King Oak Farms H.T. 5/10/09

WE DID IT :D :D :D


Oh we did, we did, we did! Gogo tromped her field of 20 on this beautiful, windy, sunny day to win her first Novice on her dressage score of 31.1!

What an awesome day. It wasn't without some hairy, sticky spots, but for the most part it was just beautiful and flawless. I was totally thrilled with her performance. With all the rain we've been getting, it was nice to see some sunshine, even if it was windy. I had actually been hoping for some wind with all the trouble with the stupid bugs we've had lately, and I lucked out.

We were sparkling and shiny for our dressage, all fancied up with our lovely little braids:



I like my buttons, they were all right. I actually had three people come watch me - yay friends!! - and I got on with a little over an hour to warm up for dressage. Unfortunately for me, it's realllllllly hard to gauge how long it's going to take Gogo to warm up. Sometimes it's a half hour, sometimes it's an hour and a half til I feel like she's ready. The warmup was a big freaking pockmarked mess with all the mess and the mud we've had, but we did the best we could and stayed squished into one tiny little area about the size of a 20-meter circle where the footing wasn't so bad, with about 10 other people too. There actually was a girl and her horse who literally both took a nosedive in the warmup directly in front of me when the horse tripped on a pothole. They both rolled over, got up, and were fine. Man that has to be unnerving during your dressage warmup right before you go in the ring! Anyway, Gogo warmed up beautifully, and a lot faster than I anticipated. Of course, right? The ring ran kind of slow and I ended up overworking her, much to my dismay. When she's ready, she's ready, and you can't take a nice long rein walk break because you'll never get her back. You can see in the video (which I will post later) that she was tired and lacking impulsion in her trotwork. FINALLY, we went in the ring (20 minutes late!!) and Gogo put in an awesome test. The judging I felt was very tough but fair at the same time - we got several 8's, several 7's, one totally deserved 9 for a beautiful trot movement across the diagonal, and two 5's, one for a pretty crappy free walk (which I kind of anticipated, and accepted as something that needs more work... I gave her some rein and she stayed right there instead of stretching... ohhhh well) and one for our halt which was actually mostly square, but I felt her leaving her right hind behind her, so I put my right leg on. Lately, when she's been leaving a leg behind instead of being square, if I ask her to correct it she does. Today, however, she did mega rhumba butt to the left when I put my right leg on, so we had a pretty crooked halt. Not a 5 really, but there you are. Our score, despite those two 5's, was still a 31.1, and we were in 1st after dressage with no rails in hand (second place was a 34 something).



Back at the trailer, we had some drink and some munchy, and then got ready for stadium. I only gave her about a 10-15 minute warmup that was mostly walk, trot, canter and about three fences, and then we went in. I was a little anxious since I had just found out I was in 1st, so I overrode the course and got a few wonky spots, totally my fault. The arena was tiny and hard to ride in, and the course was seriously wasn't even a minute and a half long, and we were clean. It wasn't the prettiest course, but clean is what matters, and we have our homework cut out for us - mostly just concerning my brain!

No pictures yet - will get some professional ones when they get put online and I get proofs :)

I had everyone help me to quick pull her braids out and do a fast tack change, and with all the sets of hands we were done early, and had about 10 minutes to get a good drink and some grass (and a bite of a Nutrigrain bar for me - seriously, I haven't eaten in like two days because I've been so jittery) before getting on for x-country), and then it was off to x-country. I mostly walked, did some trot and some motoring canter just to get her trucking, and made her wait for my few warmup fences. I just wanted to give her a good, quiet, conservative ride, and I knew we'd be fine if I did. The first two little logs on course she oogled at, the third log she really oogled at, and the fourth coop she majorly hesitated. I never felt like she was going to stop or run out, but as a precaution, I gave her a little pop with my bat. And she LAUNCHED right from where she was, and landed WAY right on the other side... where there was a giant tree, right in front of us, about two strides away. Oh crap!! I went to veer right around it, and she instead veered left, so we had a moment of lost stirrupness and lost time as I slowed to pick it back up and continue down the steep hill at a trot. Oh well, that wasn't too pretty but the rest of the course from then on out just got better and better. We had the best down bank of my life at the bottom of the hill, made it through the palisade combination easily, went up the up bank and made the cranker to the totally freaky chevrons smoothly (I thought for her she'd look at it... apparently not! I left that with a big smile on my face!) and everything else went smoothly from there on our, including the broken line. She jumped it at a bit of a slice, landed big and totally let me, for maybe the first time on course ever, give a strong half-halt and a tight turning aid and had absolutely no fuss or problems approaching the next fence, just a few strides away. The hedge of doom, as I predicted, was not touched but totally jumped over, but it felt totally nice. From there on our, it was smooth sailing, and despite the bad bobble with fence four, we came in cleanly under the time, securing our first place finish.

And in doing so, we beat out 19 others, clinched our first victory at Novice, scored a bunch of points for the Leaderboard, qualified ourselves for Area 1 Championships, and got a qualifying score for the AECs - and we even got pretty stuff to boot:




I've got the best mare in the world, victory is sooooooooooooo sweet, and life is soooooooooooooooooooo good.






Oh wait, one more thing: my dad bought the truck!!!!!!!!!!



It's still in MI so we have to make a renvezvous to switch vehicles, but there it is. I didn't want a silver one but seriously, can I even say that without sounding like a really snotty little wench? My first Jeep was named Taco (solid Mexi food), the Durango is Shaker (liquid-ish foody-drink), so we decided to come full circle and go all the way into full Mexi liquids - we're calling it Patrón (tequila!). It's totally covered in chrome so I feel like it seriously fits. They see me rollin', they hatin'.....

Today's the Day.

It's finally here.
After months of training, waiting, dreaming, our first horse trial of the year is today.
We've put hours and hours in, worked impossibly hard, made ourselves work when we didn't want to, suffered setbacks and enjoyed massive progression at the same time.
This is her first Novice ever, and it's not easy.
This is our first Area I event, and we are competing against 20 tough competitiors.

We've worked so hard for this.
And we are ready.



Wish us luck today.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow!

I've had a great couple of days preparing for the King Oak Farms H.T., which begins today, and which I ride in tomorrow. Thursday is gallop day, but since it's honestly been raining for about two and a half weeks without stopping, the field is very wet and I don't want to chew up the ground. Instead, I went on a nice trail ride/hack with another one of our boarders to the only set of trails anywhere remotely near the barn. The mini system backs up to my gallop field, and it's about a 10-15 minute loop, nothing more. But Gogo was absolutely delighted to have a friend to go with, and was super cheerful before and after. That cheer lasted into yesterday, when we had a really good dressage school, our last one before the show. Our transitions and canters weren't *quite* where I wanted them to be, but no matter, they will come when we're at the show. She had some completely fabulous trotwork, and I finished a little bit early when she gave me the most balanced down transition to walk - simple and sweet, doesn't need to be any more complicated than that. After that, I hose her, grazed her, put her away with her fan on (yes it was finally that warm yesterday, and sunny too!) and headed out to the King Oak property to scout out the lay of the land and to walk the courses.

Oh boy. They're not easy.

Well, I take that back. The stadium's not bad. However, it's in a teeeeeny little arena and all the jumps are all on top of each other, so it's very busy looking.



But nothing we can't handle. Except the fences are definitely going to be maxed out. They had it set for Training and I'm CERTAIN that they were bigger than 3'3". Actually, I just checked the rulebook and it says that heights are 3'3" but the highest points on spreads can be 3'9" for Training. WTF?

And the cross-country course? Yep, pretty much had a heart attack when I saw a few of these puppies:








Greyhound to scale! Yes, those are some tough questions for her and they're all at almost 3', except for the Brush Fence of Doom, which is a maxed out 3'7". It's HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE. Knowing Gogo, she'll just pop right over it, in a totally enormous and relaxed kind of way, and I will just hang the hell on. The first two fences of the course are really small and shared with BN, which is nice - get you rolling on the right foot. Then you turn up a really steep, gravelly hill into the woods, and head to fence three, which is a big chunky log and is pictured here. From there you hit another huge palisade and then go down a really steep hill to fence 5, which is the big drop pictured with my Ti jumping off of it. She's a big greyhound folks, she's not some teeny thing! So I'll be hauling on her and trotting off of that, which then takes me into a big meadow where we have our first two-stride combination. Back into the woods we go, this time to an up bank, and then we have a hard cranker of a turn to the biggest chevrons EVER, also pictured. Seriously, that's Novice?? Back down into the meadow and through the water for obstacle 9, and then the exit is three strides to a little barn for fence 10. A nice big hayrack and a trakehner follow, and then we have a hard question - her first offset fences on x-country, pictured. They're not REALLY that offset, but they're maxed out, and I'll have to be careful and just gauge how she's going. And then... THE BRUSH FENCE OF DOOM! Seriously, from far away I thought, oh that's going to be so nice, and then I got up close. BAM! That thing is completely maxed out at 3'7", which is the brush height for Novice. Problem is, I don't really know that Gogo gets that she can touch the brush. I have a feeling we'll just be leaping over it. From there, the course is almost over - fence 15 is a simple set of funky pieces of wood (like lincoln logs sort of), and then a big gallop to a sharp turn, ending over a simple and small bench that is shared with BN. Start easy, end easy. It's the middle that's not so easy!

If I just give her a good ride we'll be fine. If she's as relaxed as she was on Monday, we'll be fine. But man it's going to be prettttttty exciting, I can tell you that! The course will definitely knock people out of the competition, it's tough. It's her first Novice and I'm understandably getting the pre-show jitters!

Today we clean tack, hook up, air up tires, clip and trim, handwalk (I get way too pressured before a show to actually give her a good ride the day before), pack up,
and bathe. Tomorrow before I leave I'll braid, and then head out for the first really big show of the 2009 season.


I've got butterflies and I'm totally excited. This competiton means business. There are a full 20 people in my division and they're not joking around, and neither are the courses. The pressure is on to place well, but in the end I just want to give her a good ride and make it a good experience.

Totally, totally psyched.

OH YEA.

YES.
FINALLY.
WE GOT AN X-COUNTRY SCHOOL IN.
AND IT WAS AWESOME.

I feel SO much better now!! I was completely wigged out about the possibility of not getting to school before King Oak next weekend, and I feel completely and utterly relieved! She was honestly and truly PERFECT. I could not have asked for a better school.

Now it's been raining. It's been raining for like, a month straight. Where am I, Washington state? What's up Mother Nature, seriously? This is the precise reason why we HAVEN'T been able to school so far. Yesterday, I had my two-hour conditioning hack, and it rained pretty much the entire time - we were dressed to the nines in a waterproof quarter sheet, waterproof saddle cover, Gortex pants, and raincoat over all our normal clothing. We got pretty wet... bleugh! Even today, the place I was supposed to go schooling, Mystic Valley, was rained out. I spent the morning playing vague phone-and-email tag with the President of the hunt club, and finally, late afternoon, I felt like I was going to give up, because I hadn't heard if the course was open or not. That's when one of our awesome boarders walked in, heard me out on my dilemma, called her Area I friends, and suggested going to Frazier Farm instead, where another one of our boarders keeps her horse during the summer (except not this summer, because she's crippled and staying here instead). I called them up, and they said sure, come on down! (Mystic then e-mailed me saying that their course was for sure closed, so that sealed the deal). Shannon and I rushed through our afternoon chores, loaded up, and headed out.

Frazier Farm was pretty simple. It had a bunch of connected fields with a bunch of random jumps in each, stadium and x-country alike. A few of the jumps were a bit rink-a-dink, but for the most part they were pretty good. Gogo was SUPERB. Didn't look at a THING, never a hesitation. There was a tiny little ditch and a few banks, and she did some totally complicated things for her level, like three strides up a REALLY steep little hill over a log at the top to two strides directly back down the steep little hill - never done anything like that before. She also did her first Training-style up bank one stride to a down bank. She had a little hesitation on the way up, and a little hesitation when she went "whoa we're already going back down?" but it was totally just a little greenness and she did it gamely anyway. Perfect. Just perfect. And then we hacked around the property on the buckle, just having a grand old time.






As you can see, one or two very minor burbles but for the most part, really solid and quiet. Love it!

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All right, here's my list of caca I have to do, which kind of makes sense only in my own head, but oh well:

TO DO BEFORE KING OAK:
Don’t forget show BELT - Friday
Put show clothes in trailer - Friday
Air in trailer tires – Sunday AM
Air in Shaker tires – Sunday AM
Gas up – Friday/Saturday
SNACKS! – Monday/Tuesday
Get baby oil – Monday/Tuesday
Make up Laser Sheen – Monday/Tuesday
Clean dressage tack – Friday PM
Clean jumping tack – Friday PM
Head count – boots, gloves, spurs, helmet – Friday PM
Bathe – Sunday AM
Clip - Saturday
Trim – Saturday
Trim feet - Friday
Braid – Sunday AM
Put sleazies on – Sunday AM
Polish boots - Friday
Don’t forget Supracor – Friday PM
Don’t forget bits, both!! – Friday PM
Metal polish – Friday PM
Get directions - Wednesday
Clean helmet - Friday
Put helmet in trailer! - Friday
Charge cameras - Friday
Don’t forget cameras!! - Saturday
Memorize dressage test – ALL WEEK!
Go up on Friday – Friday
Inventory ALL MY STUFF, make sure I have it all! - Friday

DONE:
Get ride times
Clean out trailer tack room
Clean out trailer back
Organize show clothes
Clean out brush box

RIDE TIMES:
Dressage: 05/10/2009 01:45 pm
Stadium: 05/10/2009 03:20 pm
Cross Country: 05/10/2009 04:32 pm

We're counting down. T-minus five days and counting! There's 20 people in Open Novice F.... can we best what New England has to offer?


(Oh, and one more thing. Remember the ProMotion EQ joint supplement? Yeah, just so happened to glance at the label one more time today - just NOW noticed that it has yucca in it. Yucca tests at shows. Had to yank it.... I'm splitting a big huge thing of Cosequin ASU with another boarder instead, which is the superior products... but it's like a zillion times more expensive. Thankfully this boarders gets it super cheap, 80 days for $125. Oye...)


(Oh wait, one LAST thing. I promise just one more. Aren't these freaking awesome? Just one of the many things I picked up at Rolex this year. They're light blue AND they have little jumping Gogos on them! My old polos had holes in them, so it was time for some new ones.)

A Tribute to Quincy, Five Years Later

Oh, beautiful Quincy.

Five years ago today, an era ended. A tragic time of my life when every moment was wrought with agony, wretched teen angst to the Nth degree - a time when I should not have lived to see my 18th year. Early June of 2001, I was blessed enough to have a beautiful black horse enter my life in an explosive way, knocking his two handlers both off their feet as he burst from the trailer, screaming at the top of his lungs and swinging wildly. He was a reject by all means, enough to match even the likes of me - he once upon a time had been a 4th level dressage horse, an eventer, a foxhunter, a fabulous show animal, but he contracted EPM and fought a long and uphill battle against it. His owner, once he had been fully treated, had left him in a stall for two years, trying at some point to sell him for $17,000 to someone, but he had been sent back with the claim he was "unmanageable." She then turned to my barn, the place she had once kept him, and contacted my old trainer, dumping him on her. She didn't really want him either, so she turned to me, and of course I couldn't say no. I was 16, I was rebellious and wild, and I had always dreamed of a black horse. It was love at first sight, as he trampled his handlers, and little did I know that this creature would be the end to all my suffering and pain.

We did everything together - rode for hours and hours, with and without tack, up and down trails, to the cider mill, through the woods, over jumps, around dressage arenas, though giant fields... everywhere. We would hold gallop races in the summer, and would leap into snowbanks in the winter. He was by no means perfect; he could not stand still, he had residual neurological damage from the fight with EPM, he spent most of his time subsequently tripping and falling on his face, his back was fifty miles long, and he was hopelessly attached to his friends. But I didn't care. To me he was the most beautiful creature I could have ever imagined - a god amongst horses - and when we strode off into the sunset together we were one. I rode him under the winter moon in giant silvery snowdrifts, I walked with him side by side on the ground through the autumn leaves. We went everywhere and did everything together. I was a kid in love for the first time, and he was a creature whom no one else had wanted or loved; we were truly inseparable.

We had our few moments of glory. I helped reshape his mind and body for two years, and this little success was proven only twice at two separate dressage shows, where we were Reserve Champion and High Score Trakehner at one of them. It was at Training level, and the competition was only mildly threatening, but to me we were world champions. I didn't care about competition back then; that drive only came when I had Metro. Back when I was 16 and 17, I only cared about spending time with my best friend. I laid with him in the grassy jump field in the summer. I groomed his black coat to a gleaming shine every single day. I reveled not in what ribbons and prizes could be won, but what a little elbow grease and some love can do to a dark horse, and what a little love and care can do to turn around a creature that someone else had looked upon as nothing more than a mere commodity. Horses and the joy that comes from them were simpler to me back then.

What a wretched time in my life outside of the barn. Plagued by the terrible gripping angst that for some unknown reason took a much harsher hold in me than most of my peers, I spent most of my time self-mutilating and plotting my own suicide. Quincy arrived in June of 2001, and in September of that same year, I had a breakdown. A real, severe, life-threatening breakdown. I spiralled out of control, addicted to my own way of self-medicating, and those around me struggled to help; I shunned all their efforts. Day after day, I would stagger home from school in the throes of agony, drugged to the eyeballs, doctored to my wit's end, and I would grit my teeth in preparation for carrying out whatever reckless suicidal plan I had schemed up. "I'll go say goodbye to Quincy," I used to say. "He doesn't really care about me anyway, but I'll go say goodbye." Somehow, I swear he always knew. In his clown-like way, he would always do something adorable or funny, and I would laugh and scratch his withers and feel instantly better. In his liquidy eyes I saw love, and a soul who couldn't care less about what anyone else said about me. He did not care about relationship problems, he did not care about clothing, he did not care about my failing grades, he did not care about the blood on my arms and my legs and my torso, he did not care about my other human relations, and he did not care about what all the doctors were saying about me. He cared that I was there to give him a banana and a scratch, and that I loved him. I always went home from the barn feeling better, and saying to myself, "Well... maybe I won't do it today." Quincy's arrival in my life, a few months before that complete and total mental breakdown, stopped what would have easily been just another teen angst suicide case from happening - he was primed and ready to be my shoulder to cry on, right before I needed it the most.

And so he helped me, for three years of misery. It wasn't the medicines they were giving me, it wasn't the therapy and treatments, it wasn't the many hospitalizations, it wasn't the doctors, and it wasn't any of the people that tried to help get me through that time. It was him, and his unwaivering companionship. I cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am for that.

And finally, in the springtime of 2004... finally, I was coming out of it. I had two horses then, with the arrival of Metro, and Quincy was slipping gracefully into retirement at his old folks' home in Clarkston. With all the falls we had under saddle (and sometimes, in the field on his own), I had decided it just wasn't right to keep riding him regularly, and after much back-and-forth discussion, we decided to retire him and move him to a place with hundreds of acres and fifty friends to live with. He was more than happy to oblige, and he loved it there. With my two amazing boys, I was the happiest girl alive, and my ridiculous suicidal urges were receding into the distance. I was healing. He turned me around, that fuzzy black horse. I am completely convinced that if there is such a thing as a guardian angel, it was Quincy, and he was sent to me right when I needed it the most, a few months before I needed him most.... and as soon as I was ready to stand on my own two feet again, it was time for him to leave. That fateful May 3rd, the most wretched and terrible colic I've ever seen took him from me. I'll write about his death maybe tomorrow, because today is a celebration of his life.

Really and truly, Quincy was a godsend. He was there to help me through my most miserable times, and left when I was ready to stand on my own without him. Three short years he was in my life. I wonder what he would be doing now if he was alive today. He would be 22 this year, fat and happy and sleek and black in the springtime sunshine. I always joked and said he'd be the best man at my wedding, and always imagined him with me years and years from now, still taking the occasional trail ride. I hate that can't ever see what he would have looked like in his old age. He would have been in his late 30's and still acting like an idiot, I know it. You couldn't have told him he was an old man; he would have never believed you. The other day, there was a Smartpak catalogue that came to the barn, and we were flipping through it. There was a whole section on fancy new red blankets and halters and shipping boots, and I felt myself wondering what might we be doing if he was still here. Where would he be living? At his age, would I still be buying him fancy red blankets and shipping boots? I'm sure I would, even though I bet he and Metro would just be living in a field somewhere by now. Would I have ever found Gogo if I still had either one of them? I think probably not. So I guess I have that to be thankful for too. I can just see fuzzy old Quincy now, in the May sunlight. He'd still be hairy from wintertime, and turning 22 of course, which is amazing all by itself. He'd pop his head up from eating the springtime grass across the field and stare at me until I reached him. i'd scratch his withers, he'd flip his lip trying to coax treats out of me, and I would laugh and nothing else in the world would matter. I wish he was still here, even if all he ever did was hang out in a field somewhere. Together we would go lay flat on our sides out in the field, like we did when we were kids in the summertime together, and everything in the world would be at peace.

I still have so much I owe to him, even today.


Five years. I can't believe it's been five years. An entire span of a college career has taken place from then until now, and more. So much has changed, so much has gone on. We take memories like this with us through everything we do, and take comfort in their unwaivering ability to never change even when everything else around us does. But can i even be honest with myself when I say they don't change? The memories are a little hazier, a little less sharp to me now. Five years ago on this day, I was curled up in a ball, completely inconsolable, crying my heart out, wanting to die. Four years ago, I was suffering leading up to the date, I was miserable and aching on the actual day, and I missed him and dreamed of him and wanted him home with me every second. Three years ago, I was still so sad, but I did other things on that day, especially since the death of Metro was then so much closer in my heart. Two year, I wrote long and beautiful things about him. Last year, I didn't even realize the date had arrived until I opened my phone and my heart sank into my stomach. This year, I barely even had time to think about him at all.


If you've lost someone that close to you - your absolute best friend, your complete savior, your angel, your soulmate - then you know what it feels like. and, as they say in Lemony Snicket, if you have not, you cannot possibly imagine it.





Rest in peace, my Fuzzman. You were my very best friend, my entire world, and my greatest healer. Not a day goes by when you are not in my heart, and I will cherish you until the end of time. I owe you my entife life; surely, I would not be here without you.

I miss you so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Return"
OK Go

Now it's years since your body went flat, and even memories of that
Are all think and dull, all gravel and glass
But who needs them now - displaced they're easily more safe -
The worst of it now: I can't remember your face...

Return...

For a while, with the vertigo cured, we were alive, we were pure
The void took the shape of all that you were
But years take their toll, and things get bent into shape
Antiseptic and tired, I can't remember your face...

Return...

You were supposed to grow old
You were supposed to grow old
Reckless, unfrightened, and old,
You were supposed to grow old.

Return... You were supposed to return...

Monthly Goals for May, and T-minus ONE WEEK!

May begins!! And our first event? Yep, it's exactly one week away.


May Goals:


1) Practice our Novice tests for the month of May, and really focus on improving whatever weak spots we have, including work on my position
Success! Mostly, anyway :) We've been practicing bits an pieces out of our Novice tests, especially focusing on our trot-canter transitions and coming back to work after our freewalks, and it's all coming together, mostly. I think we'll be all right. I'm still really focused on my position, and I'm really happy with how it's all coming along.

2) Successfully make it out to one or hopefully two x-country schoolings
Uh, fail. I tried... and tried... and tried. I might get to go Monday... if not, I'll just have to cross myself and go at King Oak. She's fit enough, I'm not worried about that... I'm just worried about her craziness!

3) Develop our gallop fitness
This is something we've really had a chance to develop, and it's been going amazingly well. We've been galloping for a month and a half now, and it's really starting to show in her body and spirit. The gallops are coming easily and her recovery times are swift.

4) REALLY focus on our trot-canter transitions, and our stretching
Success! We've made a lot of headway over the past six months with these two things, and our trot-canter transitions are becoming smooth and quiet instead of really upright and explosive. They were never BAD per se, but they were always a 6 instead of the 7 (or, rarely, the 8) that they are now. Same with the stretching... the other day I had THE smoothest freewalk to trot to canter, same as in our test, that I've EVER had. We'll grill this next week, and then hope that it sticks for the show!

5) Make it around our first 3'3"-3'6" courses in the show ring!
Success! Some moments were a little hairy, some moments were amazing, but we're there. Our foundation is built up to this height, and now we need to solidify it here. She's one hell of a jumper, I can tell you that.


My own goals are, as always, the same, because I've been a lazy caca-head about my exercise. I've started a new attack method - just take it as slow as can be, and gradually add a little more and a little more, and this seems to be working just fine.



May Goals:

1) Attend our first two recognized events of the year, and obtain two qualifying scores for the AECs and for Area I Championships
2) Continue to develop our gallops, and my gallop position
3) Continue to develop better stretch, and trot-canter transitions
4) Start to work a little more collection into our schooling dressage work
5) Have a little FUN out there ;)

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We've had a pretty effed-up week... everything'sgone a little catawampus. We've been show cleaning the facility for the schooling show that's being hosted here today (notice how DAMN EARLY I'm up right now? blah!) We hacked out briefly on Monday to get the juices flowing again, and she was hot as hellfire. Tuesday was a pretty unproductive dressage day, with about 5 minutes of civilized trot following an entire hour of wasted time. Wednesday I was supposed to have a dressage lesson but did not, so instead I went to gallop. Once again, hot as freaking blazes and I regretted going in the snaffle for our first canter set! She eventually settled down and gave me some fantastic work, but she used up a lot of energy fighting me and was tired by the time we were through. So then of course, on Thursday when we did have a lesson, despite getting some bute and getting wrapped and having a liniment bath the evening before, she was tense through her topline and it took another entire hour to warm her up. She gave me another half-hour of pretty excellent dressage work, but jeez, an hour and a half? And Friday, again, I was SUPPOSED to have another lesson but, obviously, my dog went for a sightseeing tour and we ended up giving Gogo that day off instead of today. Yesterday we had a pretty productive dressage lesson, and I was pleased with the work she gave me. She warmed up much faster and was giving me some excellent transitions and some picture perfect square halts. By the end of the lesson, it really felt like all her energy was coming from behind right into my hands, and I could actually capture it and direct it with it being more on my terms instead of hers. Hooray!

As for today, we have our two-hour conditioning hack, if the show ever ends. It's 4:30am and I'm off to clean stalls. Ugh.....

Rolex Kentucky 2009 - A Picture Journey

A picture journey through my Rolex trip this year:




The drive down was lovely, albeit a bit long. I flew to Cleveland and drove down with my fiancee, and we pulled it right around midnight.




The new facility looks awesome (complete with statue of Bruce Davidson and Eagle Lion negotiating the Head of the Lake complex), and we got to see a few people warming up for dressage.




They also had a FEH demonstation, and I had a heartattack when I found out who the lovely black filly was - I foaled her out at college, she was by our stallion and out of one of our schoolie mares and only the second foaling I had ever been present for, just one other student and myself. She was a minor dystocia at 2am, and we had to do some pulling. I was totally floored to find out that one of our stallion's offspring was actually DOING something! And wasn't evil either!




Fail... in years past, you could get in to see dressage without tickets. Now, you can't even get close. So, we watched on the Jumbotron. The Good Witch and Headley Brittania... MARE POWER! Bettina Hoy and Ringwood Cockatoo from Germany led with a 28.8... holy crap. Lucinda Fredericks and Headley Britannia (mare who already had won Badminton and Burghley) were in second with a 32. Third place and beyond were all in the 40's.




Rolex is fun.









Cross-country was amazing, as usual. Bettina Hoy had a rather frightening round and accumulated time faults, moving Lucinda Fredericks into first. The Good Witch suffered a fall on XC over the corners, but she's all right.




GO JUMPERS GO!




Headley Britannia wins it!! MARE POWER!!



The Good Witch through the Hollow:




Headley Britannia's winning stadium round:





It was awesome, and over way too fast.

Photo Adventure Fridays

This week's Adventure Fridays....

Niagara Falls, October 2006.
I went with two of my wonderful friends for an outstanding weekend to Niagara Falls, and we had all kinds of ridiculous fun, including when my roommate got a fine for throwing my rubbishy self into the ravine ;)

Brief.

I've meant all week to post my Rolex pictures, to follow up with my second post about Safety, to write about my monthly goals, and to write about Gogo's week as well, but I've been working HARD all week and I've been utterly exhausted, and also my dog went on a cruise this morning and we couldn't find her - I looked for 5 hours frantically before getting a phone call saying she was fine, she went to the neighbor's house where they let her in, fed her a TON of food, and let her sleep on the couch for 4 hours. Thank god they finally contacted me, jeez!

In other words, I'm a bit frazzled right now and I'm going to see the movie Earth, so you're just going to have to wait MORE!