I've gotten in a handful of jump schools since bringing the horses home. But sadly, between the field being full of wood that needed to be split and inclement weather that led to poor footing conditions (I really don't want to tear up my field!), jumping has been something I've done very minimally since moving the horses home.
However, the latter half of my staycation consisted of several consecutive days of no precip, light winds, and sunshine. A perfect combination to setup idea footing for jumping! And so, on the final evening of my staycation, I dusted off my jumping skillset and took Grif out for his favorite kind of fun.
We flatted for a good 20 minutes, added in some ground pole work, then cavaletti exercises, and finally popped over the 4 XC jumps I currently have setup in the field. (One is out of view of the camera.)
While rusty, there was SO much about this ride to feel good about. Grif has matured so much and I have a lot more trust in him these days than I once did so far as will-he-or-won't-he-jump. He was forward and our rhythm was smooth and comfortable. Honestly, prior to pulling out the camera, things felt the best I think they've EVER felt. But then of course, despite knowing the video would never have to be shared or saved, once I started filming things didn't feel quite as perfect.
Don't get me wrong, for not jumping with any kind of consistency for the better part of a year, there is SO much to be happy about. But all the same, I wish just once my nerves about being "watched" could be completely absent (though I must admit, those nerves are infinitely chiller than they once were - go me!) so I could have a visual of what that "perfect" feeling actually looked like. I'm just so curious!
The best takeaway from this jump school is that Grif and I both still have it. We may be rusty in areas, but the foundation we built over the past several years is still very much there. Our trust in one another has grown, too, and with that I'm really excited to see what we may accomplish later this year.
If I have my druthers, I'd really like to get out to two or three MDHT schooling trials at Loch Moy this year. That will certainly depend on time/finances though. However, making it to these events will depend greatly on finances and scheduling conflicts (of which I have many lol).
What I absolutely DO plan to do this spring, however, is to construct several more XC jumps on my property that aren't in the horses' pasture. I've got three or four designs in mind right now, and I have all the materials I need to construct them. It's really just a matter of finding the time to do the grunt work once the weather breaks. I reckon focusing on one jump every couple weeks will be more than doable though.
The project as a whole should be much simpler than building a barn was last year, haha! And the thrill of having my own little private XC course will be beyond awesome. As much as I wish for more snow to ski (we did have 4-6" dumped on us last night), this project certainly has me eager for spring weather more than ever. Ah well, I'll have to be patient.
After a very seasonable winter for the first time in 7 years, the weather has finally given way to spring. With it, returns footing that is more welcoming for workouts!
Yeehaw, good footing and jompies!
Unlike many, I do not have an indoor riding space where I keep my horses. There is a 30-foot round pen, but that's it. All of the training I put in at home is performed in a field across a creek from the main pasture area and that field has been inundated with water for a very long while. Every footfall would result in a very unsatisfactory squish, squish, squish these past many months if the temperatures weren't cold enough to freeze it.
There may be riding more but there is definitely not more sharing, sorry Taiga!
But finally, at long last, things are drying out, the water table is returning to a more normal place, and riding can commence again!
We started the month by heading to the annual vaccine clinic where I saved a ridiculous amount of money getting all three horses vaccinated and cleared for out-of-state travel for the year. As per the norm, the day of the vaccine clinic was cold and wet. I swear, if we're ever in a drought, people could pay my vet to schedule one of these clinics and be guaranteed rain.
Stan celebrated his 17th birthday by going to a vaccine clinic and getting stabbed repeatedly! Wee! But really, he got to eat a bunch of hay and wear seafoam green and chill with Q all day.
Following our exams, Chelsey and I spent some time riding in the covered arena. Griffin was on HIGH alert due to a particularly terrifying parade float (and a not-terrifying firetruck) that was parked in a far corner of the arena. I had no desire to ride a horse kite, so I just set him loose to burn off his energy and calm down.
Grif: ATTENTION THERE IS A HORSE EATING SPARKLY THING OVER THERE!
JL: Well, okay. If you insist...
He was more animated than he's ever been and it was hilarious to me.
Eventually though, he calmed enough to trust me to lead him to the float
where he nudged and snuffled it with his nose. He was a cool cucumber
once he realized it couldn't eat him!
Originally, I'd planned to set up some jumps and jump, but unfortunately they're storing the jumps in a different location unknown to me (currently) and I had to switch gears to practice some flatwork. It was disappointing as I'd really wanted to jump on good footing for the first time in months, but riding Griffin away from home was the most important thing for the day.
From dressaging to teaching Griffin the cloverleaf barrel pattern! Kid picked it up REALLY FAST and I think I may need to find some fun shows in the future. I definitely understand why you'd want a longer stirrup for this... I felt rather unsteady in my short jumping stirrups when he really started scooting his butt around the turns!
The energy he had when he was scared dissipated into some lovely trot work during our ride. Overall, he was excellent for everything we worked on at the arena. I could tell that all of the lessons from last year carried over in both our work product and his mental game. Such a damn good horse.
And then I had to jump something after bringing our jumping attire. So we flopped the barrel down and tackled it.
-------
A week later, after days of sunshine and wind, the footing in our back field was finally to a place where I felt more than comfortable putting in a solid jump school. We hadn't jumped much of anything in MONTHS. In fact, if I'm being completely honest, we simply haven't ridden much in months. (See note about seasonable winter above.) I was psyched to get out and work over real jumps and was even happier when Griffin showed up to work on the same page as I.
Not too shabby for many months off. I'll take it!
I'm really pleased to report that 2'9" feels like nothing to us now. I mean, it felt like nothing to Grif before, I'm pretty sure, but I had a mental block with it quite often. Fortunately, after months of working on my own weaknesses both physically and mentally, I'm on the same page with Griffin.
It also helps that I'm not underestimating the height of my jumps
anymore lol! For years I have been miscalculating the height of our
jumps, underestimating them by 3". Not a huge error in the grand scheme
of life, especially when you consider I only have 4' standards and
haven't pushed the envelope above 3' more than a handful of times in the
past many years. All the same, I'm grateful to have recognized and corrected my error.
With accurate height measurements and renewed mental fortitude on my end, jumping is all the more exciting. I have so much trust in Griffin and my own abilities. We're not doing anything crazy (yet?), but what we are doing feels GOOD.
There is absolutely room for improvement, but damn am I happy with this new baseline going into a new season. Griffin meets me at the gate daily now, so I know he's just as happy with the work.
: : : : :
I'm heading east to audit a dressage clinic this weekend. I'm confident it will light a fire in me to get to work with even greater renewed focus this year. I hope to get some lessons scheduled with a relatively local instructor in May and then get to a trainer in Virginia by June.
April 2014 to April 2018. Dirty but oh so hunky - and he isn't even in shape right now! *swoon*
Finances will certainly limit the amount of lessons I'm able to take and the number of competitions we're able to enter. Still...this year just feels GOOD. I'm so in love with this grey horse (and Q and Stan!) and really, really excited with where we're at and the possibilities that lie ahead.
He makes me so damn happy <3
But mostly? It just feels good to be out there riding and working toward improvement goals, one step at a time.
: : : : :
How about you! Do you feel good with where you're at going into this competition season? Perhaps you live in an area that has facilitated an early start to your season - how do you feel with what you've done so far? Or maybe you're still waiting on some things to fall into place in other areas?
Thanks, Emma, for alerting me to this sale - I'd overlooked the email!
When these went on sale and part of my purchase was guaranteed to help wounded warriors, I couldn't help but finally buy some pro
prints from Loch Moy on Sept.
10. We competed in theelementary division (finishing second) and schooled BN XC for our first time.
I have so much to improve on still, but I also have so much to be
grateful for. I trained this horse from the ground up all by myself, I
ride alone 99% of the time, and I am very largely self-taught with all
things jumping - that we went out and conquered this childhood dream
thrills me beyond words.
His happy ears and attempts to pull my arms off in his sheer excitement (so evident in the photos) say it all! This is only the beginning 💙
He wasn't super impressed with the height, but that's okay!
He still looked super cute
I love that even though this round was so scrappy, he was there for me and powered through
Happy relaxed ears!
I hope he's always so tidy with his hind end.
Turn and burn...or something. Mostly just awkward AF
So consistent with his little knees <3
First competition bank! He absolutely charged to this which made me nervous lol
Grif was very proud of himself afterward and attempted to throttle up more gears than I was ready for... in due time buddy!
His left ear on my asking if we seriously have to slow it down a few notches
His right ear on my asking if we seriously have to slow it down a few notches. Yes, Grif, seriously.
Now
his determined/annoyed ears because I'm holding him back so strongly...
Sorry for the total lack of release, dude, but we are not ready to
gallop pell-mell around this course yet!
Still annoyed, but at least I gave him a nanometer release
This
jump is actually an elementary fence (the only elem XC photo they had)and you
can see how much more relaxed we both are. This level is below what we
school so I was happy to let him power through a little more.
My face notes my nerves here... Grif was foot-perfect though! He's such a good boy even when we disagree on pacing.
Looking
down at Griffin and telling him good boy...though I should be looking
up toward the next jump! Look at his tidy hind end though
Following dressage, I had about 90 minutes before my scheduled stadium round. I untacked Grif, gave him a drink, and tossed him on the trailer with hay. Emma and I grabbed drinks and snacks and headed out to see the stadium course and walk cross country.
The stadium course was simple and very similar to what we'd jumped 10 days prior at Twilight. I had faith that my worries about not remembering my course wouldn't come to fruition on this day.
Following our XC walk, we returned to the trailer to get Grif and I dressed for our jumping phases. Emma took this time to surprise me with a gift from her and Austen. Emma had alluded to a "surprise" in the days leading up to the event, but I never guessed the magnitude of this surprise!
I was first handed a card that read:
We're all so proud of you for doing the thing with Griffin. You work so hard, and that dedication shows in Griffin and your performances. Knowing you're too damn practical to buy things like this for yourself, we chipped in to get you guys looking just as professional as you perform and train. Hope everything fits and you like it!
As I finished reading, chuckling inwardly about the public damning of my practicality, I looked up at Emma with a questioning look and was handed a navy blue PRI XC saddle pad (the color I dreamed of putting Grif and I in one day once we'd proven ourselves a little within the sport of eventing) and Isabel's old XC boots!
Color me SHOCKED...and immediately floored with gratitude for the incredible generosity friendship displayed. Tears sprang to my eyes a bit, but I blinked them back and then proceeded to hug Emma in thanks about 3 times in a span of 2 minutes. And because that wasn't enough - THANK YOU, again, Emma & Austen. <3
And so, Grif was quickly outfitted in his new duds and I donned my matching blue sunshirt and we headed off to warm up!
Warm up for jumping was chaotic at best when I arrived. It wasn't the busiest, but those who were present were not doing a great job of navigating around in a courteous manner. Fortunately, Emma rescued Grif and I and helped us make the best of a crazy (for us) situation. I suspect traffic of riding around other people will continue to be a harder task than the actual jumping or dressage for us for awhile. Grif handled everything beautifully though, which made me very proud.
With Emma's guidance, we practiced each jump a time or two on each lead, the main bobbles occurring when I would hesitate due to traffic. Traffic aside, warm-up went smoothly and Griffin perked up from his typical dressage stupor.
The schedule was running ahead, so with no major concerns to focus on in warm-up, we headed right on up to the stadium course.
Grif and I watched the round ahead of us - a zoomy little pony absolutely tearing it up! - and then headed in for our own round.
To me, the whole round felt a lot scrappier than our stadium round at Twilight. I knew we were burying ourselves at the base of the fences more than necessary and I felt like my riding went to pot. However, we got through the round clear!
I called to Emma as we exited the arena, "Scrappy!!" Because that's how it felt, clear, but scrappy as hell. Emma noted that I did a good job staying out of Griffin's way so he could accomplish the task at hand. She also helped clear up some concepts for re: developing my eye for distances. Despite having read and heard much on the subject, the way Emma worded the same information was in such a way that it finally "clicked" in my head. I've been implementing several of her recommendations in the weeks since this event and am really pleased with the improvements!
Overall, I felt good about the stadium course. Grif had another positive experience of doing the thing and at this point, that is what matters the most. I was grateful I could guarantee a positive experience for him despite feeling that I was having an off day. As we headed back down for a quick XC warmup, I tried to muster my own mental game up to snuff so I could be there for Grif through the next phase...
With dressage behind us, my nerves in a remarkably settled place, and a smile on my face, Griffin and I entered the warm-up area for stadium jumping. I just walked him at first, settling us both into the new environment and reminding myself of the night's goals once again. Primary goal 1: Give Griffin show miles; primary goal 2: give Griffin the feeling of success in a new job; secondary goal: finish on a number not a letter.
Emma once again shared some strategy with me and I set off trotting and cantering the crossrail, then trotting and cantering the small vertical, then cantering each the big vertical and the oxer.
With each jump, Griffin seemed to wake up and come alive. Jumping is what he loves most and he seemed to be all too pleased with the realization that he now would now get to jump instead of flatting.
Emma called out multiple times, "He looks great!" "Good job!" "You all look awesome." To each, I grinned.
Happy pony. Also, need to put my stirrups up at least a hole! They've been long as I've nursed yet another ankle injury...
This horse truly loves jumping. And so, without much else to prove, we headed down to check in with the steward and await our turn.
Admittedly, in preparation for this event, I was more concerned about the jumping phases than dressage. Griffin is pretty proven with jumping at home, but new-to-him jumps can sometimes be a cause for pause. I really wasn't sure how he'd handle all of those stadium jumps since they were so much more substantial (fill, etc.) than anything we had at home. I merely hoped that with some verbal encouragement, leg, and the whip, we'd make it through.
When we were allowed to enter the ring, I trotted him in and around a few of what I thought may be "scarier" jumps to let him see them. In mere seconds, the bell was rung to signal us to begin. I knew I had a few more seconds to spare if I needed to let him see things in the ring, but he'd been pretty calm, so I turned him toward the first jump and we were off!
No 7b for our round (as noted in upper left corner)
Grif handily tackled the first few jumps with little issue. He gave them a healthy look-see, but mostly, he was obedient and forward. He knew his job and he went at it.
Around the 4th jump, I realized I needed to really sit up and ride more to help him out. I mean, I was riding before, but I was spending more time encouraging and praising - which wasn't a bad thing! - I just needed to, you know, be more present in the riding sense, too. (Admittedly, the whole experience was overwhelming in the most exciting of ways and my squirrel brain wasn't keeping up.)
And so I got with the program and gave him more leg to push him more forward over the jumps.
Hunt that jump, Grif!
I wondered how he'd take this fan jump...total nonevent! He was in the ZONE at this point.
He didn't like these colors. NO TOUCHY!
It was basically The Most Fun. And honestly, it was over a little too soon!
(Video thanks to Emma's friend Rachael who joined the entourage after her Novice round.)
The whole experience only widened the perma-grin on my face. This horse, you guys. <3
Amidst congratulatory words from Austen, Rachael, and Emma, we headed straight to the warm up for XC and I put Griffin over a few solid jumps.
He was totally game for these and even gave a small buck and squeal which garnered a giggle and, "He feels really good!" from Emma. Yes. Yes he does. Welcome to Griffin the Jumping Horse. He's a different animal, for sure.
Griffin in JUMP ALL THE THINGS mode
Twilight events host a fraction of the people that the same venue's starter trials do, which was a big draw for me. The second draw was knowing that the XC course would be setup so that each division's jump height was in a line at each obstacle. A rider could choose to school any height. As such, during our course walk I had picked a few higher option jumps. (Griffin is very confirmed over higher jumps at home, but the "question" of XC jumps were something I didn't want to push unless it was very friendly. See primary goal 2: Give the horse a feeling of success at his first show.)
Only two fences on XC gave me pause during our walk: a friendly log that had been hollowed out to allow for plants to be grown, and a painted jump with some very threadbare fake brush extending from the top. I had a feeling that the log with vegetation would end up being a nonevent by the time we got to it and had a feeling Griffin would give the janky brush jump a pretty hairy eyeball before considering going over. I didn't fret much in the moment though because I was committed to this being a schooling experience for time and miles. If we had trouble, we'd school it.
Two jumps I thought may give Grif pause.
Knowing we were plenty warm and ready to go, I opted to head right on over to XC and get started.
Wearing my perma-grin with a healthy dose of Holy Shit I Can't Believe I'm Finally Doing This, we checked in with the steward who gave us the go ahead, and headed out on our first XC course.
The first two jumps were the most basic of basic. Griffin hesitated a titch, but was still forward and game.
As we cleared the second, we had a bit of downhill dip before a very mild uphill approach to the third. No stranger to working on a grass or in a field or on varied terrain, Griffin powered forward into a strong canter on the downhill and I let him carry it toward the third jump.
In this moment between jumps, cantering on this horse that I've trained from the ground up I couldn't help but tear up a little as I smiled at the realization we were out here doing the very thing I'd dreamed of doing since I was a child. I felt a lot of feels in those few seconds before reining myself in to focus on the task at hand.
The third jumps were all stained a near-black. The elementary jump was a simple log and the others were all coops of appropriate height for their division. As much as I wanted to opt for a bigger height here, I was worried Grif would find the dark color surprising, so decided we would stick with the low option so he didn't have to process more than necessary.
In anticipation of him needing a bit more processing, I slowed his canter a notch approaching the dark jumps. He did indeed take an extra moment to process the jump but decided quickly that it was okay and powered us over it amidst copious praise from me.
We accelerated our canter up the slight hill as we headed to the next jump and the subsequent "jump", a quick up-down hummock that Griffin slayed. #endurancecrosstrainingFTW
The next several jumps were easy breezy and the only notable thing between them was that Grif accelerated into a nice hand gallop that had me giggling all the while.
Jump 7 was a hanging log that had been hollowed out in the middle to allow for the installation of flowers. I wondered if this would bother Grif at all to only be proven that nope, he didn't give a flying damn about it. Over and onward we went to, eventually approaching our first water complex where he absolutely took pause to ask, "Um, I'm thirsty, can I drink this?" No, buddy, you can't drink right now, I'm sorry, but MOVE forward. C'mon!
From the water, we headed to jump 10, the one I thought may bring Grif the most pause of any jump on course because it wasn't a natural color (it was lavender) and it had the jankiest "brush" fingers extending from the top of it.
Sure enough, son gave it healthy stank eye and balked a bit as we jumped it. But we were over and off and that's all that mattered!
Between 10 and 11, Grif felt more downhill than he had the whole course. In review of the video, this was because he was taking a dump! Well, I'll take that! Any horse that can take a crap at speed is okay with me.
Jump 11 was a complex of very inviting logs, so I opted for the BN option here and Griffin jumped it the same as he'd jumped the majority of jumps on the course. He was rollin' at this point and it was no big thang.
#creepstar3000 #helicoptermom
From 11 to 12, I needed to take a wide approach to hit my line. I, uh, forgot this until the last minute and whipped out and around to make up for it. In the process of taking this wide and laughing at my near folly not doing so, I looked up to see Austen and Rachael and the orange side-by-side/Gator/ORV that had seemed to maybe be following me during the course - a fact I'd dismissed in my focus on Griffin. In these few seconds of reconnecting with the world outside the one of me riding my horse though, I recognized a particular fluorescent pink/orange in the side-by-side... Emma?!, my head questioned, but I quickly dismissed the thought and focused on the upcoming jump...
Jump 12 was similar to the janky lavender finger brush jump at 10, so I wasn't too concerned about a refusal from Grif. I clucked and added lots of leg and over we went!
We were through another water complex for 13 with less hesitation than we'd had at 9, picking up a powerful canter as we exited and headed for the final jump where I ended with the BN option once more.
From the landing of the final jump to the finish, I congratulated and praised Griffin, my smile bigger than it had been all day. That. Was. AWESOME.
What a freaking thrill! I am honestly not sure who had more fun, the horse or me. Remember how I noted that Griffin came alive during the stadium warm-up? That "aliveness" only grew in an exponential fashion as we proceeded from the stadium warmup through the stadium phase into the XC warmup and finally through the XC course. I had an inkling of an idea before we'd ever tried our hand at this sport that Griffin would be one of those horses that lives for XC, and I feel pretty confirmed in that hunch now that we've tackled our first event.
Ohmygoodnessgracious. Seriously. SO much fun.
Austen, Rachael, and Emma (IN THE SIDE BY SIDE) quickly met up with me at the finish, everyone smiling and congratulating Griffin and I. We all laughed at the fact that Emma had been stalking me the whole ride in the gator like a #creepstar3000 #helicoptermom
So let's review my goals for this outing: give Griffin some show miles, ✓ ; confirm his confidence in this sport, ✓ We tackled each - with ease! And then we went on to go double-clear and finish on our [sub-40] dressage score to boot! All of this resulted in us finishing SECOND of NINETEEN competitors in the elementary division.
Um, WOW. Completely and totally unexpected, but I'll take it. Griffin doesn't know or care where he finished; he only knows I'm PSYCHED with him right now for doing something he really enjoyed. Damn, do I love this horse.
We've got our next even lined up in the very near future, so look for another recap soon. I am, once again, only shooting to give Grif a positive experience, so cross your fingers he has as much fun as he did this time.
