Mare Memoirs- Over Fences

I did a post a while back with some of my favourite "oh sh*t" moments over fences. As much as I love all those pictures (I really do... they crack me up & remind me not to take life too seriously) I thought I should add a compilation of my favourite "good" jumping pictures. Just so y'all don't judge us too harshly!

 

 She certainly can jump :)

Silent Saturday- Champs in Photos

 Fit two strides in the two stride this year!

(barely...)

Spring XC Schools

A video of our XC school last Sunday. We had a brilliant time, and it was fun to see how bold & confident Cadence was.  The big lesson of the day for me was to 'release' Cadence completely before the fences, and trust her to 1. not rush the fence in the last 2 strides, and 2. actually jump the fence!  It was a challenge for me because I've spent our whole partnership with me constantly focusing on slowing her down so  relinquishing that control and just letting her go was like breaking every habit I've formed.

XC & SJ with D.E. (Now With Pictures)

08.03.2013
D.E. is probably one of the greats of US eventing, and in addition to being an amazing rider ,has written a lot of articles on breeding and bloodlines that I personally, as someone fascinated with both sport horses and genetics, find fascinating. So when my coach suggested we call up her old 'friend and coach' D and see if we could get in for a xc school, I was both excited and terrified.  On the list of people I DON'T want to mess up infront of, he's pretty high up on the list... but I was also going into the lesson (in my mind anyway) representing my coach's training program.  Just to add a bit of extra pressonre! Anyway, long story short I didn't need to worry.  Cadence was brilliant and D was impressed with both her jump and attitude.  It was an educationan school, and a ton of fun to boot!
As an added bonus, I also got to see an awesome picture of my coach going advanced at the old Southern Pines HT that was on D's tack room wall.  The oxer in the photo was big enough to live under, and they were clearing it by about 1.5 feet!  Anywho, here are some video stills from the day.

Hack & XC- Photo Edition

No time to write, so pictures will have to suffice!

03.05.2013
Went for a hack, & let Cadence 'stretch her legs' with a little canter/hand gallop:

November XC School Video

Here's the video from our XC school on the 18th.  Cadence was a superstar, save for the first time we went up the bank.  After that mini tantrum though, she was good as gold.

2 Year Anniversary

Wow, how time flies when you're having a good time!  Two years ago, I began this blog with the intent of chronicling my entrance into and journey through the world of eventing, and any other equine adventures that occurred along the way.  Since starting this blog, we've gotten just under 12 000 hits, and by the time I've posted this we'll probably be over 12 000.  Most of the readership is Canadian or American, but we've gotten a few fun ones like Latvia, Sweden, and Israel... though I often wonder how many of those are just spam!  The most read post is the Awards & 200th Post, and the 2011 Rolex cross country pics coming in a close second.
To be honest, I'm incredibly pleased I've managed to keep this blog going for so long.  There area times when its been tough, to be sure- I only posted 6 times throughout all of July and August. But for whatever reason, I've managed to stick it out & couldn't be more pleased about that fact.  Thus far, I've met my goal of chronicling my own progress and my horses progress, and I love the fact that no matter where I am, as long as there's internet I can pull up a picture of my ponies!  This blog has proved a great training diary, and a fantastic place to toss around ideas & put 'pen to paper' so to speak!  Next year will bring a lot of changes to my personal life, which will undoubtedly tumble over into my equestrian life as well... so will I get to write a third anniversary post? Only time will tell.  But in the mean time, I plan on keeping up with the blogging for as long as possible.

As there have been so many changes over the past two years, I've compiled a brief history detailing my adventures from the time I started this blog to the present day:

XC Snaps

Well, video stills... but you get the point.  We had an awesome school today. Cadence was strong, and apparently thought my arms needed a work out.  Better than my legs I guess; at least you know she's (REALLY) enjoying herself! My amazing dad came up and played videographer, so hopefully I'll have the video up by Tuesday.

 We totally aren't over jumping... nope! Not at all.

XC vs Dressage Show

 

Goin cross country back in 2011

 

This Sunday Cadence and I were going to go to a dressage show... until the opportunity for a xc school came up.  I'd say it was a hard choice, but really there was never even a choice to make... xc, here we come!  Now y'all cross your fingers and pray the weather holds!

Fit Mare-Face & NaBloPoMo 2012

First off, after seeing it on STB Excellence's blog last year, I participated in National Blog Posting Month last November.  I'll admit, I have no idea what month this is actually supposed to be in, but I had fun doing it last year, so I think I'll try to do it again.  Inconveniently, it falls during my mid-terms.... which are next week.  Not the best way to start, but c'est la vie.

Also, what is wrong with my horse?? This was at the end (just past the 3rd fence from the end) of her 3rd full xc course ever... BN level... and she is BARELY SWEATING!  Also, it was crazy hot that day. I think I drank 5L of Gatorade.  That's got to be the TB genes coming through....

I do not own the photo- photo is property of A. Bailini.

LH, RF, & XC

LH- Lame Horse.
Yup, my mare took her first off step in the 1.5 years I've owned her tonight.  Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be anything serious.  A wee tiny bit of heat in the coronet area & heel bulb, and a slight shortening of stride around some turns coupled with the occasional head bob.  I originally just attributed it to poor footing (as we were riding in the un-harrowed ring outside) but my coach picked up on it too when we were in the indoor.  She lunged sound and looks perfect on the straight-away, even when being trotted on hard ground.  However, when lunged in a tight circle (the only type of circle there's room for) on the gravel drive, she's a bit off.  Hopefully she just bumped herself, or maybe torqued it a bit.  It could also be an abscess... but we're keeping our fingers crossed that's not what it is.  And anytihng worse than an abscess, I don't even want to consider.

RF- Rider Fall
Most eventers probably understood the second pair of letters right away... and yes, I fall off.  At last weekend's competition, I took a tumble out xc.  It was a silly fall- we were supposed to be jumping a ditch loc. in the middle of a coffin.  Cadence was busy gawking at the first fence of the coffin (which we did not have to jump... so its much scarier) and got surprised by the ditch & leaped to the side.  I... did not.  I tried to cling on, because I was determined to finish the course, and not get eliminated from our second event in a row... but it was not to be.  As soon as I hit the dirt, my first thought was 'why do we have that stupid one fall rule?' Please note, I don't actually think the rule is stupid.  I understand why its in place, and agree with it most of the time.  However, when you've had a wee tumble, are clearly not hurt, and really just want to school your horse over that damn ditch?  Its one hell of a frustrating rule.
On a lighter note, the questions the paramedics have to ask you are down right hilarious.  After the initial pleasantries (incliding why you fall, where you fall, how you fall, etc.) I got asked questions like:
1) Are you drunk?  No.
2) Are you on drugs? No...
3) Is your horse on drugs? Um, no.
4) Are you on your horses drugs? Really???
5) is your horse on your drugs? Didn't I just tell you  I wasn't on drugs?  What is my horse going to be on? Tylenol?
Apparently I was giving the paramedics an "Are YOU on drugs?" kind of a look because he started laughing and informed me that they were mandated to ask me these questions.  Just saying though, if I were high on my horses drugs do you really think I'd tell you that?

XC- Cross Country
I'm pretty sure everyone got that one.  So the day after I fall off, Cadence and I headed up to a lovely facility for a xc school.  Why not?  The place was gorgeous- the ideal schooling facility for babies up to training/prelim.  Cadence was hot, fit, and having fun, but stayed sane throughout the day.  We warmed up over a wee tiny (2'3) log that she scoffed at.  Apparently we're past those things... according to her anyway.  Then moved on to a wee wee wee tiny bank that we were supposed to jump down.  It was 18 inches at most, but according to the mare it was the most terrifying 18" object EVER!  She refused. I kicked, smacked, and yelled.  She jumped. That was pretty much the last issue we had all day.
The school in itself was a great learning experiene for me.  I ride a mare that has her gas pedal glued to the floor.  She LOVES to go.  Since I bought her, all of our jumping work has been on keeping things slow and in control... and that's still a struggle for us some times.  So for me to let go and push her at something?  It feels like the most unnatural thing in the world.  Most of my xc experience (all but one ride...) has been on this mare.  I've learned everything along with her, and while I would do nothing differently were I given the opportunity to do it all over again, there's no denying that its hard work to train yourself and an energetic, opinionated, hot, athletic youngster at the same time.  Giving in and pushing her as hard as I can at an obstacle?  Its like telling yourself its okay to jump out of an airplane- it feels unnatural.  I'm always afraid she'll end up too fast, will stop at the last second, I'll go flying, and (most importantly) she'll get hurt/ruined.  But what I've had to learn is that there's a difference between riding aggressively and riding fast, and that xc won't always be picturesque and pretty.
A good example of this is when at one point in the school, we were asked to jump a large ditch to a bank.  Banks are the one thing out xc that worry me.  I'm terrified my horse will just 'splat' up them.  The bank was probably 2'6 ish, and there were only three strides between the ditch and the bank, AND they were on an angle.  Cadence and I jumped the ditch, but it was clear there was no way in hell we were going to be putting three strides in.  It was two or nothing. Panicking that she'd get there in a long, flat, strung out canter (and thus 'splat' up the bank) if we did it in two, I turned her away.  BAD KATE!!! I know, I know.  After a good yelling from my coach, we did it again.  And again... and again.  Every time, we put in two strides. And every time, she jumped it beautifully.  Lesson learned: trust your horse.  Give them the best ride you can, and let them do the rest.  It may not be pretty, but (providing  they have the ability/scope necessary for the problem ) let THEM figure it out.

Oh, and Cadence jumped her first drop into water, and competently completed her first coffin complex like it was nothing! I wish I had a video... the jumps weren't tiny either!

Pics from the Wettest Show on Earth

 

The only actual pic.  The rest are just video stills.

Stadium Video & Cadence's First PT Level Event

Cadence at her first Pre-Training (Novice) HT.  Her dressage was quite good considering the weather, her stadium was brilliant (though we got 1.5 time & almost had a rail), and her xc started really well.  The course was huge, and contained a ditch, bank, turning question, trakehner, jump out of water, jump at the top of a hill (couldn't see landing) and a huge brush galloping fence.  She started out great.  Neatly over the first two fences, bold over the scary flowering log in the tree line, up the hill & neatly around the turning question (though she had a flip fit about one of the prelim or intermediate jumps as we ran past it up the hill...) and strong over the ditch.  I think that one surprised her a bit... I was working relatively hard to get her back and she was too busy fighting me to notice the ditch until she was already half way over it!! Just like at champs.  Seems to be our recipe for ditch success.  Then, we were on to the bank which was the bottom ledge of a set of steps located at the top of a steep hill, leading down to the tree line.  You had to cut in, jump down the bank (couldn't see the ground.... the hill was truly very steep) and get control back quickly for a sharp turn to the next fence, loc. at the bottom of the hill. 

Cadence didn't want to come back after jumping the ditch, and by the time I'd finally gotten her back into the trot, we were at the top of the hill.  I probably definately came in too weak.  She took one look at the ledge and into the chasm of impending doom that awaited her, and backed right on up the hill.  Not what I was going for.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I wasn't able to get her down it.  It's frustrating, especially since we'd had such a good round up to that point.  However, it was my fault that we were eliminated- I was high on getting over that chasm of a ditch (seriously, it was easily 2'3 deep & 2'6 across) and not expecting her to react the way she did to the bank.  She was so forward and strong, I completely under rode her.  Ah well... its a learning experience.  I just dislike the fact that we had to end on a refusal.

Prepairing for Pre-Training

I wrote this up a week and a half (or so) ago, & I guess I hit save not publish... better late than never, I suppose!

As the name suggests, Pre-Training (PT) is the level that comes before Training here in Canada.  Almost identical to Novice, but we run at 450 or 425... something like that, and our brush fences can only be 3'3 or 3'6 or something, not 3'7.  That one inch makes all the difference!

Anyway, Cadence will be competing in her first Pre-Training this weekend.  In preparation, we headed out for a quick SJ/XC school today.  Probably not the best move, since she had 4 days off following champs, then a w/t/hack school, and a relatively light dressage school on Saturday.  She had another holiday Sunday, and then we took her out xc.... cue the disaster.  She was in her shiny (not any more) new bit, a level 1 Myler D ring w/o hooks, and thank god she was because she was an absolute mental case.  She started off the day by leaping into the air and nearly dumping me... because she didn't want to trot past a bench outside the ring.  Then we had to spend 15 minutes at the canter working on the whole 'calm' thing, and by the time we actually got around to jumping I was exhausted.  She jumped well, but was hot as hell. She wasn't too bad to hang onto, but if you set her back to the speed that we were looking for (a normal 12 foot canter stride) she'd lay on you & either die a bit, swap leads, or try to barge out her right shoulder.  Fun.  We jumped a few fences on a circle to get some breaks in place, then after screaming over a few lines (& jumping her first liverpool, which she didn't even look at) we took a quick break to fix my half-chap (which had actually fallen right off) and let my coach berate us a bit.  However, when I hopped back on I was able to breathe & focus, and get some breaks!  Yah.  No disastrous fence-leaping here! So we moved on to XC.

She flat out refused the VERY FIRST FENCE!  Our first real refusal all year!! I was unimpressed.  After that little wake up call that I was goign to have to actually sit up and ride, things improved.  She was difficult & strong, but we started to make some headway on the whole breaks & steering thing.  Once we had that more under control, we attempted a ditch... and she refused again!  I was stunned.  After a quick boot, we hopped it from a stand still... so I suppose it COULD be counted as a non-refusal, but that would be a lie.  Anyway, that was the last refuasal we had.  Banks & drops were no problem, & big ditches weren't either.  She did rub a few fences though... which is odd.  Mostly when she was busy spooking at the tractor 4 FIELDS AWAY.  Anywho, we learned an important lesson: mare w/o exercise = spooky, neurotic, high-strung, runaway train.  Oh, and a lot more work from me.

A/N: She was ridden/lunged every single day following that xc school, as per our coaches orders!

Champs Day 1- Video

Cedar Run HT (Entry)

BAfter an awesome weekend day at Cedar Run, not only do I get to add another ribbon to the wall (this time a 6th) but we get to go to Champs! I'm both excited and unbelievably proud of my baby girl.  Cadence completed her first event less than a month ago, and within that period of time has moved up a level, won two firsts and a sixth, and qualified for the Ontario year end championships.  She's exceeded every expectation, hope, and goal I had for this season, and continues to amaze me.

Alright, enough of the mushiness; onto the show recap.

Dressage:
Dressage was on grass, which initially worried me since the footing's pretty hard right now, but I checked it out before hand & the footing was actually pretty good.  We got a little less warm up time than I would have liked because it took a long time to walk XC (couldn't find the start box...) and the tack check/gate lady sent us into the ring early.  Since we were the first to go in the division, the judge wasn't back from her break yet & ended up being quite late so we had to bide the time & re-warm up a bit.  Anywho, Cadence was strong. She'd figured out that dressage was the thing you completed before you're allowed to jump... and was pretty strong.  Still, she put in a decent test.  I found the judge's comments a bit odd.  She said we lacked hind end engagement, were a bit tight in the neck (agreed), a little low in the frame, a bit heavy in the forehand (sort of agree), and that I needed more leg & to be more effective.  I'll post the video though, & people can judge for themselves.  Anywho, we sat pretty in third after dressage with a 48.

These are all just video stills... but they give you a glimpse.

Stadium:
She was strong in the warm up, but relatively responsive.  They were running about 15 min late, so we had a 'stop n go' warm up, but managed alright & were right on our game by the time we entered the ring.  Unfortunately, we came into the first fence just a wee bit flat & strong and Cadence, being her typical self and not respecting the 2'9 max height, tapped down the top rail.  She was good & careful after that though!  But the 4 faults moved us back into 6th place.

Trotting away from our salute

Second fence... well clear! 

 Mare says 'Wheeeee!'

 Beginning the turn

First fence in the 2 stride combo... caught at an awkward moment

 A bit deep to the second thanks to her BIG jump in

 Final fence.  I like this pic... she looks so happy

Cross Country:

Cross was... awesome.  She was strong, and pretty much 100% on her game.  It took about half of the 14 jump course to settle her, but she was never out of control- just strong.  Man is she a fun horse to ride though!  She takes you to the base of the fence and then some.  We went clear, qualifying us for champs, and had a wicked fast run coming in close to a minute under the 5:30 optimum time.

We finished off the day in 6th place.  My only complaints would be that the fotting out XC was rock hard, and that we had to wait for 1.5h for the results to be posted.  Other than that it was a great day!

Cadence's 1st Entry Level Event

Well, it turns out I needn't have been worried about moving Cadence up.  I'll do a brief play by play of the event.

Our drive up was surprisingly quick, and we arrived about 30 min ahead of schedule.  I got my rider package, and immediately headed out to walk XC before the riders descended.  The course looked very straight forward.  Nothing too large, or too scary.  The only jump that I thought may cause a bit of a stir was the second fence- a tidy looking rock wall with a cedar rail on top.  Since it was a bit bigger, we couldn't really jump it from a stand still.  So if she did take a serious dislike to the jump, we'd have to count on her obedience alone to get us over it without a refusal.  Everything else was pretty basic though.  No related distances; no banks, drops, or ditches; and no water.  A bit boring to be honest, but a nice move-up event.

After chilling with the mare at the trailer for a while, we tacked up & headed to warm up for dressage.  Our division was relatively large (15 people in Junior alone) and as there were two dressage rings running simultaneously, warm up was hell.  Cadence was not interested on bending to the right, & was rater insistent on letting some of her energy out.  She's normally quite forward, but responsive.  Today, she just wasn't interested in listening and was pushing, testing, and ignoring me at every opportunity.  I was thankful I left myself more time to warm her up than usual, because we ended up taking several breaks and coming back to it.  She was pretty good by the time we got into the ring to ride our test.  Overall the test was pretty good.  She was bossy i nthe canter (though that could very well have been because there were horses running Prelim XC visible from the dressage ring...) but considering her warm up she did quite well.  Our judge was certainly not giving away any free marks though, and while we finished with a 45 (70%) we were 10.5 points ahead of anyone else in our division.  So in short, Cadence was in 1st going into stadium (though I didn't know this) with 2 rails in hand.

She was again strong in our jumping warm up, and was keen on taking the long spots.  She'd come to the fences in a nice canter then about three strides out she'd tune me out & go have some fun.  Mares. Our actual round felt worse than it looked, but she kept all the painted rails up & was well inside the time even though I made her trot two of the fences.

There were some entertaining Stadium photos... but since I feel guilty about illegaly copying pictures (and thus try to limit the number) I thought I'd display one of the better ones.  This was the final jump.

The XC warm up was pretty much the same.  She was keen & strong, but I suppose that's better than being backed off.  Our first fence out on course was a bit wobbly because she was gawking at the jumps next to it, and she did take a peek at the second fence but when I pushed her on she decided what the hell, & went for it.  Fences 3, 4, and 5 were all pretty good, but coming off of 5, she started gawking at the water & I couldn't get her back in time to make the turn I wanted to fence 6.  As a result, we came to 6 in a jumble of confusion, spookiness, and speed.  A recipe for disaster if ever there was one.  Anywho, she didn't get a good line, got surprised by the fence, and almost stopped at it since we were practically sideways.  I wheeled her butt around (think turn on the forehand) and booted her over the 2'9 (if you include the "brush") fence.  I was left kind of worried and frazzled.  Had the jump judge counted that as a refusal?  She didn't really refuse, but I would understand if they called it that way.  Anyway, she powered over 7 in spite of another bad line (I had trouble getting her back after finally making it over 6) and since she'd really been flying around the course, I made her trot for most of the section between 7 & 8, only allowing her to canter when we were 4-5 strides out.  9 was again ridden from the trot, but 10 (a larger [for the level] fence set on the top of a hill so that you landed on a rather steep decline) we took from a nicely balanced & uphill canter.  I'd intended to trot down the hill... but once again I had trouble getting her back.  Oh mare.  So we awkwardly cantered around the turn to 11, before trotting up to it.  With just one fence to go, we got into a good rhythm and neatly popped our last jump.... or at least we would have if I hadn't lost my stirrup over the last fence!  I've got a video of it (that I'll hopefully have up soon) & you can see exactly when I lose my stirrup.  Anyway, we made it through the finish flags, just 5 seconds off the optimum time!

I jump like normal horse!

So in short, Cadence completed her second event (and her first Entry level event) on her dressage score with a 10.5 point lead over the competition.  I'm so thrilled, I still find it a bit hard to believe.  She's far exceeded all the goals we had, & I couldn't be more thrilled.

This weekend we're heading up to a gorgeous looking venue that I've never been to before, & running Entry again. Lets hope my breaks are working a bit better!

Photo credit goes to Andrew Bailini of Bailini Photography