The One in Which We Ride in a Cross Country Clinic

Photo by Emily of May As Well Event

If you had told me this time last year I would ride in a cross country clinic at Galway Downs, the premier showgrounds across the street from where I board, I would have laughed at you and said something teenager-ish like, “Yeah, right!” with an eye roll. Well, it’s true. Knight and I did the thing during the 21st Annual Galway Downs Fundraiser Clinic this past weekend, January 23-24 (along with over 100 other riders).

We came back in one piece and the only tears shed over the weekend were tears of joy, and later, while poring over videos and photos, tears of laughter over some of my riding bloopers.

Previously on Saddle Seeks Horse

It’s been a while since I’ve done a riding report on the blog. I’m actually more active with my own riding and relationship with my Thoroughbred Knight over on Instagram. You should follow us on Instagram if you haven’t already.

Background: I’ve only done one other clinic with Knight and that was with Rob Gage (RIP)  several years ago. I was basically terrified the whole time–both of Rob’s gruff teaching style/assertiveness and because I got a little jumped out of the tack. At the end of it I was told by Rob something to the effect that my horse had a “bad” jump and it would take someone “on my level” [meaning Rob’s elite level] to be able to do anything with just such a horse. 🙁

Photo from Rob Gage Clinic circa 2017.

I hope you’re getting the sense I have some baggage when it comes to jumping in general, clinics, etc. If you want to wade through the history with me and see more photos from those clinics, here you go:

Rob Gage Clinic Day One and Rob Gage Clinic Day Two.

This Galway Downs Fundraiser Clinic would be different in that I am not terrified of the person I would be riding with (after all, it’s my trainer Chloe Smyth who is incredible read more about Chloe here in this fabulous Sidelines article), my friends from the barn–ones I take lessons with–were also going to be riding in the clinic. And since that initial clinic years ago, I’ve ridden Knight in several fox hunts which means we have experience off property in new settings. Not to mention we go trail riding all the time around the perimeter of Galway Downs. With familiarity comes a sense of comfort.

Cross Country Clinic Day One

I wasn’t too nervous driving over to the farm. It was gray and rainy with the projected high of 48 degrees. Keep in mind it had been in the 80s the week before and is usually 60s-70s this time of year. I wasn’t in love with the thought of a temperature drop AND riding off property, but oh well. It was promising in that both my trainer and friend Emily captured pictures of this stunning rainbow as they were en route across the street to the showgrounds. I responded to my trainer’s Instagram story, “It’s a sign.”

I thought it would be nice to just have Knight experience the sights and sounds of all the other horses and riders, trailers, jumps, etc. My plan was to just walk, trot and canter sanely around the property and lend good moral support to my three fellow riders. My plan didn’t align with what my trainer had in mind, but I’m happy it didn’t.

When I saw Knight in his stall he looked anxious and was whinnying. Later my trainer reported he had been calling and calling when he first arrived. I decided to change Knight’s mood by force-feeding him carrots and peppermints. And I gave him a hit of Ulcergard (which I had also done a couple days earlier).

As my friend and fan Carey and I talked to Knight and played around with him by placing the visor on his head, I think we actually helped him settle in. He is a relational horse and I think he liked the attention. He then began to eat the hay in his stall calmly while we chatted and got him ready.

Once tacked, after several laps around the barn, we journeyed out across the expanse with the mountain backdrop until we reached two large jumps–larger than what anyone in our group would be tackling. My trainer said to start trotting, circling around the jumps as the center point.

As I picked up the contact, I could tell Knight felt tightly wound. He really doesn’t do anything bad, I’m just more used to a chillax version of my horse and that’s the one I prefer, but I know forward is good so I just made my circle bigger and smaller and tried to both ignore my friends riding near me and pay attention so I wasn’t riding too close to them.

She then had two of us stay in the circle and canter around. Knight felt good. She then said, “Get up in gallop position,” so I two-pointed (it’s the same thing, right?) and let Knight move forward. He liked that. Then when I sat more upright, opening my hip angle he slowed back down to me. We went both directions after a walk break while the other two did their circles.

And with that we began jumping. It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to think through ways to be afraid. So we just trotted over a stacked log. Knight was perfect. We cantered the second time and he was lovely. That set the tone it was going to be a good day.

Lest you think this is going too smoothly and is boring, hang in there,  I promise some drama and excitement soon.

Our group of four riders stayed in one area and took turns, then we moved to another log in a different area. This log was gray, not brown and it had some roots attached to it and there was a small gap where it did not meet the ground. My trainer warned, “Some of them look at it a little because it’s different from the others.” I thought, “Oh great,” but Knight went over it perfectly, no biggie (after all it was just a log).

This log was next to a bank. So the next thing we were supposed to do was trot or canter over the log then turn and come back and jump the up bank. I was having a mental block on how that worked–jumping UP a bank. One of my friends said, “It’s the same as jumping a vertical.”

My trainer said, “Just keep his head up and look past it.” GULP!

Well we trotted it and it was actually no big deal. Knight did it perfectly. Now here’s the part where I need to share that in the hunt field, we’ve gone up and down a dry river bed, so honestly, it’s not like we’ve never done this kind of thing, but I was having the block because there were logs (i.e., jumps) “attached” to this bank.

So the next thing was to go down the bank and this is where the drama commenced. It wasn’t a big deal but I walked Knight up to it and he said, “No thank you,” (see video for actual footage) as we stood at the precipice. I kept nudging him with my heels while my friend Carey (who came to support me and take videos–God bless her) was about 60 feet away trying to get me to look up at her just like we try to get horses to perk their ears for the camera.

Carey has been my biggest supporter over the course of years. P.S. Do you think I need a different helmet?

Nope. Knight wasn’t having it. My trainer told me I did it to him.

“That’s on you because they need their neck and you kinda jerked him and so it made him nervous.” Womp, womp.

I literally apologized aloud, “Sorry, Knight,” as my trainer said to just turn him and walk up and down the bank parallel to the jump. So we went back and forth a couple of times and then I mustered the courage to take the leap of faith. It was gloriously messy. This is the photo I was almost cry laughing at when I saw it later. But hey, we did it.

Low quality screen shot from video. High quality serious/scared look.

After that we moved over to the water element. Now Knight has a history of hating water, but we have a cross country course at home and so I’ve been trying to make him go through the water there as we casually hack around. He’s been good at home. And by the way, last year I think in March I rode over with a group who was schooling at Galway. We got Knight in the water that day so this should not have been new, although it was a while ago.

Knight did NOT want to go into the water. But his younger, Tiznow descendant cousin my friend was riding loves water, so I made him follow the brave mare on her tail. Then we were told to go in and out of the water and pick different approaches. We trotted through a few times and Knight got very proud and happy. I realized that I was thinking, “This trot is big and if he bounces me off it’s going to be very cold.” So instead of sitting up taller, I did what every fearful amateur does in a moment of near crisis, I shrunk down, trying to get into fetal position. lol

Loving Knight’s trot. Not loving my eq.

After that we jumped another log. Who knew there could be so many different types of small logs? And with that our time was up and Day One was done.

“We all stayed on and survived,” I said to my friends as we were walking leisurely back to the barn.

One of them said something to the effect, “The ride’s not over until we get back to the barn.”

A minute or two later we heard, “Loose horse!” and it went galloping by, lunge line flying behind it. Now remember this because it’s a foreshadowing for Day Two.

Knight looked at the approaching runaway with interest, but was not phased. I was so thrilled with the whole experience–the day, my riding, Knight’s behavior, trying a new thing, taking a risk, seeing my friend Carey, the great rapport with my fellow clinic riders, the always fabulous instruction with Chloe and my new barn friend Emily’s encouragement and videos and pics. It was a banner day.

Cross Country Clinic Day Two

For whatever reason, I had a MAJOR case of the butterflies the second day of the clinic. Like stirring in my stomach so much so that I lost track of how many times I had to visit the restroom (I hope that’s not TMI).

My plan was that Knight would be PERFECT–calmer, tired-er (I know that’s not a word) and we would do our same ride, but smooth it out. I couldn’t wait to show that down bank who was boss.

Let’s just say the day didn’t go according to my plan. The weather was sunnier and a little warmer, although there was a cool breeze (boo!).

Knight seemed super chill in the new stall (we took the horses back home after Day One). I learned later the new Knight calm was actually a kind of cocky.

Our group circled around the barn a couple times again and then rode out with our trainer on foot once more. She told us to go into the warm up ring. Unlike a show, where it’s all crazy, there might have been one other rider in there and it was a huge arena so we had space to spread out and trot and canter. Knight felt very forward. Amped. Eager.

After what seemed like too short of a warmup to me (because I wanted to prove to Knight he could do a school horse trot and it was unnecessary to prance everywhere), I was beckoned from the arena along with the others.

The first fence was another log (I don’t have video which is perhaps a blessing).  This log was kind of resting on two tiny “platforms” on either side. I really should learn the names of all the types of cross country jumps. I trotted it going away from the group and the barn and Knight was great. When we turned around to trot it going toward the barn, he launched into the air and then scooted off and jumped again–what apparently was a tiny “river,” basically a place on the ground where the rain water from the day before had flowed and left a miniscule indentation.

That exuberance really shook me. I had a flashback to the green Knight of days of yore when he’d nearly jump me out of the tack. Every. Single. Time.

My trainer could see my look of overwhelm I’m sure. Her commentary was that Knight was getting to be a show-off or maybe she used the word cocky–that he was like, “I know what to do–just let me do it!” and that his goal for the day would be to listen and not overreact. So we had him stand quietly while one of my co-attendees got to practice going back and forth over the logs and do more advanced jumps.

Our next job was to simply trot out and away from the group in a straight line (easier said than done) and then turn around and walk calmly back to the group. We did it once although Knight’s straight was not straight, but at least I got him away from the group. We turned around and he walked back like a gentleman. Knight had a chance to redeem himself by what happened next.

We trotted back out a second time and then as we turned around to walk back to the group, probably a good 50-70 yards away someone shouted, “Loose horse!” and a darling, young gray horse sans tack appeared. He was galloping straight at us.

I halted Knight and had so many thoughts in such a short time.

“Should I hop off? Do I just stand here? He doesn’t look crazy–just like a horse having fun running around. Good boy, Knight. Help me, Lord!”

I had the thought, “He said it shouldn’t bother Knight and it didn’t seem to yesterday, and I know my mom’s praying.”

The gray came right up to us like he wanted to make friends and Knight’s ears were perked and his face followed the horse, as he galloped straight past us.

He came within 10 to 20 feet of us and went on his merry way.

“Knight, you’re a good boy!” I patted him as we walked back calmly to the group.

He didn’t even tense up. Just looked at the horse like, “What are you doing?” LOL

My trainer said something to the effect that he and another horse in our group ought to be sainted.

The rest of the morning was spent watching our boldest group member having a blast riding around jumping all kinds of things. I spent the time circling around, going back in and out of water (they have two different water areas). Just trying to make Knight listen to me as well as then walk and stand calmly. He was good.

As we headed back toward the barn there was the same jump I started with the previous day and we jumped it from a trot, heading away from the barn and it went well.

My dreams of riding a perfect horse on Day Two did not come to pass but as my friend Carey said later, “You rode the horse you had that day and that’s all you can do any day. Being able to shift and ride how you need to ride today is just as much as an accomplishment as trotting through water without a lead.”

As our group returned to the stabling area I suggested to my trainer, “It would be cool if we could come over here as a group and school regularly–like maybe once a month or every few weeks.”

I was not expecting I would ever say something like that, but here’s to a new year and trying new things with my horse.

As always, thanks for reading. Sharing my journey with my OTTB with you brings me so much joy.

Tally ho! 

Leave a Comment: Have you ever ridden in a clinic? What have been some of your biggest takeaways? 

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