Author: Amanda C

Since this was a one day show and currently all of my media is cell phone pics/stills from video, I’m gonna try to shove this all into one post.

This show ran from smaller divisions up, and the highest XC was Training, therefore all my times were quite late – dressage at 1:21, stadium at 4:06, XC at 4:21. It was kind of nice because it meant I didn’t really need to clean all my shit and pack the trailer until Sunday morning, although I wasn’t super pumped about getting home after dark. Still though… later in the day is easier than early. I rolled in around noon, parked, unloaded, and got my packet. Presto did his obligatory HELLO EVERYONE I HAVE ARRIVED screaming routine, and the only answer he received was from a donkey. This perplexed both of us because I couldn’t figure out where the donkey was/why it was there, and Presto couldn’t figure out what kind of animal was answering him.

I got on around 1, which was, coincidentally, right when the polo match started. The polo field is like cattycorner to the dressage rings, so that was… exciting. The commentator for that was very loud, very animated, and made a lot of quite interesting sounds and noises over the loudspeaker. It was a vibe. And then on the other side of dressage was XC, where Presto could easily see horses out there running and jumping. I had to really put a lid on him immediately in warmup and insist that he focus on himself. He did, but you could tell he was just a bit on his toes and tense. Tough life having to do dressage when so many other fun things are happening.

The test was fine. There were no major issues or bobbles, but he just remained a bit on edge and not 100% focused. The best score was an 8 for our entry, and he got 7.5’s for those weird 10m half circles which was cool since we’ve worked on them like 3 times. He started to come slightly off the rails by the second time we cantered, so that lengthening was basically non-existent and the circle was more like 17 meters than 20 meters. He also didn’t have much of a trot lengthening whatsoever. There was… very little to no difference shown lol. I’d lost him too much by then to be able to go for it. But he did try to stay with me despite all the commotion going on around him. We got a 6 for one movement but that was the worst of it. He scored a 29, which still kind of blows my mind that this horse can do what is a very blah test for him, at a new harder level, and still be in the 20’s. We definitely have work to do on the lengthenings but it’s not a bad starting point. I’ll take it.

Once I got him taken care of we went up to walk stadium, and found out that they were running like 40 minutes behind. I was wondering if it might have something to do with the fact that while I was watching they were taking a while between each horse to blow the whistle for the next person to start. Come to find out later that every single person all day long ended up with time penalties in stadium (surely something hadn’t gotten wheeled or calculated correctly, I’m guessing) so I’m not sure if constantly having to calculate and record time penalties was maybe contributing to the delay. I dunno. Either way, they were late enough for me to be feeling a little concerned considering how late my XC ride time already was and how close we’d be pushing it to sunset. Out of my control though, so. Is what it is. We walked stadium during the drag break, and then I went out with Kathleen to walk XC. It was a quick “yup there it is” type walk for the most part, so I was just kind of snapping pics on our way past, but I did get them!

It’s very annoying how much smaller everything looks in pictures than in real life. I shielded my eyes from a couple of the tables because I just didn’t really need to know in my brain how big they are in relation to me. They don’t look big from Presto and that’s all I need to know. Patreon folks – y’all have full videos from all 3 phases on your dashboard, so you can see the terrain questions… I couldn’t really capture them well in photos.

After that I took Presto for a long hand graze up by the showjumping while we waited. They managed to catch up a little bit on time, so it was running about 30 minutes late. I got on when the first horse went in the ring for Training, and I was about 6 trips out. I learned my lesson at Rocking Horse – Presto thinks stadium warmup is for the YeeHaws, so the less time we spend in there, the better. We did a quick warmup, jumped some oxers, and went to the gate before he could instigate Fuckery.

The course was very twisty turny, which I prefer with this horse at this point, he has to pay a little bit more attention and I can use the turns to help me balance his giant enthusiastic self. He did get some slightly big eyeballs in there though, I could feel him going “Mom, these grew!” especially at the combinations, which both had an oxer jumping into them. He was getting lots of air time.

He was jumping well though, and being pretty careful/better with his hind end. Even though he rode greener, the whole way around I was like “yep, this is what he needed, we’ve finally got his attention”. I could ride him up to the base and he was very laser-focused. We did have one rail, just a silly tap behind at an oxer, but I thought he was quite good overall. Oh, and of course we had time penalties too, just like everyone else!

We came out of the ring and slapped his XC boots and my vest on so we could get out to XC post haste. Daylight was quickly diminishing. It made for some very weird shadows and Presto was being a bit spooky about it in the warmup… I don’t think either of us have had to deal with extreme shadows very early/late in the day before.

Once we got out on course, I was the one being spooky about it. Y’all, I COULD NOT SEE the first 3 fences like at all. The sun was directly behind them so I was blind, and all I could see was a massive black shadow that expanded two strides in front of each one. I was cantering down to them like UHHHHHHHHHHH I HOPE YOU CAN SEE THIS, I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE JUMP IS. Which clearly he could, but he was giving them extra room too just in case. It was just a wee bit disconcerting to me. Luckily once we got past those we weren’t going directly into the sun anymore (except at 8, which I also couldn’t see for shit) so the problem worked itself out. I did not love that for me, not at all. That’s part of the game though, just gotta keep on.

Presto was really jumping well though. The first combo was at 4 – up and down a mound, with a rolltop at the bottom. Then we had a couple gallop fences before the next big question – a MIM rail down into a big crater, back up out of the crater, down the edge to a skinny. The crater was deep enough that you couldn’t see the skinny from down inside of it, just the very tippy tops of the flags, so you had to choose your route carefully. That was a legit question. But having more to do and more to look at really suits him, and I could actually keep riding him up to the base. He was coming off the ground with a better shape than he was at Rocking Horse, and I wasn’t having to help him as much. No gappy distances and no heavy-on-the-front-end efforts.

After that we had an oxer (that I couldn’t see in it’s black blob.. seeing the jumps is overrated anyway) to the next combo, a coop with a 90 degree right turn to a corner, in 5 strides. This was also a really legit question at Training, especially for a big young horse. No worries though, Noodle gots it.

Then it was straight to the coffin which was in the tree line, so even more shadows, and he was peeking for sure. Coop, two strides, ditch, two strides, skinny. I had to tap him a bit there to keep his attention focused on forward, but he went. After that I think he felt pretty damn proud of himself and like he could do no wrong. For all his antics Presto is really very smart and learns super fast, so you can always feel him thinking about things and making adjustments as he goes around. By that point I was just letting him roll to the gallop fences with a little “ears up” half halt in front, and he was pinging right over them out of stride. Tremendous improvement from his last run.

Then we came to the water, where I completely biffed the distance in. It was one of those where I whoa’d and kicked at the same time and then was kinda like “lolwhoops, figure it out!” and he did. It wasn’t graceful, but it was safe, and I was proud of him for that. Shit is gonna happen, I’m gonna be wrong sometimes, and to do this job he has to learn how to get us out of it safely. The development of the fabled “fifth leg” that good cross country horses need. Mostly I liked that he was completely undeterred by it and just galloped right on through the water and out over the log on the mound like nothing had happened. That’s worth many many many cookies.

Then we had a chevron, pretty simple, and after that was my least favorite combo on the course. Y’all, I hate upbanks. Like I just do. There aren’t a lot of things I don’t like on XC but that’s my One. So imagine my eyeballs when I saw a corner on an angle to a pretty decent size bank up, bending line out to a skinny in 5 strides. Not a fan. That was a hard question for Training too, I thought. But Steph had been clear on how to ride it, so I brought him down to a coffin canter, jumped the corner straight on, then put a bend in the the line so we could jump up the bank straight, then turn right to the coffin. Bless him, he jumped through it great. I still might have pooped my pants a bit at that one.

Then we were at the last, a basic little log oxer, and through the finish! We were a bit slow, but it was one of those rounds where I thought he grew two sizes from start to finish. He started out feeling a bit green and ended up feeling like The Man. Most of all I think it proved that moving him up was the right choice. He finally had something to do, something to challenge him a little, something to make him think and get his attention. This is the first show where I felt like he really gained some education from it rather than just lopey doping around for funsies. Now we’re learning!

I’m looking forward to spending some time working on what we learned from his first Training outing before the winter season really kicks in here, but super proud of his first effort. We’ve got ourselves a Training horse!

Since I clipped Presto this week his nickname has been Nudie Doodie, which… isn’t the best. Let’s hope that the nickname my brain comes up with next week is better.

On Monday we had a dressage lesson, because this weekend we’re riding yet another new test. It’ll be our 4th show together, and the third new dressage test. I honestly have no idea how pros/actual dressage people live with all these tests in their head, my brain has a one maaaaaaybe two dressage test limit before it shuts down. This weekend is Training Test A, which is kind of a weird test and everything comes in rapid fire succession, so I’m glad we were able to have time with Steph to ride through it a couple times and figure it out. This will be a harder test for Presto for sure, with the 10m half circles and the canter lengthenings on a 20m circle. In case you haven’t noticed he is very large and a dressage ring is very small… lengthening the canter on a 20m circle is a hard movement for a big young horse. We’ll give it a go, but I can already see the “show more difference” comment coming. That’s fine, he’s ready to be challenged a bit more. We’ll maximize the parts he’s good at and give a best effort at the rest.

On Tuesday I body clipped him again, which he was definitely overdue for. I had been using the excuse of needing to get my clippers serviced and blades sharpened, but then I did that and officially ran out of excuses. And he really DID need to be clipped again before another show. This time I also did his legs, which I’d never done before because ugh I hate it. I started with his legs and head (because I’m not dumb and I knew his quarter would run out before we finished… I’d rather not have him flailing his feet around while I was trying to clip those) and by the time I got to his body he was real annoyed. I was also real annoyed. But it’s done now at least. It was amazing how many scrapes and dings I found on his legs underneath all the hair. I mean… not surprising, this horse is rough and tumble at best, but my god. If he could just NOT do that, that’d be great.

On Wednesday we had a jump lesson. I hadn’t jumped Presto since Rocking Horse so I figured it would probably be good to jump a course or two before this weekend. We popped around the 1m warmup course pretty easily, so then we concentrated on the outside line – vertical, 4 strides, vertical, 2 strides, oxer. The goal was to get him to make a little better shape in the air and make sure he stayed rideable down the line. She added v rails to the middle vertical and the oxer went up every time through.

For my part I legit could not stop finding a shit distance into the line. I found every single distance except the good one, basically. But Presto is not fazed by that, and he just kept jumping in and down the line like it was no big deal. When the oxer got bigger and he finally had to put in some effort, I think that was the first time I’ve really felt him try. He’s still not always sure where all his legs are supposed to go, but he seemed to enjoy the challenge. Noodle can fly. It was fun to get a little glimpse of what he’s got in the tank.

On Wednesday afternoon Henry went for a Gotcha Day road hack with Lex, and then yesterday was a rainy day off for everyone.

A cold front came through on the back side of the storms, so our high temps went from 80’s to 60’s and our lows are in the 40’s. Brrr. It was chilly this morning. Naturally Sunday is looking to be the coldest day, with a high of 60 and a low of 36. Should be an exciting horse show day for the young ones… I’m glad all my ride times are in the afternoon at least! Nobody needs an extra spicy noodle.

Nine years. NINE YEARS since I bought a fat little bay TB named Jerry from the internet, sight unseen. I thought I was getting a fun project to play around with at the local h/j shows for a year or so and then re-sell. Oh how little I knew. If you’d told me then how this would play out, I never would have believed you.

Here’s to 9 years with my heart and soul, the OG Best Boy, and the maker of dreams. To celebrate, here are 9 of my favorite photos of him from this year!

Here’s to hopefully many more Gotcha Days, bud.

Ah yes, hello, hi there. Poor neglected blog is the first thing to fall by the wayside.

Honestly though, there’s not a whole lot to report, it feels like. Last week you got the Rocking Horse show recap, and after that Presto got a couple days off. The farrier came on Tuesday, and Presto got hot shod for the first time. His reaction to being “on fire” was kind of hilarious.

From Wednesday through Sunday I was down at WEC all day every day working the Luxe EQ mobile. I rode Presto in the mornings before work, but otherwise my barn/horse time was pretty much just feeding.

Tell you what though, WEC at Christmas time is something else. I’m not really into Christmas or the decorations or any of that (the lights are pretty but that’s probably the beginning and end of my interest) but holy crap… it’s like Christmas threw up all over this place. Trees everywhere, decorations everywhere, lights everywhere. They do this Winter Wonderland thing that draws a ton of non-horse people who want to come look at everything and take pictures. WEC must make a freaking killing off of that, judging by how many cars were out there (all paying $30 just to park).

They also play Christmas music constantly, which after 5 straight days had me contemplating jumping off a bridge. If you’re super into Christmas, this is definitely the place to come. For me personally, I think I’m all full-up on Christmas for quite a while.

I was kind of excited to get home yesterday and see that the presents I got for people during the Black Friday sales had arrived, though. I find gift-giving to be really fun (for friends/horse people anyway… muggles are harder) and I think I did pretty well this year with picking things out. Oh, also – Patreon members, we’re sending a little something to y’all too, so if you haven’t sent me your address yet, please do so by tomorrow!

One other thing: if you’ve been waiting to snag a BRC pedigree report, the December listing is active! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1246853171/pdf-custom-detailed-1-horse-pedigree?click_key=adfda53315864c5e62a5e37da2bca9e83dc99c43%3A1246853171&click_sum=ef64f8da&ref=shop_home_recs_2

This week is somehow already jam-packed also, because there’s no rest for the wicked people who have horses to pay for. For the fun/relevant bits, I’ve got a dressage lesson today (because I have to learn to ride yet another new test – I honestly have no idea how pros live with all these tests in their head all the time, my brain cannot), and then a jump lesson and an xc school ahead of our next show, which is happening on Sunday. Trying to ride that momentum that we’ve built up the past couple months!

When we left off yesterday, our intrepid baby Noodle had delivered a personal best dressage test for both of us and left all the rails in the cups to sit us comfortably in first place after day 1. All that was left was cross country. No pressure.

I do happen to be sat on a brave horse that loves cross country, so I felt pretty confident that as long as I rode to plan and didn’t do anything too stupid, we’d be good. The course was pretty much as you would expect for the level. There were a few combinations: a down bank with 6 bending strides to a roll top, a jump a couple strides in front of the water, and a couple of ramps that you could either angle or jump more as a bending line. There was also a ditch with a 90 degree left hand turn to a rolltop that wasn’t numbered as an A/B but rode as a combination since they were so close together.

The jumps themselves though – I didn’t see anything that gave me any real concern. I did actually remember to do a Course Walk with photos, which you can see here (except I forgot to take a pic of the last jump because I spotted the horse chiro and started chatting with her).

We got to the show about an hour before my start time, which gave me some time to just sit and hang out for a bit and for Presto to stand at the trailer and relax before I had to get ready. I got on him about 20 minutes before my time, went to warmup, and got to work. Really it was just getting him moving, making sure I could open and close and open and close the gallop, and popping over a few jumps straight and on an angle. He was a little amped, and VERY interested in watching all the horses that were on course, but he kept it together. Then it was over to the box for our countdown and away we went.

My mission for the first few fences was to make sure he was straight and thinking forward and focused on the task at hand. Heading out of the box you had warmup to the right and all the trailer parking to the left, so there was some possibility that he might be a little fussy or distracted about leaving all that. No worries though, I came out and said “alright sir, get in front of my leg and lets do this” and he went “Hell yeah lets go!”. Not even so much as an ear flicker in any direction but forward.

With combinations and some twisting/turning through the woods later in the course, I wanted to use to beginning to 1) get him jumping out of stride, 2) get a little bit up on the time. The speed was 400mpm, which is max speed for Novice, but really if we’re looking at a moveup then I wanted to try to get on the quicker end of the time allowed, closer to the speed fault time, which was calculated at 450mpm. He’s gotta start learning how to add a little more speed in there.

Presto popped over the first 3 very easily, which were all pretty basic.. little house, coop with a bit of a downhill landing, bench. Then it was the first max table, which came up out of stride too. Next was a little dark bench with some bright flowers in the middle… again, he just loped over. After that was the first combo on course, the down bank to the roll. I brought him back to a quiet canter for the bank, and he popped right off and over the rolltop easy peasy. Pretty sure he was just having fun.

From there we headed to the water. He always peeks and hops into water as if there’s a jump on the edge, but he didn’t do it as flamboyantly here as he’d done at the FHP show. He’s going in, he’s just gotta do it with flair.

From there we had a few gallop fences…

A little house at 8, and a brush fence at 9. I opened him up again and asked him to keep coming forward to jump out of stride rather than me rebalancing him so much before each one. He needs to start being responsible for some of that himself.

After that we had an S-line from the feeder, right turn inside the tree to the ditch, left turn to the rolltop.

He didn’t blink at any of that either, just popped right through.

Then it was the corner, which at this size really just jumps like a table, to the steps, to another round-faced table. I was pretty much spot on where I wanted to be with my minute markers by that point.

The path between 15 and the combo at 16 was interesting… they did that thing again where a tree was directly in the middle of the straight route, so you had to decide which way you wanted to come into that bending line. I chose to come in from the right side, angling the first jump to line up more with the second jump. To take the right side you kind of had to duck under a tree, and I got a face full of Spanish Moss, but no biggie. Presto was on auto pilot by this point.

After that we had another table

at which point I checked my watch and saw that I might end up a hair too fast (I had a few points in hand so it wouldn’t have mattered, but ya know… I wanted double clear), so I slowed down a bit and loped over the last.

We came in at 4:56, two seconds inside the time and pretty darn close to where I was aiming (5 mins). Most importantly, it felt very very easy. Presto is so happy out there, and you can feel him thinking and learning as he goes. Super fun.

I only had two real bits of feedback to Steph – 1) We need to work a little more on him keeping his own balance up to the base of the gallop fences. He still really wants/expects me to help him, but at some point that’s his responsibility. He wants to get a little flat off the ground there, so he needs to get better about keeping a good shape off the ground from a more open gallop. Granted, he got better about it even just as we went around the course and I made him take a little more responsibility for himself. 2) I might need just a hair more bit. Not much, but just a “hello sir I’m still here and I meant now” so that I don’t have to get quite as loud with the half-halts in the tighter combinations.

Our double clear meant that we kept our spot, leading the division from start to finish! I had no expectations for placing or scores coming into the weekend, I just wanted to have a run that felt easy. So to win here, in Ocala, in an Open division, filled with pros and imports, on a score like that… not gonna lie, it was pretty fucking cool.

I love Presto of course, but for him to be able to not just hold his own in this kind of company, but to come out on top – that feels pretty great, not gonna lie. A US bred with an amateur rider. It’s a bit of validation, not just in the horse I bred (and we ALL raised) but also in the fact that this partnership could actually be something someday. It took a good 12-24 hours to sink in but man. I’m just so fucking proud of him. It was one thing to see him do well last year with a pro in the irons, but it’s another thing entirely to do it myself. This is it… this is my dream boy, out here doing the thing we’ve dreamed of for so long. I’ve giving myself permission to enjoy that feeling for a few days before we go back to work mode.

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