First Attempt At Novice

Long time no post! My computer charger was broken for about 6 weeks, and I've been super busy.

Rileigh and I attempted our first Novice this weekend ...key word being "attempted."
We also did a Beginner Novice 2 weeks ago and we're doing the Area III YR Camp next week.

I had a super fun weekend, regardless. I went up to my friend's barn Thursday afternoon, and left early Friday morning with a convoy of 3 vehicles to go XC schooling with her trainer and then head to a little event. Our XC school was almost rained out, but it cleared up just as we were getting on. Rileigh was very good; my friend's trainer had never seen me ride before, but she loved him and asked if we wanted to show at Training level, because we looked like we were ready for it. That made me so happy, because I've had people tell me that Riles will never be able to go Training. We're definitely not near ready yet though! We schooled all the Training stuff -- double banks, 2 corners in a 1 stride combination(that may have be Prelim actually), banks and jumps into water, etc. Riles was great.

After schooling we headed up another hour and a half to the show venue, got the horses settled in, walked courses, and all that.
I immediately had reservations about the water ...it was very, very unfriendly. Basically looked like an enormous puddle in a low spot, shady and surrounded by trees, filled w/ algae and little rocks; and it was shaped like a tight "L" and necessitated an extremely sharp turn in the middle of the water. We were supposed to enter the deep end: over a foot deep, but looked like a mud puddle. Last week I inadvertently traumatized Rileigh of water when I took him in a lake that I had been assured was safe for horses to swim in, but it was not and he fell and got stuck in the mud, no physical damage though. I'm sure you see where this is going ...Anyway, I thought that maybe since he was so good schooling yesterday(very inviting water that he'd seen many times before) I could push him into the water. Honestly, had I ever seen the water before arriving there I never would have entered him in the event, but I certainly wasn't backing out at that point.

I was positively terrified for dressage, I hyperventilated and nearly passed out before going in the ring. Our test could have been a lot better, but it wasn't truly horrendous. We got a 43, nothing to be proud of in most circumstances, but it's our lowest score yet, so I know we're at least heading in the right direction. I have a new dressage saddle that definitely fits Riles much better than the County - a Duett Encore with a 34cm hoop tree. I think the hoop tree is key.
Rileigh was amazing for stadium, took almost every distance I asked him for, even the slightly long ones, and was game for everything. We went clean. I was so proud of him.
XC started out really well, we had a maxed out rolltop as the first jump, then a small log pile, up an extremely steep hill (at least the way we went up was super steep), jump a little floating log thing on top of the hill, down the hill to maxed out chevrons, then WATER. He wouldn't even go near the water and we were eliminated. I was incredibly disappointed. He'd been going so fantastically up until that point, we were hoping for a 3rd or 4th place if we'd gone clean XC. He was going so well though that I honestly can't be too upset w/ him; I wouldn't have gone in the water either. We will definitely be working on scary swamps all summer and will be ready to kick some tookus at Novice next season!

Rocking Horse Spring HT

My County Competitor arrived the day before we left for the event, so I got a chance for a quick ride in it at home before heading out. I like it, the balance is better for me than my old saddle. I wish that the flap was just a bit wider, to accommodate my fairly long legs and the fact that I ride dressage a hole shorter than I perhaps should, but it's not bad at all. The trouble though, is that I think it's slightly too narrow for Rileigh. I'm surprised! I've always heard that County's trees tend to run wider than most other brands. Riles' jumping saddle was a MW which has been adjusted to a W to fit well, and this saddle is a W ...so I'd think it would fit. I'm definitely planning to have the fitter take a look before continuing my search, but I have a feeling that this saddle won't be able to work for him.


Our event was, well, eventful!
My friend came and groomed for me, which was awesome, especially since I can't braid. I really can't at all. Before we arrived I warned her that Rileigh sometimes tries to get out of his stall at shows, but clearly I didn't impress this enough ... On Saturday morning she went into his stall to comb out his mane and get him ready to be braided, and left his stall door slightly open while brushing him. There was only enough space for him to fit his nose out the door, but that's all he needs; he's so fast once he has a plan. Imagine my surprise when I came around the corner, unsuspecting of anything awry, to see my horse galloping around wildly with Karen O'Connor, of all people, in hot pursuit. I immediately grabbed his halter and a bucket w/ a handful of treats and commenced to following him, along with half a dozen other people. Ms. O'Connor was quite upset with me -- I'll spare the details but she did yell at me a bit and condemned my inadequate horse wrangling skills. He was caught after about 10 minutes with no harm done. I was quite embarrassing -- but what is there to do but laugh about it?
Of course, once we caught him he stood like an angel without moving a muscle for 30-40 minutes while he was braided. You would have never known.

Despite a decent dressage ride Friday afternoon, the start of our dressage warmup on Saturday did not seem promising. All the horses milling around was somewhat overstimulating for Riles, and we were interrupted by a downpour which delayed the show for 20 minutes. Once we were back on there was some improvement though; Joe Meyer warmed us up, and in 20 minutes he made such a positive difference in our dressage. It was astounding, I will definitely be trying to ride with him more often. It started raining again right before we entered the ring, and our test wasn't great, but it was better than last time. My only real goal for the weekend was to score under 50 in dressage, which I'm happy to say we accomplished with a score of 46. We had mostly 5s and 6s, with a 4 on our awful halt and a 7 on our walk. What the judge emphasized most was our "floaty connection." I completely agree that's what we most need to work on. Rileigh is not very steady in the bridle and I do him no favours. We have a plan for the next few weeks though.



Cross country was late Saturday afternoon. My horse is a beast. We came in 76 seconds under optimum time with 8 time penalties. I was looking for somewhere to add time but there weren't any good places to circle, and the course was over before I knew it. So much fun though! I bought a fantastic 8x10 of us going into the water -- the first water picture shown here.


On Sunday morning I took Rileigh up to the Kentucky Equine Research booth to be weighed. They were giving away free saddle pads to those that could correctly estimate their horses' weight within 50lbs. Rileigh hadn't been weighed in over a year and was underweight then; I'd just been eyeballing his weight and was really curious to know how close my guesses were. Turns out I correctly estimated his weight within 8lbs! I thought he weighed about 1100, and the scale read 1108. I used my new saddle pad in stadium that afternoon.
Rileigh was fantastic in stadium, speaking of which. He warmed up great and was jumping really nicely. We had 1 rail at the last fence when I committed to a bad spot and made it impossible for him. I was so mad at myself! He was a superstar though.



Overall it was a fabulous weekend. My only goals were to come away with less than 50 penalties in dressage and to give Rileigh a good experience. Nothing lofty, but I'm happy to say we accomplished them. We'll be working really hard on our dressage all summer to be ready for novice next season. In the interim I think I'm planning on doing BN at the FHP schooling 3-phase in May, and N at the one in June. I may take Zipper tadpole in June as well.

Saddle Hunting

I don't believe I've mentioned it here, but after a few months of marketing, I sold my dressage saddle before leaving for France. I'd received several offers lower than what I was willing to take, but in the end I sold it for what I think was a fair price for both myself and the buyer. It was a very nice saddle, a two-year-old Laser Rendezvous in fantastic shape, still what I would call "demo condition." I really liked it, but unfortunately it was becoming more and more clear that while it hugged my bum and thigh nicely without much wiggle room when I was svelte and in shape, it was not kind to a slightly blubbier version of my body. I realized that as someone who's weight tends to "yo-yo" a bit, I needed a slightly larger saddle to accommodate that, perhaps with a more open seat.

illustration by Jared Lee

I've been scouring the internet for saddles over the past few weeks, and haven't found a whole lot. The trouble is that I am in a seemingly constant financial ebb, and so although I sold my saddle for decent money, I need that money and can't spend it all on a new saddle. I have a budget of $1500 with very little stretch above that, and it seems that nice 18" wide dressage saddles in that range are somewhat few and quickly snatched up, understandably.
However, I've had the luck to happen upon a lovely County Competitor for only $800. It's in good condition, better than the Competitors typically seen in that price range.
I was the one to snap this deal up. I figure that if County's famously wide, curvy tree type doesn't fit Rileigh, either by virtue of being too curvy or too wide (more likely the former), it shouldn't be terribly hard to resell the saddle and at least make my money back. Hopefully though, it fits him excellently with only minor, if any, adjustments, and is a joy for me to ride in. Wouldn't that be nice? Everybody cross their fingers!

I had a fabulous time in France. We happened to arrive just as spring had sprung, which unfortunately made for some slightly slushy "mashed potatoes" skiing on the lower slopes, but aside from that the weather was just lovely, I was skiing in just a tshirt at some points. Perfect for traipsing around town.


I've not had such a nice time since arriving home; I've been sick with the flu for most of the week. Today was the first day I managed to make it out for a ride, and even then it was a short one, since I'm still not feeling 100%. I'm sure over the next few days I'll recuperate completely though.

Busy Busy!

I really have been busy this time! I have so many things coming up that I'm not ready for. On Saturday I'm leaving to spend a week skiing in the French Alps, and I haven't even come close to starting to pack. In three weeks I have an event, and I haven't even looked at the test (BN B), and won't have a single opportunity to practice it before showing. Dressage gives me panic attacks, so this is a big deal. I'm moving next month; taking two horses and my entire household about an hour south, hopefully it will be the last move for a while. The house is a complete wreck and I haven't started boxing things up in the slightest. Six weeks from now I'll be leaving for Rolex. While it's exciting, there's a lot that hasn't yet been coordinated, and I must admit I'm not looking forward to the 16 hour drive(one way).
Very stressful stuff.
AND I had to stop in the middle of writing this post due to the fact that our apartment was flooding. Because I need more things to worry about.

Anyway, the show over the weekend was alright. We didn't do very well Saturday but had a new plan Sunday and our performance was greatly improved. Rileigh gets burnt out so easily, he really doesn't do well w/ the "hurry up and wait" environment at H/J shows. I'm learning how to accommodate his needs and keep him happy in that setting, though, which is paramount. No placings this time, but I was pleased with how we ended the weekend - only one rail Sunday.


I definitely have some things to work on in our next lesson. What on earth has happened to my leg?!
Mainly though, I direly need to give my poor horse a softer, more following release. I used to be a lot more generous, but as he got stronger and stronger over fences I got into the habit of holding. With the gag he's in now, I don't need to worry quite so much about getting him back after a fence, and my holding his face is clearly impacting his jumping style negatively. Correcting this is absolutely my #1 priority. He looks so uncomfortable in these photos, I feel awful. It almost makes me want to cry.


I briefly mentioned an event ...We are doing Rocking Horse Spring HT in a few weeks, it will be Riles' first recognized event. I'm very excited, just anxious about dressage, as always.

The Horse is the Cheapest Part!

My dear Rileigh got his saddle fitted on Friday ...to the tune of $560. He needed the tree widened and the flocking adjusted. I'm very glad that I didn't have to buy a new saddle, and my saddle could be worked on that day - but I really was not expecting to spend so much money! There's a noticeable difference in Riles' way of going in his newly adjusted saddle, though; he seems much happier, so I guess it's worth it.

I took a lesson yesterday to prepare for our show next weekend. Rileigh was doing fairly well.
That horse can't find distances to save his life! He's so funny, and totally lacks confidence in his ability to get to the jump. Honestly, the jumps don't intimidate him as far as I can tell, but getting up to them does. Even if I set him up well and see a perfect distance, he still would rather run into the jump trying to get closer than take the good spot, unless I very clearly tell him exactly when he needs to get his butt off the ground. Even then, he does it because I ask him to, but one can feel/see that he's still unsure. It's kind of weird; he's never had a crash or traumatizing experience from missing a distance, and at the heights we're doing he's more than capable of going quite long and getting over nicely. We're working on it though!

See Exhibit A: My doofus horse jumping like a freak, per usual. It's not like he's barely getting over them!


My trainer swears to me that most of these fences are around 3' ...they look quite small to me, though.




I completely love this photo, taken the last stride in front of a jump.


In unrelated news, I accidentally shaved my head last night and now have a very short buzz. I was a tad upset, but there's nothing I can do but embrace it. Hair grows, anyway.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

I'd love to say I've been busy, but such is not the case; I'm just unmotivated.
I suppose now's as good a time to update as any, though.

I'm showing in 3' jumpers with Rileigh over the first weekend in March. It's our first time showing at 3', so I'm excited. I'll be sure to get photos.
He was adjusted by the chiropractor yesterday, and my fears were confirmed - his jumping saddle is too tight behind the withers, especially on the right(he's a little bigger on that side). Riles has added a ton of muscle to his topline in the past 6 months, and I'd been suspecting the saddle fit might be getting a little off. I'm calling to make an appointment with the saddle fitter today, and hopefully the problem can be fixed with a flocking adjustment.
Otherwise he's been doing well. He was great today, the adjustment obviously helped; he was much more forward in the bridle. He's always forward, but more "run around" forward, not into the bridle nicely without being asked. It was a good feeling today.

^ feeling frisky over the weekend during a random cold snap(35F that morning!) in between 80 degree weather.

Zipper was also adjusted by the chiropractor. I've been suspecting a bit of hip or pelvic soreness resulting in some troubles he has picking up the right lead, which is why I wanted him looked at. Fortunately, the vet that does the chiropractic work is a pelvic lameness specialist at a university hospital up north, and was immediately able to tell his right SI joint was out just from watching him jog. In addition to the sacroiliac pain Zipper's left poll was very sore and required major adjustment. The vet said he's probably had the poll out for a while, and the SI trouble was caused by compensating for that. He expects huge improvement now. It was really obvious that he felt so much better even right after being treated. I'm looking forward to hearing from Hannah how he is under saddle today.

^ looking extra manly in his pink unicorn halter

MJ's still getting into the swing of things under saddle, but she's improving with every ride. I'm feeling that in another few months she'll be doing really fabulously.

^ being ridden about a week ago. Still quite tense, but such a leap from where we started, and she's doing even better now.

Too Long

Long time no post! Sorry. Lots of things have been happening. I keep meaning to say something of actual substance on this ...but it hasn't happened yet.

MJ had her teeth floated and I've started riding her again. She's been doing decently, spooky and extremely tense, but improving every ride. The vet did a fecal and said worms were not a concern; he hopes that her condition will improve since her teeth have been floated and she can eat more comfortably. She'll also be putting on some muscle now that she's back in regular work. Running from invisible mare eating monsters in the ring takes lots of work.




Last week my boyfriend, David, rode Zipper. He has some riding experience, can w/t/c and jump small jumps comfortably, but he hasn't ridden regularly in a long time. I'm hoping that Zipper will be the ticket to getting him back into riding. I'd love to be able to ride/show with him. Zipper was awesome, I was worried that David might be a bit much for him to carry(he's gained a lot of weight recently ...), but he didn't seem uncomfortable at all.



Later in the day, after David rode, I sporadically decided to hop on Zipper bareback. He behaved super well. However, it was so uncomfortable. He's definitely not built for being ridden without any sort of padding; I'm still in pain a week later.


Rileigh's been doing well. I'm planning to take him to the next show my barn is going to(next weekend? I'm not sure). I don't often show with my barn because of the cost, so it's exciting. XC schooling this weekend isn't going to work out, the venue I was planning on is preparing for a big event a couple weeks out. I'm still planning to go up to Ocala, because I need some things from the tack store.