Marc Grandia Clinic: Ditches and Coffins

 I was really excited to talk about this. Especially because I actually have AMAZING media thanks to a friend. But then I woke up to a fucking comment about weight on my IG where they grossly overestimated what I weigh. I just deleted it rather than engage, but fuck. Way to ruin a good mood. I was in such a positive headspace with constructive things that I could work on and improve. 

So understand that I am sharing these in an absolutely wretched state of mind. I don't mind being picked apart for my equitation or form over fences. Those are things I can fucking change way more easily than my weight right now.  And I'm just... ugh. There's just a lot of self doubt and spiraling self hatred in my head about this. And there shouldn't be. There really fucking shouldn't be. 

Anyway.

I board 5 minutes down the road from Polestar, a local eventing facility owned by Meika Decher. It's so close and I've never been there and I really should have by now. You can trailer in and flat on the cross country course for a small fee and by notifying Meika. She also has trails on the property. To use the cross country course you need an instructor. 

For this, I signed up for 2 days of a 3 part clinic with Marc Grandia, who has a training facility a town or two over. The 3 sessions were spread out over 3 months, so June, July and August. I couldn't do June thanks to moving houses, but I snagged a spot for July and August.

We were in small groups and trailer parking was basically at the start of the cross country field so there was very limited clustering of people. I operated solely out of my trailer and even had my camping toilet with me to minimize contact. It felt very safe. 

I was in the third or fourth group of the day. In fact, I was arriving to grab Gwyn when the barn owner was returning from her clinic session with him. We started off with establishing a steady trot and canter in the field. Gwyn was AMPED up. She wanted to gallop. She knew it was something fun we were doing and was ready to just go hogwild. So our canter had some steering issues BUT I was able to implement the things I worked on in lessons to stop letting her blow through my right aids and for the most part was able to do broad left turns at the canter, lol. But if she got too strong in the beginning, I really only have control if I tightly turn her right. There's still work to be done.

We started over a small log and BOY, suddenly the game was on! The focus to the first jump was staying straight and steady. Then we added in a couple more to string together a small course. 

Because these were smaller jumps, and Gwyn was having some straightness issues, Marc had me focus on coming in in a nice trot and encouraging a forward canter on the other side. As Gwyn got a little tired (haha) and I got my sea legs back, so to speak, I built up the confidence to string some of the jumps together with cantering completely. 

I have a weird mental hangup where I don't fully trust Gwyn to jump out of a canter yet. I'm not sure what's going on with that, but I do know that we just need to keep doing it so that I can outweigh the hesitation in my brain with good experience and examples. Maybe once I feel like I have more steering control? And that will only come with more cantering time in an open field.

Once we'd finished stringing a few fences together and establishing steady pacing and straightness into and away from jumps, we added in the ditches and coffins. Specifically working with the natural elevation changes and maintaining good rhythm despite downhill or uphill striding. 

The baby ditches/coffins for my level were simple rectangles of landscape timbers with stapled landscape fabric on the bottom. There was no depth to ours to start, just the illusion of depth. Gwyn handled these fine. We had more troubles being straight to jumps than anything. I'm seeing my right size weakness magnified out on the cross country course, so I'm filing that away for things to work on at home.

I'm also a little bit ahead of the motion. I'm not sinking into my heels enough which would help me fold more. So that's also something I'm working on at home on the flat. Lots of two point and really redeveloping a better base to jump out of in shorter stirrups. This did lead to two falls for more, though thankfully both were a roll and I was on my feet. None were head impacts and I definitely appreciated my vest. 

Despite the falls, it was such a great time. Blazing hot and I could feel Gwyn losing some power over the jumps as we moved from more starter level heights to true BN as she got tired. She still had power on the flat and was not content to just stand and wait our turn, so I'm crediting our endurance conditioning for that. She can trot for hours, but I know that her conditioning won't fully convert to jumping condition, especially in the heat. I rode conservatively and we didn't do everything everyone else did, which Marc was on board with. My legs were getting to be jelly anyway. 

We ended on a really strong note, tying several fences together and cantering the course, far better than our start! And again, my confidence rose as the day progressed, even though we were both hot and tired. It was such an empowering clinic, I'm really excited for the August one, which will be on conditioning and pacing! 

In the meantime, I intend to return to Polestar specifically to use their fields for cantering work. Gwyn feels better balanced in the open like this where our turns can be wide and sweeping, rather than tight and controlled in an arena. I would like to get to a point where we can canter around the perimeter of the field and that's going to require more stamina from me. 

Really, this gave me more of a desire to push forward with my AEC goal in 2022. And these clinics are a good stepping stone on the way there. 

Working Backwards and Top Down

As previously mentioned:

Rebecca Farm, BN AEC August 31-September 4 2022

Which means I need:
1st or 2nd in any USEA/USEF 3 day or Horse Trials or
2 3rd places in any qualifying event or 
1st-5th at any regional championship
and
I have to complete 3 recognized horse trials in the qualifying time period
I cannot compete at Training or above (not a problem)
I need to declare Amateur status

PHEW

It also means I need a membership in USEA for 2021 AND 2022 ($$)

The above competition qualifiers will likely take place from end of May 2021 through mid August 2022 if the pattern holds steady.

In Washington state I will likely have these rated events available to me:
Spokane Sport Horse Farm Horse Trials  Washington 4.5 hours May and October
Equestrian's Institute Horse Trials Washington 2 hours May and September
Aspen Farms Horse Trials Washington 2.5 hours June
Inavale Farm Horse Trials Oregon 5.5 hours  June
Whidbey Island Horse Trials Washington 2 hours July

Some of them I will have available twice as qualifying opportunities, based on the date range. There will be lots of opportunity to achieve the three completions necessary. The harder task will be the placings. For that I can only do my best. But apparently I -can- appeal if I'm an amateur in an open division and those placed above me are professionals. I'm not banking on that.

So knowing that placings are obviously a huge deal, and some of that is out of my control, the next thing I can do is make sure that Gwyn and I are the best damn Beginner Novice pair ever. There are lots of local schooling shows that will get us some extensive show experience. Plus a cross country course minutes from the barn that barnmates will drag me to (and they know this is a goal of mine)

So, by this time December 2020 I need to have a horse that can:

Maintain a canter around a cross country course
Have a relaxed, controlled canter in a dressage court
Be rateable and on the bit
Be soft and supple in all gaits

We're achieving Forward Down and Out!

If I've got those, the jumping will follow. I already know she can bomb around a starter course no issue.

I, as a rider, need to have:

Better endurance in my cardio fitness
Steadier contact through the bit
Clearer aids

This is all well and great, but now I need to break down those into how I'm going to achieve those December 2020 goals

Goals for me:
Strength training at least 1x a week to start
Cardio at least 1x a week to start
Yoga at least 1x a week (currently at 2x a week)
Track food with intentional weight loss in mind
Save money each month for show costs, figure out budget for what I need to save monthly

Goals for Gwyn:
Riding 3x a week, one including lessons
Lunging 1x a week in addition to riding
Add in core work plan for Gwyn (post on that soon)
Endurance conditioning on hilly trails
3 Limited Distance endurance rides
1 50 mile ride at the end of the season


All of this means I need to commit more to going to the barn with Hazel in tow. If I can, I'm going to get her signed up for a second day of preschool a week but I'm not sure if Eric will be down for that. I absolutely need to commit to the Y more so I can get my other fitness goals.

So I'll likely plan out my January now and break down what I'm doing when and have it planned out.

When you make the same faces as your pony

Prep for riding at home!

Our snow is nearly gone, except where the piles were largest or on the north sides of buildings and hills where the sun has yet to reach.

Sunday was finally decent enough weather that I spent hours outside tidying up, doing barn maintenance and prepping for better spring riding.

One thing I'm really proud of is my manure management this past winter. It's extremely hard for me to add in a new item to an already existing routine even if I know it would be beneficial or not take a long time. The curse of ADHD, honestly. But I committed this winter to doing at least some outside manure cleaning every night when I did the feeding. And boy has that paid off.

In the past the manure would slowly pile up outside the stalls (because my horses only pee in their stalls if given the choice) and freeze into giant poo piles that break muck forks. I'd have to wait until the weather significantly warmed before being able to remove it all and then it was a monumental, all day effort with many many people. I found that if I was starting with a clean slate of the runs, that the semi-frozen poo piles could still be lifted, and bonus, our restarting of the original manure pile near the runs meant that I could literally just fling it over the fence to be composted. This meant less dragging wheelbarrows through knee deep snow so less feeling like it was a monumental effort.  (Figuring out how to overcome effort barriers is key with my brain)

There was still a slight buildup of frozen poo, but overall the runs looked SO much better. And I made sure to get as much poo each night that I could, even if it meant scraping the tops off to expose the ice layer below so more would thaw. This has also meant that I will have an easier time of prepping this space to resurface, hopefully, this summer. It was pea gravel but between poor manure management on my part and Saffron needing a dust bath as she's apparently part chinchilla, it needs to be regraded and have rock put back down. Eric and I are looking into footing systems and we really like stuff like this for the dry lots or this for around the outside of the barn and our driveway.

This is my donkey escape spot from last year. We had redneck run a fourth line of electrobraid in the giant gap at the bottom and it's been okay but this time we actually legit connected the fourth line with the copper bolts and got it officially onto the t-posts the way it out to be. The only thing left to is nail in an insulator on the one wooden post in the middle of the line and it'll be official!

 And then, since my arena is now super soupy which is better than concrete, I rearranged my poles and standards to allow for some better dressage schooling. I have a corner set of poles to trot plus the center thing. This gives me some more room to lunge and practice 20m circles while also allowing full use of the outer track for canter work, which we need to do desperately. Before, my step stool I use for mounting was frozen into the sand. That's now movable. Yaaaaay spring!

My new commitment for this year is to drag this thing at least monthly. I'm looking forward to riding in it, hopefully this week. The light is already better in the evening and I think I could start adding in quick rides after dinner and before kid bedtime.

Gwyn's Stall - still using the heated buckets for now.

 Since I was deep cleaning, I brought the animals to the front pasture for some not nibbled to the ground grass and Saffron was beside herself in joy. I did have to fix feet divots that they made when the neighbor's 20 year old daughter sped down their driveway and spooked everyone. *grumble* The ground is both super soft in places and still frozen. It's a fun dichotomy /s.

I'm constantly estimating and trying to predict how long my hay will last me. I bought a lot more than last year but I also think this winter was worse than last year and I tore through a lot of it with that deep freeze we had.  This should easily get me to May when I can start relying primarily on pasture while still leaving a few bales for camping trips.

Saffron's stall

This will be the year of prioritization

With horse show and endurance ride schedules finally being settled on and released, a general scan of my calendar just for stuff I'd be interested in has several weekends at least double booked.

Popular weekends I guess. There are a few that are non-negotiable for me. I know who will be getting my time (and money). But for some others, it's a bit more up in the air. Once I can translate the dates off my phone calendar and into something that I can see broadly, all at once, I'll be better able to prioritize.

For example:
Do I go to a dressage show that's super close to home but will require me to pay for a stall and doesn't let you show out of your trailer as a day competitor?
Or do I go to an eventing derby where I'll ABSOLUTELY have to canter Gwyn in a dressage test and risk her just flipping out and leaving the dressage court. But then we'll have fun in a combined stadium/x country course that we've already schooled on.
Or do I go to a new to me endurance ride that's not too far away (3.5 hours) since it's better than a 6 hour drive for any of the next nearest rides.

It's puzzling. Plus add in an unknown budget that I need to discuss with my partner and my eyes might be setting their sights on something that isn't at all feasible. The endurance weekends are time away from family, especially when Eric doesn't want to go with and bring the girls. But he'd be home alone for the weekends away at endurance, where it would be just a quick day trip for some of the non-endurance stuff (all less than 30 min drive) but would cost more.

The current schedule of events:
Already Planned Events   Potential Events  Impossible Events

February
3 - Farrier
13 - Minor Surgery
21 - Dentist
23 - Trevor Noah Tickets at the Fox Theatre
March
Nothing so far
April
14 - Martian 5k
14 - X Country Schooling
15 - X Country Schooling
21/22 - Brighton Endurance Ride
21/22 - X Country Schooling
27 - 24 month well child for Hazel
28/29? - Birthday Party for Hazel
May
5/6 - X country Schooling
5/6 - White River Spring Endurance Ride
19/20 - Dressage Schooling Show 1 &2
20 - Eventing Derby
June
2/3 - X country Schooling
9/10 - White River Summer Endurance Ride
9/10 - X country Schooling
23 - Dressage Schooling Show 3&4
July
7/8 - X Country Schooling
21/22 - Dressage Schooling Show 5&6
22 - Eventing Derby
August
2/3/4/5/6 - Vegas Trip
11/12 - Dressage Schooling Show 7&8
12 - Eventing Derby
September
1/2/3 - White River Fall/Labor Day Endurance Ride
8/9 - Dressage Schooling Show 9&10
15/16 - Tin Cup Springs Endurance Ride
29/30 - Metropark Express Endurance Ride
28/29/30 - Dressage Show Championships
30 - Metamora Hunt Hunter Trials
October
6 - Brighton to Pinckney Ride
13/14 - Oak Leaf Run Endurance Ride


Not included so far are the Hunter Paces, usually there are two, and lessons. My summer is pretty much up in the air right now. Eric gets a week off in July for shut down and my parents want to take Kaylee to visit with them in SC and are expecting me to come to see them at some point with Hazel to bring Kaylee back.  AND I have to work out which weekends I can be on call at work.

It feels overwhelming, but writing it out like this is helpful.