Cob Jockey

One contest ends and another begins.  Congratulations to Blaire, who has a private blog, on winning the Noble Outfitters Giveaway!

In a lesson the week of December 14 in which Connor skittered sideways for no good reason approaching a tiny crossrail, my trainer suddenly asked, "How old is he now?"

"He'll be ten in May."  We both laughed, and she said something to the effect of, "He's just taking the slow track."

On the one hand, it's been a while.  I've owned him for four years.  We've been with my trainer and at this barn the entire time.

On the other hand, we've come a long way.

Before I owned him, our first show together, 2011.

May of 2015

I started this blog before I even had Connor, and also before I met my trainer, if you can believe it.  I started it at the only period in my life that has been 100% horse free: the few months between getting married/moving to a new city/being unemployed for six weeks and beginning lessons with my trainer, whom I have been with five years in January.


So now, 1,000 posts and five years in, it's now a chronicle of my entire "Part II" of my riding career.  It takes me from being so afraid to jump, I never thought I would jump again.  I came to my trainer as "probably a Dressage rider".  The blog chronicles the process my trainer took me through when I first came to her, which was to completely rebuild my riding as if I was a beginner.

Lesson on Mac in 2011.  Man I look small on a full-sized horse.

It takes me from learning to jump again on the saintly old Dillon, without whom I would definitely still be a Dressage-only rider.  It takes me from first laying eyes on Connor, his breeder offering him to me, and agonizing over whether to take him or not.

January 2012

It takes me from going XC for the first time, jumping a show jump course for the first time, doing a rated show for the first time, learning to ride a ditch, learning shoulder in, riding a Dressage test for the first time, bodyclipping for the first time, moving up a level for the first time, winning an event for the first time...in short, it takes me through everything that has made me the rider, and Connor the horse, that we are today.

April 2012

Blogging is an interesting journey sometimes.   The community is amazing, the people I met through it are the greatest.  JenJ and I are like long lost twins or soulmates that never would have met if it wasn't for blogging (seriously, we share a name, one of us owns a real Haflinger and one of us owns a wannabe Haflinger, both own mutant Malamute mixes, and both work in tech.  Twins).  The blogger meetup last year was AMAZING.  And I've bought/sold/won/been given/gave away so many things through blogging, so while it doesn't actively make me money, it has definitely been financially worthwhile too.

Simon selfie with Genny!

All that is to say, I have no intention of stopping despite slowing down a bit in 2015 for the house.  Here's to another 1,000 posts and five more years.  Maybe Connor will have stopped overjumping ditches by then...maybe.

Um, we're just, playing it safe.  Really, really safe.  Penny Oaks, 2014.

To celebrate having written 1,000 posts over five years and two months, I'm giving away a $50 gift certificate to blogland's favorite equestrian retailer, Riding Warehouse.  Enter by leaving a comment and then entering the Rafflecopter giveaway (and sorry if my Rafflecopters seem awkward, Rafflecopter has made almost every feature paid-for since I did my last contest).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Behind the scenes of those slick graphics ESPN uses on TV

Photo by Sabrina

It says a lot that this is the lightest Christmas Connor has ever had, gift-wise.  Normally 50-75% of my Christmas gifts are horse related, and this year, just three gifts were horse related.

That's not a complaint, but rather, it says a lot about where I am as a horse owner.  I have everything I need.  I spend all of my discretionary horse income right now on training rides.  I am seriously jonesing for a PS of Sweden bridle and some Dubarrys, not to mention a Dressage saddle (once again, stupid mice), but those purchases aren't going to happen until my truck, trailer and one credit card with a small balance from the house renovations are paid off.  #spendingfreeze #adulting #stillboughtsomethingfromridingwarehouseduringtheir20%offsale...

So, that said, Connor of course got his Mrs. Pasture's Stocking (Thanks again, Jumppretty!)


And from my parents, we got a Cashel rolling hay bale bag for the trailer:



And a soft sided manger for the trailer.  The trailer doesn't have mangers, since it has walk-through escape doors, and Connor enjoys playing with his hay net more than he enjoys eating out of it, so we get tons of waste with them.  Hoping this works out better for us, at least when I'm the one hauling him - it's hay nets for everybody on the farm's 6 horse.

And I got a couple of pairs of socks to replace some that have seen better days, and a nice warm vest.  It is so much fun to have gotten things for the trailer - I can't wait to really organize the tack room this spring ahead of our first shows.  What are your favorite trailer organizing items so I can start keeping a lookout?

ETA: I can't believe I forgot this one, but JenJ sent me a polo shirt that she sewed a Welsh flag patch onto for XC!  It's going to come in handy for Welsh shows too.  I love it!

No festive Christmas pictures of Connor and I this year, but I think Tucker's face in our family Christmas card will make it up to you:



Merry Christmas, everyone!

"You know, I've noticed a difference in the way he carries his tail lately," my trainer said in the middle of a recent Dressage lesson.

"Yeah?" I said, "How so?"

"He carries it higher and centered now, when he used to always carry it to the left ever since I've known him.  It is a lot of weight, his tail."

It's interesting, because as an extension of the spine, the tail should be centered.  I wonder if he was trying to use it to counterbalance his lateral imbalance, muscle-wise.  Hmm...

Mary and C after their jump school, December 2015

I didn't give my Secret Santa a whole lot to go on this year, besides that my horse has recently discovered Mrs. Pastures Cookies and turned into an insufferable treat whore lately.


Seriously, I don't think a day has gone by in four years that I haven't given him a treat, but it was always the peppermint ones from Rural King.  Now I started giving him Mrs. Pastures, and they may as well be pony cocaine!

Anyway, I was so excited when I saw what my Secret Santa had waiting for us!


A C4 belt in my XC colors with a chrome buckle, a Mrs. Pastures stocking for Connor, and a super cute family Christmas card (may have to steal this idea next year!)

My Secret Santa was...JumpPretty!  Thank you so much!

I partially opened Connor's stocking and gave it to him in his stall - occupying the 'Curious George' Welsh Cob brain and all.  It took him a few tries, he would push it around, get bored when no cookies came out, and come to my pockets for cookies that required less work!  But he had fun I think, and I gave him more cookies than he usually gets, cause, merry Christmas!



As for my half...


It's going to make a great replacement for the ribbon belt I thrifted in high school!

Such a cute pattern!

Shiny shiny.

Thank you so much, JumpPretty, and to Tracy for hosting!  Every year it has been fun both to give and to get!

This is giveaway 1 of 2 over the next week - be on the lookout for our 1,000th post next week!  Merry Christmas from Jen and Connor!

A while back, Noble Outfitters contacted me about reviewing a head-to-toe outfit for them and then offering that outfit in a contest for my readers.  So, full disclosure, I received a free outfit in exchange for doing this review, and so will one of your guys!  Read on for more details.

I had never tried on their breeches before, so I asked to review their Balance Riding Tights, and also the Lauren Quarter Zip shirt that Amanda also reviewed.  First up, the Balance Riding Tights.


Sorry about the pictures, I had to recruit my husband for these:


Most of you know my go-to tights are the Irideon Issential tights.  In that, I am a child's size L, which is not even the largest child's size in those tights.  Those things wear like iron and last for years, but my one complaint is that they don't have belt loops.  I was pretty excited to see that the Balance tights have belt loops.  Classy looking outfits, here I come!


I also really liked the thick, wide waistband, although after I put them on, it ended up being kind of a problem for me.


I looked at the sizing chart when I asked for the XS, but I really should have sized up.  They fit better than most pants on me - the waistband actually doesn't gap in the back on me like most pants do when you have a 35" hip and 24" waist - but they also threatened to cut off my circulation.

I'm not sure if it's because of the waistband, or the stiffness of the fabric, but if you get these - SIZE UP.  I couldn't wear them with anything underneath them, even my tiny microweight Smartwool, so these will be warm weather-only tights for me.  I really should have gotten a small.

But as far as everything else goes about them?  I really like them.  They clearly put a lot of thought into what would make these attractive every-day riding-wear.

Pocket - not big enough for my Droid Turbo, but definitely big enough for the knife I always have on me at the barn.  And maybe a smaller cell phone.

Attractive and not ostentatious logo on the back, and a nice euro-cut seat.

One of my favorite things about them is definitely the "lightweight stretch hem" bottoms.  They really do reduce bulk under the boot like Noble Outfitters says they will.  They're definitely my favorite hems of all of my riding pants.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I've had two lessons since I last wrote - Thursday, which was a Dressage lesson, and Sunday, which was "we'll jump when he's ready" and he came out firing, so the whole thing was a jump lesson.

Thursday, I finally solidly figured out my shoulder in aids.  I know that sounds weird since I've been doing so much of it, but I finally figured out how much bend we need and how much inside thigh is takes to get that much bend.  That also meant that I was able to "just put him in position" in the shoulder in and leave him alone, which you'll remember she's been asking me to do more and more.

I AM SO GOOD AT DRESSAGE GIVE ME MRS. PASTURES COOKIES PLZ.

In fact, the shoulder in was so good, she wanted to revisit half pass at the walk, which we started last summer and haven't done a lot of since.  It's really hard, since neither one of us have ever done it before, so I have no sense of feel for what it should be, but with my trainer saying "Yes that's it" or "No that's not it", I'm developing an understanding of how to get the "Yes"'s.


On Sunday at the makeup lesson, I didn't get to warm up on my own - thanks, traffic, for making me late.  I started out with a lap of walk in shoulder fore, then she told me to get trotting right away - and to both of our surprise, it was really good.  None of that 'flat tire' feeling, just straight, through, and stretchy.

Then the canter - even better.  "This is the best canter he's ever given you!"  The best part was, I wasn't even trying.  I was up in a half seat with light contact, and he was round, stepping under himself, and felt like a powerfully coiled spring.  Yes, in warmup.

She took that as an indication that we should jump, and we did.  Much of the lesson was spent combining our favorite (as of late) canter exercise, which is shoulder in with as much angle as he can give us without losing the bend, to canter, and then come off the rail to pop a crossrail in the middle of the ring.


It. Was. Awesome.  We did that, we did a skinny, and we even jumped the inflatable liverpool for the first time.  I expected it to ride like a ditch, and while he gave us a big effort the first time, he didn't scare himself doing it.  "We're jumping him so much right now because his canter is good, and he's learning that jumping can feel good.  He's gaining confidence in the ring that will translate over things like ditches when we get out in the field in the spring."

Seriously, that canter.  I was like "Why can't we get this all the time?!  How many carrots will it take to bribe you into being this awesome?"

Several.  The answer is several.

Hopefully that continues, although I'm betting being in the outdoor had a lot to do with that canter, which is sad.  So dreamy...

Mary went in with a game plan of keeping him quiet and bored.  She didn't want him to get tense or rushy, and wanted him to think slowly and carefully about where to place his feet.

They started out with both verticals in the ring just a few inches off the ground, and a line of trot poles.  She asked him to walk over/through all of that as a warmup.






So far so good.   Horse very bored.  She was feeling the 'one flat tire' feeling that indicates he is nowhere near on the aids (aka what happens at the beginning of every lesson) so I schooled her in the shoulder in-canter across the diagonal-collected walk in new direction exercise that JLC taught my trainer, which got him close.

Trot fence, so little impulsion, but horse was bored and quiet.

They moved on to trotting X's, still trying to stay quiet and bored, and finally raised one fence to around 18" and one to 2'.  She quit after just a couple of verticals, because the last one she said was the best fence she's ever felt on him:


She said she can tell a huge difference, especially after doing the SI-canter exercise on him, and can tell that the Dressage work we're doing is making a difference over fences.  That's good to hear from her, since she's the only other person that rides him and only sees him once every few months.

Oh, and...I was very happy he was wearing the XC boots.  The aftermath of walking over the raised fences:

All the colors of the rainbow!