Do y’all ever stop and think about what gluttons for punishment we are, trying to ride horses? I mean aside from the obvious things that come along with the fact that they’re ginormous flight animals that thrive on breaking your heart. Like… we dedicate our whole lives to the never-ending, entirely unattainable pursuit of trying to learn how to ride them well. The whole thing is absurd when you really think about it.

Luckily I too am absurd and love to do absurd things. A sport I will never actually master and dedicate my whole entire life to learning how to do it just some kind of marginally decently, with varying levels of success? Sign me up!

Anyway, last week featured a jump lesson, a Peter Gray dressage lesson, a jumper rounds outing, and XC schooling. I don’t have media from the Monday jump lesson but it went well. Lots of turning exercises because it kind of forces you to ride more forward out of the turns, and I needed that.

Tuesday afternoon, Peter Gray was here. And guys, I’ve kind of been wanting to make this happen for years. I don’t idolize anyone (there’s a whole lot of truth to the saying never meet your heroes) but I have a very deep respect for Peter and have always admired the quiet, fair, and methodical approach that he’s always seemed to have in any of the materials I’ve seen or heard from him. He judged Presto as a yearling at YEH, he’s judged dressage tests of Henry’s, I’ve seen him at work so much as a judge or a member of the ground jury, and at YEH/FEH symposiums.

This year I was finally able to connect with him and arrange an afternoon of lessons here at the farm for a few of us. Peter was as expected – fair, but meticulous. He praised what was good and didn’t mince words about what needed work. He gave us exercises to help address the things that need improvement, and I think all the horses got better from beginning to end. Nothing about it was easy – the exercises he had us doing at canter were definitely beyond anything we’ve tried before – but it gave you the opportunity to level up and rise to the occasion.

While his expectations were high, he was very very consistent to enforce that he is seeking quality over quantity, and to always give the horses a lot of breaks and never ask them to hold things for very long when it’s hard for them. Even just half a circle is enough, and we should never drill them. His horsemanship seems top tier. I learned a lot and have already continued to apply the concepts to all of our rides. I’m hoping to have him back out again before season is over, but I think we all need a few weeks to absorb and work on the things he’s already given us. It was a lot!

Patreon folks, you’ve got lots of video of Presto and Tilly’s lessons on your dashboard.

On Wednesday morning Argo went on another field trip to Majestic.

I was mostly just tagging along while other folks jumped around. My goal for that ride was just to have a chill hackabout and let Argo continue to learn that going places and doing things is no big deal. He stood for a while, he walked and trotted and loped around a bit, stood some more, went in the water, etc. He was super good except for when the pony leaped off the down bank like a crackhead right next to him, then he got a little worried, but he calmed back down without much drama.

Michelle also came along and rode Henry, and he was delighted to take her over some of her first XC jumps in a really long time.

On Wednesday afternoon I loaded Presto up and we headed to jumper rounds. The idea was to pop around the meter, and then if that was good maybe do the 1.10m.

Presto went in the ring for the meter and thought he saw demons in one corner. To be fair there was stuff wrapped in black plastic stacked over there, so he wasn’t far off. After a little bit of spooking he decided he might be able to survive it, and we picked up a canter and jumped around the course very uneventfully. We like uneventful. Uneventful is good. Boring is superb.

So we stayed for the 1.10m/Prelim. He was still kind of staring distractedly into the demon corner a little bit, but it wasn’t too big of a deal. I didn’t get him down the first line straight enough and we had a bit of a gap there that resulted in a rail, but the rest was again uneventful and boring.

On Thursday we went and did a quick/simple XC school with Megan (the rider who had Presto when he was a 4yo), who is in town for the season. My regular trainer will be gone for the next show, and since we’re just now dipping our toe back into Modified, I thought it would be prudent to have some trainer assistance lined up for that show. Since Megan already knows us and will be there anyway, she seemed like the logical choice, but I also thought it would be a good idea to ride with her a few times between now and then rather than just day-of. The XC school was super productive, she gave me a few little position tips that I think made a big difference. Getting more eyes on you is always helpful!

The rest of the week was more chill, and one of Michelle’s friends was in town so Argo got to play musical riders. Michelle rode him a couple times, and then her friend rode him a couple times too.

They both rode him great, and again it continues to be really helpful to me to have other people ride him and see how he goes. He’s certainly more of a kick-ride, which makes him more reliable for any level rider… I’m definitely never worried about him running off with anyone or anything like that. I mean, it might take them a few minutes to get him to trot, but… he’s safe!

Michelle was only here for a quick pre-breeding season check-in, so she’s back home now, but she’ll return in a few weeks as we officially get to breeding season. Hopefully she’ll be game to keep riding Argo and Henry some while she’s here!

This week looks to be a little bit calmer (I hope) but ya know… we’ll see what kind of adventures we get up to.