Luck of the four leaf clover kind...

This spring I came out with a new sort of drive. I want to commit myself to improving my horse and my riding, and become a bit more competitive in natural -- it's an ongoing quest, but so far, I've been pretty good at upping the standards for myself.

And I've also taken on a new tactic that I'm a bit apprehensive to share (secrets of success, ya know!). I've taken to only grazing Prophet on patches of clover, hoping he'll ingest as many of the four leaf plants as possible. My mom got the orders at the three-day when she took him to graze too, and so far it's been working-- I've had a pretty darned good run this spring!

Now with P coming back into work, he gets to spend some quality time in the backyard with his brother, Ted as they graze themselves (leadropes dragging). He seems especially drawn to the clover patches, and I've convinced myself it's because he wants good luck too, and not because clover just plain tastes good. :)

I'm pretty sure Diddy is excited to have a job again. He also likes having his after ride pampering sessions. His new favorite thing is this little hand-held vibrating back massager that lights up to glow bright pink. He must REALLY like it because he doesn't even spook from the glowing when I mess with him at night. :) Now I just need to find a massaging blanket for him that doens't cost $1000... any suggestions?

Back on the straight and narrow...

So, it really is time for P and I to get serious again -- Our Preliminary debut is scheduled for 6 shorts weeks away, and we need to get busy between now and then!

But first we apparently need to get our steering and stopping in order! Apparently during P's short vacation, he forgot how to turn and brake, but really, aren't those minor details?

Here's what the plan is going to be...

Week of 26th - 2nd = "Back in Black" - trot sets / hacks / light flat work
Week of 3rd - 9th = jump lesson / flat work / gallop / trot sets / hack / dressage show on 8th
Week of 10th - 16th = flat work / gallop / trot sets / hack / Dressage Show-XC school on 15th
Week of 17th - 23rd - jump lesson / flat work / gallop / trot sets / hacks
Week of 24th - 30th - flat work / gallop / trot sets / hack / CT
Week of 31st - 6th - hack / trot sets / flat work / gallop early in week / LUMBER RIVER PRELIM!!!

AH!

Back in action...

So, P's had a lovely amount of time off (except for his hard-working day as a movie star), and now it's time to get back to the grind as we prepare for our move up to preliminary. Yesterday I took him out for our first ride in our new dressage saddle from Jaguar! Other then being slightly wide for him, it's wicked nice. To be honest, it's a bit difficult for me to sit properly in a saddle that actually fits my legs! It may take some getting used to.

But anyway, I was supposed to just take P for a hack, but I couldn't resist burning out some dressage work in the dressage saddle. It was fun, although I think P was less then thrilled. He got over it though. :)

What a good pony I have!

Oh, Rolex - how I'll miss thee....

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've missed the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day event since I was about 8. Once for my senior prom, once because I was at the Fork and too poor to find my way out of a paper bag, let alone up the interstate to Kentucky, and honestly I can't remember any other times I've not been able to be there... Ok, so I can count it on 2 fingers.

I can still remember the feeling of pulling into the Kentucky Horse Park though... it's a sensation that I call the "Kentucky Stomach" (which I elaborate on starting on page 46 here - http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/EventingUSA/), and I do miss it dearly.

Now what is even more crazy is I know so many people competing... Even John's ex is there (I say he's got a lot to live up to if I got him and she's going to Rolex. :) ).

I also get a bit nostalgic with Ted around this time of year. The other night, while he was eating his dinner, happy feeding that every growing tummy of his while I was scratching his itchy-shedding coat, I asked him if he realized that 5 short years ago, he was one lean- mean- fighting machine, getting ready to run around the last of the 4* long-formats. He said that those days seems like a lifetime ago, and that he thoroughly enjoys his feral lifestyle now... actually, he didn't say anything, but I know that's what he was thinking.

So, in rememberance of what Ted once once, here's some of the images from Ted's trip around Rolex... the images are linked back to their original sources.

Welcome to the team....

Lately I've been really blessed -- apparently my master plan of forcing P to eat where clover is in the hopes he eats ALOT of the 4 leaf variety is paying off.

As an extension of my good fortune, I'm lucky enough to welcome a new sponsor to the C-Horse line up -- BonVivant Equine. BVE imports and distributes the Pink Equine and DT Saddlery line of bridle-wear and other English Tack.

There. Stuff. Is. Gorgeous.

P and are very lucky to be sporting their equipment, and it makes us (or at least me) feel oh-so-fancy.

Visit www.bonvivantequine.com to see all their wonderful equipment. Be sure to use coupon code SUPPORT985 to receive 10% off and give C-HOrse credit for your purchase!!

Tardy for the Party...

So, I'm a bit overdue on my updates... and with 27 followers, I feel like I have alot of pressure to live up to! Things have been so crazy lately, and remain so, for the time being, that everyday has just been flying by!

Here's a quick rundown of what's been going on at C-Horse Eventing...

The Training Level Three Day came and went all too quickly. P rocked my socks, and brought home the red ribbon (if only his mother could learn to properly time XC, ugh)... oh well.

I taught my first full-on clinic at the beautiful 5-County Stables. We had around 20 participants, all of who did AWESOME. LOTS of nice horse flesh, and I was really happy with how the days went (however long they may have been!).

Shortly after the clinic, P and I spent the day being movie stars during a promotional shoot. It was a fun, VERY LONG day, but I think a good time was had by all!

P and I have a little bit of downtime, but that just means more work for me! We've had some really exciting sponsors join the 'team' which I will single out over the next couple of days.

And I promise, I will be more diligent about updating!

Endurance Day

The funny thing about Saturday afternoons/evenings in the three-day barns is the collective sigh of relief that's completely audible throughout the entire structure. Especially on a day like today where everyone finished safely, the weather was cool and the overwhelming majority of competitors came across the finish line with smiles and pats.

But I'll get to today in a moment.

Yesterday, Prophet put his game face on. And to tell you the truth... I was just so surprised that I couldn't even blog about it.

Yes, over his star, snip and scarred nostril (a rather rugged face, really), he slipped on some sort of "competition" mask. He let the crew of us make him beautiful for the jogs -- a process about which he usually objects completely -- trotted up like a star, and got the nod from the officials. He then went out and simply preformed in the sandbox. And by preformed, I mean he blew a trot transition ("Leg means canter, right?"), and never really was able to show off that lengthened trot we've worked so hard to perfect ("Again, with the canter? Ok then!"... UGH). But he really let me ride him throughout the rest of the movements and scrapped his way into a first place position. See why I couldn't really blog about it?

So, pretty much I've never been in the lead after dressage, like, ever. Talk about pressure!

Today, my boy was a rock star, but for those of you who get bored with my writing -- we are no longer in the lead, but instead a respectable 4th.

For those of you still with me -- Roads and tracks were awesome -- save for my horse being a bit forward at times. Steeplechase was a blast, simple as that. I'm pretty sure my next house/barn is going to have a steeplechase track installed just so I can go for a breeze every now and again. Pony finished A, B and C bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, much to my relief. He cooled down appropriately in the 10-minute-box and felt great heading to the D start box.

We rocked around XC and the hills definitely took a bit of the edge off the pony... too bad the major hill was AFTER a very enthusiast jump off a down bank early in the course, which led to a minor discussion about who was in charge of our directional controls. He hit most things right out of stride (save for a left out stride coming out of the water where I *may* have entertained the crowd with a colorful explicative, followed by a "thank you for almost - but not actually - killing us" pat on the neck). He finished a bit tired, but still chugging right along. I was smiling, he was sound... all was right in the world.

BUT there's this thing with three-days where numbers are important -- something about time, and stopwatches, and keeping up with them for the entire 45-ish minutes you're out there. I am a bit what some might refer to as "watch challenged". I've embraced it, and learned from it, so when I accidentally stopped my phase C timer just a minute in I was able to do some math and estimate where I was. Not willing to bank completely on my math (where I initially figured I should hit Gate 3 at a time that was before my Phase A start) I also figured I'd be fine if I just kept trotting -- so that's what I did.

Apparently I am also a bit challenged in the brain-to-hand-to-paper department, as I wrote 5:42 instead of 5:24 on my arm for my XC optimum. No wonder I was thinking I was so far up on time at the half mark! So, the time penalties on D are responsible for my demise (or just the fall from 1st to 4th).

BUT, my pony finished the endurance phase of his first full-format with gas in the tank and a sparkle in his eye -- and I do believe he had some serious 'swagger' as he jigged back to the barn, quite pleased with himself. He can't read the scoreboard, so I'm just not telling him about my mistake -- he was definitely my champ today!

As posted on useventing.com

We've arrived!

All the midnight trot sets, sandbox lessons, jumper shows and time spent with my pony are now culminating with this weekend. What a whirlwind to get to a spring three-day by the first weekend of April -- especially with not making a trip down South -- but P and I made it, amongst engagements and employment and all that good stuff that comes with life.

Luckily, with just one horse going here, so far things have been like a vacation. P and I made the quick 5 hour trip, only to find out we were the first to arrive on grounds! We had a lovely solo hack around the property, where we marveled at the beautiful landscape. Having never been to FENCE before, I'm quite amazing at the gorgeousness of the facility -- what a treat doing steeplechase around the course is going to be on Saturday!

The great thing about the long-format program that the USEA has going on is the wonderful educational aspect tied into the event. Today we had the in-barn process, followed by a steeplechase clinic and then jog-up demo. Even for those of us who have competed and groomed at several of these "little long-format things", there is always something to learn!

P made quick work of the pace exercise that the steeplechase clinician, Beth Perkins, put us through, and then quickly jumped the entire brush on the fence she had us schooling over. It only took him one sailing adventure though to realize that he could 'brush' through. Everyone's horses did quite well and we are all enjoying learning about each other's horses and their personalities. There are also several very cool canine companions in the barn area... and they are sure to make sure everyone is greeted accordingly!

Tomorrow morning we start off with a 10am jog, and dressage at 1pm. For those of you who may be concerned, I have yet to decide what I'll be wearing for jogs. After doing more shopping over the weekend then I have in the last 5 years (which totaled about 35 minutes between teaching lessons), I promptly returned everything I bought (except for a pair of skinny jeans - which last time I went clothes shopping, those weren't even in style!), and therefore I'm at a loss. I pretty much packed my entire closet so although it was a pain to lug my suitcase up the hotel steps, I should at least be able to be outfitted appropriately in the morning.

Ciao, ciao for now!