Cross country recap first because we did it! We made it around the training course at Rocking Horse, including the same oxer that we slipped into last time.
We've seen most of this before, so I won't do a full course walk
Very friendly starting log, he jumped it great
1-5 were "canter it, jump it, don't do anything weird". Go here and here for pictures of 2-6 and 8. He jumped 2-5 pretty well, got a little peaky and derpy at the mushroom table, but took the others well. 6A and B was a combination we saw in January, an angled 4 stride line between the ramps. He derped over 6A, but I got after him and we did the 4 strides out of it to 6B nicely this time (January we did the A fine but then chipped to B).
The most interesting part on the course was a sunken road thing for 9 A and B, my pictures don't do the terrain justice, so I did some playing in paint, you're welcome ;)
9A is the red table, you can see the uphill part right after it, but can't see the downhill
9b came after a steep uphill to the top of a knob, you can tell I'm standing at the top of the hill and looking down on it
Basically you jumped the red table, had one flat stride, then went steeply up the small lump to then go steeply down into a depression. If you rode it in a straight line you came back up the hill all the way to the spot where the x is that I stood to take the picture of the corner. Then the corner was a left hand turn that if you rode straight from the top of the knob would put you jumping parallel with the back face of the corner, and in Ben's case asking for a runout since we do love to do that at corners.
JT is super smart and pointed out that if you rode the uphill and then downhill, but then in the bottom of the depression veered right a little bit, you came back out of the depression, but then didn't go all the way up to the top of the mound. Then you had a straight line to the corner to be square with the front face, not the back face. So that's what we did, and it rode beautifully. She also told me to let him pick his way down the steep downhill, and he was super smart about it and did.
Then there was 10
I knew the oxer was going to show up again, but they had added some visual markers to the rails. It did still give me major anxiety driving there Sunday morning, to the point where I was not sure why I spent so much time and money doing this for fun. But by the time we got there I had decided I was going to ride it POSITIVE and with an uphill balance, and it would be fine. They had a white rail oxer in warm up, so we jumped that three times till I got the jump I wanted, forward, uphill, confident. Right after we did that, another person in warm up shouted "WOOHOO!" as she jumped a coop. It was a great reminder that we were here to have fun.
I rode 10 forward and positive and it was FINE. Then I actually took a deep breath and smiled. We were DOING IT!
12 A and B - East Coast - rolltop, also with visual markers added, then a stride to a muddy water crossing
Out of the water and up a small hill to B, rode great
13 was a steeplechase, 14 was a new table that he did peak at pretty hard.
15 was this trakhener that we shared with modified who jumped it in the opposite direction
We've done the trakheners at Majestic plenty, but this one was hiding a bigger ditch, and I wasn't sure if that would make him peak at it. I rode it very forward and positive and he jumped it great.
16 was a bending line from the trakhener to this hut, I was celebrating the trakhener so we didn't get a great spot here, but it was still okay
18AB, the last real question, bending line of wedges
He got a little wiggly to A, but locked his eye on B and did great
Then we were home! With 1 second of time, but that doesn't matter at this point. I also got a tiny bit lost on the way to 17 and if I'd taken the more direct route we would've been fine. He's starting to feel quite trained, when I sit down he's starting to shift back more readily, meaning I can probably shorten the amount of strides out I am starting to do that.
As long as I was forward, confident, and positive, he jumped well. He still did his patented bounce and chip to a few, you can see in the video, but the ones I was worried about rode super well, definitely showing he responds to the positive ride. He feels SO MUCH more confident with studs in too, they're definitely now part of our cross country gear every time. The sand was super loose, deep in some spots even because they need rain badly, and he felt confident leaving the ground. JT and I went shopping after my cross country round to fill out what I still needed between my pre-made kit and lovely gifts from Mr. GY.
Now that we are well into the show season, I figured it was time to finish up this post, current for us at Training level.
Recognized
Schooling
USEA Membership – annual
$100
$0
USEA Horse Reg – lifetime limited
$75
$0
Entry Fee + online convenience entry fee
$300
$136
Stabling
OR
$150
(rocking horse)
$300
(Terranova)
$0
Trailering
2x
1x
Trainer Fees
Per
phase
Per
phase
The beauty of N central FL is that the majority of the shows we do (Rocking Horse, Majestic Oaks, Florida Horse Park, Three Lakes) are close enough to haul in to. Terra Nova is one exception, and if we go up to Chatt Hills or Stable View those are also obviously ones we would need stabling for. Given my experience with stabling at Rocking Horse last show, we're going to try the haul in version for this weekend. It's going to mean pretty early mornings because I ride at 8:54 on Saturday and 8:50 on Sunday, but given the unseasonably warm weather, I think it will end up being more sleep than trying to sleep in my trailer without AC. Fuel costs vary depending on venue distance, but also on one- vs. two-day While a lot of the big shows offer certain classes over a one-day, I have yet to see training rider offered that way, so the recognized shows mean 2x driving and gas compared to the schooling.
I braid Ben myself, and it is not uncommon at these shows to see people who don't braid at all at the lower levels, so fortunately that doesn't factor into the cost difference.
I was chatting with one of the girls at the barn recently who said her goal was to just do one recognized at each level before a move up. This seems completely reasonable to me given the huge availability of schooling shows here, often run on the exact same course as the recognized. Getting way ahead of myself, but that is also my tentative plan for Goggles.
There's no media related to the things Gogs has been doing because I don't have three hands. We have started baby lunging. This means a roughly 20 foot circle at the walk and halt only. We've been working on what woah means and also working on woah without inverting the whole neck and sticking the head straight up in the air.
There's a whole lotta muscle to add to that neck
Saturday morning I introduced a "leg" aid to start moving laterally a tiny bit. He half-heartedly kicked at it. I scolded and then asked again and he moved over. Clever clever boy! Lots of praise for that.
He got his feet done Friday and got a stellar review from the farrier. AND he got to stay BAREFOOT!!! I am SO EXCITED to not pay for 6 shoes right now. He walked out just fine on the rocky driveway the next day, no mincing steps. He also is tripping sooo much less now that his toes are a bit shorter.
I don't really know what I'm doing with restarting him. But so far he and the people who trained him have made it super easy. He's very open to letting me move his body and other than a few bursts of baby here and there, he's been sooooo sensible.
JT and I did a long lining and ground work lesson on Sunday. It became even more obvious then that whoever trained him spent a lot of time getting correct basics installed. He changes direction in the round pen very easily free lunging, and when we hooked him up to the long lines he was quite amenable to contact on the bit. He worried about the line behind his hind legs for maybe half a circle and then adjusted. And by worried I mean trotted a bit with extra hock action. Nothing dramatic.
After long lining we played a bit with staying out of personal space using a parelli type stick, and he picked up on that very quickly too. It's a lot more pleasant than correcting him with the chain shank over his nose when he steps into my space. And it seemed to stick a lot longer. He had an attention ear on whoever was handling him while leading. The babies in the fields were putting on a whole show and he was still such a good boy.
Which is good because he is SO TALL
He's really such a pleasant, sweet, thoughtful horse. So far I could not be any happier with this sight unseen, semi impulsive purchase.
He seems to be growing, so we're taking things super slow. For the next few weeks, he'll long line a couple of times a week, and he and I will do a few more adventure walks with our new found personal space bubble installed. Eventually we'll get on him, but there's zero rush. That is also the really nice part about him being horse #2. I have no burning desire to go out and do things NOW since I have one who is out there doing plenty. This means it's a lot easier to just go at a relaxed pace that I'm sure is beneficial to him.
Ben and I went to a Majestic Oaks schooling show on Wednesday. We were testing out our studs and getting some confidence back on a very familiar course. I worked until 2 the night before, so very much appreciated that I rode dressage at 2:15, stadium at 4:30 and XC at 5. I've sprinkled more Rocking Horse pics in here because I don't have any from this show. There is a video of dressage, stadium, and part of cross country, but I uploaded it at my dad's and didn't think to divide the phases, so it is a whole lot to watch unless you're super interested.
Dressage: They were running ahead and offered to let us go in early, so I trotted a few serpentines, cantered once each way, took a walk break, and then went in after about 10 minutes of warm up. Usually I add in one more set of trot and canter with one more walk break, but it was bloody hot and we were here for the XC, not for a tired horse after dressage. With the goal of keeping it low key, I let Ben fly his tongue his whole dressage test with no flash and no sugar cubes. The dressage judge was less than thrilled and gave us a 33. To be fair, there was some good, useful feedback in there in addition to the remarks about his tongue, and I gained some insights from riding the test (training B) at a show. Our stretch circle correctly earned us a 5. I've been slacking at home and we usually do about 2 stretch circles to get a really nice stretch. I need to make this more prompt. Also I have been working the canter-trot transitions, but really managed to still slam him down into one of them with no prep.
Stadium: The warm up ring went from empty to packed in a span of about two minutes, and I hate warm up rings anyways. So we jumped a smaller oxer once, chipped to the base of the bigger oxer, then took the long spot. I got left when he took the long one, but he was trying and I was fried, so we went on that. He spooked in the ring a decent amount, but I now expect it so it didn't really throw me off. I did have to ride fairly assertively to a few of the jumps, but if I was asserting, he was stepping up. We did 1 in the 1 stride, 5 strides to the next after it, like it walked, and then 2 in the 2 stride. I hadn't walked the course on foot and was a tad bit surprised by the turn to 9, kinda turning and going "la la la la OH SHIT there's the jump" but I put it in my head to still ride it like I had to sit up and turn again after and he jumped it well. We ticked about 4 rails, but managed to knock NONE of them.
Cross country: Ben was a GOOD BOY. He did not run and spook heavy into my hand, he listened to half halts up, and he TRIED so hard the whole time. I rode like an idiot to a couple of them, but he still went and was trustworthy.
He was a bit squirrely to 9, the one he ran out at when we schooled the first time without studs. But looking at the event entries results, two people had a stop or run out at that. I think the surprise wedge after a looooong gallop up from the water threw horses off a little.
Rocking Horse wedge because I loooooove this picture
If you watch the video to the end you can see a bit of XC. You can also see me pull the distance away from us to a rolltop and the first wedge. Dumb. So I could be riding better out there too.
We ended up tied for 6th after dressage then tied for 2nd after stadium, then winning our division after XC. Good boy Ben! As JT said, it wasn't the win we needed to qualify for AECs, but it still felt nice to come out and put all 3 phases together again. Next up is Rocking Horse the first weekend in March.
Ben and I schooled at Majestic Oaks on Friday. I put his calming acupuncture points in when we arrived. And he zenned out by the trailer by himself on a windy day.
Points in! Hiding under his forelock
Five minutes later
He also got studs. We went with the left sided one medial and lateral behind
And he was fantastic!!
I could feel him get his confidence back as we went. He was squirrelly to the first few fences but became much more game as he realized he felt more secure in his hind end. We didn't do a ton since we're doing the schooling show next week, but we ran through the combinations in the course. JT was encouraging me to take a breath, soften, and regroup after each fence. Make it through one part of the combo before moving the focus to the next. Then steady leg on and hand forward to the fence.
He did launch into the water off the down bank after the roll top, and I nearly fell into the water. Not something he typically does, but y'know, why not try something different? The next time through the 3 strides from the roll top to the down bank were right there but he conservatively squeezed in another stride then very gently dropped in. I could almost feel him go "oops, almost lost mom last time, gotta be careful". Good boy, Ben.
Alternate titles: Bebe horse, Ben gets a little brother, Welcoming chaos into my life, Goggles, and Ben 2.0
While Emma was baby horse shopping, I did some shopping of my own. Actually, I didn't, really. I had been not really looking for a second horse for a few months. Ie if one fell into my lap (or Facebook messenger inbox) that felt right, I was open to it, but I was not actively searching. And in fact had removed myself from most horse sale groups on Facebook. Apparently others had not though. And Amanda, like Presto, lives to bring chaos into people's lives. She sent JT a link to Ben 2.0, a just turned 4 yo OTTB with TRRAC in Pennsylvania. She had clicked on him because of his pedigree, then realized he was very similar in appearance to Ben. JT then sent him to me with a "if you're serious about a second horse this might be one to jump on."
If you recall my fall post whining about the time commitment for training level and wonder what the heck I'm doing, you are not alone. I am right there with you. He is living at JT's barn though which means he'll be getting training rides and could potentially have some rides under other people there looking for some extra saddle time.
But practical concerns aside, something felt right. I could provide all kinds of backwards rationalizations for the why, but we'll leave it at that. So, I made my first sight unseen horse purchase. Bebe horse arrived after a 24 hour trailer ride looking understandably tired. But he was easy to handle and sweet. He eyed the mini a bit and was unsure on the field waterer, but did nothing more than give them the side eye and then cautiously approach.
Meet Sense a Giant, a 2019 thoroughbred gelding. He is out of a Giant's Causeway mare and by Street Sense. In very non horse breeding terms, he is Ben's cousin; his dam sire is Ben's sire's sire. Sense a Giant raced 5 times, last in December. He placed second once and had a lifetime earnings of $10,898. JT and I toyed with several barn names, but settled on Gogmagog, the giant from Jack and the beanstalk. It's a whole mouthful of a name, but has a delightful number of nicknames.
Goggins, Gogs, Magog, Goggles for the right eye that always has a bit of sclera exposed
One of JT's working students helpfully commented that he looked bigger than 16.3. Oof. When TRRAC called to let me know he had loaded with the shipper, she also added he looked like he'd grown. Might be 17 hands then.
We're going to have a chill couple of weeks exploring on the ground while we figure out a saddle and get some shoes and weight on him.
Ben and I went to the Chi institute again on Thursday. This was the first time we'd been on the first day of the course. I requested the same TA as last time and Ben immediately cuddled up to her. I shared that it was partially her scan of him that made me get him scoped. She was pleased to hear that things lined up from the eastern diagnostics to western. It was also an equine only group, so the students had a more whole horse approach with lots of practical questions. The other groups we've demoed for have been closer to their exam and therefore more focused on nailing down the points they were going to be tested on. This group included an equine surgeon, a sports medicine specialist, a vet student, and a few others. Ben was a bit more up and distracted to start the day. He was staring at cows in the distance and generally just a bit fussier than he has been. Totally manageable and he still was being a ham, but kind of reflective of how I've been perceiving his mental state since Rocking Horse.
Helping out
Going with the ulcers and his reported spooky behavior (reported by me lol), he was diagnosed with a heart blood deficiency and stomach yin deficiency. This meant he got some new points including several calming points on his face. Things along midline pointing caudally are supposed to be calming. They used the 1/2" needles for it and like last time, those needles were allowed to stay in for the trailer ride home.
The next day, napping in the cross ties. Before I told her anything, Ms. GY asked what he had had done because he was standing around the field with a dopey, relaxed look on his face. COOL!!
He was really pretty sensitive to the points on his back this time, possibly local soreness, so definitely something I need to keep an eye on in the future.
In other "keeping Ben feeling Zen" news, I took the noseband off his bridle to see if it made him less insanely itchy at the end of rides. It hasn't, but the noseband isn't needed and with his jewel browband, I think he looks a bit like a western pony and I find it adorable!
We also did another trail ride with him as the ponied horse. He did get a bit more uppity with his saintly pasture mate at certain points, so I think next time we'll venture off our safe loop and out into the spookier areas of the neighborhood to broaden his horizons and keep him focused on more than harassing his friend.
