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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