown doesn't get you everything you want. He had a great big loop in his reins so literally no reason to be curled into a ball. And then I just clucked and told him to walk on without moving any part of my body because I knew he was looking for an excuse to go up again. It was a long, boring wait on my end, but he finally jolted himself out of it and burst into the trot. That's fine, that was forward. We did a lap of the ring in trot before coming back to the halt on my terms, and repeated the vocal cues until he walked off. 

Good boy, so smart, how about a little canter to reestablish forward. I did it in half seat which convinced him to loosen his back, and then into the sitting trot which was A+++++. We cruised around for a solid five minutes with a trot I'd be stoked to take into the show ring any day. When we halted out of that I hopped right off and shoved a candy down his throat. 

It was a full hour of riding by the time we were done, but I think it was a conversation we needed to have. A conversation about....submission. Whomp whomp. I've gotten sucked back into the habit of tiptoeing around him when he doesn't wanna because he's been so good the majority of the time. 

He's getting tomorrow off, but on Thursday I'll put the double back on him and see what I'm working with. He'll get ridden once more by me on Sunday, he gets his PEMF Monday, showtime Tuesday--hopefully without dying in the predicted heat and humidity. Zero percent enthused. 

(I am enthused thinking about who will be offended by this title tho.)

Learn all the things

My cup has been runneth-ing over with knowledge lately. I am living for it.

Obsessed.

Blessed.

Grateful to do anything that doesn't involve being hot and sweating.

Absolutely thriving.

give me a clipboard and a ringside view any day

Last weekend I spent all day Saturday volunteering at the first day of my GMO's recognized dressage show. One of the perks of doing a lot of volunteering is that you eventually get seniority and handed the cush jobs. In this case it meant sitting in the air conditioned indoor being ring steward/equipment check for the first half of the day and then helping with the breed show in the afternoon--something I've never done before, but it was super interesting. The show secretary made me her right-hand man and I learned so much from her. Bonus was that my trainer was scribing for the indoor judge all day so driving home we were able to compare notes on what I saw watching the rides and what the judge thought from the booth. An hour and a half of complete dressage nerdiness, we were in heaven!

once again, opie being mocked in the group chat.
sir, you might hold your weight better if you stopped
giving your food away.

On Thursday I had my lesson where it was 62* and raining so we went to the indoor. I was in my element--it was legit the best day of the summer in my opinion. However, I didn't anticipate it being too cold and wet for sensitive Opie and he came out SO tight and SO angry.

Lots of stretchy walk and trot, big circles, and changes of directions eventually got him feeling better so we went to move on to the canter. He was not having it. He immediately locked everything up again and any attempt to ask for the transition was a shuffley tranter with his head in the air. At one point I gave him a little tap behind to try to convey he needed to get his fucking legs sorted out and try, but this was VERY OFFENSIVE and he completely lost his shit.

dripping sweat even though it was freezing

We eventually got him to put his brain sort of back in his head with a lot of lateral work and moved on to my request of working on the walk pirouettes. Shockingly he was perfectly okay with being drilled on these, and we figured out the missing piece was me letting his neck get too bent which is generally the bane of my existence tbh. He's so gumby, and so annoyingly capable of bending every single inch of his body in a different direction all at once. 

We tried the canter again after that and sort of got it okay, but MB reiterated that his neck is doing too much and he needed to be a lot straighter. So we used the solid walls of the tiny indoor to make him walk in a straight line with my calf resting against his side.

It. Was. Awful.

I went full Zen Ninja while Opie threw every evasion in the book at us because HOW DARE we ask him to hold his body straight, and HOW DARE I expect him to do this with both my left AND right calf touching him. Over an hour after my lesson started he finally got it enough that I could dismount and be done with him.

it was 68 and sunny the next morning but he got
BOT for half an hour anyway. no using being cold
as an excuse to be an asshole.

I rode him in the outdoor the next day and MB and I agreed I was guilty of being a little sloppy with the straightness out there. The ring is so big you really don't ever need to be on the rail so it's easy to lose track of your straightness. With that lesson in my head, it was easier to pick up on when the haunches came in too much or the shoulders started creeping away. That was a really good stretchy, straight ride which he needed to give me to redeem himself for how awful he was the day before.

Saturday morning, MB had one of her trainers out for lessons with both her horses so I went to watch. Her warmblood is mentally identical to Opie, and that lesson was SO interesting to absorb. Specifically at the end when her horse wants to physically and mentally quit and if she pushes him he loses his shit. MB had him going amazingly, but right on cue he checked out and refused to walk on. LB had MB keep him in the halt and make him work hard in the halt. 

IT WAS SO COOL.

LB had her rocking slowly side to side to make him shift his weight to balance her, and then she had her take her legs off completely so that when she laid them back against his side he needed to take that as his cue to lift his posture. Then pick up the reins and with the leg on and posture raised he should go on the bit on his own. So even though they weren't moving, he wasn't being rewarded for quitting--he was still having to do hard work. 

LB explained it to us afterwards that the halt is actually more work than moving, because movement is momentum and that momentum makes it easier to carry the muscles. If you think about it in yourself, it's harder to sit in a chair in perfect posture than it is to wander around at the walk. 

working on his stretchies

I had that on my list of things to try for this morning's ride, but I mostly just wanted to do another nice stretchy ride. Unfortunately his wife was in the indoor getting worked and he could hear MB talking to the mare's owner so he was suuuuper distracted. And then my reins got twisted so I spread my hands wide and shook them out to untwist them, but this meant my whip went out wide as well and he saw that and took GREAT OFFENSE. 

It's almost like there's a common theme with you, Opie. 

would prefer a life of baths and grazing

So I had to scrap my stretchy trot plan and just go with whatever he would give me. That ended up being more walk pirouettes, the trot work from 3-2 in a super collected sitting trot because whatever floats your boat, and then a stunning swinging L-R change. I did try some stretchy trot again but that was a definite no lolz. 

Instead we tried the halt work! He was fine for the l-r shifting; he looked back at me like, "You suck at being centered every day, but this is sucky even for you." The leg off to leg on made him Big Mad. There was a lot of running backwards and sideways in reaction to being expected to stay still and improve his posture. But eventually he did get what I was asking for, and while he didn't remain in the halt for long, the exercise went through. 

Now I have to come up with a plan for the rest of the week that should probably involve running through 3-2 or 3-3 at some point before our show next Tuesday. If it could be not hot or smoky with an AQI of 160, that'd be a great help, thanks New York.

Canter work

We left off with good vibes/good rides only. Immediately after that we had a couple rides that were not good vibes.

But we're all about turning losses into wins, and the good thing about both those rides is that I was able to use the tools in my toolbox to deescalate the situation and get him back on track. Me being a thinking rider during my ride is still a bit of a novelty, not gonna lie. What worked for him was quietly but insistently working the inside rein until he released his braced underneck, and then asking him to get super deep and low. That's not going to work for every horse, but for Opie it gets him to soften his whole topline and give me his back. And from there we can go about our business!

was being so naughty he got his dunce cap and
was made to stand in the crossties instead of being
ground tied. he couldn't believe the injustice.

He also felt like he was getting jammed up in his left shoulder while cantering, but a perfectly timed PEMF appointment fixed that and we were full send for our lesson over the weekend.

barn cat june supervising from the hay.

It's been so ungodly hot and humid we haven't actually done a whole lot of riding. I am not a hot weather person, and when you add 97% humidity to the mix I am out. But one of the times I did ride, I was playing around with changes and unlocked some new things. 

Instead of doing his whacky karate chop with the RF during the R-L change wherein the mechanics of the whole thing are completely wrong and I don't know how we even end up on the new lead, he was instead just changing late behind. Which is a totally normal horse problem! That actually felt like a BIG step forward in the right direction because while still obviously incorrect, there are a million and a half exercises to fix that issue. 

And then, when asking for the hind leg to change, he responded immediately when I put my left leg on instead of my right. That's the opposite leg I use to ask for the change in this direction, but it's the LH that's not jumping over so I guess it makes sense. I tried switching Mr Tappy to that side, but that was too much for his tiny brain. He's just getting comfortable with Mr Tappy's existence hanging out in my right hand, apparently we're not quite ready to try it in the left yet. 

telling his wife about all his abuses

I took this new information to MB for our lesson so I could get her eyes on the timing of everything. I thought I got our canter going pretty well for warmup, but in true trainer fashion MB said not good enough. She wanted him way more elevated in his shoulders and forever straighter--both things I think I've got under control until she gives us exercises to improve them and yep. Can still do better. Dang it. Opie's got such a good counter canter (to make up for how shitty his changes are lolz) that we went hard on that to get him unlocked and lifting. Waaaay better afterwards, and we were given the "Now just sit there and enjoy it" trainer seal of approval. 

From there we hit the changes. First his "easy" way, L-R. Of course I screwed up the first ask letting him get too long so it was late behind. I let myself get caught up in riding forward that I forgot to ask for the collection before the change. He needs to be packaged right up to jump cleanly over, but as MB reminded me, ride forward into collection--don't shut down the energy. Y'all, that's two aids simultaneously before the aids for the change even come into play. RIDING IS SO HARD. 

But we got there, got the L-R change with a "That's fine" seal of approval from MB (which is a solid 8.5 on the praise scale from her lol), and moved on to see what we had with the R-L. 

We were working them coming up the CL so I could really focus on riding him straight. Except MB immediately called me out on leaning into it instead of riding my H. I needed to stretch down into my left stirrup and keep a strong rib cage, not just fall off the left side and hope Opie's LH would follow me over. We only played around with a few changes this way because you could tell he was really trying to think through the ask. He never got anxious about it, but we didn't want to drill him on the chance we got a clean one. Even though it's still a problem, it's a new problem--frankly a better problem--and he's not going to figure it out in one or two rides. So I'm kind of approaching it as if we're starting to teach him the R-L change from step one. 

We finished the lesson off with some trot work that took less than a minute to settle into. Big, beautiful, and bouncy and proof we do our homework.

alfalfa mash goes hard

For our ride this morning, we got our next level canter from the counter canter work again, and then I played with riding the L-R change correctly. Predictably I messed it up the first time, got it fine the second time, and the third time I completely bungled my half-halt so badly Opie broke to the trot with his legs going everywhere. I reached back and tapped him with the whip which made him pick the left lead back up, go forward, and when I put my aids on for the change he gave me the best one he's ever done. Even MB, who was riding with us, was like, okkkurrrrr!!

So I didn't bother fucking with the R-L one for this ride since that was such a good boi.

Instead we finished with the trot HP zig-zag from 4-1 which he crushed. I'd feel so good about trying that test in public if I could just finish unlocking the right ride for the changes.

most of the barn is on hay strike because the hay got baled super late
this spring with how wet it was so it's not soft candy (but it's perfectly
lovely hay, they're all spoiled brats) so sir is looking leaner than we like.
upped his alfalfa, upped his grain, hopefully that ups his rib coverage.
fucking thoroughbreds. 

Level Up

We've miraculously continued our upward trending, magical breakthrough, good vibes only, etc etc since our show. Which was also the last time I'd ridden him before our lesson on Friday. Opie says, work smarter not harder. 

powered by candies

For our lesson, I asked MB if she could give me some exercises I could do in warm up at shows that would help me activate Opie's collected trot. All the tools she's given me to fix his canter when it turns to shit have finally sunk in, so on to the next! How do I get him from framing up and trotting around doing the movements, to actually softening his topline and sitting? We can do this at home, but it's usually at the end of a 30-40 ride, and that's just not going to work when I have to save energy for two tests. 

MB was immediately like, "Do transitions." And I was all, "That sounds too hard, what else do you have for me?" Poor MB. And all trainers. How do they cope with the ammy brain on a daily basis?

"you're dumb. learn to ride."
--opie, always.

So instead she told me to start our warm up with the feeling I had in our extended trot at the show--push the rein forward and allow. Whatever he gives me is what we start with. For a 16hh OTTB, it's probably not going to be a lot to start. And that's okay. He'll start offering more as he naturally loosens up. From there, incorporate some leg yields or SI (I opted for LY because our SI are still homework) because lateral work isn't just for looking pretty as you go sideways--it's actually a suppling exercise. Durrrhhhh.

Shockingly (as in, not at all), some leg yield zig zags in the trot, a little back and forth within the gait, and suddenly sir was cooking along. I could feel his little toes big old clodhoppers flicking along and best of all, his shoulders swinging. What a rare, magical occurrence! Totally notable! I was shooketh!

speaking of feet, his hoof is growing out well from
where he tried to separate it from his leg by kicking
the wall earlier this year. 

From there we moved on to the canter. MB was like, "You want Fourth, you've got to get these canter transitions cleaner." And then was mean and made us do many of them. So many. No more half a trot step into the upward, and no more quitting riding and dumping him onto his head in the downward. But we got the canter itself banging AF, we just had to add the transitions onto the homework pile.

After cantering, we picked up the sitting trot. Tah-dah, instantly had this huge, powerful, collected trot. Which I immediately did not know how to ride lol. MB said, "Opie is ready to give it to you, he just needs to know what to do with it." To which I replied, "I DON'T KNOW, PANIC?!"

I'm a real good rider, guys. MB told me to lengthen my right curb rein half an inch as we were blasting around like someone has trained this horse and I just went ahead and dropped the whole fucking rein.

So good. 

It was perhaps not the most productive end to the lesson because it was mostly MB calling out movements while I sat there and sort of pointed Opie in the right direction while giving a running commentary that mostly consisted of, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Honestly, trainers should be paid more.

gets so many snacks for putting up with me

The next day I rode again, repeated our ride from the lesson essentially step by step, and produced the same results. But this time I was more prepared for the POWAH and actually belted my ass into the saddle and rode much better. Much less panicking. Much more steering. 10/10.

He got Sunday off because it was so insanely hot, but I rode him first thing this morning with the goal of stretching at the trot and some canter transitions. I put the snaffle back on him because I wasn't planning on doing anything exciting, and while the trot work was exactly what I was going for, the canter was a mess. He really does do much better in the double, but for one I don't want a horse that's dependent on the double to do work. He also gets so heavy in it if he gets tired in the canter. But if he doesn't get tired, it's far and away the better tool for him. 

Anyway, canter was a mess, and then he started having a mini meltdown over a single fly. I finally whacked the fly out of existence and changed direction, and he gave me really good upward transitions and one single so-so downward so I called it quits. Turns out the single fly was eating the absolute shit out of him.

Hopefully we don't get too much rain tonight and I can set some jumpies up for him tomorrow. We can only do so much dressage work in a row, even if it is the best work he's done so far.

he thought the minis were devils when we moved
but now they're his besties

Cobblestone Schooling Show

We finally went out and did a thing!

OK, actually we went out and did a thing the weekend before as well -- we grabbed a friend and went on a hot AF hunter pace that both ponies were stars for.

But then this Saturday we did another thing and finally went to a show!

no exciting media from the show because i was rolling solo
so here is the state opie was in all last week. simply delightful.

We almost didn't make it to the show at all though. My anxiety (about my general existence, not really anything horse related) was creeping ever upwards all week long and by the time I woke up Saturday I was primed to spiral. 

I left time to gas up my truck before I went to the barn, but it wasn't until I was sitting in the truck in my driveway that I realized I also had to hook up my trailer still--my trailer that is parked next to my truck that I almost drove away without. My brain was STRUGGLING, but I just kept keeping on. Gassed the truck, hooked up to the trailer, got to the barn, realized I'd left my phone at home. Pulled Opie out to bathe and he happily joined me in my menty b and shit all over the wash stall. Loaded the trailer, went back into the barn to grab the horse who was climbing his stall walls (but then proceeded to walk right on the trailer and start eating because doing things is better than thinking about doing things #samesies), and headed back down the road to my house which fortunately is only ten minutes from the barn albeit in the opposite direction of the show. 

With all the things crossed off and my phone in hand for important things like directions and backup in case my truck exploded, my brain finally settled itself down to its normal level of crazy.

in his professional show horse mode the whole time,
well done sir.

Even with our detour, I got there in plenty of time to let Opie chill for twenty minutes before heading over to warm up. He was a little sluggish and tight in the neck to start, but I had a really good ride on Thursday where he started off a hot mess, I panicked that I should have taken another lesson to learn how to ride, I remembered that MB has basically taught us the same lesson for the past two years, and then I applied those skills and fixed all our issues. Before MB left on vacation she gave us a pep talk to do the same thing in warm up, dummy, so we did. And it was almost like I have the skills to troubleshoot on my own, this is such a fun concept for my psycho head!!

I opted for no spurs but yes Mr Tappy, and I am very proud to say that I recognized the canter didn't have enough power so I actually USED Mr Tappy for a quick tap on the butt, and Opie just....went more forward. And gave me the canter I was looking for. WHO IS THIS HORSE?!

We did our SI to renvers once each way at the walk. The tongue came out and flapping at this point, but it did this in our Thursday ride as well. I ignored it--and him--and carried on with the ask and the tongue went back in on its own. At the show I carried on and picked up the trot to do the same thing each way. He remained tense, but the tongue went back in and he did indeed do what I was asking.

That was all we had time for before the ring steward asked if we wanted to go early. It was balls fucking hot out so I agreed and into the indoor we went. As soon as we got in there he started jigging, so I just brought him back to the walk until he stopped and picked up the trot again. We had to repeat this multiple times right up until we got into our final corner before entering the ring. I halted him at that point, did a little left-right flexion that finally got him to take a breath, and in we went.

Guys.

We went in and just rode the test.

Did the movements, didn't panic anywhere, didn't pick a fight anywhere, didn't hold our breaths anywhere. 

We only scored below a 6 in three movements, two of them being coefficients of course. One was for our first TOH that he got too wide behind on (5.5), his R-L change (2.0 because he snuck in a trot step, which I was fine with because it meant he kept his head on and I didn't have to spend half the ring trying to get him back under control), and his L-R change that was clean but he absolutely porpoise leapt into (5.5, "clean but disobedient"). We got 7s on his walk and half passes AND his extended trot though! The last of which I'm stoked about because as soon as I turned him loose across the diagonal I was like, "Okurrrrrr, this is how it's supposed to ride!"

As soon as we finished I told the ring steward we were scratching 3-3 because he could not have done anything better or more relaxed and that has literally been my only goal for his nutty OTTB head for the past eight fucking years. The ring steward was a local trainer and she started laughing and said, "Who would have ever thought you'd say those words? Good job!" Poor Opie. People know, people judge, but people also be out there struggling alongside you. 

only person showing third level, but we'll take it

Opie seemed very confused that he got to go right back to the trailer and get snacks shoved down his throat and kept throwing me side eye. He's not used to being a good boy either lol. 

We ended up with just under a 63% (that 2.0 and fucking up the coefficients knocked down what would have been a really good scoring test otherwise), but the best part was the judge's comment at the end.

This judge is notorious for her low scoring, and she's usually rough on you with her comments, so I'm basically going to retire from dressage forever with these glowing words of affirmation.

All in all, 11/10 show experience. I'm glad my body got us there despite my brain's best attempts to get us out of it. I don't think we have anything else planned until another schooling show in August, but that was my game plan for the year. Schooling, schooling, schooling, please realize you have a brain and the ability to use it for these things that you truly do know how to do. That goes for both me and Opie!