This is the time of year around here when we are breaking free of the icy grip of winter and finally – FINALLY! – getting to think about cross country schooling and riding outside consistently. Not this year. It’s a bummer. To make myself feel better, I’ve been watching some of my old helmet cam … More Flashback Friday: Catalpa XC
Yesterday, a brewery nearby posted that they were selling their old barrels for cheap. They are bourbon barrels that had been reused to make craft beer. My first thought was, obviously, “must get some to build cool jumps!” Maybe a cross country jump, or at the very least, some cool looking jump standards. And then … More Roll Out the Barrels
Our last lesson of 2018 was a doozy in the best way. It was a sort of year-end celebration/day to mark the end of my lease on Duke. Trainer B put the jumps up and pulled out the scary skinny so we could do some XC-style practice in our indoor. We started out with something … More Indoor XC Practice
Sundance has the most beautiful cross country courses, and it’s nice because we can go school there throughout the summer. It’s familiar but they make the courses challenging. Duke was a super star! He needed some encouragement to get going, and until he made it over fence 5 – a gray ramp with feed bags … More Sundance HT: Cross Country
Get ready for a media heavy post, people. I bought all the pro photos. #worthit I felt super confident going into cross country. The course was exactly the same as the summer Otter Creek, which was nice for being really comfortable with it. But it was slightly disappointing that they didn’t change it or have … More Otter Creek Fall HT: Cross Country
Cross country day! A.K.A. The craziest day of my whole month of August. I not only rode cross country, but I then turned around and went to a wedding an hour away. Whew. But first, the fun stuff! Cross country was great! The course was big but not terrifying. The scariest part for me was … More Otter Creek Summer HT: Cross Country
Cross country time! I was excited about the course, which looked fun but not too terribly challenging. And I was ready to channel my dressage frustration into giving Duke a good, positive ride. I had my helmet cam going, which is so fun to watch and relive. Sound on if you want to hear my … More Catalpa Corner HT: Cross Country
A.K.A. The good stuff! I had a moment before cross country to try and get to a more zen state of mind after the whirlwind of stadium. I literally closed my eyes and did some deep breathing while Duke wandered up toward the warmup. What a gem. We jumped a few solid warm up fences, felt … More Silverwood Summer HT: Cross Country
Duke was at a horse show with his other half-leaser last weekend, so I got to borrow my friend/teammate, K’s amazing horse, Enzo. He’s an OTTB with major talent. Most definitely the fanciest eventer I’ve sat on. Trainer B’s horse takes that honor for fanciest dressage horse. (Don’t tell Duke any of this.) He was … More Borrowing Enzo
Alternate title: Building jumps takes a lot longer than you think it will. After we left the halfway-completed Weldon’s Wall in the midst of a thunderstorm, it was a waiting game to see how our beautiful hand-dug ditch would fare in the deluge. I had nightmares about it turning into a mud pit with the … More Building XC Jumps: Part II
Centered in the Saddle 