Author: Amanda C

Nothing like making riding plans for both days of the weekend and then checking the forecast only to see 90% chance of rain both days. Luckily for me, they were only halfway right.

The main objective of the weekend was a jumper show on Sunday, which Trainer and some of her students were going to. She told me to enter the three Prelim-height classes, which left me going “Ugh, I have to learn three different courses, really? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.”. Which shows just how far removed I’ve now gotten from my h/j roots. But at least I wasn’t feeling dread about the height or anything… maybe that’s progress? Then she texted and said “Funday at Pine Hill on Saturday too, if you’re in!”. You will never ever ever have to ask me twice about a funday at Pine Hill. Yeah we had just been there on Monday to XC school, but we got cut short because of lightning. There were a few more things I wanted to school, so hell yeah, let’s go hang out with some friends and finish what we started.

I think Henry is liking this “XC school once a week” kick that we’ve been on. Three weeks in a row and he’s thinking that finally I’ve figured out the secret to a happy life. He’ll be sad to realize that this was only a temporary stroke of luck.

After a couple warmup fences we headed to the same Prelim downhill drop/bending line thing that we did last week, but this time we had to do the 4 instead of the adding 5. That meant I had to keep his stride open down the steep hill but still reeeeeally keep his balance back so we didn’t literally die over the log pile at the bottom. We managed to get it right on the first try, which we’ll totally pretend was due to skill and not to the fact that when we started I was like “Okay Henry we’re doing that drop line again, and we need to get 4 this time.”. I’m 99% certain he understands.

After that we jumped the Time Warp combo again, smoothing out the curve and also leaving out the extra stride we had put in on Monday. Those Prelim combo’s, man… they are forward.

From there we went to the crater again, with the log pile down into the crater, around the blind corner to a skinny. Henny’s got that down pat almost to the point of being cocky about it.

After that I asked if we could go to the boat… it’s a table that literally has a boat on the front face. This jump had caused a ton of trouble at the spring recognized show, so I was curious about how it rode. The jump itself isn’t bad, but you basically come blasting out of the woods and have to make a REALLY sharp turn to the right in order to catch the table. I can see how it would be easy to skirt right past it when you’re going Prelim speed. I basically had to set Henry on his butt and square the turn out of the woods so we could get straight to it, but we popped over it fine.

I have to be honest, I didn’t feel like I was riding particularly well that day. Some days all the distances just come right up, no problem, and I mostly execute what I’m supposed to do, and my brain actually feels like things are firing and my body is responding correctly. This wasn’t one of those days. I felt kinda floppy and discombobulated and my eye was  off. BUT… it’s good to know that even on a day where things aren’t clicking as well as they can, we can still answer the questions. Henry was definitely stepping in and making up for my shortcomings, which is good to know that he can still do at the bigger fences. Granted, I would also really like to have fewer non-clicking days so that Henry’s job is a little easier.

After the boat we went to the water, which I had to do twice because the first time was just a bit sticky and underpowered. I was on such a roll with the water for a long time, but I think since my horse is so good about water, maybe I’ve gotten a little more complacent. I still have to ride in a bit more aggressively. We went up to the bank combo after that and kinda the same thing. First time through was just kind of flat and blah, so we had to do it again. I think it didn’t help that by this point Henry was pretty hot. The humidity was killer, and he just doesn’t handle it. But also… I wasn’t helping enough.

 

We had a really big group with us (because FUNDAY) so they got some video. Thanks guys!

Afterward we hung out and ate food, and Henry went back with me to a friends house so we could stay the night there and hit the jumper show the next day, since it was nearby. And then they cancelled the jumper show, which is fair because it definitely DID rain on Sunday.

But hey, at least we got to enjoy one nice day, and another fun XC outing. Things are feeling pretty decent in the XC department (at least, ya know, when I’m not riding like a sack of potatoes) so we definitely need to focus on the showjumping. That’s for sure our weakest phase at the moment. Hopefully this rainy weather will go away and we can at least get some lessons, because the fall shows are OPEN and it’s time to start sending entries in!

Very serious, very important post for Friday, guys. I need to decide what Presto will wear for FEH Championships. We have the option of halter or bridle for yearlings, and he’s shown in both now. I can’t quite decide which one is my preference.

The halter is a Kavalkade Ivy, black with a unique shape, white stitching, and chrome hardware. I have a black leather with chrome hardware lead shank that goes with it (not in the photos, obviously). I do like the simplicity of a halter, as does Presto. It gives me a tad bit less control when it comes to handling, but not enough to where I think it makes much of a difference.

 

His bridle is dark brown with dark brown stitching, very plain and simple, from the Lund Saddlery eventer series. It’s a bit tight at the crown/brow but totally workable. With this I’d be using a dark brown newmarket shank like this, or I could use reins. He can sometimes get a bit chompy in the bit, but with how distracted he’ll be in the ring, I doubt that would be an issue.

I’m pretty torn. They both have their pros and cons, and I can’t really decide which looks better. His ears look freaking GIANT in both. Oh wait, that’s because they are.

If it makes a difference, I’m wearing a black polo/helmet/gloves with khakis.

Which would you pick?

 

See how much better that sounds than “all the shit I bought during the Labor Day Sales”?

Really though, I think I was quite restrained. I did place a Riding Warehouse order of course (which I already got yesterday!) although I talked myself out of a few things.  I loaded up on my usual salt blocks, a new clipper blade for my Listers (WINTER IS COMING), a couple of cheap boot trees because I keep trying to be more of an adult and take better care of my stuff, a pair of foxy D&S socks, and an Equifit boot organizer for the trailer.

With show season and it’s accompanying money purge coming up just around the corner, I talked myself out of the brown TraumaVoid helmet for now. I was feeling a lot of peace with that decision until I went back to the RW website 5 freaking seconds ago to grab the link to it and saw that they’re now on sale. And not only are they on sale, you get a $25 gift card with a helmet purchase. WTF Riding Warehouse. Why are you doing this to me?

At one point I also had a black pair and a white pair of the Horze Grand Prix breeches in my cart, but talked myself out of both even though with the sale plus the multi-pair discount, it brought them to $73 each.

I’m having a lot of regrets right now, guys. Help me.

What I did take full advantage of was the Aerie underwear sale. 10 pairs for $35? I’m in. I really like their seamless ones for riding, and they have like 5 different shades of “nude”. No way in heck I’m paying the normal $12 per pair price, but at $3.50 a pop, I’m down. I definitely needed more of those, because I am inevitably always one pair short at a horse show and end up wearing something neon under my whites. I’m that person. But it won’t happen anymore because now I have a bunch.

Other than those two online sales, I was doing really well. At least until Tuesday when I met Hillary for lunch and she said she needed to stop into Dover afterward. The only thing I’m really interested in, when it comes to the Dover store, is the sale rack. Usually there’s nothing great to be had, but every once in a while there’s something really cheap that I can’t pass up.

And this time, as luck would have it, there were two knit show shirts, navy and gray, in my size, marked down from $99 to $19.99. I have the green version of this shirt and really like it, so there’s just no way I was going to be able to resist that. I didn’t even try. I just plucked them off the rack and kept walking, barely a pause in my stride.

I have a weird obsession with show shirts. For some reason I have nine of them, which is more than a little absurd for an eventer. There’s no scenario in which I would need more than 2 per horse show. At some point I should probably go through and sell some of the ones I don’t wear as much.

Did y’all get anything good in the Labor Day sales? It just occurred to me that the next big sale event will be BLACK FRIDAY… I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.

It seems like, a lot of times, when you say a horse is “smart and sensitive”, a lot of people take those things to be negative. I suppose if you want a horse that’s a bit dopey and a kick ride, then yes, smart and sensitive are probably not what you’re after. But to me, they’re good qualities. I like a horse that is naturally forward thinking, responsive, light, retains lessons well, and can think for itself a bit. So when I say that I’m noticing that Presto is smart and sensitive, I’m totally okay with that. It’s why I wanted all that thoroughbred blood in there, after all.

The next big step in Presto’s training will probably be long-lining and ground driving. With that in mind, I’ve started laying down some of the prep work so we can gradually work up to that. He already knows the basics on how to move his body away from pressure, and we’ve been working on voice commands (at least cluck and whoa) for a while. This past Saturday he wore a surcingle for a first time, and we introduced the word “trot”. Or as I like to say it to horses: “TER-ROT”. Because I’m weird. I dunno, I just think it’s more clear and positive sounding. As a voice command I’ve said it that way forever. Look, I already said I’m weird ok?

Before we got to the surcingle, I flopped a saddle pad all over him. He’s worn them before, with me just casually tossing one over his back sometimes. But this time we did a more formal “sacking out”, if you’d like to call it that. I flopped that thing around all over him, from nose to tail to hoof, tossing it high and low and slow and fast. He was a little concerned the first time it walloped him in the butt, but his feet stayed still. After that I tossed the surcingle on and off a few times, then let it hang while he investigated.

He was still unconcerned, so I went to fasten up the surcingle, but… um… he’s so scrawny. Even with it all the way up on both sides, I had a huge gap. So off I trudged into the barn to get a half pad. Or two. Yep, definitely two. With both of them stacked I could at least get the surcingle snug enough to where he could walk and trot around without the whole thing sliding right off. Poor kid. It’s hard being a yearling.

But he packed it around with no complaints, almost looking bored. So we incorporated our TER-ROT voice command, going from trot to walk to trot to walk and back again several times. He caught on really quickly, and after a few repetitions, saying “trot” was all it took to get him stepping off promptly into trot.

We’ve also been working a lot more in-depth on moving away from pressure. He’s known since he was a kiddo that a pressure on his side means move over and pressure on his chest means move back. Now we’re refining that a bit, using much lighter cues, and getting more specific to the area of his body that I want him to move, and in which direction, and how far. Presto is incredibly sensitive about that and is quick to respond to even the lightest pressure.

After that we worked on his ground tying skills, which are… uh… not so strong. It’s a lot to ask of a yearling colt. Especially one that’s always looking for something to DO. Asking him to just stand and not DO is a lot tougher than the opposite. He got a couple minutes of standing still though, so we’ll call that a win for now. He tried. Sorta.

The more I ask of him, the more it feels like I’m kind of peeling back layers of Presto’s personality and getting to know him a little bit better. These days I can usually predict how he’s going to respond to something, and guess which things might upset him the most or get more of a reaction from him. I also see that he’s got a good work ethic, and a strong desire to do find the right answer. He’s not lazy, he learns fast, and he retains his lessons amazingly well. He even seems to look forward to his “work”. There is definitely a stubborn/naughty streak in there though, and it comes out sometimes when he’s thought about something for a while and decided that maybe he knows a better way. Luckily at this point it doesn’t take much to dissuade him. That might get a little tougher with age.

He now also knows what “ENNNNHHHH!!!” means. Mostly because he learned that if he stands on the hose, no water comes out, so he would very deliberately look for it and then stomp. “ENNNHHHHH” is his “I see you, you little shit, and you better not!” warning to cease and desist before he gets in real trouble. I also had to start clipping him into the crossties differently because he figured out if he swung his head around a certain way, he could eventually work his halter over an ear. Okay, so maybe smart has it’s downsides.

Eventually we’ll put the long lines on (with a halter) and get him understanding that whole deal, but there’s no rush. Right now it’s time to shift the focus back on his in-hand stuff a bit more, since FEH Champs are right around the corner. Of course, after almost a whole month of looking like a relatively normal horse, his neck is starting to look like it’s been put on upside down again. Usually that precedes a really awkward growth spurt. I have no doubt that’s exactly what he’s planning on doing in the next few weeks. Maybe I should have entered the Future Event Camel Championships instead?

Not green as in horses… I’ve been used to green horses for most of my riding life. What IS a newer concept in my world, though, are green numbers. Aka Prelim fences. We’ve jumped a smattering of them over the past couple years, usually the smallest ones or parts of a combo… ie not really a true Prelim question. The first real Prelim-sized fence we jumped was the bigass wagon, at Pine Hill last winter. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever actually have the balls to jump that thing, but Henny just pinged right over.

The past couple XC schools, we’ve actually been adding in more Prelim fences. And not just single fences, but combinations. Real, actual Prelim questions in their entirety. Granted, we’ve schooled at venues that have what I would call softer Prelim courses, so they’re not as hardcore or intimidating as you might see at a more stout venue. Both of these places run recognized shows though, so… they count.

I’ve waffled back and forth on the Prelim thing a lot. It’s a huge step up, it’s a lot harder, a lot bigger, and the room for error is considerably less. It’s the level at which I think things start getting stupid, and the consequences for mistakes are generally more serious. I’m not a fearful rider, but I’ve never been sure if my balls were big enough for that. Of course, if I’m being 100% honest, there is also nothing I would love more than to get to the point where I can run a Prelim on Henry. Even if it’s just a time or two, even if it’s just the “soft” ones, and even if all we do is Complete in a totally unspectacular way. I think Henry deserves the title of Prelim Horse, and I’d be lying if I tried to deny the fact that I want him to have it. I’ve had (and still have) plenty of doubts though, mostly in my own ability.

So these past couple schoolings, where we’ve pointed at real Prelim fences, Prelim combinations at that, and been successful – they’re confidence boosters. Because we know we can jump the height, but it’s the combinations where the weaknesses come out. We still have a hell of lot of work to do at Training, of course, that’s for freaking sure. The stadium definitely needs help and I need to be better in general at… literally everything. But I’m feeling a little more confident that maybe someday we might actually leave the startbox headed for the green numbers of Prelim. Maybe I won’t even piss myself in the process. Nah, j/k, I’ll definitely piss myself if that ever happens. I am never nervous in the startbox but I think that would finally be the time.

Yesterday we headed down to Pine Hill to school. It is a very rare, almost unheard of occasion for me to be able to XC school twice in a week a half, but I definitely can’t pass up the opportunity when it presents itself. The more we can get out there and do it, the better. Plus it’s clearly been way too long since I’ve been to Pine Hill, considering they changed the course in April and I still hadn’t seen it.

We warmed up over the little houses, then moved on to the big mound. The old Prelim route was a log with a big downhill drop landing, down the steep hill to a pile of logs on a bending line. That little log looks so cute and innocent when you canter up to it, then you’re in the air going “Oh wow I have really underestimated this hill”. Henny was a little surprised by it too. From there we went to a right hand bending line combination of fences with a skinnier jumpable face on the left side. They’re an interesting shape, and tall but not very wide. On the course maps, the first fence of the combination is called the Time Warp and then the second one is called Let’s do the Time Warp Again. Anything that’s named after something from The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a-ok by me.

By this point a big line of storms was starting to bear down on us, and we were trying to speed things along. Henry and I jumped through the crater, which had a rampy log pile landing in the crater, with a right hand turn to a skinny that came up pretty fast off of a relatively blind turn. XC Henry is generally like riding a jump-seeking missile though. If you point him somewhere near it, he will find it.

After the crater we headed to the Irish bank. Yes, the same Irish bank that made Henry, the XC savant, have a total brain meltdown last year. He just really didn’t understand that question at all, for whatever reason. This time they had it flipped around, so it was jumping the other way. The “in” side was a bit bigger bank with a ditch in front of it, and then the “out” was a log on top of the bank. Whether it’s the extra experience he’s gotten since then, or the change in direction, he seemed to understand it perfectly this time and jumped through it with no problem. That’s a definite relief.

From there we were on our way to the water when it started raining, which was quickly followed by lightning and thunder. That put an end to the day, as all of us on course made a mass exodus to the barn. There were a few more things I wanted to jump, but we can get to them another day.

 

If you watch the video, fair warning, Trainer’s voice is loud AF.

Overall it was another good, confidence building day for us. Not that Henny really needs it, he’s got plenty of swagger in his step when it comes to XC, but it’s great to finally conquer that stupid Irish bank and feel like maybe, just maybe, I could do this someday afterall. Next weekend we’re gonna try to hit a jumper show, and then it’s time to sit down and figure out my fall season. I think I’m just gonna do a couple recognized Trainings, although I haven’t quite decided which ones yet. After that I think we’ll set our sights on doing some of the Pine Hill schooling shows over the winter. They’re affordable (plus I have a ton of credits to use from volunteering), and they use the same courses as the recognized, so it’s a good bang for your buck. At least it is when the weather cooperates. We’ll see about that part.

Hope everyone else had a great Labor Day, full of all sorts of non-laborious things!