Author: Amanda C

Hope y’all got your fill of good riding in the week 1 recaps, because it’s about to get reeeal Amateur Hour up in here! After his weekend running Training with Trainer, I got on Henry on Tuesday to ride through our dressage test… and unfortunately he was just totally wired for sound. After lots of saddle time and some tack changes (added a flash, switched to Trainer’s saddle) it was better, but we still never got to ride through the test. Horse is really damn fit and full of himself these days.

It’s impossible to deny how much better Henry and I both feel in Trainer’s saddle. I’ve known this for a while, and getting a saddle like hers has been on my to-do list, but riding in it again was a real wake-up call. Priority has changed, Loreak needs to come off the “someday” list and move right up into ASAP. Henry feels freer through his back in those D3D panels, and I feel so much more stable and balanced that it’s borderline ridiculous. Unfortunately to buy a new one I’d have to sell the current one plus save up another $500-900, not to mention they’re a little bit hard to find, so I just don’t see it happening before winter unless someone wants to loan me $2k.

Originally we thought I’d be able to use Trainer’s saddle for my test, but the night before dressage I realized that her N horse went at exactly the same time I did. Huge bummer. When I got on to warm up for dressage I could really feel the difference, and was definitely struggling a bit in my saddle after riding in her magical unicorn saddle for two days. It’s frustrating to feel like you’ve come all that way and spent all that money and still don’t have the right equipment.

Henry also felt a bit… electric. By that point he’d been cooped up for over a week and had already run XC once. When you have a fit, enthusiastic thoroughbred, you know how fun that is. He was obedient, but jesus he was LIT. It was a very careful warm up, to say the least. Every tiny little move I made got a big response, and it was like his legs were stuck in fast forward. The only time he seemed to take a breath was in the canter.

I thought I’d learned my test pretty well, but by the time I got in the ring I was trying so hard to keep my very tense horse from losing his shit that I completely blew past the first canter and had an error. Seriously. I still can’t believe I did that. Probably would have helped if I’d gotten to ride through the test at some point beforehand. Live and learn.

After the error I got a bit frazzled and Henry got more and more tense. The whole test felt pretty heinous and embarrassing, not gonna lie. Luckily it didn’t look quite as bad as it felt. I was expecting something like a 40-42 (with the error) but we got a 38. Damn that effing error.

I was pretty livid with myself when I came out of the ring. An error is just such a dumb mistake, things like that make me nuts. Trainer said I was way too hard on myself, and I knew she was right, but I needed time to process it. And finally I realized that the fact is: I’m just a very average amateur rider, and as such, I’m gonna make mistakes. Lots of them. All the time. Sometimes I’ll get away with them (ahem Holly Hill stadium), sometimes I won’t. That’s just the way it goes. I’m also really competitive, so it’s hard for me to reconcile my expectations vs my reality. But I figured – I was still happy with my horse’s effort (he always tries) and happy that we were even there and able to do the 3Day in the first place. A kinda crappy dressage ride at a 3Day in Flagstaff, AZ on a beautiful Thursday morning just doesn’t even begin to register on the scale of what constitutes a bad day. Time to own the mistake, learn the lesson, quit being a baby about it, and move on.

What’s done was done, and really it could have been a lot worse. Either way, now we were done with dressage and could finally get on to the fun part!

Not gonna lie, this course made us crap our collective pants. We came to Coco hoping for a nice easy move-up course for Henry and that is NOT what we got. When you get to the trakehner and go “oh good, a let-up fence…” you know you’ve walked into something gnarly. I wondered if I’d made the right decision. Was the course asking too much of Henry? Was it fair to him? I wasn’t sure.

Fences 1 and 2 were simple enough, although there were a few problems at 2 (guessing because it was fairly skinny and off a turn)

Fence 3 was just a rolltop

Fence 4 was supposed to be a simple hanging log in the middle of the water, but because they tried to build the water jump last minute (no joke, they were still working on it the DAY OF) the footing wasn’t right and they ended up removing it from the course. I didn’t really care much about that one either way, Henry is good with water.

Fence 5 was a huge ugly maxed out square table that I’m pretty sure will haunt me in my dreams. Bobby says the key to jumping the big tables is to not go anywhere near them during the course walk so that you don’t realize how big they actually are. I’ll be heeding that advice in the future. It was SO WIDE.

6A and B were two skinny, upright fences that also caused problems for some people.

Fence 7 was the first one where I was like “Oh thank god, that one’s small and easy”…

well, it was small and easy because it was the first fence of a bending line to a CORNER. A real, legit, wide, skinny, awful, scary, nauseating corner. Hidden behind a tree. On Training! I’ve never seen a corner like this on a Training course, especially not off of a short bending approach. There was only one good line, and if you didn’t find it you were screwed.

Then it was down the hill to a max steeplechase fence (which by this point just looked cute)

Then down two more short steep hills basically straight down into the second water, which had a hanging log in, bending line out to a fairly skinny cabin. There were a lot of problems here… the water really came up out of nowhere at the bottom of the big hill and was very very dark.

After the water you wound around to the trakehner (which yes by this point it was like “oh good, just a trakehner”)

Around to a very basic log, which was the easiest fence on the course (like a “congratulations for making it this far” kind of reward?)

And then down into the 3rd water (yes 3rd) which was a rolltop into the water with a bending line (yes another one) out of the water, up to a skinny faced (yes again) brush fence that they shared with Prelim.

Had enough of the skinny fences yet? HAHAHA too bad. Guess what was next?

Then it was around to the ditch and wall (yeah sure, at this point, why not throw that in there?)

Then down the hill to the COFFIN! With the C element being a skinny-ish brush fence on a bend. Did you expect anything different by this point? I think this was where Trainer declared it the toughest Training course she’s ever seen. Cue me sweating lots of bullets.

17 was a max height/fairly wide log oxer, but one of the friendliest looking jumps on the course.

And then to the last fence which looked like a regular jump from the front, but really was more of an upbank… the landing side was only about a foot lower than the top of the fence. Kinda weird.

I was really nervous when they headed to the startbox. It’s my responsibility to make the right choices for my horse, a responsibility I do not take lightly, and I was questioning this decision a little bit. Would this course be asking too much of him at this point in his career? He’s an XC machine, but still… this was a lot for a horse that is new to the level. The very last thing I want to do is overface him and damage his confidence. My heart was absolutely POUNDING as they counted her down and she left the box.

I could see him jump 1 and 2, which he looked perfectly happy about. Then they disappeared from my view before coming back by the start box for the giant table at 5. He jumped that thing like a freaking rockstar, so I was hopeful that he’d be Game On for the rest of the course.

I stayed by the jump judge as they headed up the hill into the woods so that I could hear the walkie talkie… clear at 6ab, clear at 7, and then after what seemed like the longest pause ever, clear at 8 – the corner. I let out a huge breath at that point. There had been lots of problems at the corner and I really wasn’t sure that Henry would understand the question, but he’s like a freaking XC savant so of course he did.

 

Then I ran across the clearing so I could get video of them at the third water. I stood there waiting and waiting… the horse before them should have come through but never showed up, which started making me nervous. Then finally there they came through the trees, to the water, and very easily through. Pretty sure I screamed my lungs out, punched the air, and looked like a total psycho. Whatever.

Then I ran back across the clearing so I could video the last fence. I just couldn’t stand still, and was pacing back and forth. Watching your horse go is way more anxiety-inducing than actually riding. By the time I heard them coming I was basically jumping up and down. They jumped easily over the last, galloped through the finish, and I took off running after them, grinning ear to ear.

This is my favorite helmet cam video to date. There’s a lot of Trainer’s heavy breathing (high altitude is fun!), approximately 100 “Good Boy!”s, and one pretty hilarious “SORRY HENNY!”. But his ears really tell the story.

Double clear, and I could not believe it. Who’s a badass? HENNY! He’s never seen a course like that in his life, but he flew right through everything like it was no big deal (Trainer said he took a good peek at the second water, but it sounds like pretty much everyone did, even Halo). Of course, it helped that he was very well-piloted. He was so pleased with himself that he strutted back the barn, and by the time we got there he was cooled out and looked ready to go around again.

There was enough trouble on XC that Henry moved up to 4th in the Open division. He was also on the winning Training Team (woot, Texas!) and was the 6th closest Training horse to optimum time. So he got three ribbons, a gift card, and some other stuff… prizes at Coco were awesome. But really, I was just so thrilled that he jumped easily around such a tough XC full of questions that he’d never seen before. He was a very happy and confident horse at the end of the day, and that was the whole point.

Then it was my turn. On to week 2 – the 3Day!

Let the show recaps begin!

For week 1 of Coconino, Trainer showed Henry in his first recognized Training. Everything we had seen and heard about Coco from years past made it look like a pretty good move-up course… that was not the case this year. When we walked XC the first time I’m not sure whose eyes were bugging out more – mine or Trainer’s. But before we could fully panic about Sunday’s XC, we had to get through the dressage and stadium on Saturday.

It feels like there’s never really a whole lot to say about dressage. Henry slowly gets better but he’s still tense and a bit tricky to ride in the little white rectangle. His test was very obedient but obviously tense, and he scored a 35. For him, at Training, that’s a totally fair score. He just needs more miles.

The Open division was full of fancy horses, so his 35 put him 7th of 10. My little nervous TB cannot compete with the big fancy Holsteiner stallion that (deservedly) gets a 24. That’s ok though… the XC was gnarly enough that we knew this would NOT be a dressage show.

And yes, I messed up this video too by accidentally clicking on an Instagram notification mid-recording. I think one circle is missing. Horsemom fail.

In the afternoon, Trainer got back on for stadium and almost immediately tossed me her whip. Henny was plenty fit and excited and ready to jump, thank you!

They went in and laid down an awesome trip, definitely the best stadium trip I saw all day. Some of the turns were tight and tricky but Henry was just looky enough to jump really well, while also staying very rideable. It really couldn’t have been better. He loves Trainer.

Even better, the double clear moved them up one spot into 6th.

Day 1 was a success, but we were all still sweating bullets about that XC…

We’re officially on our way back to Texas, having left Flagstaff yesterday morning. We overnighted in Clovis, NM again and are now only about 8 hours from home. This was a fantastic trip and I had such a blast, but I’m totally worn out and ready to be home. 

So, I’ll start working on the show recaps tomorrow, but hopefully this will hold you over until then…

Coconino by the numbers

Likits that Henry consumed – 6 

Times I kicked Bobby because he was snoring – at least a dozen 

Dead optimum time watch batteries – 2

Tall boot blowouts – 1

PTO days taken – 9

Middle fingers extended in my direction – at least 6 (five from Bobby, one from Trainer when she asked for help to get her hair un-stuck from the truck visor and I took a picture instead)

Jars of Magic Cushion used – 1 

Number of times I considered killing the mare in the next barn over who tried to kick her stall down at precisely 2:30 every morning – 5

Big beautiful 100lb bales of hay purchased for and consumed by The Boys – 6

Mornings I woke up freezing to death in the tent because it was FORTY ONE DEGREES – 1

Cookies required to keep Henny still for icing – I dunno, how many are in this pan?

Rocks picked up from the XC course & roads and tracks – eleventy billion

Metric shit tons of Arizona dust inhaled into my lungs – eleventy trillion

Hacks ridden out in some of the prettiest country I’ve ever seen, with equally crazy people – 6

Chef Boyardee/Spaghettios consumed straight from the can – 6

Ribbons brought home – 5

Nosebleeds from the dry, dusty air – 3

Evenings spent consuming adult beverages and just hanging out, chatting with friends (new and old) – at least 5 

Grand Canyon souvenirs that I just had to buy – 1

Basically, it was the best adult summer camp EVAR. Until next year, Coconino!

Yesterday was dressage for the 3Day, and I’m pretty glad that part is over. It’s too hard.

I’ll do an actual dressage recap in a separate post when I have time to go back and gather media, but the short version is that Henry was tense but obedient and I had an error because I can’t brain.

After dressage was over and done with and laid to rest, it was time to focus on XC. I did my first walk of phase D, the actual XC course, and then in the afternoon we had steeplechase practice.

Many thanks to Hawley Bennett for teaching the practice, it was such a blast. It’s awesome how these Classic format 3Days have a clinic aspect to them, I’m learning so much as we go along.

I forgot to ask anyone to video so I don’t have any media, but Henry was a rockstar. Once he realized we were out there to run and jump he was totally Game On. Hawley explained the best way to ride the fences and the track, and we jumped just a handful of practice fences to get the idea. Henry took to it instantly.

After practice we walked the horses out on the roads and tracks to check out the footing, gates, and kilometer markers. 

Then we fed, settled the horses in, and walked phase D again with Trainer. The course looks fairly straightforward… there are a couple legit questions for novice (including a full coffin where the last element is a skinny off of a bending approach from the ditch) but nothing looked big or made me nervous. If I steer, keep my leg on, and don’t get lost in the woods (THAT is the real challenge) I think we’re golden.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever been this excited for XC day before! Let’s do this!