Cob Jockey

 January

I brought Connor home from CGP's and had to learn how to ride my new horse! It turned out all that Dressage gave him newfound confidence over fences. I decided to keep Aeres for one more month and got to experience owning two riding horses for the first time. Also, sigh, I realized (again) that my saddle didn't fit.

 February

The story this month was what I didn't post about: the lady flying out to try Aeres, falling in love with her, and then Aeres getting desperately sick. I only wrote six benign posts, including one about my truck stranding me at the worst possible time, but privately I was dealing with a LOT.

Love you too, jerk

March

This month, I finally wrote up the Aeres medical saga, and at the time I wrote it, I thought she was out of the woods, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, so I ended up basically live blogging the last few weeks of it. We spent a solid two weeks keeping her alive on feeding tubes without knowing if she would ever be able to swallow again, and the day before we were going to make the call, she began swallowing again, and eventually made a full recovery. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Final Thoughts. Outside of that, this was also the month I started virtual lessons, which were such a game changer.

April

I showed 2-3 for the first time at Heartland, got my amateur status back, hauled my mom's geriatric donkey from Illinois to Tennessee, and...a very special colt was born on April 28th, which just so happened to also be the day I got my second shot, something that made the entire show season ahead of me actually feel possible after everything was cancelled in 2020. I didn't speak for him immediately, but I had a feeling that I might.

"Why yes, hello world."

May

I officially bought Dyma Hi's colt, who I named Disco (Castleberrys Deja Vu). I rode with my trainer's trainer, who was the non-traveling reserve for the Olympics this year, and showed twice: once schooling, and once rated, for the first time with my trainer and her crew. I also rode the now-healthy Aeres one last time before she left, and tried a Bua.

June

Holly from Party Pony Eventing came to visit and rode Connor, I bought a Western saddle, and then I (finally) bought a Dressage saddle (that I still don't have as I write this post!). I showed at Waterloo for the first time, again with CGP's crew, and had a blast.

It was, um, wet.

Armed with my loaner saddle #2 and the knowledge that I didn't need my Saturday score for anything, I was feeling pretty good about Saturday.

Riding for Lilo Fore for the first time. All photos from my momma again!

Warmup was a lot less exciting. He came out behind my leg and compliant, which I felt was a net improvement from explosively in front of my leg and non-compliant the day before.

I want the power but not the explosions!

GP trainer would later tell me my stirrups need to go down a hole in this saddle, but she wasn't going to make a change like that in the warm-up. Fair.

This test was more even in terms of how it scored. She gave us more 7.0+ scores than the previous judge did, including on the first and last centerlines, the halt/reinback, the medium to collected canter in both directions, the transitions between those two gaits in both directions, the left lead serpentine, and the final collected trot. Then we had a lot of 5.5-6.5's.

7 for this

It's interesting, because in the second half of the season we have consistently scored well on all of the same things, and consistently lost points in all of the same things, which gives me a good roadmap for the winter. Anything that involves bend, we're not good at, which makes sense given how wildly asymmetrical we both are.

In sum, it scored a 61.3%. Interestingly, later that same day the same judge gave my former college suitemate (who is a much more accomplished Dressage rider than I am and was on a big moving leased imported WB) a score 2% lower than mine for a test that I was there for and thought was much better than mine. I say that not at all to brag, but that there might be a discrepancy between the way things look and the way my own test feels to me. Or we might be scoring some pony sympathy points I guess, lol.

Not pulling, eyyyy

Comments on this one were "Lateral movements need more precise angle. Transitions need confidence in the collection before [something] more clear - willing - learning team."

Honestly?

It meant so much to me that Lilo Fore gave me a score that said "You're at the right level, but you have room to improve" and then gave me a written acknowledgement that she can tell we're learning. That's why I do Dressage at all, to learn!

Blogger Kate asked me later if I was happy with my scores. I had been already been wrestling with that a bit before she asked that, because what does it say if I say I'm happy with a 61-62%? That I'm not ambitious?

But I decided it's okay to admit I'm happy with the low 60's. What, if I get a 68, then am I happy with that or do the goal posts move to 70? If I get an 80 do I start chasing an 82%? This whole freaking sport is set up to always make you feel like you're never quite "there", and as long as my scores are high enough that they serve as a judge's acknowledgement that we're at the right level and doing the right things and LEARNING, then I'm going to be happy.

Notice you didn't hear me say anything about placings this weekend because I rode in the Pony division and we were the only 2-3 pony both days. But if I had gone in the AA division, I would have been first out of 3 on Friday and 3rd out of 5 on Saturday, which is pretty respectable! So I feel like these ribbons are slightly less cheap than they initially felt.

 Amazing Patrick saddle fitter Kate lives near Lamplight, and I knew GP trainer had told her about my CWD saga, but I was still surprised when CGP told me Kate was going to show up with a loaner Patrick for me.

Mary with the truth bombs, lol

I was even more surprised when Kate showed up with a BRAND NEW loaner Patrick. Like I don't think it had even been girthed before. But I wasn't at all surprised when she set it on his back and it fit like it was made for him.

Mary: "That's a pretty darn good look for a random loaner..."

She set it on him, stepped back, and made an "Am I good, or am I good?" expression with a wry smile. It was perfect. She had been prepared to adjust the flocking, but didn't need to in the end. It's almost-but-not-quite perfect for me, mainly in the flaps which are far too long, but I didn't even say that out loud, I was just so grateful to her for bringing it after how hard he'd objected to the Trilogy that morning.

Could definitely be worse shoulder fit

The final surprise came when she told me I could keep it until mine comes in, free of charge. And THIS is why I bought a Patrick, in the end. I consider the price I paid not just the price of the saddle, but also paying for the relationship with this very talented saddle fitter who is just as invested in my own success as my trainer is.

Part of the reason she's letting me borrow it indefinitely may be that there's still no ETA on my own saddle. They're having supply-chain-related sourcing issues for materials, and England may be heading for yet another lockdown, so saddles are taking longer than usual to get done. My trainer's barn's saddles they ordered in the 1-2 months before mine just came in two weeks ago, so mine could be another 2-3 months.

SERGE PANELSSSSSSS! The care instructions for serge are "use a lint roller on them sometimes". That's...it. I just love it.

I rode in it just long enough Friday afternoon to determine I loved it. I was once again struck by the same feeling I wrote about in November of 2019, that a well-fitted Patrick makes Dressage easier (not sure if it's the "well-fitted" part or the "Patrick" part, but the two go hand in hand thanks to Kate so it doesn't really matter). 

Connor immediately lowered his head and relaxed over his topline in a way he hadn't with the Trilogy, or even with the CWD in a while for that matter.

Happy boy

So that's what we took into the show ring the next day!

We are home safely after a fantastic weekend at Lamplight!

Home sweet home

Everything went smoothly, Connor was great, and I got to see sooooooooo many friends and family because my mom grew up in the northwest suburbs, so a bunch of people I love live right there.

I'll recap the rides in the coming days (which were good!), but let's start with Lamplight itself. Of course I knew of it - believe it or not, my mom and my Aunt Dawn used to trail ride there from their lesson stable in the 70s! But it's one of the few remaining venues within ~5 hours of me that I hadn't yet shown at.

First impression? I texted my husband "I don't make enough money to breathe the air here," lol.

It's just nice. Every part of it is nice. Nice in a way that even the Kentucky Horse Park isn't.

The mythical full bar in show stabling, not yet open at 10am when this picture was taken.

And it better be for the price! This was far and away the most expensive show I entered this year. $300 for a weekend of stabling and another $300 for a tack stall, that I refused to get this time because I just couldn't bear the idea of parting with that kind of money for a tack stall, lol.

We got along just fine without it (mine is on the right)

My only and biggest facilities complaint is that these stalls only have outlets on one side of the aisle, (with two aisles in each barn) and the stall fronts are too short to just directly run the extension cord over, so all of us in the stalls in the middle had to plug in, then somehow get our cords over the beams 15 feet in the air. You could've made a slapstick comedy over the sight of me trying to get that damn cord over. Thankfully none of the very nice horses around us spooked.

First time at a show with Lauren Sprieser

That's another thing about Lamplight - the horse quality. Because this open show I was in was run concurrently with Festival of Champions, some of the nicest Dressage horses in the country were here. Everywhere you looked, it was imported Warmbloods with pretentious names. And for the first time in I think my entire show career, not one stranger said "Cute pony!" or anything like that to me the entire weekend. 

I got to show with my college suitemate and former IHSA teammate!

I mean, I don't need validation for my horse choice from others, but I did notice the conspicuous lack of attention for my little buddy, and when taken into consideration with the horses, the names, the facility, the cliquish groups, the stressed-looking riders, and the pinkie out piano music floating over it all, it made me feel like maybe the top Dressage riders take things too seriously. Lighten up! Live a little! We're not curing cancer here!

I wouldn't trade this for all the 80%s in the world anyway.

But I definitely enjoyed it and want to go back. My aunt and uncle live 8 minutes from Lamplight, and staying with them meant we could do things like leave the showgrounds for an hour to take a quick dip in their pool and then come back. It also certainly made the weekend a lot more affordable. And it meant I got to see my entire extended family on my mom's side! 

This is about half of my Chicagoland family, lol. The other half met us for dinner but couldn't come to the show.

I'm already looking forward to doing this again next year!

I need to start every warm-up checking in with my own body and with his.

Rolling with my entourage. PC: Leah

Adding those extra ten minutes on Saturday really helped. We've both noticed that starting my on-the-contact work with HI/HO on a 20m circle really helps Connor loosen up and get on my aids, and it also gives me a chance to check in with my position too. I need to warm up at home like I do at shows.

Plugging into my back has to become my default.

Connor: Learn how to riiiiiiiiide. PC: Leah

Otherwise I pull. And that's not good for anybody.

I only go off course when CGP is watching my test.

Studying my test in the USDF TestPro app. PC: Leah

Don't know what to make of this, and I acknowledge that it could be a red herring, but the only times I've gone off course in the last 5 years have been the first time I've done a new test and when she's watching. Something to think about and work through.

His dietary changes could have totally been the placebo effect, but I definitely had more horse than ever before throughout this show.

Still cruising along with more than enough horse on Day 3. PC: John Borys Photography

Still debating on whether to even write about what I changed because I know I often influence people to buy things (MEGAN), and I can't prove that what I changed caused the difference I felt. What I do know is that because of the timing of when he went to CGPs and when the show was, I was only able to do one conditioning ride before the show, yet I had more horse than I ever have before, stamina-wise.

2-2 can die in a fire.

Entourageeeeee. PC: Leah

If you voluntarily ride 2-2 for fun, I do not understand you, lol. 

If jackets are waived, it's not even a decision.

My jump saddle is so small, I can use it with a Dressage pad and you probably didn't even notice that until I said something. PC: John Borys Photography

It's not that I can't ride well when I'm uncomfortable, but it's definitely harder, and I've put together a jackets-waived outfit I'm excited about being photographed in. SO, yeah, unless it's required or it's cold, I'm taking my jacket off every chance I get in the Midwestern heat.

Competing at Waterloo definitely helped.

PC: Leah

It changed a lot about what I did at Pony Cup, from the timing of my warmup, to the decision to get a tack stall, to recognizing the need for a bunch more hooks and straps for hanging things, to deciding to change his diet. There are shows that I'll do that matter a bunch by themselves, like Pony Cup and ride-offs, but there will also be shows that I'll do that matter more on the timeline of my show season, and Waterloo is definitely the latter.

Although it wasn't super hot at this show, it was stuffy in the little indoor, and when they waived jackets Saturday morning, I was all over that, championship show be damned (I am also the first person to take my shirt off every day at CrossFit, in case you were wondering, lol).

Also my jackets waived shirt is bangin', if I do say so myself. PC: Leah

Saturday was a rinse and repeat of Friday schedule-wise, with my ride being 8 minutes later than the day before's ride. But on Saturday, I gave myself an extra 10 minutes of warm-up so I could do a bunch of walk-only stretchy suppling work and focus on my own body before CGP tuned in.

Several minutes into that walk work, my earbud started inexplicably playing 123456 by Fitz and the Tantrums. Erika heard it too and was frantically trying to figure out how to shut it off, but I was feeling it. Really can't think of a better song to start playing in the moment.

And I'm hopin' that my dreams come true. And I'm hopin' that I'll make it with you. PC: Leah

When CGP connected, she said, "Wow, that looks a lot better than yesterday already!" and she made a comment about how my hands needed to be solid/firm but my elbows needed to be softer. Immediately, I could feel my lats engage and the circle of energy from the hind end feeling happen, and I knew where I went wrong yesterday. I spent the rest of the warmup thinking "anchor into the saddle, engage the back chain" and what do you know, I stopped pulling on him.

Leah, Erika and Mary peer pressured me into buying these awesome ELT breeches at the mobile tack shop and I have no regrets. PC: Leah

The warm-up was longer and more intense than I usually go for, especially on the second day, but oddly enough, I never felt like I was in danger of running out of horse. In fact, I never got that feeling in the show ring either, even toward the end of 2-3.

PC: Leah

That feeling carried into the show ring where we just freaking brought it:

PC: Lisa

I mean. The shape of him looked like a totally different horse from Friday.

Goodbye, underneck! PC: Leah

My own improvements were pretty awesome. I intentionally took a deep breath at least 3 times during the test. I thought one movement ahead and prepared for each one. I was anchored in the saddle and (for the most part) not pulling. And it paid off. 

We got 7.0's on a 10m trot circle, on the right TOH, on a medium canter, and on counter canter serpentine (with the comment "nice jump"). Among the lower scores, we notably got a 6.5 on a trot lengthening, which, thankyouverymuch, we will take that!

PC: Leah

As we turned down centerline toward the final halt, I couldn't stop smiling. I never smile during rides, but  I knew I'd figured something big out that day. 

That said, I also knew it would only be rewarded with a score one or two percentage points higher than the day before, but I knew the lessons I took away from that test would change the game going forward, and that honestly mattered more than anything in the moment. All I ever want out of Dressage is to feel progress, and I certainly felt it on Saturday.

PC: Leah

After 3.5 hours of waiting for the rest of the results to come in, when my giant class was done riding, we found out we had placed 4th out of 9 AAs in 2-3 with a 62.5%. And when the averages were calculated for the two days, we had placed 6th to take the last neck ribbon by the slimmest of margins. (0.5%)

Leah with Maid of Honor duties!! PC: Erika

(Except we really, really, REALLY didn't do it all on our own!)

Framily!

I don't normally do this because I prefer Connor sleep undisturbed at night, but given how much he was drinking at this show, I decided to spring for night check which included AM grain feeding, so we arrived at the show at a leisurely 8:15am on Saturday. 

Check out where all the competitors came from this year! It's truly a national show.

My entourage was starting to assemble at this point, with Mary, Erika, Leah, and a fellow Welsh Cob owner named Sue joining my mom and Lisa. My grandma and great aunt would be joining us the next day too.

Mary threw herself into show groom duties and I never had to ask for anything from her all weekend. Every time I looked over she was doing his stall or grooming him or clipping him or feeding him All The Mints.

At 20 minutes until my ride time, I walked over, and at 15 minutes til, Erika handed me an earbud and fired up Skype so CGP could warm me up virtually.

Erika also takes virtual lessons with CGP on her Castleberry Cob, so she was a natural fit to video for me, which I can't thank her enough for! She also wore the other earbud, so she was the only other person who could hear what CGP was telling me. PC: Leah

It was my first time doing a virtual warm-up. You'd think I'd be used to this virtual thing by now, but it was SO WEIRD to know my coach was two states and 406 miles away from me, because it felt like she was standing right there in the ring to my brain. Just like my weekly virtual lessons, it was just as effective as if she was there with me.

I still think stock ties are dumb, but I have one I like now so that helps. PC: Leah

Connor was kind of flipping me the bird in the warm-up, and she basically said, he's educated enough to know that he needs to yield to the bit when you ask for that, and he's choosing instead to stick his underneck out. You need to have consistent contact instead of this constant wishy washy give and take you're doing. It may take a lot of pressure at first, but stick to your guns.

Bird.

Being flipped.

She was not at all wrong, but I had to go in the ring shortly after she said that, and my squirrel brain that tends to take over during tests interpreted that as "pull on his mouth". And so this test went about as well as you'd expect, especially for a test I still genuinely think doesn't suit Connor. It had some nice moments:

PC: Leah

PC: Leah

But generally it was just a ton of tension and underneck, which as CGP has told me many times, that's when I will never get a simple change out of him. And I didn't get a single clean one

Tension. PC: Leah

And underneck. PC: Leah

At least one of us walked out of the ring proud of himself, lol:

Cheesing for his entourage. PC: Leah

But I was disappointed in myself. I know I can ride better than that. Why do I always ride so much worse in the show ring? I don't feel nervous. 

My disappointment grew when the scores were posted and I got a 61.341% and was one spot out of the ribbons by 0.1%. Which is the same position I found myself in at the last Pony Cup four years ago, just one level higher. I know it sounds stupid, but when I picked up my score sheet and they offered me one of the goofy NDPC participation ribbons, it felt like Groundhog Day and like nothing had changed.

On the positive side, it was my last time ever riding this 2-2 test, and I didn't go off course! PC: Leah

I spent a lot of that day thinking about how we could improve Saturday's test. She was very right that I was being inconsistent in the contact. I hadn't noticed it before, but I couldn't un-notice it after she pointed it out. I was also pulling, which meant I wasn't strong enough in my core. And Mary said it looked like I didn't take a breath the entire test, and she asked me if I had points in the ring that I set for myself to remember to breathe. I do not.

PC: Leah

I never do this since his stamina is such a challenge for me over long show weekends, but after consulting with CGP, I got back on him later that afternoon. I hacked him around the complex and then schooled in our warmup ring, asking for suppleness and submission to the bit. He also got some bodywork from Sue, which was an awesome and unexpected skillset among my friends that day.

When I was hacking the ring steward tried to get my attention and yelled "HEY YOU ON THE HAFLINGER!" I am annoyed to report that I answered to that, lol.

I went to bed that night knowing I would have to ride the pants off of 2-3 to be in contention for neck ribbons, which went from 1st-6th, and I was sitting in 7th (out of 9). I was not out of it, but I was very much on the bubble.

Boing. PC: Leah