It's Brighton Weekend!

I'm nearly, but not completely packed. My mind is on a hundred different topics ranging from when to leave on my cross country road trip with Gwyn, to how to fit in a couple of shows in May, to finding boarding in Washington and how the hell I'm going to sell a ton of stuff here and how to organize yard sales...

You get the idea. On anything but prepping for this trip.

I need this weekend with no cell/internet service, with my horse friends.

And in a bittersweet kind of way, Brighton was the first Michigan distance ride I went to and will be my final one here. Of everything in Michigan, I'm going to miss the GLDRAMI and UMECRA people the most.

Gwyn is definitely ready for our 15 miles. She's done up to 10 so far with energy for more. The weather on Sunday when I ride is going to be cold and rainy. While not ideal for humans, it'll be good for her drafty self. And I'm packed for every weather option in the world (70s high today, 40s and rainy Sunday and everything in between).

I've got all my blankets because ride managers coordinated to have a washing service pick up today and return on Sunday. It should be a good weekend.

Just don't let me forget my girth. It's not with my saddle. Or my saddle. Because neither are in my trailer.

If you have the time, I'll be volunteering Saturday as the timer, and other wise I'm at H10 campsite in the horse camping loop. Come visit :) We love having spectators.

Cold and Still Icy

After the dressage clinic I was determined to get out and try to school some basic stuff on Gwyn, just working on her reaching into the contact. I had visions of us trotting around the arena. I like to pre-visualize my rides. It helps me mentally prepare what I'm about to try and do physically.

Kaylee also wanted to ride when she saw me heading out to the barn so I waited for her to get dressed before leaving the house. It was fairly 'warm' compared to some of the recent temperatures in that it was almost at freezing and there was no wind.

Kaylee made sure to brush out all the shavings from Gwyn's tail

 Since Kaylee wanted to ride and in her saddle, I lunged first to see how Gwyn was behaving.

Lazy. And while the arena was no longer a full sheet of ice, it was basically like concrete (edit: Eric informs me that that IS a type of concrete -.- ) with pockets of ice and snow. Pretty much the sand was waterlogged and it had frozen. Ugh. No trotting. And definitely not even a forward walk.

 Kaylee at least had a blast and Gwyn was in the "this footing is terrible, I'd rather not move" frame of mind so we really had a chill time.

 An instagram friend was selling one of those awesome rainbow metalled bits in a size and style that fit Gwyn and I jumped on the chance to buy it because pretty.  So we tested that out today.

Favorite View

 Kaylee opted to go inside once she was done. I switched everything over to my tack that I intend to take to the dressage show. All that's missing from this set up is a sparkly brown browband with purple/rainbow accents to match my bridle. I'm also using my nice cushy reins that I got at WEG.

Mom, do we HAVE to practice connection?

 I kept things to a walk and my big goal was to not have giraffe moments and to keep a semblance of bend to the inside without her dropping her shoulder. It all went pretty well. My new portable speaker worked great. I got to ride to music which kept the monotony of just walking bearable.

Gwyn tried to shut the gate on Saffron

 Then Saffron pushed open the gate and I thought, why not ride the hill in the pasture. So we did that too.

The hill is not icy, but the ground has no give to it. I do wonder if the front pasture might be better cushioned if it has more grass. Or if the farm fields are better.

Mare nuzzles <3

Then Gwyn voluntarily walked back into the pasture and we just hung out for a bit. I hopped off so I could bring in my mobile mounting block (my 3 step ladder is frozen into the sand) 

And I officially signed up to ride Intro A and B at a schooling show on February 24. I just want to be able to school some trotting before then and I need to strategize how I'll accomplish that.

Also, should I braid for this? When I talked to the show organizer I got the impression that when they've held this in the past, the adults have gone all out to practice everything, while the kids stick with a nice winter type shirt (no show coat).  Gwyn's mane is in this in between crud from her roach and I legit have never braided short mane before.

I plan to wear my white breeches, tall boots and then I'm torn on wearing a coat or just a nice sweater or a long sleeve wool shirt with a vest. I don't have a legit riding coat, just half of a suit coat from job interviews that could pass. Any advice there?

Hunters Run Derby Part 1: Dressage

Hoo boy.

Okay, figuring out where to start this will be a trick and a half.

We can start with the fact that I had just gotten over a stomach virus on Friday and was still weak. I didn't get as much done Saturday as I should have because I couldn't. I figured going to the show would pretty much wipe me out and I was right.

Of course, Saturday night I couldn't sleep. Y'all. I haven't been to a legit eventing class of show (Derby, 3 Day, etc) since I was a teenager. It's been about a decade and a half. However, I did make sure my tack was clean, I pulled out my nice bridle I've been saving for a show and switched the bit over. Expecting sun, I put the finishing touches on the customized fly bonnet I made for Gwyn. (There were no bugs...)

Those ears are rainbow sparkly.

And then I got into bed and realized I couldn't remember my dressage test and that I had no fucking idea where my medical armband got off to.

Fuck.

I couldn't fall asleep for about 2 hours. My stomach was starting to flip from nerves and it still hadn't fully settled from my bout of porcelain throne worship on Friday. Just... not ideal conditions.

Sunday morning I grabbed gas for the truck and began doing the finalized loading. Since I'm a craft supply hoarder, I also threw together a makeshift medical armband.

 My friend Casey came to take pictures for me and kept me calm and on track. She doesn't have any horse experience but she was great at being someone to talk at me and listen to me babble and freak out.

First error: I should have budgeted more arrival and prep time. We got there and there was no one in the show secretary hut for a good 20 minutes. WTF. I did try and make good use of the time by getting dressed and starting to groom Gwyn but it kind of set the tone. Thankfully I grabbed my number and rushed back to tack up.

Gwyn had picked up on the energy of the day and was dancing around. Then I found and pulled a tick off of her belly. UGH.

Second error: I didn't do a final review of my dressage test. LOL. I had been doing a lot of visualization in my head but didn't verify that my visualization was completely accurate. I should have done this. I meant to do it. I had a copy of the test in my truck.

I got up to the warm up and checked in with the ring steward and did a bit, but not nearly enough, of warm up. Gwyn was amped. She was on high alert and I swear she thought it was an endurance ride.

So we get to the ring, I greet the judge, judge blows the whistle and we enter. The first part goes okay. I can tell Gwyn is hollow and tense and then we get to the first canter circle at A.

Exiting stage right.

 I'm gritting my teeth but I turn around and go back in. Because this is fucking embarrassing. There's multiple layers here that I'm going to try and explain. As many of you are aware, riding, especially showing, is heavily appearance focused. The human appearance especially. You are pushed to be thin and perfect and coifed. So I already stand out because I'm fat. And let me tell you, I've lost 20 pounds since March. And I was feeling so much better about being in my body until I saw these pictures because getting up on the horse means I immediately look like a marshmallow and it fucking sucks next to every other rider who was there. Plus I don't have the full funds to acquire a show jacket right now. I'm trying to prioritize and the show explicitly stated that you could use your cross country attire in dressage but I was the only one I saw who did that. So standing out more. Then add in Gwyn's coloring and standing out EVEN more. And then we leave the dressage ring.

This is probably all mental, and it's only really hit me now that I've been percolating on it for hours and in the moment I was fine but I just hate it. And if I write any more about it I'm probably going to have to go into the bathroom at work and cry about it but there it is. Stupid stupid stuff.

And honestly, if I saw a rider unintentionally exit during their dressage I would have felt bad for them and assumed it was a green moment but nothing more? And most people probably think that about me but this judgement is a constant in the back of my head. Plus, I am losing weight. Slowly and steadily. I will get to a point where I won't stand out as much. It just hurts when I see myself until then and how I think I'm seen by others.

Anyway. I continue the test. The judge has me redo the cantering transition to trot to walk.

NO MOM. I'M DONE.

 And then on the free walk on the diagonal Gwyn totally blows my aid and just... steps over the fucking railing again. Now I'm ready to die inside and I just go around the outside, come back in and keep going.

The moment before. You can see her eyeing the poles going "Those look like Cavaletti and I am GOOD at stepping over them!"

Casey said she heard me go "SERIOUSLY?!?!' at Gwyn.

Cantering by the judge. We stayed in down here at least.

 And then I blew the final diagonal. Completely forgot about it. The judge seemed sympathetic, she was kind and it was a schooling show and the last time I did a dressage test with Gwyn was when we were in Washington. There's a lot of excuses. But the judge didn't have me redo it because we'd already been eliminated because of leaving the arena.

Leaving after final halt salute

Dear Gwyn: Please to be relaxed like this IN THE DAMN TEST

I'm not going to post each remark for each movement right now (mainly because it's at home and I'm at work). It can be summed up with: Tense. Hollow. Error.  We scored a 55%

The nicest thing the judge commented was that Gwyn was cute.

I'm hanging on to sanity by remembering:

1. This was a schooling show so in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal.
2. It highlighted things to focus on
3. I need to find an actual dressage trainer so we can school the issue of NOT LEAVING THE DAMN DRESSAGE COURT.  I am now 2 for 2 of this happening in a dressage test with cantering. I don't want it to become a habit.
4. Practice relaxation and working on the bit so it becomes more habit in a high energy show environment.

So there you are. Part 1.


Many thanks to Casey for the media. I wouldn't have had it without her.

Ride Times are Posted!

Okay phew! I can finally start to plan out my Sunday!

The show is running the higher levels first so I basically don't have a ridiculously early show time. Dressage is at leisurely Noon, and cross country is at 1:48pm.

Hopefully I won't have a work sample come in Saturday which would require a 4 hour Sunday window since I'm on call this weekend. I can fudge things though by making sure any Friday samples are started later, then go in later on Saturday as well and if samples come in I can go in later on Sunday too. I can make it work! (started this post on Thursday, samples did come in today, they were started at 4pm so that's good. I can easily work with that)

On the 16th I got out to ride and school the dressage test. I kept this ride short mainly because I wanted the cantering to be very positive and it was!

Nicely trimmed roached mane

I probably spent as much time moving jumps out of the way as I did riding.

My dated (2011) whinny whidgets test book reminded me of my dressage court and I had the printed out test.

We walked through the test first so I could figure out the pattern of 20m circles because they tend to be mirrored in some way. Then we ran through it twice. I carried a dressage whip with me and I think it really made a difference in helping Gwyn keep the canter. She was almost too slow in her trot but she wasn't giraffing either which was nice. I think as long as we stay in the dressage arena I'll be happy with our efforts. I'm not too concerned about jumping. They'll be tiny, we can trot them all and we've schooled there before. She was fit enough to trot the 15 miles so we'll be fine with way less plus some jumps.

All of that and I have a going away picnic thing for a friend after the show that I need to fit in. I'll likely just be late for that. Of course, early Friday morning I wake up super super sick. I should be fine by Sunday, but oh boy, that's cutting it close. I spent most of today lying in bed with emergency trips to the toilet and my bucket. It was tiring to sit on a folding chair in the garage and watch the kids play before dinner. At least I'm starting to eat solids though, that's a good sign.

Yesterday my new stuff arrived and I'm super excited it got here in time!

I'm a little frustrated that despite providing measurements some stuff is still too big, specifically for Saffron.

A halter that finally fits.

New halter for Saffron. After I took this photo I remembered that I could still adjust the crown so now it fits her better.

The mule bridle is still too large, even on the tighest settings. It can be adjusted with hole punches but still. I PROVIDED MEASUREMENTS. ARGH. I feel like they second guess me because I provided measurements the first time with Gwyn too and things came too small. 

I did get new stirrup leathers for endurance so we'll be rocking the purple. My thorowgood leathers will be used for more formal things.

New Kerrits sun shirts in purple!

I didn't realize but I have a lot of sun shirts. Two long sleeve (teal and purple) and 4 short sleeve (one purple, three white). I think I'll be set! LOL

Most excitingly, I received an email asking for my availability to be a jump judge at WEG in September and I am SO COMMITTING TO IT.  Waiting to hear back from the eventing volunteer coordinator. WOOOOOOO  That'll be a road trip to Tryon for sure!

Show Prep

I swear I have never been this anxious for ride times to be posted before a show. Is this what being an adult and needing to schedule adult things on top of showing is like? It sucks.


I did go and buy two more sun shirts from Riding Warehouse though with my green bean code (Not sharing, that's not fair) because they had the plus size Kerrits ones in their new spring colors which has PURPLE. I resisted getting the purple competitors koat since they didn't have the size I'd need in that color. Just in that pretty slate blue.

I will be purpled out.

Of course, my grand plan to have this sun shirt for Sunday ($5 for 2 day shipping since I'm spending enough) will be for naught as it's supposed to rain.

BOOOOO.


Last night I did go out and continue shedding Gwyn. She's to the point where you can't tell that I clipped her. She's mostly in just her summer coat but there are spots where if you curry enough the winter coat just pops up. She's nice and shiny though. She'll shine right up with a bath and some elbow grease on Saturday. I also trimmed up her mane roach and it looks on purpose now. Then I had to go in and shower because clipped horse mane just gets everywhere and makes you itchy.

I'm going to practice our dressage test tomorrow since that's my day off and probably clean tack. I also need to dig out and probably clean a non-purple/brightly colored saddle pad for dressage. And find my armband.

I'm also making a fly bonnet for Gwyn. I'm using the oversize instructions in the pattern from The Printable Pony and I'm kind of wondering if I should frog it and do the horse size. There is a LOT of material that will be going in between her ears... But it's in rainbow, so it will be amazing. I have some tie dye rainbow bandana fabric I can use for her ears. I'm hoping it'll be done before Sunday. I'm making good progress despite the 2 year old unwinding nearly all my yarn!

Taking a nap