Or how I accidentally make people uncomfortable by always doing shit alone.
I got an AMAZING XC school in on Friday at home with the B - I scurried to the barn to get out there during daylight, and Bailey was a rockstar. It had been rainy all week (and rained again on Saturday) but the B really impressed me; she was aggressive and forward to the fences, but also super careful. It was a little awkward to ride, but I appreciated that she was putting an extra stride in when she felt she needed it. We didn't have any sliding into the base of the fences and Bailey was very confident. She got fatigued more quickly than I expected; the unseasonably warm weather had both of us panting, and she recovered well. She was still willing, I just felt like after about 20-some minutes over fences she started to loose steam. I learned my lesson and kept her over the BN sized things, and she was much happier and more comfortable feeling than going over some of the bigger fences. I know she can jump them, I just left them too late into our ride for her to be jumping easily in that weather.
Sunday, however, couldn't have been more different. I was worried about being too cold rather than overheating her; I was wishing I had grabbed her a quarter sheet, but luckily I DID have a cooler in my trailer, so at least I got a good configuration for bringing the damp horse home. I arrived and dropped off my paperwork, found out everyone else who had scheduled a school had cancelled because of the cool, windy weather, and the barn owner gave me a quick tour of the XC and the trail to it on the gator. She seemed kind of worried that I was utterly alone, and at that point... I was too. I had planned to have someone with me, but everyone fell through in the end and I was kind of shaken and disappointed. Bails had loaded pretty easily, and came off the trailer with no drama. I was extremely pleased with that, and she was surprisingly ok to tack when tied to the trailer at our destination. She was looky, but wasn't pacing uncontrollably and I didn't have to chase her around to tack her. The XC course we schooled on was a bit of a challenge to get to; we had to go down a hill in the scrub/trees, cross a wood bridge with a fast moving, high creek underneath, and then up the hill, which was black dirt and quite muddy. She had a bit of a spook at the bridge, but walked over on try #2 and I was thrilled and could have turned around and gone home at that point. She was so much more ridable than I anticipated in that situation, and I was SO happy I didn't have to get off and walk her across (or wait for the barn owner and the horse she said she was going to hack out on to check on us).
Once we got up the hill, it was game on; after some initial excited spooky/lookyness, B didn't quite "settle" but did enthusiastically go to work. The course had a ton of friendly log fences of various complexity, and we started with that, and a small ditch (which was an absolute non-event; GOOD MARE!). We moved on to the variety of other fences, and at this point I was so sad I didn't have anyone with me for photos, or a helmet cam... because it was great. No hard stops, tons of try - it wasn't perfect but it was trainable and ride-able and was just a fantastic experience all around. We schooled a variety of fences from ST through Novice. I felt like I was able to have a good combo of harder questions and easy stuff in between to keep her brain from frying. Other than a lot of Bailey happy dancing and a lot of happy galloping after fences, it was very controlled and smooth; I'm not going to stifle her willingness to go forward any more than I am going to not pat her and let her dance when she's happy. She's getting better and better about coming out of it or keeping her serious face on through courses, so as long as she continues to refocus, I have no problem with her being expressive (though I am sure some people who don't know her think she's super hot/crazy/possibly malicious).
I don't have enough words to say how happy and impressed with her I was... but I will say that I've finally managed (as of Sunday, at least) the horse that I was really hoping I'd get out of Bailey when I bought her. She's finally mature enough to go to a new place and jump and not get fried. She's taught me a lot this year, and I think both of us are coming into experiences like this really differently mentally, which is a very positive thing. I did call it quits eventually; I noticed that my riding was kind of thrown off when the Barn Owner was up with us (Bailey was distracted by another horse, I was distracted by feeling like I was being watched) so that was definitely something I need to work on going forward.
Bailey was a bit sweaty down her neck and still felt fresh, but we had jumped almost everything I felt comfortable with and so we strung a handful of fences together and called it a day. She was lovely to untack and loaded SO easily I was shocked... I was able to pack up and get out of there in about 15 minutes, which was amazing. Bailey seemed quite happy and refreshed (albeit eager to get out) once we got home, and I'm hoping she will be in a similar state tonight; she is going to get a bit of stretchy work and lots of treats and snacks for being such a gem yesterday.
Other than some bank work at home, and possibly a bit more bit experimentation, I feel like with a few productive schools at home this spring she will be able to spend the spring schooling and going to smaller shows, as long as this productive, brain-screwed-in attitude continues!
Anyone have any tips on overcoming "someone is watching me" type anxiety?
I got an AMAZING XC school in on Friday at home with the B - I scurried to the barn to get out there during daylight, and Bailey was a rockstar. It had been rainy all week (and rained again on Saturday) but the B really impressed me; she was aggressive and forward to the fences, but also super careful. It was a little awkward to ride, but I appreciated that she was putting an extra stride in when she felt she needed it. We didn't have any sliding into the base of the fences and Bailey was very confident. She got fatigued more quickly than I expected; the unseasonably warm weather had both of us panting, and she recovered well. She was still willing, I just felt like after about 20-some minutes over fences she started to loose steam. I learned my lesson and kept her over the BN sized things, and she was much happier and more comfortable feeling than going over some of the bigger fences. I know she can jump them, I just left them too late into our ride for her to be jumping easily in that weather.
 |
| Has scope, but can sometimes be a baby about the weather (not every horse can be Foxie, after all) |
Sunday, however, couldn't have been more different. I was worried about being too cold rather than overheating her; I was wishing I had grabbed her a quarter sheet, but luckily I DID have a cooler in my trailer, so at least I got a good configuration for bringing the damp horse home. I arrived and dropped off my paperwork, found out everyone else who had scheduled a school had cancelled because of the cool, windy weather, and the barn owner gave me a quick tour of the XC and the trail to it on the gator. She seemed kind of worried that I was utterly alone, and at that point... I was too. I had planned to have someone with me, but everyone fell through in the end and I was kind of shaken and disappointed. Bails had loaded pretty easily, and came off the trailer with no drama. I was extremely pleased with that, and she was surprisingly ok to tack when tied to the trailer at our destination. She was looky, but wasn't pacing uncontrollably and I didn't have to chase her around to tack her. The XC course we schooled on was a bit of a challenge to get to; we had to go down a hill in the scrub/trees, cross a wood bridge with a fast moving, high creek underneath, and then up the hill, which was black dirt and quite muddy. She had a bit of a spook at the bridge, but walked over on try #2 and I was thrilled and could have turned around and gone home at that point. She was so much more ridable than I anticipated in that situation, and I was SO happy I didn't have to get off and walk her across (or wait for the barn owner and the horse she said she was going to hack out on to check on us).
Once we got up the hill, it was game on; after some initial excited spooky/lookyness, B didn't quite "settle" but did enthusiastically go to work. The course had a ton of friendly log fences of various complexity, and we started with that, and a small ditch (which was an absolute non-event; GOOD MARE!). We moved on to the variety of other fences, and at this point I was so sad I didn't have anyone with me for photos, or a helmet cam... because it was great. No hard stops, tons of try - it wasn't perfect but it was trainable and ride-able and was just a fantastic experience all around. We schooled a variety of fences from ST through Novice. I felt like I was able to have a good combo of harder questions and easy stuff in between to keep her brain from frying. Other than a lot of Bailey happy dancing and a lot of happy galloping after fences, it was very controlled and smooth; I'm not going to stifle her willingness to go forward any more than I am going to not pat her and let her dance when she's happy. She's getting better and better about coming out of it or keeping her serious face on through courses, so as long as she continues to refocus, I have no problem with her being expressive (though I am sure some people who don't know her think she's super hot/crazy/possibly malicious).
I don't have enough words to say how happy and impressed with her I was... but I will say that I've finally managed (as of Sunday, at least) the horse that I was really hoping I'd get out of Bailey when I bought her. She's finally mature enough to go to a new place and jump and not get fried. She's taught me a lot this year, and I think both of us are coming into experiences like this really differently mentally, which is a very positive thing. I did call it quits eventually; I noticed that my riding was kind of thrown off when the Barn Owner was up with us (Bailey was distracted by another horse, I was distracted by feeling like I was being watched) so that was definitely something I need to work on going forward.
Bailey was a bit sweaty down her neck and still felt fresh, but we had jumped almost everything I felt comfortable with and so we strung a handful of fences together and called it a day. She was lovely to untack and loaded SO easily I was shocked... I was able to pack up and get out of there in about 15 minutes, which was amazing. Bailey seemed quite happy and refreshed (albeit eager to get out) once we got home, and I'm hoping she will be in a similar state tonight; she is going to get a bit of stretchy work and lots of treats and snacks for being such a gem yesterday.
 |
| Plus she's good looking. |
Other than some bank work at home, and possibly a bit more bit experimentation, I feel like with a few productive schools at home this spring she will be able to spend the spring schooling and going to smaller shows, as long as this productive, brain-screwed-in attitude continues!
Anyone have any tips on overcoming "someone is watching me" type anxiety?
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