In lieu of a real post, here are the final photos from the engagement photo shoot I did last week. Ang is an old friend that I met through the NC State Dressage team, and it turns out I actually went to High School with her now fiance Andrew! Such a small world! I loved getting to see them again, and meeting their newest addition to the family- Maya! Look at that puppy fur! So cute!
For realz.
After my comedic attempt to ride my horse last week, and because recently we have been working on more lateral work that requires me to sit, I have decided to go shopping.
It started with full seats, before I remembered that it’s time to clip, so I need Body Clippers, and oh yeah, that hand-me-down pair of Open Front Boots are disgusting and falling apart and borderline pathetic on my horse anymore, and oh wait, don’t I need more bute just in case because what horse person doesn’t have bute on hand just in case?
You get the idea.
I did break down and buy myself a new pair of white Kerrits full seat jods that are so sticky I will not have to worry ever again about my rear parting with my horse at a show (just kidding, I know the time is coming). Then Tack of the Day had more Kerrits full seats on sale ($40 off and purple, yes please!) that I just had to get! And then again yesterday there are more Kerrits full seats on sale, and guess what, they are houndstooth! Who doesn’t want houndstooth breeches? Thank god for blogs like Sprinkler Bandits and She Moved to Texas for having awesome contests that stop me from buying things in hopes that I will win them instead!
Boot Giveaway via Sprinkler Bandit.. oh the colors!
Oh, and then add that to the fact that my trunk (a cheap Tupperware thing I picked up at Target for a whopping 12 bucks) is already bursting at the seams -literally- and I am in no mood to repeat the experience of having small rodents set up shop (and then die, ick) amongst my white polo wraps, just because my lid doesn’t quite close all the way!
When you give a mouse a trunk to live in, they might decide to die in it
Where does it end? Do I have a problem?
Hey there.
At this point in time, I will admit that I am a little too brain-dead to go into a full blown diagnosis of our show on Sunday. After an exhausting weekend filled with Michael Buble:
Buble, Box Seats, and Big finales- oh my!
and an engagement shoot for a friend:
A preview from the engagement shoot
by the time Sunday rolled around I was straight up exhausted. So I decided we were just going to have fun and see what happened, with our fingers and hooves crossed that things went well.
Well, we had truck issues getting to the show and a very kind friend ended up bringing the ponies out to Portofino for us. So I went way out of order, but luckily the show management was willing to be flexible and let things happen as they may. Thank goodness. Foster felt super relaxed in our warmup, so I rode around for 20 or so minutes before going in the arena.
I have watched the video plenty of times and hashed it all over in my head, but here’s the short version: In hind sight maybe I should have focused on getting him more in front of my leg, but whatev’s. I see plenty of things to work on (I smacked myself in the head when I saw my reins getting long again, what is WRONG WITH ME?!) and some bracing stuff, so all in all, not our best test, but not our worst. So frustrating that again our walk wasn’t up to par until the last couple strides, but good enough to get a 7.5. I think I was being a bit conservative because of the last show when he broke. Anyways, here’s the video, which speaks for itself.
Show jumping was catching a lot of riders out with refusals and what not, so I just decided to go in relatively aggressively (again, Foster was completely blase’ through our warmup but just in case) and get er’ done. He got in a bit deep in some spots and cross cantered a ton (where did that come from?) but because the footing was a bit deep I knew if we stopped we’d never get going again, so we persevered. Clean and clear, but not pretty. Oh well.
I had a tired, hot horse by the time we got around to cross country (PS what is up with the temperature going up 10 degrees on show days?!?) but felt pretty good about the course. Trotted over fence 1 as per our game plan and attempted to rock and roll, but unfortunately never got up to speed because Foster wanted to look at all the funny terrain questions (oh-mah-gerd what is the patch of sand doing there?! and Oh snap! there’s a pile of junk beside fence 3! ahh!) but was a good boy all in all. He hopped over the Novice sized (oh yes, 2’11” fences on a BN course!) fences easily. Not that he shouldn’t have, but still. Here’s the video of our cross country, in which I yell about a certain ‘outrider’ who was wandering around my fences as I was trying to go go go! So I (IMHO) politely was trying to tell people that she was being a distraction and needed to get out of my way! Sheesh!
We ended up 3rd out of 8th, on a 34-point-something dressage score and 5 time faults. I’m pleased and think we are very close! Entry is sent in for another horse trial at CHP on the 10th of November, where we will do our damnedest to make time on both SJ and XC!
Until next time.. keep kicking!
Last night I had the most amazing jump school. I took advantage of having the light still and decided to hop over the 3′-3’3″ fences as originally planned for tonight. For not having jumped anything bigger than 2’9″ in a while, I thought Foster was an absolute champ, and felt forward, straight(ish), and jumping in good form.
Well, I don’t know what happened over night, but when I got out to the barn this morning to school our test, I felt like I had gone from this:
to this:
I was sliding all over the place, my fingers were numb, I couldn’t feel my legs- in short, I was spaghetti all over my horse. Poor Foster put up with my ridiculous monkey business for some time, before I realized that I hardly had the coordination to sit, much less do work. Nonetheless we somehow managed to finish with 10 minutes of respectable trot work, but the goal of riding through my test eluded me.
One of the reasons I know I felt like this was just from being a weenie in the cold. I am aware that I have relatively poor circulation in my hands and my pinkies go numb quite quickly in frigid temps, and while this morning did not necessarily fit that bill, it was much colder than what I have been used to. Not a great excuse, but still.
I suspect my breeches were also partly to blame, as they are ones that I haven’t used all year and felt I didn’t have the grip I needed in them. Sunday I will be riding in my new Kerrits Full Seats, which the reviews claim to be sticky sticky sticky. So hopefully that won’t be an issue at the show! Maybe I should practice in them tomorrow… hmm..
Oooh, pretty!
Lastly, I know there are simply days in which I am better coordinated, and vice versa. Do any of you have days like that? I would love to know if I am not the only one!
For now though I will put it from my mind- we were given last minute tickets to go see Michael Buble in concert and I am so excited! So I will leave you with my favorite Buble (and Drifters) song 🙂
Now that the party is over and the husband and I are over our post-party-hosting hangover (not necessarily the alcoholic sort, more of the oh-thank-god-the-house-doesn’t-need-to-be-clean-anymore variation) it’s back to work at the barn with Foster. He really wasn’t worked much the two weeks between our last show and this past weekend, and I can definitely tell he has lost a little muscle tone.
Sorry Drake, we can’t throw your ball because we are tired
I did forget to mention that we went cross country schooling on Sunday at the lovely course just up the road from us. While Foster started out a little silly, more than likely due to the fact that I was amped up on a giant Red Bull and sitting stiff on his back), he settled down and we tackled some new things. Foster did his first trakehner, jump into water, serious jump downhill, and we worked on moving in between jumps and not just dilly dallying. All a success!
OK, so not this big… it may have been less than 2′ tall…but still…
On the flat, he feels like he has more impulsion and self carriage since I got his hock injected, and we had a great school Tuesday night in which we worked on lots of transitions (and my sitting), and some basic canter work. I hope to repeat that lesson tonight and add in some more lateral work that we haven’t schooled in a while. Tomorrow we jump, and will be focusing on getting our confidence back and tackling bigger fences again, in the 3’3″ ish department.
Besides all that, the fair is in town! We went last night with our fabulous neighbors, and had a great time. Nothing beats eating ridiculous fried food (fried mac-n-cheese not your thing? what about the fried brownie sundae?) for one night a year and not feeling guilty about it. My one requirement each year is fried oreos (yum!) and the husband demands everything be covered in chili. Our neighbors were even braver, and sampled (and finished!) the Krispy Kreme burger, a delightful sandwich of questionable meat product served with a slice of cheese and pickles between two glazed doughnuts. I’m told it was shamefully good.
We smile extra hard when we think it may be the last picture we ever take
We also rode the most terrifyingly fast ferris wheel (seriously, scared to death!), marveled at the livestock (the one place I get to use my Animal Science knowledge, naming all the cows and explaining to people that some goats are meant for meat), and gazed upon the biggest pumpkins I have ever seen. I don’t know about you guys, but those things start to look gross to me after they reach 200 lbs! The biggest pumpkin there could be carved into a playhouse for small children and was 799 lbs. Wow!
$11,000 for a pig? Think of how many horses you could buy with that!
All in all a great week, and we are looking forward to our next Horse Trial this weekend. Ali is making the bold move up to Novice, and my goal is to get around the Beginner Novice course without getting lost clean and clear. Then in a few weeks I would like to move up to Novice at a Combined Training show not too far away. Fingers crossed!
The bride-to-be and myself, because the only thing better than a nerd with a wand is a nerd with a wand who also has PHOTOSHOP!
As far as engagement parties go, they don’t get much better than this. Hours and hours of preparation and voluntarily researching by watching more hours and hours of Harry Potter movies culminated in a well attended party with 40 enthusiastic muggles who ate ourselves silly and the proceeded to prod each other with homemade wands.
While the house-on-the-hill that I call home is no Hogwarts, we did our best to transform it into a wizarding wonderland. After you went through Platform 9 3/4…
Platform 9 3/4 this way!
And avoided the flock of flying keys…
Flock of flying keys
You were sorted into your house via the Sorting Hat and received your wand and house scarf…
Getting sorted!
Watch out for the spiders trying to make a hasty exit out the window…
Spiders!
Before sampling various potions and treats from Honeyduke’s Sweet Shoppe…
Some of the food served! Ron Weasley, eat your heart out!
Then enjoy the festivities and play some quidditch outside…
A “Quidditch” Set, our wedding present to the happy couple
But be care not to break any of Umbridge’s Proclamations…
Or else you will lose points from your house!
I’m missing some photos of details that were going up as people were arriving (and thanks to Megan for sharing her photos with me that I didn’t get to take), but you probably don’t need to see the Employee Entrance to the Ministry of Magic (aka the toilet), among other things 🙂
The party went on well into the little hours of the morning, and it was great getting to visit with friends I haven’t seen in a while, as well as make new friends and of course get super excited for the impending nuptials of my best friend Nikki!
The Bridesmaids (sans a couple who live far far away) with the Bride-to-be! Swish and flick!
Former roommates and great friends! And look, we’re all in different houses!
My Hufflepuff man!
I have to shout out to the other bridesmaids and MOH for everyone’s hard work and dedication, and for owning your nerdiness and making this party a success! Until next time (like October of next year 😉 )…
Mischief Managed!
I have a few things to give an update on, but unfortunately not the time to spend on any of them. So, have fun looking at some portraits of Drake I took in the yard before the leaves are gone! I definitely love taking portraits of animals, hopefully these give you a sense of his goofy personality 🙂
Well, if we were searching for redemption, we found it… and then lost it. Lost it in a way I will share in a moment, and in a way I can sum up in one quote:
“The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.”
But let’s start at the beginning- thanks to Ali, Foster was able to get to the show grounds the day before and we had quite a nice schooling in the dressage arena, although I noticed he was getting a bit tense in his neck and starting to go crooked again. During dressage the next day I continued to feel this, but got on with it, since you can’t fix everything in one day. We put in a decent test, with some tension and crookedness but otherwise pleasant enough. I was a bit disappointed that we broke in our free walk (normally a solid 8) but happy that we received a 7 on our right lead canter depart and circle, which has been our pain point in the past couple tests. After discussing with a few equine people much smarter than myself, I am going to get his left hock injected again and hope that solves the crookedness issues that are starting to creep back into our work.
Right lead canter yay!
In show jumping I did my best to go in with a get-er’-done approach to the first fence, which he went over quite confidently and then move on with the rest of the course. While he almost jumped me out of the tack over fence 3, he put in a nice round and I am oh-so-proud of my spotted pony. I thought the energy was much better than our last show, and was surprised to hear that we received 19 time penalties. For this level, I thought a forward canter should suffice, barring a few trot strides to allow for simple changes. The time penalty issue seemed to be prevalent for many of the competitors though, so I don’t count it as a loss.
Whee! Foster thinks he’s ready for 2’11” fences!
Cross country is where things fell apart a bit. Foster was a total star and went over the first fence quite happily, and I had the most fun on cross country that I have had in a long time, cantering all the fences without hesitation. Maybe I was having a bit too much fun even, because when I landed from fence 9 I started looking for 10 and didn’t see it where I thought it would be! In the 30ish seconds that followed, I brought him back to a walk, and then a trot, wandering around looking for what I thought would be an obvious obstacle in the middle of the woods- it was bright orange for Pete’s sake! In any case, I laughed it off when I spotted it, hopped over it and carried on our merry way! Just a minor pilot error, and one that I will be laughing about for a long time!
(and no, I couldn’t hear her tell me to turn right! oops!)
So while we didn’t finish where we wanted to (a whopping 40+ time penalties will do that I guess!) I am so pleased that Foster put in nice jumping rounds and did his best. I desperately needed a positive experience after being so bummed about the last show, and this competition was just that. Still more to work on, I know, but nonetheless proud of my boy for redeeming himself and not being phased by his passenger’s nonsense from time to time!
On a more serious note, I have several family members who could do with prayers and positive thoughts sent their way. As great as horses are, our loved ones come first! So if you are reading this and have a moment, please send a quick prayer our way. Thanks for your support!
Well, that was another whirlwind week!
We did indeed jump the barrel/chevron love child fence, and even though I thought it was scary, Foster could have cared less. Just another moment that proves that I tend to over think things and let my nerves get the better of me. We’ve also had a couple lovely dressage schoolings, and I feel prepared to dominate our dressage test this weekend. Add that to a great pep talk from a new boarder and fellow eventer, and I’m starting to look forward to the show in earnest. Bring it, Beginner Novice A!
In an unusual stroke of luck, I won not one, but two giveaways I entered last week! I will soon be receiving a b-e-a-utiful purse made from saddle leather scraps (how cool is that!) made by Field & Field, via the oh-so-stylish equestrian blog, DappledGrey. I love the idea of using scraps to make a product that is unique, practical, and so beautifully made! And seriously, what equestrian doesn’t have an obsession with all things leather, particularly tack!
Photo by Sarah Renee Photography, via Field & Field
The second giveaway comes from She Moved to Texas, a very entertaining blog written by a fellow NC State Equestrian Club alum. Equine Aid is a product that encourages horses to drink, and something I would dearly like to test on Foster, who has been reluctant to drink at our last two outings! Even minor heat added to the stresses of running around cross country, makes me want to ensure my horse is properly hydrated. But alas, as they say, you can lead a horse to water... I can’t wait to test this product out- review to come!
Thanks, SheMoved and Equine Aid!
We rounded out the weekend by visiting family in Winston-Salem and attending a fabulous wedding of some great friends of ours! It was a lovely wedding filled with lots of laughs and happy faces, and the bride even arrived in a horse drawn carriage- what’s not to love?! Congrats to Somer and Steve and may you have many, many years of joy and happiness!
Lots of fun and a gorgeous setting!
[photo on right stolen from instagram!]
Not much going on in the horse world, as I’ve ridden only once since the last show. While that ride did feel great, I don’t feel over the hump yet. I realized that in my journey to straightness, I have been working less on really bending through our circles, which was highlighted in the judge’s comments. So we worked on plenty of figure-eight’s and balanced transitions incorporating bend. He felt good. Maybe we don’t suck aren’t so bad off after all.
Tonight I may attempt jumping, and see how it goes. The quest to create the scariest jumps ever has culminated in a new monstrosity in the arena, in which the chevron jump had a love child with some barrels and the mixture of plastic and oddness is something I didn’t want to tackle right before the competition. So we will see how tonight goes!
Otherwise we have been busy (as usual) around the house getting the myriad projects I want done accomplished before all of our guests come in a few weeks. Even still, the to-do list is daunting:
And so on and so forth…
Maybe it doesn’t seem like a huge list, but considering that the husband and I both have 9-5 jobs, a house to keep clean, and oh, not to mention my time consuming horse hobby, finding the time and energy to tackle these projects has been tricky!
Enough with the whining I suppose, let’s get to work!
Red on the Right 