Mississippi Mud

Mississippi winters are no fun. My northern friends will probably roll their eyes and curse me for what I'm about to say, but I'd almost rather be in New England. I know it is brutally cold and there is snow, but at least the ground freezes and most places have indoors. Down here it's just soggy so we're just SOL.


The rain starts in November and doesn't end until sometime in May. The ground gets saturated. Worse yet, the soil is mostly clay so you don't just get muddy, you get caked in clay. It's like you and your horses are wearing concrete boots. It's no joke; neither Elliot nor I find it amusing. He gets cranky and tired of slipping and sliding. I get tired of pushing a wheelbarrow through six inches of mud.


There isn't really a good place to gallop or jump so conditioning is tricky. We do a lot of trotting down the road, which keeps the horses relatively fit, but is a little like playing Russian roulette. We go over a couple bridges and often drivers don't slow down much. Even the school bus tries to engage us in a good game of chicken. I forfeit every time.

I cannot wait to go to Ocala. We are counting down the days! Just under two weeks.

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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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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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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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