Foster in a trace clip

For the last 10 or more years that I have been competitively involved in horses, I have always looked forward to that time of year when I get to take my clippers to a fuzzy body and reveal the svelte creature underneath. Though the process involves itching and picking tiny hairs off of clothing for the next few days, something about watching the hair come off is like an OCD artistic outlet to me. The changing colors of the horse as the process goes on never gets old, and trust me, it’s the one thing that I think is more fun with a paint horse. Does anyone else feel this kind of sick fascination with clipping?

Barely there Irish Clip

But this year, it’s hard to justify shaving the creature, given the low workload he’ll have. He’s not a huge sweater anyways, so I definitely don’t anticipate our 5 minutes of eventual trot to make for uncomfortable nights. My main aggravation with the winter coat, besides its poofiness (made-up word for the win?), is that my horse is a pig, and long hair makes for even more frustrating grooming sessions. Currying clods of mud from a half inch coat sounds a hell of a lot easier than picking strands of mud and muck from hairs twice that long.

Full body clip until the mare lost her patience before I could get to udder and eyes

For now, practicality and wanting to be kind to my horse will stop me from revving up the clippers. But come January, when the mud and nastiness will be at its worse, I don’t know that I’ll be able to say the same.

What are your plans for clipping? Anybody doing an especially artistic clip this year?

Tuesday night I hopped on my horse almost 9 weeks after his surgery. It was definitely a moment I’ve been looking forward to, but I won’t lie, I was a bit nervous that something would go wrong.

I tacked him up and even though he was on a little Ace, he had his usual sparkle in his eye and tried to grab the cross ties with his lips as I groomed and saddled him. He did his usual “stop grooming me and love on my face” spiel that I love so much, and was a complete gentleman as I walked him down the aisle.

This sight, pudginess and all, warms my heart

Just in case, I closed both gates to the indoor arena and did a couple laps around the arena on foot to be sure the novel experience of wearing a saddle again wasn’t going to provoke any undue excitement. News flash- it didn’t.

Feeling a bit silly, I hopped on, amazed at how much mane was in my hands (add mane-pullling to the to do list) as I swung up into the saddle. We circled around the arena, not following any kind of real pattern and I resisted the urge to put him together. It was surprising to me that he felt a little wobbly, even though I was prepared for his balance to be slightly altered from his time in stall rest. So we ambled around like a pair of elderly drunkards for our prescribed 5 minutes while Foster stretched deep down, obviously enjoying being back in the game.

After our ride, I’ve been reflecting on how quickly this recovery process is going by, but also realizing just how far we have yet to go. We are allowed to add 5 minutes of walking to our schedule each week for the next month- and though slightly limited as it might be, I’m going to try to enjoy every second of it.

As reported last week, I flew up to the land north of the Mason-Dixon line to visit with friends and watch the 2** and 3*** event at Fair Hill.

Reunited and it feels so good! PC: @jprettyman_

We started off the weekend with a bang, or rather a shot, before boarding the plane, and then upon arrival, grabbing dinner at a nearby pub. While there we caught up with Flynn‘s breeder, Beth Davidson. Beth also happens to be owner to one Forrest Nymph, aka Farrah, aka Super Pony, and we were regaled with lots of stories of how Farrah became an eventer (she was originally bred to be a dressage pony!) and discussed the many positive aspects of the Connemara breed at length.

The morning of cross country our trio set up by the last 2** water and drank mimosas, finally cracking open the giant bottle of champagne that Ali and I won at the Stoneybrooke Steeplechase (thanks to our combination of Martha Stewart party planning skills and the fact that I own a strange large white horse sculpture). We chatted with Beth until the super pony was ready to run, and she went to hide in her car with the windows rolled up until it was over. One of the best things about seeing these events first hand is getting to witness the love of these horses, from rousing “good boy!”s to hearty pats of appreciation, and that love certainly doesn’t run thin in the owner’s box.

It just goes to show that it takes a village!

When our cooler was a bit lighter we moved camp to another water complex and grabbed lunch. It was around this time that I ran into a couple of faces (one and two) from my own past. I sketched them both a quick update on Foster and heard their winter plans before they ran off again into the madness of the event. Seeing them, and of course being surrounded by all the excitement of cross country, made my fingers itch to take the reins. Soon though, soon!

Moving camp! PC: @jprettyman_

A little more wandering around cross country led us to the coffin complex where I got to meet a couple fellow bloggers! Allison and Emma are just as sweet in person as you would expect, and I loved getting a quick update on their plans with Dino and Isabel. Once again it makes me thankful to be a part of this community to be able to meet new people from all around the country. Perhaps next year I’ll be seeing them again, or ladies, consider a trip down to the Carolina International!

Meeting these lovely ladies was a highlight of the trip!

Eventually we watched Boyd ride the last horse across the country and packed up camp. Show jumping started early enough the next morning and we decided to watch the 2** finish before taking a break and catching the end of the 3** later in the day.

Obviously this was kind of a theme for the day

It’s amazing how much the atmosphere can change from cross country day to showjumping. On cross country day, life’s a big party, and teamwork and raucous hooting and hollering as each rider completes another obstacle can be heard throughout the competition. But when showjumping comes around, you can feel a bit of tension in the air. An entire crowd holds their breath as one entity and then explodes in applause for clear rounds, and claps politely in support of those who may have not been so lucky.

Like I said, XC day is a big party | PC: @jprettyman_

It was a wonderful perspective in seeing riders implement things I have been told in lessons, and how obvious it was when they made adjustments based on their intimate knowledge of the horse. Watching competitors at this level is definitely a study in power, straightness, and balance- all the things that even at the lower levels is needed to be successful!

After seeing Will Coleman win the 2** we went to get a local’s tour of the barns in the area. We drove past Phillip Dutton’s gorgeous farm and oggled Boyd Martin’s candyland of a cross country course before popping over to Jimmie and Dom Schramm’s property. J is going to be a working student for them this winter in Florida (so, so excited for her and can’t wait to live vicariously through her experience!) and wanted to introduce us to the Evention couple! We gave Bellamy and Vegemite a pat before getting back in the car and having an oh crap moment.

Turns out while we were gallivanting across the countryside, referring to Eventing Nation’s website for the 3*** start time, in reality the showjumping was almost over.

While we missed the big finale, I wouldn’t change anything about the weekend for the world. Nothing is better than friends and horses and my first Fair Hill experience definitely qualified as a helluva good time!

PS: If you’re wondering where the photos of horses are, in lieu of ridiculous human pics, they are coming! 😉