Hats off to my trainer who was able to work with the show management and push for us to get two stalls, even though the official word was the stalls were completely filled for the weekend. Knight is en route to the site of the two-day hunter/jumper schooling show as I type this.
Trying to overcompensate for the previous shot on my cell phone where I looked half asleep, I appear crazed.
Good News
I found my show saddle pad and it’s already in my car (unlike that one unfortunate show) and I’m borrowing a girth that fits.
We had a lesson last night that went smoothly as well. We’re going back to Xs and Os. Not hugs and kisses but circles and crossrails. This due to my recent trend of being unable to sustain a nice non-racehorse canter after the second fence of a line. I have been riding longer than some of you bloggers reading this have been alive, and I’m now back at the crossrails stage of the game. Lovely.
You know what this means???
If all goes well I will most likely be the oldest competitor entering the crossrails class at the schooling show. How awesome is that?
And if it doesn’t go well (i.e., Knight is wild, I’m wild with nerves), I will simply do the flat classes where at least I can pray to blend in to the crowd.
My Little Jumper?
Regardless of Knight’s antics and my butterflies, my trainer will be riding him in the two foot jumpers division. She said not to win, but to get him around new jumps at a new environment. The only hunter class options for someone of her experience would be 2’9″ class and she didn’t feel that was an appropriate challenge at this point.
So off I go to crossrail glory or humiliation. Either way, it will be a defining moment for my relationship with my horse. We are benchmarking our progress together as a team. And there is no deadline for our relationship and journey.
Special Thanks going out to fellow bloggers who have been sooooo encouraging as I share my equestrian dorkiness in the blogosphere.
A grateful shout out goes to Nicole from Zen and the Art of Baby Horse Management who offered to overnight a girth for the show!
All of you ladies are amazing and I hope someday to get to meet each one of you in person. Thank you for your support. Because of your kindness I feel understood. That is a gift.
Your Turn: Have you ever had to take a step way, way back in riding or another passion you love for whatever reason? Start over almost from scratch?
I am going to try to live Tweet and Instagram from the show. I’d love to have you follow along. Or check out our Facebook page.
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I'm Susan and this is my horse Knight. We have been a blogging team since 2015 and we're glad you're here. Tally ho!
Yay for crossrails – baby steps (I guess that should be baby jumps) – you can do it. And I’ve started over from scratch – more baby steps, I mean jumps. Good luck, wish I was there to shout and clap for you. If you see a tall cowboy in the crowd, you know what to do!!! 🙂 Jan
Have fun this weekend! 🙂
I hope everything goes well! I’m sure you will have lots of fun!
Short answer to your question? Yes. Yes, I have. Sometimes you have to go what feels like backwards to come forwards, but you’ve realised what many don’t: it’s not just about you. It’s not about just your riding – whether you were 9 or 90, you’d be going through this with this horse, because he’s green, and I think that’s a good thing. You’re taking more time to build a relationship and be better with and for him, rather than having bought a horse who’s a few years older, a little more re-schooled and just hopping on and crashing around with him. I think it’s great! Who cares if you’re jumping cross rails (we call them cross poles – yet another linguistic difference!) if you’re doing it well and it’s right for you?
As this blog that I linked to earlier this week said: you and your horse have the rest of your lives to be perfect, it doesn’t have to happen today. I’m glad you’re taking the time it takes, and it sounds like you’re having fun, which is the whole point! There are so many miserable, moaning horse owners in the world, and I’m glad you’re not one of them. I hear people all the time who are over-horsed, or who just live up to the human condition of whingeing, and I just wish they’d give up, sell their horses and buy a bike or a boat or whatever would make them happy. Good for you 🙂 I hope it goes well.
Someone very wise gave me a very tough pill to swallow the other day: “there is no failure, only feedback”. Whether you come home with a rosette or not, you’ll have learned something. Can’t wait to hear about it.
Hope all is going well for you at the show! It’s a weird feeling as a grownup to have nerves about stuff like crossrails, but it’s real. I did 2’6″ jumpers with my lease horse last summer and we were out of the ribbons because we were too slow! I was SO scared even though I’d fly around 3″ courses at home! I already have nerves for a schooling show over a month away with my own (large) pony now, but I’m trying to remember it’ll be nerve wracking but fun.
Yay I’m so glad you’re going! I hope you have so much fun! And I wouldn’t worry too much about it being a “defining” moment for you two – it’ll be a new experience and hopefully Knight will impress you with his performance. But no pressure, right? 😀
I hope you’re having an amazing show weekend! I can’t wait to hear all about it!! 😀
Yay show! Yay progress! No one else knows your journey but you.
Baby steps? At the age of 50 I was showing walk-trot. Walk-TROT! And at times making a mess of it. No one else knows your journey but you. (I tell myself this a lot.)
Report & pictures, please.
Cannot wait to hear about the show! I definitely took a step back during college. I’m one of those people who really struggles with over-committing. Obviously college needed to take priority, so I took a riding break and really just rode when I could, and didn’t stress when I couldn’t.
Been there, done that. Lovely to be walking a course with a group of munchkins of which not a single one is taller than your waist, eh? And then to ride into the class on a 15.2hh horse while everybody else’s ponies can probably fit under his belly. And then to lose, dramatically and with style. It’s what you do when you have a baby horse. At least you get a free ribbon (everybody gets a ribbon to avoid unnecessary tantrums from riders too young to understand what a clear round is and why they didn’t get one).
I hope you had a wonderful time!
There is absolutely no shame in showing in division that is appropriate for you and your horse; in fact, you should be really proud of yourself for not overfacing either of you with a higher height! I showed against kids for several years in the 2′ hunters and even though it kind of sucked not just showing against other adults, those kids were GOOD and often kicked my butt! A good rider is a good rider, regardless of age.
Have fun and SMILE! Can’t wait to hear about Knight’s debut