Stop to Smell the Flower

Elliot faired pretty well on the journey back south after the disappointment of Fair Hill. He got about a couple weeks of vacation since there was nothing else for he really needed to do this year. It seemed well deserved after all the shipping and competing and general stress of the trip and the season as a whole. We haven't done anything particularly strenuous since coming home. Mostly hacking and some light long and low flat work.

I'm a big supporter of giving upper level horses a break. In the past, the competition season was shorter. The long format three day was the pinnacle of the season. You worked up to it, and then your horse had a vacation on the off season. Now, with short format and more three days, you can run many FEI events in one season. Furthermore, there isn't really an off season anymore. You can travel all over the country and find an event at almost any time of year.

Getting horses fit and ready to run is hard work. Smellie only has a six or seven hour work week, but those can be some hard hours. There's lots of drilling and lots of galloping and lots of jumping.

One night this week we just wandered and watched as a pretty spectacular double rainbow appear over Redbud Farm. Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the flowers!

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Un-Fair Hill?

I was so looking forward to putting my mistake at the AECs behind me and proving to myself that we were ready for our first CCI2 at Fair Hill. I didn't get the chance.

Most people know what happened to us, especially since there was an article in the Chronicle of the Horse and it appeared all over Eventing Nation.

For the most part, people were very supportive. There were the few that tut tutted me and Betsy. We got a few like, 'shame on that owner for trying to run a lame horse' or 'if the vet said the horse wasn't fit to run, the owner should not run the horse'. I would never run Smellie had I thought he wasn't right. I have scratched him from events because I have been worried about his best interest.

In this case, I truly believe he was fine. He was going better than he ever has. He was fit and ready to run. Here's how our first Fair Hill adventure went:

We arrived at Fair Hill on Monday and Elliot was in great form despite the long trip north and the extra couple days hanging at Heidi's Hanoverian Inspection over the weekend. We hacked on Monday after arriving, and took a flat lesson with Leslie Law on Tuesday. Elliot was phenomenal. Leslie said he was moving and working much better than he was even a month before at the AECs. We worked for about an hour pretty hard.

Wednesday morning I went for a long hack before the job and he felt good. Dougie Hannum worked on Smellie in the morning and said his body felt great! He didn't even have anything to adjust. In the jog Elliot was very slow to move off away from the other horses and also the ground jury. So I was essentially dragging him down the jog strip. He was held along with a how slew of other horses.

This is where things went bad. The vet in the hold box palpated his legs and then flexed Elliot's left hind as if he were performing a pre-purchase exam. Since I was trotting I couldn't really see what was happening but I basically knew he trotted off positive to the flexion. The vet in the box told me that the joint itself looked good and he wasn't tender to palpation, but that Elliot was very lame and that I should just 'go home'. Betsy and Dougie were standing outside the holding area. We were all totally caught off guard and since no one knew quite what to do in this situation, I withdrew.

It was not until I got back to the barn that I found out those types of 'active' flexion tests are illegal in the hold area. The vet is allowed to flex for range of motion and palpate for tenderness, but actively flexing and trotting off is explicitly illegal.

And in all honesty, how many of the horses competing at that level could have flexed positive in that situation? I would hazard a guess that most would flex positive to some degree. I am especially suspicious of this considering all 6 of the horses illegally flexed in the holding area by the same veterinarian all reacted positive. Any horse, if flexed firmly enough will give a positive reaction (see the Behind the Bit blog post summarizing studies concerning the reliability of flexion tests). Since the vet didn't look at Elliot trot on a circle or flex the other leg or even see him trot on a straight away before flexing him, I question the validity of this exam.

Upon finding out that procedure in the hold area was illegal, I spoke with the show office and tried to get in touch with the TD and the President of the Ground Jury in order to make a formal inquiry. After over an hour of waiting, the TD called me on the phone and essentially said there was nothing he could do because I withdrew from the competition despite anything the vet did or said, illegal or not. He also said, that the head vet knew there was something illegal happening in the holding area and she had addressed it. What he didn't say was that it's was a bit of a catch 22 though; if I had represented against the suggestion of the holding box vet, I might have been eliminated or worse yellow carded like one of the kids at young riders this year. And would Elliot have looked okay after being flexed so hard? I don't really know.

We packed up and left early the next morning for home.

We got home Friday night and first thing Monday morning we took Smellie into the vet for a full lameness exam. Dr. Cate Mochal found nothing behind. He did not flex positive to stifle flexions and he was only mildly positive to the hock and fetlock flexions. She said his reaction was so slight, she would not even recommend hock injections.

So, we were all very disappointed. Elliot and I did not get the chance to show off what we had been preparing for all year. We lost a lot of money, but worse we lost a lot of time. I still need a CCI2 in order to run a CCI3 and there isn't another CCI2 until much later in the fall. This sets our progress back. We can still move up to advanced in Florida, but we will have to go back an collect that pesky CCI2 mid-season.

I know the vet was doing what he thought was best. I understand and appreciate that he did not want anyone, equine or human, to get hurt. What upsets me is that if I had broken an FEI rule, I would have been fined and suspended from competition. What happens to him? As far as I know, nothing. He even said he would flex horses again given the opportunity. Maybe the system is broken. I don't know. I have not given an alternative much careful though. However, I do know until the rule officially changes, what this vet did was wrong and it shouldn't happen.

My bad for not knowing the rules. Expensive lesson and a major MAJOR bummer. Hope next time will be better.

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Bad Call

Seems as though time has gotten away from me. Fall has flown by. I cannot believe we are already on the way to Fair Hill. I can't tell sometimes if the feeling in my stomach is excitement or terror. It's a toss up; either one seems appropriate at any certain time.

A couple weeks ago weeks ago we took off to Texas (my first time in the Lone Star State) to go to a clinic with Leslie Law and then head to Texas Rose Horse Park for their first American Eventing Championships.

The clinic was spectacular! Leslie had a lot of great insights into Elliot. He got me working Elliot over his back in a way I haven't felt before. I am very excited at the opportunity to work with him again while in Florida this winter.

The AEC didn't go as well as I would have hoped. It wasn't a disaster by any means, but it revealed some holes and I was a little let down after the high of the clinic the week before.

Dressage was respectable. We scored under 40 in a very stiff field. The comments were more or less what I expected to see. We need more bend in the lateral work, there's some tension in the walk, and the canter-walk transitions are often abrupt and/or on the forehand.

The cross country course was solid. Just what I wanted before Fair Hill. The first five fences were small and straightforward. Fence six was the first combination on course and the first serious question. It was a hefty table, six strides (if ridden direct) to a narrow, right pointed corner. From that point, there were a series of very good questions including big angled roll tops, two water complexes (the first a barn-bank out-one stride-skinny and the second big brush-drop in-bending line-tall, wide skinny out), and another corner combination that mirrored the first but this time with a tall but wide chevron in. The course eased you in, tested your mettle, and then let you down.

I felt pretty confident walking the course. I knew the first combination was going to be a very good test. It was the first combination on course and right corners can be tough as we struggle with right drift. On the first walk, it seemed obvious to jump the right hand side of the table and put a little bend back to the corner. On each successive walk, my line got straighter and straighter. It turned out to be a bad call. I made a tough question tougher than it needed to be and also something we weren't quite ready to do. When I got to it on course, he jumped the table well and I rode my plan. I'm not sure whether he misunderstood the question, or if the right drift caught up to up or if we just weren't settled at that point on course (as he was breathing fire on that particular day), but regardless, we had a blow by. Then I let myself get frazzled and didn't collect myself or him enough for the second attempt resulting in another blow by. At that point we picked off the option, which was a left pointed corner, and went on. The rest of the course rode well. I hit a flag with my left knee on the second corner combination but he went. All the other combinations rode great.

After the trouble on XC, I was really hoping for a clean show jumping round to end the weekend on a high note. It was not meant to be. Elliot actually jumped quite well, and my eye was on, but instead of a 12' stride I was on something like a 14' stride, which meant we jumped a little flat. He just breathed on a few of them and they fell.

We got up into the triple digits, but we finished!

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what's in a name?

Many people ask me where he got the name L.E. Font. Most assume it's something fancy. Maybe it relates to the breeder like RF 'so and so' or our very own Calysta MWF?

No. It's mostly meant as an inside joke and references Smellie's formative years.

Elliot was not a naturally brave horse. He was skittish as a baby and a couple incidences over fences made him certain the world, and particularly the jumps, were out to get him.

It started at one of his first events when a dirt bike backfired at the the show jump in gate as Elliot was coming around to finish. For lack of a better word, it scared the poop out of him.

Next came the jumping at night episode a couple weeks later. It probably goes without saying, but I want it on record that it is never a good idea to jump horses in the dark without lights, even over the bright white rails. Elliot ended up galloping back to the barn with a flower box bracelet. After that, he wouldn't go anywhere near a jump or a pole or a standard for a long time.

Betsy likes to tell stories about jumping Elliot at Redbud and spending hours running through small verticals or putting eight very squirrely strides in a three. She finally got him to get near the jumps by putting a pole in his stall so that he had to walk over is to get his food.

Even at our first event, he wouldn't go near most of the cross country jumps and I thought, what have I gotten myself into?!

Basically, the name came from Elliot never forgetting what's happened in the past. 'Elephant' didn't seem appropriate since I don't think of elephants as particularly light on their feet or cat-like, though they do have a certain majesty and grace about them. L.E. Font, however, somehow seemed to fit.

This personality now works to my advantage. Once he realized jumping was fun he was ALL about it. Furthermore, you only have to show him a question once and like an elephant, he never forgets!

So when you hear his name announced, it's okay to chuckle. Neither Elliot nor I take ourselves too seriously. We're just doing what we know and finally having fun!

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Unbelievable

I just realized that it's only been a year since Smellie ran his first event after the colic surgery. I missed the one year mark of his surgery. It seems so long ago now.

I remember that day so vividly. Betsy and I went to the farm and Smellie looked fine. He was out in the paddock with Warren. Head down. Grazing away. Within 15 minutes I couldn't keep him on his feet. I don't know why we had the client's trailer hooked up, but we did. I rode in the back with Elliot while Betsy drove. I had to hit him with the dressage whip to keep him up. We got to the vet school which was thankfully only 5 minutes down the road. I could hear Betsy arguing with the intercom about opening the gate. I assume they were asking for a gate pass, but all I heard was Betsy say 'I have a very sick horse in the back. I don't have time for this. Either you open the gate, or I'm ramming it.' Off we rolled. When we got him off the trailer, they did a bunch of tests. They couldn't keep him comfortable even with some pretty serious sedation every 15 minutes. I don't really know what happened, but I was in the trailer's living quarters and I remember Betsy walking in and saying 'I told them to cut him'. I'm glad she was there. I was a total wreck.

He spent four hours on the table. Betsy and I watched the entire time. At that point I had cried as much as I could and it all seemed so surreal anyway. I remember poor Dr. Mochal up to her elbows in Elliot for hours. I remember her looking for something as she was closing him up. We joked at the time that she was worried she might have have lost a tool inside Smellie. Turns out she was, but she didn't. He wouldn't be here without Dr. Cate Mochal and her team. I cannot thank them enough.

After six months of recovering, we did the novice at Poplar Place in June 2012. Smellie was so naughty! He was wound for sound in the dressage and scored a forty something. Worse even, he ran backwards from the show jumps from way out. Like WAY out. We racked up 12 time faults in the show jumping despite not having any jump penalties. When he did get there, he was running away with me and ran past the distances and jumped poorly.

It's a little less than 15 months later and Elliot is running Intermediate successfully. He scores mid 30s to low 40s in the dressage. He's jumping the snot out of the fences and well. He's qualified for the CCI2 at Fairhill in the fall, and he is just so much fun! I cannot believe it.

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Mostly I Just Admire Elliot

I don't always order photos from the events, though I definitely enjoy looking at the pictures over and over and over. And then one more time for good measure. I like to scrutinize my position and see how I can improve, but mostly I like to admire Elliot. I'm still so blown away with him every day.

Brant Gamma was the photographer at Millbrook. She took some fabulous pictures! I couldn't help but get these two. Smellie makes it look pretty easy.

Yes. I am still crazy horse obsessed. Guess some girls just don't grown out of that stage. I'm okay with it.

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On Top of the World

There is a song by Imagine Dragons called 'On top of the World' that pretty much describes my outlook at the moment. The refrain goes like this:

...
I'm on top of the world, 'ay
'Waiting for this for a while now,
Paying my dues to the dirt
I've been waiting to smile, 'ay
Been holding it in for awhile, 'ay
Take it with me if I can,
Been dreaming of this since a child
I'm on top of the world
...
We've been up in MA for exactly a month today, and it has been quite a trip. Poor Betsy fell off and broke her tail bone day three of our trip so I know she has been feeling a little low and frustrated, but Smellie and I have made great progress in this short time!

We have had a chance to work with Stephie Baer and Bobby Costello. We've done some great galloping on the terrain up here. We've had some good competition, ran around some super courses, and generally got more education and confidence. These are all the things you hope to get from a training session!

Millbrook was the culmination of it all, and Smellie was a star! I'm happy to say we are not officially qualified for the CCI2 at Fair Hill! This was the ultimate goal. We came, we saw, we conquered!

Dressage went well. Elliot was very rideable. The lateral work and counter canters are getting much stronger. I, in what seems to be becoming a habit, forgot the last movement in the test thus incurring an error. Even still, we finished with an even 40. It would have been nice to have another intermediate test in the 30s (I think I calculated it being a 39.something without the error), but serves me right for being kind of casual about learning the test. Need more practice in the large arena. Must set on up at home!

Cross country was glorious. I'm very glad we got the chance to run around another big course, especially on with a lot of terrain. We don't have many hills down south so it's good education to play up here. The intermediate course was actually causing significant trouble. The water in particular caught out a number of combinations. It was a brush log/drop in, six strides to a narrow/low beaver, two strides to a big brushed out chevron. If you didn't jump in pretty much lined up the chevron and pushing for the out, it was easy to glance off and there wasn't really a good way to get back at it, nor was there an option. I was lucky Elliot is as honest as he is because I jumped in a little too settled and he had to reach for the chevron to make it work.


The course had some other good questions too: a big, right pointed corner turning to a log, a proper coffin, and a serious slide that made me stomach drop every time I came to the edge of it on foot. The pictures do not do it justice. Think Man From Snowy River.

Elliot ran around like it was a pony trials. I still feel like we're new to the level, but I he's actually pretty educated now with four intermediates and a CIC2 under his belt.

Show jump, which is often my difficult phase, was great! I had a super warm up, and went into the ring with a lot of confidence. I had two rails because I was a little slow with rebalancing at the end of the course, but I am still extremely happy. Elliot jumped the snot out of everything, and I rode instead of just leaving it up to chance!

Bobby Costello came up to me after my round and said that Elliot was spectacular and if I can just chill out in there I would never had a rail. He's right. Elliot didn't have any rails. They were all mine. Still, I'm flattered. Bobby didn't have to say that and he certainly wasn't handing out compliments to some of the other riders he watched.

I cannot believe the month has gone by so quickly. I'm sad to be heading back to Mississippi, though it will be nice to be home and see everyone we've been missing down there. And of course there won't be much time for being sad. The next couple months are going to be full of preparing for AECs and Fair Hills. Bring it on!

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Thank you Stephie

For those of you who really know Stephie Baer, you know that she is kind, generous, a tremendously hard worker, and a phenomenal horse woman, rider, and teacher. I have been very lucky to work closely with Stephie for many years. I'm not sure she has any idea what an impact she has had on me both in the riding and my life, and I'm also not sure I can ever thank her enough for all that she has done for me.

The past few weeks has been no different.

Stephie is a busy lady. Before we even came up she was working her butt off, but she still made teaching me and Elliot a priority. If you ask her, she will tell you that she did not do as much as she would have liked and that she wasn't much help at all. Those of you who know Stephie can probably picture her response in a typical self deprecating, Stephie manner; you will also know not to listen to her.

It has been Smellie and Jessie boot camp. Stephie has worked hard on the details of my flat work. We're getting more bend through the shoulder-in and haunches-in, more suppleness and balance through the counter canter, more push through the lengthens, and in general more bounce per ounce! You cannot fix it all in one month, but I have much better insight into how Elliot should be going and how to get him there.

As I've mentioned, show jumping is a difficult phase for me. It is not because my horse isn't careful or I do not have feel or I don't know how to ride (though sometimes you may here me say that in a low moment). It is a mental block. I panic so to speak.

Stephie has been very patient with me. She made me jump some big courses (even in the pouring rain) and stuck with me despite some minor melt downs. It goes beyond drilling the riding part. She understands my own brain and helps me work through the mental portion as well.

I can say with great confidence, her hard work paid off!

At Millbrook, I found myself half halting and re-balancing with my leg and seat and then riding up to the base of the jumps to Elliot can show everyone how spectacular he really is. I felt good about going into the show jump ring for the first time in a long time. I was on fire, and despite two rails, due to a minor relapse into passenger status, I had a beautiful, well ridden round (good enough even for Bobby Costello to even come over an compliment me).

Just like the flat, it's not something that can get fixed in a month. Perhaps if I stayed for another six we could get every wrinkle ironed out or at least worked on. However, I have to head back south again. Life doesn't stop just because I finally feel like I'm making progress, but I feel rejuvenated. I'm out of the rut that sometimes happens when you work in your own small world for too long. I have a plan and a better understanding of what I should be striving to feel.

I guess this is all to say thank you Stephie Baer. Everyone in Area I should take advantage of having Stephie in their back yard. She is truly on of the greats of this sport (despite what she has may say about it). I don't know where I'd be without her!

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Change of Plans

Elliot's New England summer schedule was comprised of two events: Stuart and then Millbrook. Both are Area I CN's, which means they hold the same weight as an FEI qualifier. It would be excellent to have both since we need one more CIC2 to qualify for Fair Hill, and you never know what is going to happen so extra chances for qualifying scores is a good thing.

On the first day of our drive up to Massachusetts we discovered that Stuart HT in New York was canceled. First thought was 'Seriously?'. Second thought was 'Well crap! There goes $500'. Then finally we get to 'Should we try to get into another event?'.

Millbrook is a big course with a lot of atmosphere and a lot of terrain. The last time we had been out was the CIC2 at Chatt, and I'd also like to have a few more solid runs before I feel confident about tackling the CCI2 at Fair Hill.

The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy was running the same weekend of Stuart. We could try to get in there, but as with any decision, there are pros and cons to both side.

Pros: It would be great to have another run before heading to Millbrook. It's also good for Elliot to go every three weeks or so to keep him fresh and tuned up, and let's be serious, keep me tuned up. Then of course, there's the fact that we're both green at this level and Stephie was willing to come with and coach me.

Cons: The Maryland Horse Trials is not a qualified CN so the course wasn't going to be as big nor would it help me qualify for Fair Hill. It also meant another 10 hour trailer ride for poor Elliot who just came off a 24+ hour ride. Trailering is tough on them. Ulcers, respiratory stuff, weakened immune system, and just general fatigue are all things I worry about. PLUS it's another entry fee (especially since we're probably not getting much money back from Stuart) and more money in gas, etc. etc.

In the end, we decided to go. My parents generously offered to help me with the entry and Stephie offered to drive. I was ho-humming about it, but as everyone said, it is better to be making progress than sitting around wasting time.

The wonderful, amazing, brilliant secretary for the Maryland Horse Trials, Mary Coldren, made two new divisions of Intermediate for all of us who got unlucky at Stuart. Elliot wasn't particularly enthused about it, but I'm glad we went. There was certainly some rust to be shaken off.

We did dressage on Friday and jumped on Saturday. Dressage went amazingly well. Elliot was relaxed and happy, especially in his new Amerigo Alto on trail from World Equestrian Brands. He was very obedient and consistent. We scored a 36.80, which put us in 14th, but we were only 7 points behind the leader and only 3 points behind Phillip Dutton on 2012 Horse of the Year, Mr. Medicott. With the likes of Phillip, Buck, Kim, and Jan to name a few, I was over the moon! Elliot was certainly holding his own.


Saturday I was feeling pretty optimistic. I had a super jump school with Stephie the day we left. Elliot was jumping the snot out of everything, and Stephie kept saying how well he was jumping! Of course jumping at home is different than jumping at an event when the pressure is higher and eyes are on you. I ended up having a stop at the second fence because I was riding backwards. It was pilot error. Elliot could not have jumped from the tea cup canter I had. After that wake up call, however, I pulled myself together and got on with it. It is a good thing to remember that when jumping 4' you need to have enough step. Poor Stephie was a very aggravated videographer...


Cross country was a blast. Elliot ran around the course, ear pricked and looking for the next. We picked up only 6.80 time penalties, despite not running for time. The course certainly wasn't maxed out but that was good because it asked a number of questions we hadn't seen including skinny - one stride - drop into water - jump out of water - one stride - skinny, step up - one stride - step up - bounce - skinny, and long on a mound - four strides skinny.

We finished just about where we started in the division.

I feel more ready for Millbrook. The dressage and jumping are really coming along with Stephie's help. Now I just need to get my head in the game! I need to ride the show jump more like I ride the cross country!

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Road Trip!

In a little more than a week we're off to Massachusetts! I think we are all very excited to be there. However, we are DREADING the drive. First, if you've ever been on a road trip with your whole family in a small sedan, you will understand what the horses are going through back there. There's a lot of 'I'm not touching you', 'I'm hot', and 'Are we there yet?'. Plus it is hot back there. We're pretty lucky that we don't have to hear most of it. Just the occasional 'bam' when someone kicks the trailer.

So how do we prepare Smellie for a long stressful drive?

First, prep starts well before we load the horses onto the trailer. Two or three days before we leave Elliot starts on a full tube of Gastro-Guard which he will continue through the trip and a day or so after we arrive.

Elliot will also start on mineral oil a couple days before we leave. He usually eats it pretty well in his food (one of Elliot's best traits), but sometimes we even have the vet tube him with a gallon of mineral oil to make sure he gets enough. This keeps everything moving as it should since his eating and drinking won't be normal for such a long period.

Betsy and I plan to drive through the night so that we keep it as cool as possible. Even with all the windows and vents open, it gets hot in that tin box with six horses on board. Driving in the night will make it a little more pleasant for the horses, though perhaps not so pleasant for us. We will also do the trip in two legs. The first will be from Starkville to Lexington, VA (about 12 hours) where we will stay at the Virginia Horse Park for a night and let the horses rest. More importantly we will let us rest. Even switching off driving, it's a long haul. The second leg will be from Lexington, VA to Sherborn, MA (about another 12 hours). We drive slow and stop fairly often so it may take us longer.

We're pretty lucky that our horses are used to traveling. Our closest event is about six hours away we're all used to getting in the 'magic box' (as a friend calls it) and taking marathon drives. Still, traveling is hard on horses. An hour in the trailer, is actually more work for a horse than an hour of riding because the horses don't know when we are stopping and starting or turning which means they're constantly shifting their weight to stay on their feet. Our trailer is air-ride equipped which provides a little nicer ride, but I would hazard a guess that is still not cushy.

We do not ship long distances with hay. First they do not have access to water and it seems like it is asking for trouble. Second, hay bags and hay are dusty. 12 hours of breathing in dust on top of an already stressed immune system is a good way to give a horse pneumonia.

Out truck gets about 1 hour (give or take) every quarter tank of gas with a full load or horses. This means we're stopping every four hours, though lets be honest we're stopping more often than that to pee with the amount of caffeine we're consuming. At every stop we peek in on them and offer some water. A lot of times Smellie only wants to splash me with it, but I feel better for having done it. He's much happier about the jelly beans that I also sneak in for him.

The dogs don't seem to mind the trip. They just pass out in the back. I wish I was a dog sometimes. Well, I wish I was my dog sometimes.

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Living the Dream, part II

Elliot also works hard. Those 6 or 7 hour work weeks are really rough on a guy...


But seriously, Elliot is like any other professional athlete: He works hard, gets treated very well, and is completely adored.

There are different theories on how to condition an event horse. I buy into Jimmy Wofford's theory of riding them pretty much every day (Jimmy has a number of interesting articles on his fitness in Practical Horseman, here's a link to his most recent which in turn links to the earlier). He does not need to get ridden hard everyday, but he goes out and does something each day. It keeps the dust off and also is good for his body to keep loose and moving. The only day Elliot gets completely off is after an event (unless there's an injury or the weather is particularly bad or I have some terrible illness that leaves me hospitalized).

Elliot gallops every fourth day working backwards from cross country day of his next event. Running and jumping is easy for him. He gets fit quickly and stays fit easily so my gallops on him do not need to be as long as some of my other horses (even some competing at lower levels). Currently, Elliot is doing three 7 minute gallops proceeded by a trot. Gallops do not mean fast. These are more or less slow canters. As he moves up the levels he will do more sprint work and more hill work. The trots will also get longer. I worry less about Elliot not being fit enough than I do about Elliot being too fit. He can feel like lit dynamite sometimes.

The days that he doesn't gallop are divided between long walks, long trots, dressage, and show jumping. He works about an hour every day.

We want to make the hard days at home so that when we get to the event he is fit and well. As they say, 'a fit horse is a sound horse'!

Elliot's days, like mine, follow the same basic routine:

In the summers he stays out at night because it's brutally hot in during the day. After the three board fence fiasco, he has been going out by himself. I feel a little bad about that because horses are herd animals, but another injury would also be bad news so we have to weigh the pros and cons. Plus he's got a little bird friend. They hang out.


He comes into his stall in the morning. He gets free choice hay because he is burning so many calories, and we want him to stay round. For the same reason, he gets fed three or four small meals a day versus two large ones. Horses are grazing animals and not designed to digest large amounts of grain. As a result, large meals are not good for their stomach. In an effort to avoid gastric ulcers, especially because of Elliot's history of colic, we do what we can to keep his tummy happy (this also includes daily feed through supplements meant to improve digestive health in horses and GastroGuard when he travels).

Smellie hangs out until about 3pm, when I get there. I groom him, do his stretches, and ride him then he gets dinner and goes back out.

Somedays I also to do extra things like putting 'the lights' on him to help with muscle soreness.


An upper level horse also requires a lot of maintenance. We are lucky to have such a great team keeping Elliot feeling good. Mississippi is not the mecca of English riding let alone eventing so we have spent a long time finding professionals we trust to work on our horses. Elliot gets his teeth done every six months; he gets a chiropractic adjustment and acupuncture every month; he gets his feet shod every five weeks.

You cannot expect them to perform at their best unless you take care of them. All the extras are totally worth it.

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Living the Dream, part I

Life with horses is crazy, especially where I am in my horsey career. It's non-stop. There aren't many days off. There are many late nights, early mornings, and just long days. You don't make lots of money, and the money you do make inevitably finds its way back into your horses. You have to LOVE it to want to do it for a living. Actually, I think you have to be borderline nuts to want to do this for a living. Crazy lady. Right here.


For those people born with the bug, all these hardships are totally worth the rush of riding a good horse. It's something I am not really sure I can explain; it's something magic. Stephie Baer describes it as an addiction. Maybe so. We put ourselves through a lot of hell searching for the next high.

And maybe this isn't the life of all professional horse people. I would love to hear that it is not in fact the life of all professional horse people because it would give me hope. It is however the life of many professional horse people I know and spend time with.

My days go a little something like this (things are especially busy since we are in between working students, which means Betsy and I are doing all the stalls, all the riding, all the teaching, plus all the other regular work associated with running a barn like taking horses to the vet, holding horses for the farrier, hauling/unloading hay and grain and shavings, office work, etc.):


Wake up as early as I can manage, which really ends up being not that early. I want to be a morning person, but ever morning when the alarm goes off I decide I will start tomorrow. Usually I hit snooze a few times until my guilt starts to outweigh the sleepiness.

Sometimes I make myself a cup of tea and some breakfast. On a good day I will even make myself a fruit smoothie, but that requires that I have been grocery shopping that week so more often I just head out the door to the farm.

I clean stalls while Betsy brings in and feeds. We have 13 stalls. Some subset of these usually does not have horses in them because we're letting the floors dry, or they needs repacking, etc. This morning, for example, I did 11 stalls. This may not be many, but sure felt like it. At the moment our manure dumpster is beyond completely full. This means you have to dump the wheelbarrow on the ground and then shovel the manure into the dumpster. You essentially shovel all the crap twice (and now you know the secret to my guns).

After stalls are clean, I head to my day job. I work as an architectural drafter for Bill who owns the property where Redbud is located. I spend a lot of time with Bill. Maybe too much time with Bill... I also drink far too many Diet Cokes and am usually far to cranky. I work in the office from 9 (-ish since I'm usually running late) to 3. Then I dash back off to the farm.

Afternoons at the farm are filled with working as many horses as possible, teaching some lessons if Betsy needs to be in two places at once, grooming my horses, cleaning tack, and any other odd jobs I have time for (which is not many). I work at least two horses everyday and often get to as many as six. Some of these are the horses I compete, and some are horses in training with Redbud Farm. Betsy does most of the teaching because I make kids, and honestly some adults, cry and then they don't come back. It's bad for business. I am super anal about grooming my competition horses. I want them to turn heads at the events, and the only way this happens is putting in the elbow grease at home. Cleaning tack and doing extra chores happens less than I would like. In an ideal world, all the bridles would be cleaned, wrapped, and put away; the tack room would be tidy; winter blankets would already be washed and packed up. Sometimes it just not worth the extra time at the end of an already long day so we live with some chaos.


Around 9pm I head home. We eat a lot of pizza. Pizza or Ramen Noodles. I'm so sick of pizza. I'm not so sick of Ramen, but I'm sure it's coming. This kind of diet is probably why I am not skinny as a rail after all the stalls and horses each day...


After dinner, I unwind for a bit before falling into bed between 10-11pm. Then I wake up and start all over again.

On the days I don't go to 'work', I'm often spending 12 hour days at the farm doing all the things I did not get to in the week like dragging the paddocks and arena, setting new jump courses, repairing jumps, clearing brush, mowing, clipping, pulling manes, cleaning the trailer, cleaning the tack room, etc. It's more of a bus man's holiday than a day off.

And sometimes you just run our of steam.

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Where No Smellie Has Gone Before

I entered Stuart Horse Trials in New York this morning. Well, I overnighted my entry this morning. Fingers crossed I get in. It's about a week after the opening date.

Betsy and I are headed up to my old stomping grounds for July and part of August. It's going to be so awesome. We are taking six horses; three are our own and three client horses. It may actually pay for itself this time, but probably not. We'll come back south broke as always. Going to be eating Ramen noodles everyday...

It's going to be so worth it, however!

First, I get to run some tough Area I courses. We need a few more good intermediates before the CCI2 at Fair Hill. I am feeling super after CHC International, but I know we are still green at this level and I want some more our my belt. I'm entering him at Stuart and Millbrook both of which should be solid courses and also good terrain. We should walk away with some great education!

Second, I get to show Elliot off to everyone in Area I that I grew up riding with. When I was a kid I rode a lot of horses but did not really have my own. My sophomore year in high school, my family bought a wonderful quarter horse gelding named Sterling. I shared him with my mother. He wasn't fancy but he was just what I needed at the time to get my confidence up and make me think I could do anything. I ran him through training level before he did a very low front suspensory and had to more or less retire to the lower levels with my mom. I was hungry for more so I catch rode a lot of horses. Now I get to brag about my very own, very special horse!

Third, I get to see my family, and they get to see me compete. My mother rides. We rode together when I was a kid. It's another reason why horses are very special to me. My dad doesn't ride, but he likes to watch me and my mother ride. My parents came to all my events when I was living in Area I. They were my biggest fans. Living so far away now, they don't get to see my ride much anymore. They're still my biggest fans, but it will be nice to see them cheer in person!


Fourth, we get a chance to school at some of the great places, like Ledyard, and do some serious conditioning work on hills. The later is less important for Elliot since he's easy to get fit, but will be great for some of our other horses.

Fifth, we can escape some of the brutal Mississippi heat. It is already getting oppressive outside and it's only June 5. July is going to be terrible.

Sixth, it's time for a rematch with Area I. The last time I went up north with Elliot he was running beginner novice and not very successfully. Our first event ever was at Huntington. Denny Emerson, who doesn't know me from Adam and was coaching one of his own students at the time, picked me out in cross country warm up to tell me that Elliot was a nice horse. I promptly got eliminated at fence four after a stop at each of the proceeding. This time it's not going the same way!


The list goes on and on. It suffices to say that going up north is going to be great for our horses and for us! Cannot wait.

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Show Jump Phobia

Every horse and rider has their weak link. I find mine to be the show jump. I have 'Oxer-itis' Jimmy Wofford told me.

It's a fairly irrational fear. I am a capable rider. Elliot is a phenomenal jumper. His front end is tight and his back end is as good if not better. Plus, he wants to play. I don't have to worry about him quitting and when i get there wrong (oh so wrong), he's there to save the day.

So what's the deal?


You'd think I'd be scared of galloping on down to some of those massive table on cross country. I suppose those make me nervous too, but I don't choke. I can channel the nerves to my advantage. The technical questions on cross country don't bother me. Off a drop to a skinny, down a slide to a skinny, angled tables? Fine. Of course everyone gets nerves, but I feel in my gut that I can get the job done.

SJ course? Panic. Forget how to ride.

Now, this maybe this whole post is a little bit of an exaggeration. I am running horses successfully at the preliminary and intermediate level. I have brought horses along to this level that were green, or worse yet problem children. I am not completely inept in the show jump arena. However, my record is riddled with rails while I am almost always double clean cross country. It is maddening because these rails often cost me a top 5 placing. I'm constantly say, I hadn't had those rails down I'd have been...

But as my father likes to remind me, there is no should have, would have, or could have in eventing. I didn't get the job done. Period.

I've had this phobia for a very long time. I think this is part of the reason why it seems to be getting worse. It's very deeply ingrained in my mind. I've gotten myself to the point that sometimes I even forget my courses! I've fell off twice in show jump arena last year, for not better reason than I was picking to the fence due to nerves! Ridiculous.

The first horse I ran preliminary was a cross country machine. We ran fast and clean at the preliminaries we did, which wasn't many. We struggled in the show jump arena. At my first preliminary, I had two run out going into the triple. This was back in the day that stops were 10 points each. I racked up something like 40 jump penalties that round, plus time. My second preliminary was at Groton House Farm, and I was so excited because I was in 4th after the cross county. I went into the show jump and had so many rails down. Stephie Baer, who I was not riding with at the time but vaguely knew, was next to go in and all she could do was give me a knowing smile. I was gutted. My third preliminary, I promptly got eliminated in the show jump. I did not even get to run cross country.

I think that's where it all started. It wasn't because of the horse. Prince was wonderfully special, and I owe a lot to him. I was green and didn't really know what I was doing and I got scared. A seed of doubt got planted in my head. It has been festering and growing ever since. Now I have a little garden of doubt.

Later when I was working with Stephie she said my brain was my worse enemy. When things started to fall apart in the arena, I never recovered. I don't leave the mistake behind. I dwell on it.

There are multiple real reasons show jumping makes me more nervous than cross country. Horses can get tangled up in the poles, whereas they can put a foot down on a solid cross country fence. Everyone sees everything in the show jump arena; they see all the mistakes, and I know people talk. Also those rails come down so easily. You cannot win the event in the show jump, but you can sure lose it!

Are these the reasons warming up for show jump my palms sweat and I feel weak in the knees? I'm not sure.

And the really important question, how do I fix it?

I don't really know the answer to that either. I have certainly gotten better. I am starting to ride individual jumps not the whole course at once. I set reasonable goals for myself, like two rails down versus a perfect clean round. Each time I reach one of those goals, I can set a new reasonable goal. I follow Jimmy Wofford's advice: 'I am not going to see the spot more than three strides out for now so just wait for it'.


This summer while we are up north, I hope I can drill the show jumping. Jump some big courses in a new places. Learn to get my head completely in the game and the negative thoughts out. I'm tired of losing the event in the show jumping! My horses are wonderful and they deserve to win. I think I do too!

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what's in your grooming box?

I take a lot of pride in the way my horses look. There is nothing like seeing a beautifully turned out, good looking horse at a three day. The grooming, however, does not just take place at the event. It has to happen at home.

I have a pretty strict grooming regime that I follow most days.

It starts with a curry mitt. Smellie has sensitive skin and does not tolerate most curry combs (cough...spoiled...cough). Plus, I think the mitt helps get the dirt up better, especially in the legs and face.

The mitt is followed by a relatively stiff brush. Obviously not too stiff as to irritate my favorite boy, but just stiff and long enough bristles to produce a satisfying flicking, swishing action.

Assuming this got the worst of the dirt and dust, I move on to step three. Sometimes I need another go around with the mitt, however. Like on those days Smellie decided to wallow in the pond.


Step 3 is to curry him again with burlap. I also sometimes use a mitt that had cactus cloth on one side and sheep skin on the other. This works just as well. Burlap just happens to be less expensive. Rubbing with a rough cloth like this gets some more of the dirt up and also moves oils about the skin.

I follow the burlap 'curry' with a body brush. This gets any remaining dust and dandruff off. It also really makes them shine.

Finally, I follow with one last towel. This time with something soft. I rub in circles but then whisk off in the direction of the hair.

I brush him before I ride, but I also try to do it afterwards because that when his pores really open up and the oils in his skin are most likely to be spread around. Unfortunately, Elliot sweats a lot so I cannot always just brush him after riding. More often than not, he needs a shower.

Sometimes I pull out the horse vacuum just because I'm lazy, but this routine is pretty effective to make them look good.

About once a week I also check tail, mane, and clipping needs. Each gets attended to as needed.

I pull the top of the tail versus clipping it because I'm old fashioned. I usually just do it with my fingers, but for the short little hairs that need to go, a good set of needle nose pliers is very handy! The bottom I keep short and banged. I like it about half way between his hocks and his pasterns. It makes it look more full. I do not brush it unless I'm going to a show or clinic. His tail is not especially thick, and I do not want any to break off needlessly.

I keep his mane tidy. Maybe a little on the short side at time because he hates having his mane pulled,which is funny because he stands for his tail, though perhaps begrudgingly. Pulling Smellie's mane is a bit of an ordeal. One person has to hold the twitch and one to pull fast and furious.

Clipping includes muzzle, a short (about 1") bridle path, and cleaning out his ears. Again, a twitch is necessary for his ears, but he's good about the rest.


I'm not big into using products. Mostly a good diet, good exercise, and a good dose of elbow grease are the trick for keeping Smellie looking great. These are the things I DO use: Muck Itch for the scurffy patches he gets on his legs during the muddy season, MTG for to top of his tail where he he looses hair in the summer, Tomorrow for his feet to treat thrush, and various antibiotic creams for scrapes and cuts.

At shows I will use Show Sheen to brush through his tail, and I also spray his tail with Pink which adds an amazing luster. Effol Hoof Ointment is my go to hoof dressings. It is a bit of a waxy consistency versus oily so it is less messy plus makes the feet look great!

And of course sun screen is always in my grooming box! Need to protect my skin as much as possible!



*Professional Equine Grooms Website has some great tips about grooming and how to keep you horse looking good. It's worth checking out.

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Just Happy to be Nominated

It's always good when you show up to a three day with your horse's leg pressure wrapped above the knee.


After the week leading up to the CIC2, I was just happy to be get there and pass the jog.


I rode Elliot at Chatt Hills Thursday Evening and he felt much as you might expect after running through a three board fence, getting cellulitis, not being ridden for a week, and then being on the trailer for six hours. He was wound up and crooked.

I did not have high hopes for the dressage. I wasn't even sure I really knew my test. I held off really learning it because I thought it might be the kiss of death. My warped, superstitious logic: 'If I learned my test, Elliot was certain not to come sound. If I didn't learn the test, I would have a sound horse, but probably forget the test all over the place'. It was a chance I was willing to take.

My goal was to score under 75 in order that the weekend could be a qualifier for Fair Hill in the fall. My secondary goal was to finish in the top half.

Elliot warmed up reasonably well, and then put in a solid test considering the circumstances. He was not elastic like he had been at Poplar Place a few weekends before, and the canter was disjointed. However, we muddled through. He was not last by any means, AND we got our qualifying score: 67.80!

CHC International was trying to make quite a spectacle in order to draw more of the general public. They had the international levels jumping under spotlights late in the evening the same day as dressage.

The time between Dressage and SJ was good. We had a chance to have Dougie Hannum work on Elliot. Doug worked his magic and made him more comfortable. It was also reassuring to have someone as knowledgeable as Doug tell me that Smellie was okay to run. He basically said 'treat him like a horse'; continue icing and keeping an eye on him. So we did.

I was lucky to go around on Heidi, who was brilliant, first. By the time Elliot went, it was dark and the spotlights only put off so much light. Plus, we had never jumped under lights and I was feeling especially rattled since I had not jumped him since Poplar Place two weeks before. He was brilliant. I had two rails. Elliot was a star. When I learn to show jump, we'll be unbeatable!

It rained all night long, which was not the end of the world. The ground was firm the day before so a little rain would only make it better. I didn't go until later in the afternoon, so I got up early and walked around course a couple times. I decided not even to wheel it. I am still green at this level, and Elliot was only there to jump around some tough questions and come home safe and sound. There were some big old tables on the course. There were also some big old skinnies on the course including two impressive corners as the out of combinations.

Going late in the division is sometimes a blessing, but sometimes a curse. As out time got closer, I listened to all the people, many of them combinations with more experience than me, who were having trouble on cross country. This was compounded with the fact that I was already nervous, and the rain over night made the warm up deep. I was struggling to find a distance. Kyle Carter made a remark to Betsy about setting up a grid for me to help me find a distance. I'm sure he meant it as a jest, but as one of our 8 year old students says 'some jokes are not funny'. I didn't need help to know I was missing all over the place.


I had talked with Betsy before and we both decided if Elliot didn't feel like he was taking me to the jumps or he had a couple stops on course, I would call it a day. It is always better to listen to you horse. Save him for another day.

We got into the box and the rest was history.


Elliot cantered around a big, imposing 2* XC that was giving other, more experience pairs trouble like he had been doing it his whole life. He jumped through those corners I had been sweating no problem. He saved me when I missed. He even ran straight as an arrow after I saw a shoe fly by us at the second water (a bit like having your hub cap pass you on the highway).

We got our qualifier and we finished in the top half (even if just barely). Everyone thinks their horse is amazing, but mine really is. He's got a lot of talent, but more importantly he's got a lot of heart.

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Struggle City

Any one who knows me or Smellie probably has heard (and probably has heard ad naseum) about Elliot's tough road to the CHC International Two Star. However, in an effort to document Team Smellie's entire journey (and for those of you who missed this epsiode, I'm laying it all out here too!

Our goal is to qualify for the Fair Hill CCI2 this fall. To do that, we need two Intermediate HT with NQRs and either one CCI1 and a CIC2 with NQRs or two CIC2 with NQR. Since we just moved up to the intermediate level, we wanted to get a jump on the FEI qualifications in case we ran into trouble. There are not as many FEI qualifiers as horse trials.

In our usual tardy RBF fashion, we entered Chatt Hills late. Rick Dunkerton is a saint and got us in. No sooner did I receive an email that I was accepted into Chatt Hills, than Elliot ran through a three board fence and banged himself up.


We rushed out to the farm found that in fact, he was not putting weight on his left hind, though the leg itself looked pretty good. After a full body scan, we discovered a skinned and bruised left stifle, a 2" puncture on the left front, and a big old lump on the right front cannon bone. Also never good to have a one legged horse the week before a FEI event.

FEI is very strict about what substances are allowed and now allowed. Basically, their zero tolerance policy, means that your horse cannot have any type of substance in its system. This means you have to know all the drugs withdrawl times and not use them within that window before an FEI event. Otherwise your horse will test positive and then you will be in big trouble. And for thorse wondering, the FEI controlled substances list is vast.

These rules meant we had to be very careful about what we gave poor Elliot. In the end, we decided not to give him much. We iced 4-5 times the day, cleaned him up, flushed his puncture, wrapped, hand walked, and gave him arnica.

By the end of the day, he was walking much better and feeling comfortable. We all took a sigh of relief.

However, it was a little too soon.


The next morning, the left front which had the punture was swollen and very senative to the touch. By midday he was very lame even at the walk on it, despite icing, flushing, and wrapping. After talking at length to two vets (both of whom believed it was cellultis and did not inferere with the joint or tendon), we started him on IV antibiotics, continued icing it, and sweat wrapped the leg. He was very uncomfortable, but Betsy and I thought if we can just make it to tomorrow, the antibiotics will kick in and he will feel much better. It was a long night. We stayed with him until about 3AM icing and keeping an eye on his vitals. The last thing we needed was for him to colic on top of the cellultis.


Thank heavens it paid off! And for all the flac we give him, Elliot is one tough man. He never stopped drinking or eating, despite having to hobble around his stall.

By morning, he was already walking better, and everyday through the week that followed he continued to visibly improve.


It was very close. I rode him for the first time on Tuesday. It amounted to an hour walk with a little trotting at the end. He felt stiff at the beginning, but warmed up to feel pretty okay. Wednesday we did the same thing with a little more real work. He was better still.

By Thursday AM he was trotting sound. We made the decision to take him even though we knew we were pushing him.

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Legit

We ran our second Intermediate horse trials at Poplar Place last weekend. My goal was to have another solid cross country round before we head off to the CIC 2* at Chatt Hills in a couple weeks. River Glen was spectacular, but getting around one event makes you lucky; two makes you legit.

Elliot was on form! He put in a stellar dressage test. Getting more and more rid-able every day. All the hard work at home is definitely paying off. Sandy Osborn gave us a 37.60 which put us in 4th our of 21! I was over the moon!


It was pouring down rain all day Saturday. We're talking where's the arc. Warm up for SJ was miserable and the footing was getting deeper and deeper with every ride. I was the weakest link. I let our placing after dressage, the big intermediate fences, and the weather get to me. I forgot my turn to fence three an incurred 4 penalties for a technical refusal. Then had a couple rails trying to race the clock. It was a disappointing way to throw away fourth place, but I have to say I was also so happy to get around a course that was causing some more seasoned horses trouble.


I was a little worried about the cross country footing after the deluge on Saturday. After much hemming and hawing Betsy and I decided to run Smellie slow so that we had another good gallop and another run before attempting a 2*. I walked the course Sunday morning and found a four leaf clover. He ran around that course and made it feel easy. We both had a couple green moments, but ran safe and solid and came away a more educate pair. Corners, tables, angled tables, skinnies, his first sunken road!

We ended up finishing 7th of 21 including a number of seasoned advanced horses. Elliot is getting better and better. We're feeling very good about the CIC 2* at Chatt coming up!

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The Big Stuff

This winter while we were in Ocala, a warm up steward asked me if I was there for the big stuff. I was running preliminary an it was the highest I had ever competed so for me it WAS the big stuff! I told the steward "yes". Turns out I was not doing the real big stuff and it was a little embarrassing.

However, as of last weekend, I am now doing the big stuff! Elliot and I finished our first intermediate at River Glen Equestrian Park. He was phenomenal and as a bonus, we finished 3rd. Elliot not only jumped around the SJ, my personal monster under the bed, with only one rail, but ran around the XC like a pro. The course had a number of elements he had never seen, but he took them all in stride. Literally! He had to jump a corner to corner, run down a slide to a skinny, drop off a double bounce bank, and hop into the water over a log bounce bank.

He is a very special horse and he loves his job. I cannot wait for what is to come!

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