2020 in Review and 2021 Goals

Well 2020 was quite the shit show, wasn't it. It's time to review the year that many of us would like to forget.

This horse was the light of my life this year, thank
you TC for being wonderful

2020 Goals

- TC stays sound and sane
TC remains pretty sound and sane, I treated him for ulcers and he had some issues with the smoke, which cost me some money, but when he popped a splint this winter, he kept it to himself (stayed sound) so I appreciated that. He's been the sanest he's ever been and is even staying on his LMF Gold over the winter. 

- Rico stays healthy and continues to enjoy his retirement
Rico was pretty good this year! I even started riding him this fall and he's enjoying it quite a lot

- earn the rest of the scores necessary for All Breeds at Second Level
Skipped Second like the terrible person I am, jk it was the pandemic

- confirm the flying changes
check

- improve straightness and collection
definitely better

- perfect the half pass in both trot and canter
check

- begin piaffe and passage training
started it on my own, next year will start with ground help

- start schooling the pirouettes
well, schooling the pirouette canter, not the turn just yet

- lots of trail rides
check-ish, we did a lot in the early part of the year but then the smoke hit

- graduate with distinction from the USDF L Program
had to drop out due to D1 being held while the country became ravaged by the virus for the third time

- (stretch goal) debut at Third Level
a stretch goal?? We did this in June

- (stretch goal) qualify for All Breeds at Third Level
unfortunately no, we were on our way but then the smoke prevented us from doing this


Well, that was shockingly productive given what this year ended up being. 



Year in Review

The new decade started out with a fabulous trip to Seattle. Immediately upon my return, I realized that 2020 was going to be a very busy year and I didn't know how I was going to fit everything into it (LOL). TC was doing fabulously, schooling all of Third level (including the changes) at the beginning of the year and enjoying some trail rides in the uncharacteristically warm weather. I began riding with Tanya again in the middle of the month and the lesson went fabulously well. I posted finally about TC's behavioral change over the time that I owned him. And finally, I finished up the USDF L Program Part 1 right before BECOMING AN AUNT. I posted a few times about things I learned in the L program as well.

He will forever be the best trail horse I've ever had

February began with my annual Mary Wanless Workshop participation, my favorite post about it being the canter mechanic post I wrote. My education continued with two back to back lessons with Tanya. There was a lot of fun to be had in February, as TC and I went on a trail ride and then boyfriend and I went down to Universal Studios. TC began working on canter half pass and I chatted about what his warm up looks like. I finally got TC's sire, Ideal, as a breyer!

March started out normal as I began to school some higher level stuff with TC, I reflected on TC being at the same age that Rico was when I bought him, and I grabbed another two lessons with Tanya early in the month, where we introduced the piaffe. The pandemic started to have an effect, the first of which was not going to the first session of Part 2 of the L program. I still managed a trail ride with Kate before shelter in place began. The changes led to a few posts about the future, such as figuring out what to do with TC's training given that there were no shows on the horizon, figuring out how to bide my time putting on webinars, and figuring out how to teach remote lessons. Finally, I ended the month talking about the state of what life was like at the time.

When your horses don't have to
socially distance, I think they kind of
brought out each other's weird, which
is saying something

April was a bust given that we basically did nothing. But TC progressed nicely in his piaffe training but not so much in his changes. April brought a lot of uncertainty, so I posted about my plan if it were to shut down. But it also brought a lot of cool things too, like my webinars beginning to take off a bit and TC having his best birthday decorations yet. Because we couldn't have lessons, I began using my soloshot quite a lot and we also hit the trails amidst the crowds. In addition, TC destroyed some fencing, cool. I did another check in about the new normal, then jumped right back into it with TC, dissecting his asymmetries and forgetting to tighten his girth so thinking something was wrong with him.

Best birthday ever

May began to feel a little more normal because Tanya came out to teach for the first time since February! I posted my webinar that I did on clicker training, which was the second to last one as things seemed to be getting better with the virus. As shows started up again, we schooled the Third level tests but in the back of my mind, something wasn't totally right with TC.  Tanya came back out at the end of the month and thought that he was just not working properly. He did look way better with her help and I started to struggle to get that on my own. I decided to get a bunch of professionals out to help as well, starting with the chirovet. 

He remained the sweetest animal as I was trying
to figure out what was going on

June started with me debating about whether to show in a global pandemic while also gathering more information about what was going on with TC's condition and experimenting with bits. In the mean time, I was also working hard on my own implicit bias and working toward being anti-racist. I headed over the hill to ride with a new trainer who helped me change TC's posture. With things going a tiny bit better, we went to do TC's Third level debut and earned a 70% at 3-1 and a 68% at 3-3 at a brand new facility. Still though, things weren't right and I started doing some proprioception work with TC. Tanya came out at the end of the month and TC did well in the lesson after several days off, prompting me to give him more grain. 

Third level debut!

July began with another lesson with Anne, which went well as we worked on getting me to feel when TC's core was/wasn't engaged. We had a fire scare at the barn which prompted me to make an evacuation plan (that I used in August actually). Then another lesson with Anne helped me get even more influence over TC. I began to realize that I needed a new saddle, so started the saddle shopping process and then decided on the surgical option. And we did another round of bit changes which led us to the turtle top he's in now. Tanya came out at the end of the month and helped build on what Anne was working on, which was good. But TC still looked worse than he felt, so I had the vet out, who thought he might have ulcers. 

Another 70%, sure, but look at that tail

August started out with a boatload of Ulcerguard and another horse show where TC earned another 70% at 3-1 and a 67% at 3-3 with us sitting confidently in first place for All Breeds. I wrote a post about my tips for test riding (not realizing that we'd be not test riding for the rest of the year). Unfortunately in August, we had a lightning storm, which sparked fires across the state, one of which threatened my barn, which tanked the air quality before we were evacuated. That was a bummer because I felt the ulcerguard take effect right beforehand. We didn't ride for the rest of August due to the air quality. 

Skepticism

September we moved back to our barn after nine days at the ranch. Unforunately, we weren't riding yet because of the smoke, and to add insult to injury, I found out that the L program was going on despite COVID cases raising like crazy and I withdrew from the program. TC and I celebrated five years together and the SO and I celebrated one year together with a real vacation. Despite not riding, I did see a change in TC's coat, leading me to conclude that he did have ulcers. In the mean time, I used my brain too much to try to figure out what my issues were riding TC this year. And I began walking TC in the equibands. 

So undermuscled, he looks totally different now!

October began with a failed remote lesson from Tanya but she gave me some good information. I posted that information on my Instagram and a friend decided to attack me publicly for what Tanya told me to do. We slowly came back to work and one of the first things we did was attend a bombproofing clinic. I started riding with Tracey, who came back to teach at my barn twice a month. And TC got his first body clip of the year as we suffered in summer heat with a winter coat. Tanya came out in between two Tracey lessons and I got a lot of information on how she wanted me to ride him. I decided to try TC in a double bridle, which helped a lot in the canter but destroyed our trot further. Then Tracey came back and fixed our trot while our canter fell apart. I began wondering about the two different philosophies with TC and what to do. 

Bombproofing clinic

November was going to start with a lesson with a trainer friend, but TC's breathing looked funny and the vet came out to ultrasound his lungs. He was prescribed a two week vacation so we could make sure his lungs were functioning well. In the mean time, I got Rico out and he felt great. I also took Sunny to the bombproofing clinic. For Thanksgiving, we had a very small outdoor gathering with just our pod (my immediate family). I started riding Rico more regularly to help prepare for a new horse in my life in the next couple of years. 

I love this picture of him

December started out with an acupuncture clinic, where I learned how restricted TC's shoulders are (especially his right one) so we began doing stretches for those and that had an amazing effect on TC's way of going, with him offering me passage for the first time kind of out of the blue. We continued our lessons with Tracey, our December lesson focusing on lateral work. I took Riot to the bombproofing clinic and he wins the most improved award. I actually took TC to one as well but he was a bit wired that day so we left early and I didn't write about it. In mid December, we had a few COVID cases at my barn, the closest the disease had gotten to me, so I got tested and it came back negative. The SO and I signed a lease on a rental house and we move in January. For Christmas, we skipped our Christmas Eve dinner and just had dinner at home with the two of us. Then for Christmas day, we stopped by my brother's house to drop off presents and sit apart with masks on to open them. It was a bummer, but necessary given that we didn't want to get COVID before moving. 

Riding Rico again <3

Overall, it was a pretty shit year, but there were some good times for sure! I'm so excited to be just a few days away from being in our new (rental) house. 

Here's hoping 2021 isn't as much of a shit show. 

TC finding new gears in trot this winter

2021 Goals

- TC stays sound and sane
- Rico stays healthy and continues to enjoy his retirement

- hit the trails more

- take TC swimming

- take TC to the beach again

- take TC to an obstacle clinic or show (WE, trail trials, bombproofing)

- figure out what to do about the L program (redo part 1, find another part 2?)

- find a new training situation 
- qualify for CDS Championships at Third level

- qualify for All Breeds at Third level

- debut at Fourth level

- solidify the half passes 

- start schooling the working half pirouettes

- solidify the four tempi changes

- start schooling the three tempi changes

- solidify the piaffe

- work on the passage

- qualify for All Breeds at Fourth level (stretch goal)

- debut at Prix St George (stretch goal)


Happy New Year!!

Aligning Xs

I've been thinking about this concept a bit while riding and a bit while teaching so I figured I'd share to have it written down. I'm still trying to catch up on blog posts I meant to write in October and November. 

The inside leg to outside rein is a staple in most trainers' programs. I use it quite a bit with my lower level riders as I find it helpful for teaching riders to feel the energy transfer from leg to hand. For some reason, going from left to right or right to left seems to be more obvious than from back to front. I think it's because a lot of people (myself included) like to pull on the reins. Why isn't that all we have to do in dressage? It'd be so much easier and I'd be so good at it. 

Most horses have one direction where the transfer of energy from inside hind to outside rein is easier to get. I have one I ride regularly who is pretty aggressively left leg to right hand. Another client horse does the opposite, right leg to left hand is easy to get and going the other way it's a bit harder. We spend a lot of time in shoulder-in right trying to strengthen that direction.

Then there's TC, who is fairly equal in his Xs in that they both feel a bit weak. He feels very parallel to ride. His left hind and left rein connection are weak, his right hind and right rein connection are strong. 

He's very dirty but he didn't have these
chunky muscles at the base of his neck
this summer. 

I spent a day playing with the inside leg to outside rein, as I'm hoping to start teaching some lessons on him this next year and I want to have a nice bridge between what the riders I have in mind know currently and what he can offer them. For example, he's amazing at teaching forward thinking hands as it's really hard to get him connected without them. But he's bad at the inside leg to outside rein feeling. 

Sending him from left hind to right rein sometimes puts his right shoulder out. Sending him from right hind to left rein sometimes makes him drop his right ear. 

After we played with it in each direction, I realized that my issue with it on both sides was that when I circulated energy from one hind leg to the opposite rein, it felt like the two got further apart. Like it almost took his inside hind leg away from the midline? That was weird and so we schooled a bunch of shoulder-in to address it. 

I swapped back and forth between shoulder-in and counter shoulder-in during this exercise and realized that TC's trot was getting better and better, and especially in the changeover. 

Making progress

I started asking him to be straight for longer and I kept imagining both of those channels of energy traveling across his body. Sometimes the left to right would be more obvious, sometimes the right to left, so we kept playing with it until I got two equal feelings from the leg to the opposite rein. 

Just like in the beginning, he sometimes seemed to have the opposite shoulder too far away from each hind leg. Like, simultaneously. What helped a lot was imagining the X through his body get narrower. 

We do a huge amount of shoulder-fore, I mean the horse essentially lives in shoulder-fore, and the reason for that is to keep his hind legs close together to keep him in an unstable balance, where his balance is easily changed by my aids. But shoulder-fore has a single direction, so riding his Xs narrower gave me the same feeling I get in the shoulder-fore while being able to ride in a perfectly straight line. The hind legs became narrower and I felt like I could keep them engaged much more easily. 

It also had the effect of popping him up through his ribcage and withers. In order to get his shoulders to narrow, he had to engage the thoracic sling, which is not an easy feat for him. 

Starting to show a more normal neck,
we still have some filling in to do

Just one of the many things we're doing right now to change the way he's going for the better. And he has been feeling really good! His musculature is completely different from the summer, I should post some pictures of that actually. He is way more forward and lighter on my aids, almost too light in the bridle at this point. And I think both of us are way happier. 

The goal this winter remains to get him back into shape slowly so that his breathing stays good and to keep working on this type of work until the movements come back on easily. Yesterday we rode a bunch of lateral work and it feels so much more accessible. His canter is still very weak, especially the left lead, but it gets better and better every day. 

And most of all, I am much happier. He's more fun to ride, I don't cringe looking in the mirror, and the way I teach and the way I ride are aligned. A good way to end this ridiculous year! 

Blog Hop: 2020 Summary

 I normally do a year end recap, and I will be doing that, but I wanted to do this blog hop too! I've loved everyone's responses, so thank you Alberta Equest for the hop!

What's the best thing that happened to you in 2020?

Personal: Probably moving in with the SO and then this month finding a new place to live! Also being able to hike and go into the wilderness, that was so refreshing. And I will admit that while I don't love working from home, my flexible job got even more flexible, allowing my business to actually perform better than last year! 

Horsey: Managing a Third level debut during a global pandemic was pretty good. Honestly though, just spending time at the barn was the best thing in 2020. Being able to focus on TC and take my mind off of the rest of the world was amazing. And TC is now quiet and perfect enough where even when I'm struggling, he is just there for me. 

What's the worst thing that happened to you in 2020?

Personal: My parents and siblings getting COVID right at the beginning of the pandemic when all we knew was "it kills old people" and everything took a million years to get done was probably the worst part of the year. They recovered well though, but it was emotionally traumatizing at the time. Speaking of me losing my shit, I also lost my shit on Christmas Eve. We did an outdoor Thanksgiving at the ranch but after some people at my barn tested positive, the SO and I decided that doing Christmas Eve dinner was a bad idea. My parents and siblings still did a very small get together but we just didn't feel comfortable going. Despite very much being part of the decision to not go, I lost it on Christmas Eve and just felt really sad about it. No regrets not going, I just couldn't handle it in the moment. 

Horsey: Probably losing so much time due to the fires and just feeling like the training situation wasn't right all year. TC is still coming slowly back into work after the fires because I'm being very careful. But I have concluded that the training situation wasn't working so I'm doing my own thing until I can find a new trainer that better matches what I want to do with my horse. So I suppose both are now resolved. 

The worst thing to happen to the SO is probably this company's advertising methods: 

I think it's the funniest
shit I've ever seen

I screenshot it and send
it to the SO every time
I see it lol

He gets really annoyed
at this point, it's been
literal months of this

What was your biggest purchase in 2020?

Personal: I'm going to cheat because this was a business (and therefore horsey) expense, but at the end of the year, I realized my business was going to owe a bit too many dollars in taxes for my liking because I didn't take enough lessons. I did the math and bought myself a Comtek. And promptly left it at home for my first lessons since buying it. I took it last weekend for my clinic though, and it was awesome! 

Horsey: Definitely the 30 day supply of Gastroguard that TC got this summer. Best purchase ever, the horse felt amazing afterwards and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Same thing with the nebulizer. 

What was your biggest accomplishment in 2020?

Personal: Probably not being too much of a complete psychotic mess toward my friends, family, and SO. I'm not saying I wasn't a mess, I'm just saying it could have been worse. Honestly, getting to the end of the year with my relationship still in tact, still employed, and without needing to be institutionalized was a huge accomplishment. 

Horsey: I already mentioned TC's Third level debut, but another big accomplishment was going to the bombproofing clinic and having him be so good. He wasn't good at the second one but I'm calling that an off day. 

 

What do you feel COVID robbed you of in 2020?

Personal: Travelling with the SO, we spent so much of the first six months of our relationship coming up with fun things to do. I've never been able to travel much and now I'm in a situation where I can. 

Horsey: All Breeds. His median was 69% after his first two shows and he was improving every test. I think we would have won it! Also the L program, I couldn't start Part 2 and had to drop out when they still held it this fall. 

COVID also robbed me of how I used to perceive time

Were you subject to any COVID impulse buys in 2020?

Personal: "Fuck it, it's COVID" was a regular phrase in our house this year. I picked up a Nintendo Switch in the summer. I almost impulse bought a bike but they were sold out. I definitely stopped at Starbucks more this year than I normally do. And we bought more than one cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes when we would randomly drive by it. 

Horsey: Impulse buys aren't usually my style, especially with horses. I definitely made decisions faster this year though. Both the Gastroguard and the nebulizer were decided on a bit faster than usual, pretty much immediately. I'm also currently impulse buying some stuff for the business to get it on 2020 taxes. 

This isn't COVID related but it makes me
laugh every time

2020 blew! I think at least the first half of 2021 is going to blow too. But we'll get through it. We'll all get through it okay? OKAY?

Passage?!?

So TC is up to about 20 minutes of trot on his weird little fitness schedule. It's been nice actually, to have a set amount of time to walk, trot, and canter each day. Really helps me organize my rides. 

I've been taking it relatively easy this winter. I was unhappy with how he was going over the summer and have been using the winter to take the pressure off and focus on the basics, try to find the horse I had when he was at First level. It's amazing how responsive he is when he's not under as much pressure. The dressage gets more playful and he seems more into it, his tempo has slowed down and he's developed a lot more loft to his trot. So I think a training change is coming in 2021, more on that later as it develops. 

Trot looking much better

We see Tracey next week again, and I know that she is wanting me to "slow down" TC's trot. I decided I didn't want another lesson being told to slow down, and with TC being more responsive and forward, I figured now was the time to start bringing back the half steps and the creeping gaits. 

I hadn't sat the trot in a while though, but we've done a TON of work on responsiveness to my seat lately, so when I sat down, I immediately felt new access to him. 

We played with the trot a bit, bringing him back to the creeping trot and sending him forward out of it, over and over again. Then I asked for half steps and he gave them to me surprisingly willingly! We did that in both directions and he got told how great he was. 

Such a smart pony

One thing I noticed was him getting a little stuck in the half steps and wanting to walk rather than push out, so I started to emphasize the push out. 

And that's when TC went "LIKE THIS" and gave me a passage for the first time. 

I looked at it in the mirror and made some tweaks to the way I was sitting and my aids to shape the response, as his first passage was a little tight and hollow. I still remember going by the mirror, half halting and touching him with the whip and he suddenly sat down in it and I could just SEE him in the FEI ring. 

I can work with this, yep

I think this winter has been big in the "listen to your horse" department. I loved so much about my training situation this year but the one thing I couldn't shake was that TC just didn't feel softly responsive. He seemed to enjoy what we were doing because he likes learning new things and is a cheerful guy, but there was more... force... in our training than I felt comfortable with. But there was just so much belief in us, in a horse I sometimes struggle to believe in, so I stuck with it. 

Then this fall when things kind of fell apart with the smoke, I revamped how I was riding him, making it much softer and aiming for riding more through my seat than I had been. Him being off the bit wasn't a problem, him being on the forehand wasn't a problem, I just focused on praising the right response and just ignoring the wrong one rather than getting on his case about it. 

He tries so hard

And his response made me decide that enjoying every ride was more important than our goals. I haven't written much about it because I don't necessarily think that my trainer is wrong, I just think that I want to go down a slightly different, but hopefully fairly parallel, pathway.

Up until this ride, I've felt like I've thrown dressage out the window and am just being silly about riding him the way I've been riding him. But now, I feel way better about everything. I just need to find a trainer to help me down this pathway and give us the same kind of confidence with a different methodology. 

By no means perfect but I don't hate it

We are obviously taking this work slowly and until we can start trail riding and climbing those hills, I think it's going to be a bit weak. I don't want to push him in it and create more of a weakness, and I certainly don't want to ruin his actual future passage. But again, just the fact that I have this much access is pretty cool! We'll see how things develop this spring with being back in full work, access to more hill work, and hopefully with a training situation that works for us! 

My Favorite Parts of This Awful Year

This has been a horrific year for everyone. From the pandemic to the wildfires to RBG. I would not wish this year on anyone.

But I wanted to feel a little positive, so here's a post about the good things that happened this year. They are in no particular order, by the way. 

TC's Third Level Debut

Wow I can't believe this horse, he's so fabulous. First Third level test and he gets a 70%, then continues his reign to the next show. I'm positive he would have continued being amazing if we'd finished out the show season. I cannot wait to do championships next year at the level!

The best pony

My Niece 

I adore this kid and am so happy to be an aunt. This year has been made so much better by her being in my life. She's so hilarious and it's been so much fun to watch her grow and learn new things. She loves being outside and she loves animals, so she's definitely my kind of person. I can't wait to get her in breeches and a helmet! 

Biden/Harris Win

Sure, I know that half the country still thinks racism is not a dealbreaker and that's depressing as hell, but the week long election (month long election?) coming to an end in this way gave me some hope. Everything coming out about who he is putting in his cabinet just make me breathe a sigh of relief, not because I support everything he does (I don't) but because many of them are actually qualified for the job they do. Also, dogs in the white house again, phew. 

This lol

Life with the SO

He's the best person in the world and I'm so lucky to have him. We moved in together right before this stupid pandemic started and it has obviously been a hard year on both of us but it's definitely been easier to have him by my side. I feel so lucky to have someone like him, even though right now I keep having absurd nightmares about him being mad at me for not investing in real estate or us buying a house you can only access by climbing through an oven in someone else's kitchen. 

My family and friends

This awful year made me feel more connected to the people who matter most to me. I'm so grateful for my friends and my family. From zoom calls to playing Stardew Valley together to socially distanced hangouts. It's also been really nice to reconnect with some people I haven't been in contact with lately. I'm grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life. 

Bombproofing Clinics

We went to four bombproofing clinics this year. TC went to two and then I branched out. I took Sunny to one of them, which was fun. And I took Riot to one as well, which was so rewarding as he won my "most improved" award. But TC was the most fun, he has been such a light for me this year not only in the dressage. 

So much fun!

Hiking and camping

I've adored spending more time in nature than I normally do. I reconnected with a friend from years ago and we did a lot of socially distanced hiking this summer when COVID wasn't as rampant in our area. Now we are planning next year's hiking adventures as we shelter in place again. 

The SO went from being a firm "I hate hiking" person to asking frequently about hiking with me, we even completed most of the Pix in Parks challenge (which we started late and then couldn't do because of the smoke). We are definitely finishing it next year. 

We also rented small cabins at Little Basin (before it burnt down ugh 2020 sucks), Bothe-Napa Valley, and Lassen. And we unexpectedly went to Tahoe when his coworkers couldn't do their time share. We also took a lot of walks around our neighborhood and drove up along Skyline (but not speeding up there like assholes) a few times to get some photographs. 

The air quality was shit when we went to Lassen,
which is why we are going in spring/summer in
the future!

This year has sucked, I don't know a single person who has had their best year yet. At least in previously really hard years for me (2018 for example), I've known some people were having their best years yet, just like my best years have been other people's worst years. Somehow that makes me feel like there's a balance maybe? I dunno. It makes me feel better though. 

But this year, ugh, there's not much to like about this year. It felt good to write this post though, to see the good in the bad. Hopefully 2021 will be much better for all of us! 

Too Close for Comfort

A couple of weeks ago, we had a couple of COVID cases at the barn. It was pretty scary. It's since come out that the cases were separate incidences and were not caught at the barn itself. The moment the individuals felt sick, they stayed home, we got notice of it from our barn, and we went into a small lockdown at the barn (stricter COVID guidelines, no lessons, asking for people to be tested, no one allowed outside of boarders and trainers). No one else has caught COVID since and it's been two weeks (all who had it are recovered) so we should be in the clear. 

Still, it was scary! I ran out to get tested and it was an interesting experience, so I figured I'd write about it. 

My barn has felt a little bit immune
all this time 

The SO and I chatted and decided that while there was pretty much no chance I had it (hadn't been anywhere near the few people who were diagnosed in over a month), I'd still be very careful. I'd go straight to the barn to my private tack room and straight home, wearing a mask and gloves at all times. I also went to the barn very early in the morning on the day I took my test and until I got results. That way there was no way I'd be around other people (except the workers who I made sure to avoid by taking routes to and from my paddock that they don't typically use). 

So, I rode that morning and then went to the testing site. I'd made an appointment for several days from then but emailed my office job and explained that I needed to take half the day to stand in line and get it done. That was fine, so I canceled the appointment and went to the testing site.

I was there at 10:50am, 10 minutes before it opened and WOW I should have gotten there the night before or something. The line was circling a square block, an entire elementary school. I stood in it until 11:30am when I was finally given a colored wrist band and told to come back at 12pm. I decided to move my car closer just to have something to do, that took a couple of minutes. Then I saw that people in line had my color wrist band so I decided to go back in line. 

The line wrapped around this entire field and down
the block behind me

It was rather unnerving to be standing in line with a bunch of people who all had a reason to be getting tested, although they were pulling people out of line who had symptoms already. It occurred to me that even if I tested negative, I could easily get COVID in the line (luckily it was 99% outside and we all socially distanced but still) so then would go get tested again and be exposed again and... yeah. Luckily Kate was on the phone with me basically the entire time I was in line, so it was good to take my mind off of it. 

I finally got up to the tents at around 12:15pm or so. They gave me a clip board asking for demographics and contact information. They also had three sheets of paper detailing when I'd get test results and what to do in the mean time.

It was refreshing to see that I didn't need to quarantine as I had not been in "close contact" with a positive person in the last however many weeks. Close contact was defined as being within 6 feet of someone without a mask for more than 15 minutes. Nope! Definitely don't get that close, for that long, and without a mask to ANYONE anymore. How weird is it going to be to hug someone again? I'm kind of glad the "kiss people on the cheek" kind of greeting is going to go away, there was always this one person who did it to me and like, how do you ask people not to do that? I have no boundaries in my life with other people so I certainly don't know how. 

The 2020 meme game is pretty amazing 

It took about 30 more minutes to get into the gym to get tested. I gave them my insurance card, which was not necessary but helpful apparently. They put me in the database and sent me over to get tested.

The testing was NOT bad. I was all freaked out and kept leaning back, thinking they were going to go further in, but they didn't. The lady was so nice, she told me that she gets tested regularly and that she knows how uncomfortable it is but that it'd be over soon.

When it was over, I thanked her and headed home to hop on a meeting. 

Me when waiting for test results

Two days later, less than that actually, at 11am on Thursday I got a text and email saying that I could get my test results. I was driving so I immediately pulled off the highway and entered my info into the website. 

Negative!

I obviously felt way better after that. The brain is an amazing thing, as I'd been having a lot of anxiety that I thought I could have been COVID. Like feeling short of breath is something that happens when I get anxious... and stomach aches... and feeling woozy... and feeling full of adrenaline. You know, COVID symptoms. Fabulous. But it was negative and so was everyone else's at the barn! Phew! Best case scenario, no spread and everyone who had it feeling great by now. 

Happy Holidays everyone

I'm still obviously being safe, as we all should. But other than early March when my whole family had it and they wouldn't test you without symptoms (and had to shove it all the way into your brain, and it took 10 days to get results), I hadn't had any kind of exposure. I've known people who have had it, obviously, but no one who I interact with regularly has had it. 

Scary stuff! Hopefully by this time next year, we'll be much better off. 

Plans for Horse #2 and Rico's Return to Light Work

I've been riding Rico about twice a week for a little while now. It all started when I was stressing out over buying a second riding horse in the next two years (I'm a planner, I can't help it). 

Sorry that you're part of my plans, sir

I knew I didn't want to do what I did in the past with the move from Rico to TC, take one horse through the Grand Prix, retire him, then start again on a barely broke three year old. It was ROUGH going from working on one tempis and canter pirouettes to working on not ramming me into the rail and loading onto the trailer. This could only mean one thing: having two horses in work. One entering the FEI levels with about four more years to go with me and one just starting in the world where I could take it easy for those four years. 

I worked it out and if I snag a two year old when TC was getting ready for Prix St George, so either next year or the year after, I'd be able to continue to focus on TC while working to start the baby, then as TC wound down from the FEI levels in a few years, the baby horse (BH) would be getting ready to start his (I'm a gelding person okay) show career. I had it all mapped out. 

2021: TC at 3rd and 4th level
2022: TC at PSG and BH 2 year old year doing basic baby horse things
2023: TC at I1 and BH started lightly at 3 year old and mostly trail riding
2024: TC at I2 and GP and BH starting his dressage career at 4 years old
2025: TC at GP and then for sale/leased out, BH getting more serious at 5 years old
2026: BH now my main horse at 6 years old, ideally at 2nd/3rd 
2027: mid life crisis? shop for another horse? buy eight horses? who knows. I have talked about going to Ireland and buying myself a connemara so I can have a fun all around horse to share with my niece if she likes to ride... is my entire life planned out? Yes. Have my plans ever worked out? Absolutely not. Do I still make plans? Yes. 

Are you game, TC? You're owned
by a crazy planner

There are two things on my mind when I think about having two horses in work (since Rico is technically mine, although he doesn't cost me much at all because he boards at the ranch, so I don't often count him in my horse list): Time and Money. 

Money: 

I'm set to get 5% raises for the next three years if I stay in my current position (public sector). Then my salary levels out for 3 years and then I get another 5% longevity raise. My plan is not to stay at my current position though. I hit five years in my industry in fall 2021 and that means my pension vests, making it "safe" for me to leave the industry and keep my pension (it pays out according to years worked, so I won't get a ton, but I also won't forfeit the money I've already put into it if I never return to the industry). It seems silly to not just work these last ten months and get that vested. Especially given that we're probably remote until at least then anyway and my current job is ridiculously flexible with my hours, so I'm able to do my business rather easily right now. 

My plan is to enter industry and aim to get paid enough to not have to do my business (I'll still teach a bit in the evenings and on the weekends, just not relying on it anymore) AND to have a bit more spending money to cover the additional costs of another horse. 

Wandering down the road

And what are those? Well, I've calculated it out and I could literally buy another horse right now (not an expensive one) but it'd wipe out my lesson and show budget for TC and any additional wiggle room for things like his ulcer treatment this year and future joint care. I don't want to ruin my career with TC just to buy a second horse. The point of having the second horse is not to replace TC immediately but to begin training his replacement WHILE continuing to train him. So that means taking lessons on him, showing him, and maintaining him as an upper level horse. 

I carefully calculated my budget out and with my raise last year and my raise next year, that will cover a baby horse. So in the mean time, I am now saving my raise this year into a separate savings account and pretending I didn't get a raise, with plans to do the same thing next year. That savings account will fund the horse's vet check (already saved yay) and purchase price. 

I thought I was retired...

Time:

Here I have another problem, and the reason I'm riding Rico. Very often I only have time to ride the one horse a day. Could I get up an hour or two earlier and ride another one? Sure, but this year I've been really revamping my life a bit and wanting to have more down time. I love riding but I can't have my life be JUST riding and work. I need time at home and time to do my other hobbies too. 

Plus, with the potential new job, I won't have as much flexibility in my life. Right now my life is chaotic but flexible. I'd like for it to be less chaotic, but I think with that comes a lack of flexibility. 

What I'm hoping with the timing is that the baby won't be in a 5+ day a week schedule until TC is not a major fixture in my life. I figured I'd follow the "work a 2 year old 2 days a week, a 3 year old 3 days a week, etc" schedule... at most. So right now, I need to be able to spend time with a second horse two days a week. 

Also important is that I would probably have BH at a different facility for the first couple of years because 1) I don't want to always work BH off of TC, 2) I want a cheaper facility because I don't need mirrors or a dressage court, 3) I want BH in pasture and my barn doesn't have big pastures. So getting used to driving to another facility on my way out or in from spending time with TC was important too.

This is my favorite barn kitty right now by the way

Enter: Rico! Who is right next to TC's breeder's facility, which is where I've thought about putting BH until after he is started. Rico is happy to go out for 20 minutes twice a week, which is honestly probably what I'd be doing with BH anyway. Although I'm a helicopter parent so I'd probably stop in more often to pet BH and check his legs/body/brain for problems because I'm paranoid. 

So, Rico has been my BH stand in for a little while and I'm kind of loving it. There's zero pressure to do anything real with him. Some days we work in the arena, other days we just wander down the road. It's basically what I'd do with BH at first, sometimes work on things like loading in a trailer, sometimes just brush him and lead him around the property, other times bring him over to TC's barn and do some ponying in the arenas/exposure or bring TC over to his barn and do some ponying there as well, or even bring both out somewhere else. 

He is so ridiculous

Anyway, that's my long winded explanation as to why I'm riding Rico a bit again. And after making that decision, I have two clients having me ride their horses once a week and a third who needs her horse ridden sporadically, so now I'm riding quite a bit more! And with that it's apparent I'm very unfit, but that's a problem for future Megan who has room for some gym equipment at home. 

Rico seems to be enjoying it too! Which is just a bonus. He was such a goof the other day, I think he is actually enjoying getting out again. He hasn't seemed to be this enthused about being ridden in years. 

Riot at the Bombproofing Clinic

A week and a half ago, we had another bombproofing clinic! And this time, I decided to bring my dad's horse, Riot. 

Riot is a nervous nellie and he showed it in the first five minutes I got on him by tip toeing his way into the arena and standing in the middle trembling at everything around him. We brainstormed and this might be his first ever time in a covered arena. He was a trail horse before my dad got him and he's only been ridden at their property and on the trails for the years he's been with my family. 

He would not go near anything in the arena and I could feel his heart pounding as we walked quietly around in the middle avoiding everything. He's a good boy and his go-to move when he's nervous is to stand still and try to blend in with the background, but I was really hoping to get him near... something. 

SKEPTICAL

Noodles

After walking around and observing every obstacle from far away with lots of praise, I did finally get him to walk over the bridge, which I figured would be a good first obstacle because he's walked over bridges on the trail. We did that a bunch and I praised the hell out of him, trying to convince him that if he just held his breath and tried a tiny tiny bit, he'd get rewarded. 

From there, we would try getting closer to an obstacle, then return to the bridge to gain some confidence. Eventually he followed a few horses up to obstacles and would watch them do their thing while he stood and observed. This really helped him relax, and that plus interspersing the bridge, got him a little more curious and less terrified. 

Pulling the cart

He stopped caring after a while

From there, we slowly (over the course of two hours) made our way through almost every obstacle!! I was ridiculously proud of him. He came SO FAR over the course of the day. We kind of did them in a random order, making some progress on one, then going to an easy one, then going back to the original one, then introducing a new one, then going back to an easy one, and so on. 

He slowly gained confidence with each. Going from refusing to go anywhere near the car wash, to slowly following a friend through it several times, to cautiously walking through himself, to then relaxing about it and walking through no problem. 

The monkey in the barrel made him nervous, so at first he stood stock still with his eyes bugging out of his head, and eventually stood with a foot rested while it went up and down. 

Unsure about the monkey

The mattress was very scary and he was rather skeptical. I got him to put a foot on it and he scampered away from it. Someone else worked on it at one point so I let him stop and watch that person for a long time before trying again. Then he was way better at that. 

The tarp went about the same way, he was a little worried and put a foot on it, but then eventually made his way over it! 

The noodle wall REALLY worried him. He did not think he could walk into them. I ended up getting on and off, first making the walls very far apart with one noodle each, then slowly adding noodles and pushing the walls closer together. He ended up going through it with the same kind of relaxation that TC gives me through it! What a good egg. 

Am I doing a good job?? He did not
go in the water though

Walking through the car wash after a while

I was probably most proud of him with the flag, which we did at the end. The instructor carried it around on his horse and I had Riot walk behind him, then slowly we made our way next to him. The instructor carefully transitioned the flag onto my foot and then handed it to me, and soon Riot was carrying the flag without realizing it, because the horse the instructor was on was still close. Eventually the instructor peeled off and Riot realized he was carrying the flag. 

He got a little worried and wanted to freeze and then speed up, but we just kept walking and he slowly started to realize that the flag was not going to attack him. 

By the end, he was letting me do this to him: 

Relaxed and carrying the flag around

Fine with it going over his head

Good boy, Riot

I decided to end on that. I would have loved to get him to do a little more and go through everything again, but going from standing in the middle of the arena LITERALLY trembling with his heart pounding to letting me whirl a flag over him was progress enough. 

I almost wish I were bringing him this weekend, but I do want TC to go to another one for fun. My mom was considering bringing Sunny to the one this weekend but my dad needs to get a COVID test for a routine doctor's appointment and that requires a five day quarantine for them or something like that. 

Hopefully there will be more bombproofing clinics this spring/summer so that my mom can do one on her own and I can bring Riot to another one! I had the best time with him.