If you haven’t entered Riding Warehouse’s Horseware giveaway yet (here it is on facebook, or here on Insta), you should. It’s a great giveaway, and it includes the item that I’ve basically been living in for the past couple weeks: the waterproof Brianna jacket.

I was able to snag an emerald green one, but RW carries the admittedly much more versatile black version, as well as last year’s turquoise version in XS and XL in their sale section. At first glance I wasn’t sure how much use I would get out of a jacket like this here in Texas. It’s got a decent amount of fill (do you use the same terms for human jackets as you do for horse blankets? I’d compare it to a midweight turnout blanket.) with a warm quilted lining on the inside, and a waterproof exterior. But since Texas has been completely drunk since the middle of September, I’ve actually already worn it quite a bit.

The cut and fit of this jacket are perfect for riding – it’s just the right length so that you aren’t sitting on it, and it’s slim enough to not be bulky. But for me, my favorite feature is the hood. First, it’s fully removeable, which is a MUST for me in a riding jacket. It’s also got a little brim built into the front, providing more shade if it’s sunny, or more protection from the elements if it’s raining or snowing. The hood is nice and big, so you can retreat pretty far into that thing to shield your face, or you can even (maybe, depending on how big your noggin is) pull it over your helmet. It also has a flap around the front that can snap to cover your lower face, if necessary, as well as elastic toggle pulls to adjust the fit around your face.

There’s also a hidden elastic drawstring inside at the waist, if you want to adjust the fit, AND there are 4 pockets – 2 inside and 2 outside. And since everything is waterproof, you don’t have to worry about putting your phone or your course map in there. I also appreciate that the front zipper is 2-way, and has a placket that you can snap over the top if it’s windy or raining.

As far as sizing, I find Horseware’s stuff to be pretty true to their size charts. I have a 36″ bust and wear the medium jacket.

My only real complaint with this jacket is that I think the zippers on the outside pockets could be bigger, with larger pull tabs. It looks very sleek with it’s current small, semi-hidden ones, but they can be a little hard to grab and zip/unzip when you’re wearing thick winter gloves (like when I was scribing last weekend, wearing some legit mittens).

Overall though, this jacket is a really well-designed (that hood, it is love) and versatile piece of clothing for a rider. I like having a waterproof coat that’s still attractive, and a warm coat that isn’t bulky. Definitely a solid purchase, IMO, especially with a 20% code (which I pretty much always have, if you ask!) or at the very least, a really legitimate reason to enter Riding Warehouse’s giveaway. We can’t escape the inevitable… winter is coming!

Is it just me or are some horses getting way hairier this year than normal? Admittedly, Henry maybe isn’t the best gauge of these things, considering that he’s a hairy horse in general, but I’ve now body clipped him twice already this fall, with the second clip coming just two weeks after the first.

His leg hair, which is always fairly draft-horse-esque, is already long enough to braid some dang cornrows into, if you were into that kind of thing. It billows in the wind, all gross and golden against his black legs. I flat out refuse to clip his legs though, mostly because he is really good about the rest of his body yet a complete freaking turd about his legs. For real, it used to take me twice as long to do his legs as it did to do the rest of him. But also because I’m an eventer now, and I consider one of the biggest perks of my changeover from h/j land to be the whole “not clipping the legs is totally normal” stance that they have. I am all about that.

Henry gets hot so easily that I always try to keep his coat pretty short, so I do probably clip him more than most people would find necessary. Still though, I got almost as much hair off of him on the second clip as I did on the first. Seems like a lot more than normal for the end of October.

Meanwhile, baby horse has been a little slower to launch into Yak Mode. His hair is getting long, but nowhere near what he was sporting last winter. Of course, it’s early yet. If he’d like to grow that 6″ of plushy ridiculousness again (please don’t), I suppose he has plenty of time.

As an aside, you might spy the farrier in the above photo. Poor guy was here on Monday to do both boys and then back AGAIN on Tuesday, because SOMEONE named HENRY decided to pull a shoe off literally SIX HOURS after getting his feet done. And I tried looking for it in the tall grass but yeah right, that was a lost cause. I don’t know where he threw it, but it was somewhere far and well-hidden. Poor farrier had to come out the next morning and make a whole new shoe, clips and studholes and all. I really appreciate him coming so fast though (and being so darn pleasant about it) considering we’re leaving for Holly Hill tomorrow. Where I get to try out my newest acquisition:

Yep that’s a folding cot. I tried a little twin air mattress for when I want to sleep in the trailer itself (like if it’s cold or raining, and camping in the tent seems unappealing) but at Willow Draw that stupid thing deflated on me every two hours during the night. I feel like I don’t really have to tell you how annoying that was and how much I hated air mattresses by the next morning. This weekend we’ll try out the cot instead… at least it can’t deflate?

I like how a couple weeks ago I was like “ok, show season is winding down, just one more show” and now I’m all like “j/k, enter everything, bye money!”. I feel like there are two ways I can spin this:

OR

You choose.

Originally my season was going to end after this weekend at Holly Hill. Mostly because the only recognized left after that is Texas Rose, and we’ve already run Training there multiple times. I mean, the course changes a little every time, so it’s not boring, but we’ve seen a lot of the same stuff enough times by now that I wasn’t feeling inspired to spend $400 to see it again.

And then Texas Rose added a PT division. For non-eventers, PT is basically part Training and part Prelim. You do the Prelim dressage test and showjumping, and the Training XC. Before the Modified division was born, this was kind of meant to be the stepping stone between levels. Of course, we have no venues within a 16+ hour drive that offer Modified, so PT is still our only available in-between.

I had no idea that Texas Rose had added this division until Trainer tagged me in a post about it and said I should do it. To which my first reaction was:

I mean, sure, we’ve done a few schooling show Prelim CT’s and several jumper classes at that height now. Theoretically, this should be fine. But my first reaction to her was like “you is dumb, you is high, you is concussed, and you is crazy”.

And then I thought about it for like 10 minutes and was like “ok, why not”. Because if you give me enough time I can talk myself into anything. Also I cave easily to peer pressure and everyone was saying to do it. But mostly because if Trainer thinks we can do it, I believe her. See yesterday’s post about why it’s so important to me to trust my trainer.

Although when I responded to her and said I’d enter but joked that if I died she’d have to take Henry, she was AWFULLY DAMN QUICK TO VOLUNTEER.

All joking aside, I know we can do it, barring any huge mistakes on my part. That’s always the qualifier though isn’t it? Mistakes are always possible. Texas Rose wouldn’t generally be my first choice of places to try this for the first time – their stadium courses are always technical and definitely set to height and the atmosphere is “grander”. It’s a little intimidating. If we jump all the jumps in the right order and I stay on my horse, I’ll be thrilled. But I also know that if I sit up and ride like I know how to, we are actually capable of doing a decent job of it, so mostly I just have to figure out how to get my headspace right between now and then.

At this point, I am equal parts nervous and excited, which I hope is a good sign? Who knows.

Also, after volunteering last weekend, I now find myself with a metric crapton of credits that I either need to use or lose. I still have some left over from all the winter shows I volunteered at last year too, and they expire soon. At this point I think I have enough to cover the entry fees for a couple of the off season Pine Hill schooling shows. The first one of which is December 2nd, which I think I definitely want to do, before winter gets too firm of a hold. I have no off season plan yet though, so CT vs HT and level are all up in the air. I need to get with Trainer and see what she thinks would be most beneficial to us. I guess it depends on how these next couple shows go. At this point I’m leaving the ball completely 100% in her court.

So first we have to focus on Holly Hill this weekend, and then we’ll come home and start thinking about those Prelim parts of Texas Rose. The thing I said I’d never freaking do. Perfect example of why you should never listen to me.

Somewhere amid the many hours in the truck that Hillary and I have logged together in the past month (along with many WhichWich sandwiches and cups of FroYo – brain food, clearly), we had a long conversation about trainers. Specifically, details about some of the ones in the area, and why I ride with the one I do despite the fact that she’s 2 hours away. That, of course, evolved into a conversation about what qualities are important to each of us when it comes to selecting a pro to work with.

For me, it all comes down to trust. I am definitely not naive enough to try any of this without some solid professional guidance. In eventing especially, I want and need at least semi-regular feedback (or for XC – very regular feedback), and I feel like I have to be able to trust that person’s judgment 100%. At it’s core, it’s a safety issue. Sure, not all accidents can be avoided, that is the nature of horses, but having poor judgment sure can get you (or your horse) hurt a heck of a lot more often, and faster, and worse. Cross country especially is not something to be messed around with. I want someone who is just as invested in keeping me and my horse safe as I am, who knows us and knows what we’re capable of. I would much rather someone move me up the levels slowly, and take extra time filling in the holes in my and my horse’s education, than try to do things too quickly and get me or the horse hurt. If I trust their judgment and they say I’m ready, I will believe them and I’ll feel confident about it… because I trust them.

I also need someone who will be honest with me about how things are going. Blowing smoke up my butt is not helpful, and feels borderline insulting, as if I’m too stupid to know otherwise. I mean, I’m not the brightest, but I know I’m not a future 4* rider sitting on a future 4* horse. Plus, if I’m riding like crap and need to pull my head out of my butt, say so. If I need to go back to basics and re-think everything I’m doing, say so. If my horse can’t handle the level or my aspirations, say so. I would prefer someone to deliver a harsh truth 100 times over than to lead me on or put ideas in my head that won’t ever pan out. Realistic expectations and honest, open communication keep me happy. I need to be on the same page.

Of course, I also want someone that believes in my dreams and goals as much as I do. I want to be able to say “Here’s what I want to do someday… help me get there!” and trust that they will keep that in mind and help me develop towards those goals. I’m not expecting them to get me there for sure, nothing is a guarantee, and a trainer can only do so much, but I do want to feel like when they look at me, they remember what my goals are and help me make the right decisions to get there.

I also need someone that expects me to be a thinking rider. I like for things to be explained to me in depth, so that I can feel what’s going on and try to correct it myself. Or have them educate me on different questions/combinations and how to ride them, so I can execute these things when I’m on course by myself. Basically, give me the skills I need so that I don’t have to depend on them for success. I feel like a trainer should be a builder and a refiner, but not a crutch. Again, in eventing this is really important, since they can’t provide us with assistance when we’re in the ring or on course. But also since I am not in a program at a barn with a pro, I need to be able to take what they give me and go home, work on it, and be successful by myself.

It’s important to me too that whoever I ride with has a good eye for soundness-related things, and a lot of knowledge on care. Sometimes that little “hmmm… have you thought about maybe trying X?” can be the difference in night and day for a horse. That level of horsemanship is vital, IMO, especially since they see things that I might not feel.

For me, this combination of qualities has been hard to come by. In my 25+ year riding career, I’ve only come across a few trainers that I feel have really fit the bill, with the current one being one of those few.

Is it inconvenient to drive 2 hours each way for lessons? Uh, hell yes. It’s also really hard to fit lessons in with any real regularity or frequency, given that it ends up being a most-of-the-day commitment. When those are the stakes, you definitely have to want it, and you have to re-arrange your life sometimes to make it happen. I have no doubt that we’d be farther along, and probably more polished about it, if I had professional help at my disposal all the time. That just isn’t an option in my current circumstances. And I would rather get less frequent help from someone who meets all these criteria than regular lessons from someone who doesn’t. I have come to trust my trainer implicitly, so those are the sacrifices I make, and we do the best we can with the situation. It’s worked out pretty well so far.

Plus, like… if this woman has put up with my bullshit for almost 4 years now, clearly she is made of some tough stuff. Or she’s deaf. Either way, it works.

What about you guys? How do you choose a trainer? What qualities are most important to you? If you have to sacrifice something, what’s the first thing on the chopping block?

You know that phenomenon where a weekend feels excessively fleeting but also ridiculously long? That was this one for me. Although really that’s kind of how the entire past couple months have felt, too. How it is already almost November? Yet at the same time, so much has happened since August. Life is flying by.

I kicked off the weekend with a quick ride in the rain on Friday afternoon. It just never stopped freaking raining all week long. Texas has gone completely off it’s rocker. While my fields were too saturated to ride in, luckily our arena has all weather footing, so even with a huge puddle down one side it was still safe to ride. I just channeled my inner Ingrid Klimke in that oh-so-famous flooded arena video, put some trot and canter poles in it, and off we went. Henry is a little delicate about getting rained on, so he wasn’t very happy with me at first, but the poles cheered him up a bit.

On Saturday, Hillary and I were up super early again to drive down to Pine Hill for a day of volunteering. Of course, Mondial du Lion cross country was live streaming from France, so I watched it most of the way there and gave Hillary a blow-by-blow while she drove. I feel like this is something only an equestrian would do – get up at 4:30, go 2 hours to a show, and live stream another show in the meantime. We’re an odd breed.

My job for the morning was dressage scribe, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was paired with a great judge, who took the time to explain things and was very open to questions. We got along great, and the time completely flew by, despite it being… dressage. The afternoon was occupied by XC jump judging, my other favorite job. It was a little chilly, but I had a good coat, and it was overcast but not raining. A very pleasant day to spend the afternoon out in the woods, all in all. And better yet, no one had any problems at any of my fences.

Plus I picked up the hat that I earned with my volunteer hours last time, and proceeded to send Bobby a picture of it to make him jealous.

And NO, Bobby, no matter how many times you ask me, you can’t have my hat.

He was running BN with Halo, so I made sure to give him my favorite one finger salute as he came by my fence. The best part was that when he returned it, Halo spooked sideways and there for a second I thought he might miss the fence because he was too busy giving me the finger. That would have been epic. I totally would have put that on youtube.

If Saturday was all about giving my time away, Sunday was all about Me Time. It was, finally, a glorious day – we went over a week without seeing the sun at all. There was a slight chill to the air (HELLO FALL!), and sunshine aplenty. I waited until early afternoon to go to the barn, hoping that it would give the field enough time to dry. It totally did, the footing was perfect up on the higher side, and Henry and I went for a gallop.

Is there any better way to clear your mind and recharge your soul than going for a gallop on a good horse? I think not.

After putting Henry away I headed out to check on the feral DonkeyBeast.

Presto has been largely ignored lately, but I wanted to bring him in, pick his feet, knock some of the mud off, and do a little bit of a manners check-in. After grooming I took him out to the arena for a few minutes of in-hand work, then stuck him on the lunge line and trotted a couple circles each way, working on his voice commands. All of those buttons still work just as well as they did when we left off. After that we worked on the ground-tying lessons again, which definitely is NOT where it was when we last worked on it. I think the combination of cooler temps plus his awakening hormones are starting to make it a little harder for him to keep his feet still. Hopefully the weather will cooperate in December or January and we can make his snip-snip appointment. He still isn’t anywhere near what I’d call studdish at all, but you can tell that he’s trying to figure out what some things are for, and he’s a little more mouthy.

It was a good weekend for all of his brethren though, with Mighty Magic’s representing at shows across the world. The 6yo at Mondial du Lion, Trebor, ran a double clear XC in his 1* division, and the 7yo Figaro des Concessions was clear in the 2* with just 0.4 time. Across the pond at Fair Hill, Michel 233 finished 3rd in the 2* with Will Faudree, finishing on his dressage score. Take note of your future, kid!

Hope everyone else had a fun, horse filled, short-long weekend too.