New Years Revolutions

2010 is just 3 days away. Looking back, it's great to see how far we've come as a pair, but what's almost more amazing is how far Val has come in his training.

At the beginning of this year, Val had just your basic training- he was good walk, trot, canter, could jump simple courses, could round up most of the time, and had some adjustability of stride. He could do okay leg-yields and shoulder-ins. He was hardly ever hot and he was the type of horse you had to push for every stride, unless he was on cross country.

Change was gradual the first four months or so of the year and gradually built up to the last month's crescendo. Although I (unfortunately) haven't been blogging about it, we've gone through some radical adjustments to Val's training.

The first lesson with some really "new" stuff in it was maybe a month and a half ago. We worked on lengthening and collecting the canter and the beginnings of his working, collected, and extended canter. Pinching knees are starting to mean, "collect!" and a slightly driving seat combined with light leg aids, "lengthen!" Val's becoming fine-tuned! The change just in the last month has been incredible.

With our move up to Novice probable sometime this show season, there's one big weakness we needed to explore and fix- Val's sluggishness. About a month ago, we had a lesson that focused on what I like to call Val's "rocket launcher." We were essentially teaching him to go from 0 to 60 as fast and balanced as possible. He's great at it- he really uses his hind end and comes up in front. But even more amazing to me, he maintains the speed. My sluggish Val has finally found his motor!

At BN, the fences are small (no more than 2'7") and the optimum times are pretty generous. Most horses can easily make the XC and show jumping times. Novice is a speed increase of 50-100 mpm, up to 350-400 mpm cross-country. It becomes even more important that the horse have drive and impulsion from the hind end. Although we've only had time penalties because of refusals and other difficulties (more to come on that later!), and only at two competitions, we've mostly been closer to the slow side. I definitely think we can make novice time XC now.

Our biggest speed problem has always been in showjumping, though. Even though we've only gotten time penalties twice during showjumping, we were still prone to crawling around our courses last year. When you consider that the slower we go, the more my position deteriorates, it's a big problem. You can't have a nice jump without impulsion, which we were lacking in most if not all of our showjumping rounds last year. So, that's probably where our new-found speed will help the most!

We've been practicing stadium jumping at faster speeds. Going back to the rocket launcher metaphor, I like to imagine that I'm aiming a missile at the jump. I lock him on, and then we go; no sluggish oozing over fences.

One of the most interesting lessons we had lately involved a fake Weldon's Wall-like jump. There was maybe a 2' wide fake ditch (created with the use of a handy sheet) in front of a 2'9" vertical, and we were expected to jump it the first time as a part of a combination. After it, there was one stride to an oxer of similar height, then two strides to a skinny vertical. This quadrupled the difficulty- in order to get the two strides to the skinny, Val would need a forward-reaching, fairly fast stride from the very first fence.

I'm not too ashamed to mention I was feeling very nervous of that fake Wall. Whenever I'm nervous about whether or not Val will jump a fence, my first instinct is to get a nice, collected, fairly slow canter. Sure, it probably doesn't have the impulsion it needs to make jumping whatever it is easy, but that kind of canter also doesn't have the impulsion to launch me off my horse if he stops! I'd rather knock it down the first time then get dumped on top of it at speed. Not really a good idea if you're cross-country, though, and a dangerous frame of mind to be in at all. Our instructions were to jump it like a cross-country fence and get the striding right the first time.

So, we went right to it- Val's "new canter" has a totally different feel, and although I was nervous, I could still tell that he wasn't. He hardly even blinked at the strange-looking fence, and we got over that and the oxer just fine. We got over the skinny, but we took three strides in between. We continued to do the line over and over again, but eventually both Val and I were tired and we still hadn't gotten the 2 strides. My trainer jumped on and got 2 strides the first time: the current hypothesis is that I'm landing slightly too early after the jumps and nicking him in the back, making him reluctant to step out like he needed to to get the distance. We've started work on that, but we haven't yet tried to get a two stride again.


Despite that minor failure of the day, it was still an amazing lesson and I got to really feel a forward horse. He was happy to be going at a good clip and happy to be jumping, and I was happy to not have to constantly nag at him with my leg.

That lesson started Valerius' personal revolution. He's become a completely different horse in the past month; his dressage has improved exponentially from the added impulsion. I'm able to apply my aids much more selectively when I don't constantly need to nagnagnag for more, smoothing out the communication between us.

We've started serious work on haunches in and out, as well as shoulder in and out. The half-pass has even been experimented with at the walk, and it's all looking good! I now understand the idea of riding forward to the bit a lot better and our connection is better for it, although he was getting really fussy about taking contact for a few days. That's been mostly resolved. I love his new-found responsiveness more than anything; I can't even explain how incredible it is that he's changed so quickly.

While Valerius has mostly finished his impulsion revolution, I'm just beginning a fitness one. My general lack of fitness is just not acceptable anymore; I can't demand fighting fitness of my horse and not of myself. Fitness has always been an off-and-on battle with me. Although it's probably the most important thing I could do for my riding, I've never really devoted myself to it for more than a month at a time. This is the end of the road for that; I've made a fitness pledge to myself and my horse for the very last time. This time it will be fulfilled.

See you in 2010!

AEC's!

I finally have time to write about the AEC's! I have to say that my trip to Lamp Light was probably the best possible way to end the season for Val and I. Although our final score was 109.9, and we were, quite obviously, in dead last, it was actually a phenomenal weekend. Yes, really!

We arrived Wednesday evening around 6, unloaded the boys, and got them settled in to their stalls. We unloaded everything from the trailer, including our trunks, saddles, and other junk, and got everything situated in to the tack stall. We had a great spot; we were in the permanent stalls, so we were very close to the water, and our stalls were literally right across from the muck pile.

After everything was organized, we got Val and my instructor's horse, Strider, out for a walk. We ran in to Andrea and GoGo from Eventing-a-GoGo in one of the dressage warm-up arenas. We talked for a while, but a piece of caution tape was spooking GoGo a bit, and she became a bit disturbed when it got caught on her ear. She started backing up rather quickly, so Val and I made haste to get out of her way! She stopped before she ran into us, thankfully. We talked a bit more, then went on our separate ways.

The next day, we spent the morning watching the advanced dressage. Sadly, nearly all of the horses were noticeably behind the vertical for large portions of their tests. One horse and rider who were not, Nate Chambers on Rolling Stone II, instantly became my favorite pair, although Rolling Stone did not have the flashy movement of the other horses. They ended up in 3rd overall!

Later in the evening, when the arenas we would be riding in the next day were open for schooling, I saddled up Val and got on for a lesson ride. We started in the dressage warm up arena, and it was absolutely the most phenomenal ride I've ever had. It was like everything my trainer had been telling me for the past year finally sunk in! We had a stellar warm up, then rode over to the competition ring and pretended just like it was our test, although there were others schooling in the ring too. We went around it once, then rode down center line and did an improvised version of the test, so that Val wouldn't memorize it.

It was excellent! With very little input from my trainer, I managed to do the best test I'd ever ridden in my entire life. When Val was finished, I got off in the arena, loosened his girth, and gave him a big pat. We left, and my trainer said that we looked like the best pair out there! I couldn't have been happier.

Warm-up the next day was almost as good; it wasn't quite on the same level as the previous one, but still a lot better than in the past. When it was finally our turn to go around the arena, I felt so confident and prepared, although I was a bit nervous. As I was riding around, waiting for the bell, the announcer, who is also the announcer for some local shows and knows my trainer, was reading what I had written on the information sheet I sent in. He read my thanks to my trainer and my mom for me; I almost teared up a little, and after the test, I found out that they had too.

When I went in, I could feel that Val had gained some extra energy from my nerves. We did our test, but we did have 2 breaks to the canter from the trot, which stemmed from my nerves. The rest of the test was very good, and on the movements where we didn't have breaks, we had higher scores than we ever had in the past. We were nailed for the breaks as expected, so we were tied for 47th with several other horses with our 41.5. I was still estatic; it was a great test where it wasn't bad!

The next day was cross country. I was incredibly excited; I'd walked it the night before and earlier that morning and was pleased with the course. There were lots of difficult things that I knew my horse and I could handle, and I felt very prepared.

We had a pretty good warm up, and both Val and my form felt very good. We got down there very early, and although we had plenty of time, we worked Val pretty lightly because my trainer and I were concerned that Val might get tired towards the end of the course. I was feeling a bit nervous, but I tried to ignore that. When it was time to head over to the start box, we jumped one warm-up fence and galloped over to it. We waited until the person in front of me had been gone for 2 minutes, then we walked into the box for our countdown. With a 3, 2, 1, go!, we were off.

I felt just a hint of hesitation at the first fence, but it jumped fairly well. As we made our way to fence 2, a coop decorated with wooden chevrons, Val spooked a bit at a light patch of gravel on the dirt, and he was still unsure of himself as we came to the jump. He actually refused; he just slid to a stop. I smacked him a bit on the shoulder and turned him around to try again. This time he went, and we galloped our way to fence 3, a small-bench shaped jump called "The Seat of Power." I was feeling pretty nervous at this point; worse than I ever have before. I was a little surprised; cross country has always been my favorite and our best phase. My nervousness in warm up had definitely followed us onto the course and it certainly affected Val's confidence.

When I lost my stirrup on the way to fence 3, I had a mini panic-attack. I have no idea what happened; I've jumped without stirrups before, and a lot higher than that fence was! Instead of just heading to the fence, I circled in front of fence 3. As I tried desperately to get it back, Val was going faster and faster. I realized I was accidentally asking him for more speed with my other leg. When I finally reassessed, I pulled my leg off, stopped the "circle of doom", and got myself back together. We jumped fences 3 and 4, a little cabin before the water, with no problem.

As we approached the water, Val ran out his shoulder over to the edge of the sand so he didn't have to touch the water. I tried to correct him, but I only got one foot in before we jumped out over fence 5, a log painted like a snake, and were on our way to 6, the sawmill jump. I felt very out of control at this point, and my goal was to simply finish cross country. I was determined to not get eliminated and not fall off. Val was hardly listening at all at this point; he was resistant to any input I tried to give him. When I tried to harness his forward and turn it in to a balanced gallop, his butt went sideways and he continued at a pace that was a good deal faster than I was happy with.

I focused on keeping my upper body back at the fences and my lower leg locked forward. I did the best I could to collect Val before the fences, and I rode every one. Fence 6 rode well, as did the in and out that came after it. We then went down a forest path to a sharp turn to fence 7, a roll top; while on the path, he switched his lead behind, so I had him trot and fix it. The sharp turn to the roll top rode well, but I couldn't get him as collected as I'd wanted before the next jumps, a mini-coffin, and we ended up jumping the first part, a simple flower stand, too far to the left; which nearly ran us into a tree. I over-corrected to the right, so instead of barreling at the ditch at an angle, I just circled to the right and got him together before we went over it.

The next fence, a simple cabin, was easy. As we approached the second water, I felt misgivings on his part. I slowed him to a walk, and he went in without hesitation, immediately picking up a trot, and then a canter. We were out over jump 11, a log, heading to a neat log that was set up with two logs. It could be jumped on the left, where the logs were right on top of each other and made a vertical jump and you had to go around a tree, or you could angle it and jump it on the right side, where it was an oxer and you could go straight to the up bank. We jumped it at an angle like I had planned, went up the bank nicely, and then down a hill. We made a tight right turn at the bottom to 16, a stair step fence, and were over the last fence fairly easy.

I was a bit disappointed with our run, but I still felt like I accomplished something by riding through my nerves and finishing the course, plus handling Val's little "out-of-control"ness. Fortunately, my horse's "out-of-control" isn't too terrible! My trainer is also specualting that he may have gotten his toungue over the bit, which would have caused some of my difficulties in slowing him.

The day before, we heard a girl bawling her eyes off because her dressage test hadn't gone as planned. Apparently her horse had an allergy attack and sneezed through the whole thing. And instead of laughing it off,(because really, it wasn't her or the horse's fault) she was crying so loud the entire barn could hear her, for over 15 minutes- "But I wanted it to be perfect!"

When we got back to the stalls, I put on my best teary-voice and said, "But I wanted it to be perfect!" Not a one of us could stop laughing for quite some time.

So, after that, we were in dead last. The person who is last goes first in show-jumping. My goal was simple: to go out there and make people wonder what on earth we were doing in dead last. The course was very, very simple. 1 jump on the long side, then diagonal, diagonal, diagonal, outside line, final jump. For those ambitiously minded, or for those with nothing to lose, there were two ways to get to jump 2. You could go around the final fence, or you could make a 90-angle turn right after you landed after the first fence and go between two other fences. My goal was making this turn.

As Val was being a tad inattentive the day before, we spent the warm up making sure he was listening. We warmed up on a loose rein as usual, then we started doing some really fun stuff. Walk to canter, canter to trot to halt, walk to canter in a different direction serpentines (we can't do canter-halt yet). These really got him pushing off his hind end, and he was being incredibly well-behaved. We started jumping, and after we'd jumped the vertical a couple of times, we halted a few strides out from the vertical, then jumped it, just to check and make sure that he was listening. His jump improved tremendously with these; especially when we did this at the oxer. He was really pushing over the fences.

So, that was the horse I took out into the jumping arena. Val will occasionally lengthen his stride on the way to fences, but I really held him to a spot on our first fence. We landed, made the turn look easy, and continued on to do a near-perfect course. We didn't touch one rail! It was the best round I have ever had, and I couldn't have been more proud of him. The announcer was saying my thanks to my mom and trainer again. I wrote, "My trainer deserves a huge kudos as well, for all the long hours she's spent trying to make me a rider," and after he read it, he said that it looked like she'd succeeded! It was such a cool thing to hear.

As we came out of the arena, we were handed our AEC Completion ribbon. I stuck it on Val's breast collar, and felt like I had won first place rather than ended in last. I jumped off, loosened his girth, and told him what a good boy he was. Then we packed up and came home.

And that was my AEC adventure! Although things didn't go as planned, I had a great time and wouldn't have changed my experience for the world. Val's having a bit of a break after all this hard work; we're scaling back to only a few rides a week for a while to give him a rest. I rode him today for the first time since we've been back and he was great! We did dressage and some more of those neat canter serpentines. He felt really engaged in his work and happy to be being ridden; he was in such a good mood when I saddled him up! He has even asked for some attention while in his stall the last few days. That is pretty odd for him; he's never been one of those horses that wants to be in your lap.

And even after our AEC "flop", the thing I love the most about my horse is that he doesn't care that our ribbon was purple and maroon. He still nickers at me when I whistle to him, and that's all that really matters.



Edit: Thought I'd put up this picture too, even if my expression is rather interesting. Look at those perfect knees! Those happy, pricked-forward ears!

Jumping on Terrain

Yesterday we put together a dressage arena back in the area next to the pond to school in today, and set up some jumps back there that we schooled over yesterday. Man, was it a lot of (icky!) work hauling the standards and jumps, completely covered in mud, goop, and spiders, into the back of mom's truck, then unloading them and carrying them around the hills until we got everything set up.

And how many jumps did we make? 4. 5, if you count the one that was a pole wedged into a small split tree, held at the other end by a human "standard". We had a combination that could be ridden either uphill or down, a jump in the woods augmented with some real logs, and a plank-jump by a large tree.

We warmed up in the field by the pond, then walked over to the jumping area. We had some barrels set up just before you crossed a small trough made by two equally small hills, and we jumped those a few times before we moved over to where the real jumps were. We started with the plank fence by the tree, which was a just a cross-rail for warm up.

Our first approach to it, Val spooked and actually ran out to the left, and I didn't do as much as I could have to stop it. I did reach back and smack him, but I didn't pull the right rein like I should have to redirect him to the right. So, I got a bit of a talking-to about not riding every fence. My trainer pointed out that since I most likely could have gotten him over it the first time, I should have, because if the same thing happens at nationals, we won't want the points that come with a run out if we can help it! On the plus side, though, I wasn't even vaguely put off balance by his refusal, which is definitely an improvement. In the past, refusals would at the very least put me very off-balance and only half-on my horse, and at the worst, I would fall. That's a good improvement, anyhow.

We approached the plank-jump again, and this time got over it, although I was a bit tight on his face because I wanted to prevent another run-out. He jumped pretty happily over it, although I didn't release the way I should have. A third attempt had him jumping it like it was no big deal, and me releasing well. It turns out that we use a crest release, which we do probably 98% of the time, the place where his mane switches from white to black is where my hands belong. How convenient!

We then jumped the second piece of the downhill as part of a circle with the plank jump going the other direction. Once we had that well, we did the downhill. We trotted it the first time, because the approach to the first part of the downhill is a pretty sharp turn, and we weren't quite as balanced as we should have been. We then tried it again at a canter, this time with instructions to go to the "natural" fence with the logs in the trees if things went well. They did, and as we approached the jump, Val hesitated and dropped to a trot, but I added leg and smacked him on the shoulder with the bat and he jumped it gamely enough. Then we were instructed to ride the natural fence the opposite way, and do the uphill combination, which we did.

After all these uphills and downhills, I was really starting to like the influence terrain had on my horse's stride. This is probably the first time I've really jumped uphill and down besides banks in our XC schooling, and it's quite a bit different. We practiced getting a good, balanced canter going downhill and keeping our impulsion going uphill, both of which were fun.

Finally, we jumped the jump in the split trees. Val had absolutely no apprehensions about it, and although we did take a few small branches with us, he jumped it well. We ended on that and went back to the barn feeling pretty good. Another of my trainer's students, an older woman who primarily does endurance, was waiting in the dressage arena for us to get done, and assumed the lead on the path to the barn, which is very long and straight. Val is always ansy about being behind other horses, so I always try to make him deal with it.

He got exceptionally displeased when Elmer began to trot, and we began leg yielding to the right and then back to the left. When he broke to a very prancy trot, my trainer told me that he could either walk, or he could piaffe back to the barn. So, although we obviously couldn't produce it under normal circumstances, we got to do a few steps of what was apparently a fairly decent piaffe as Val threw a fit that he wasn't allowed to trot after Elmer. It was a very, very cool feeling. I'd never really realized just how much they shifted their weight back to their haunches when they did a piaffe, and you could really feel that shift while Val was doing it. He finally calmed down and was allowed to walk back to the barn on a loose rain, happy as a clam.

Today we're back to dressage, and I'm going to drop my whip before going in to the arena we set up yesterday to simulate the conditions of the test on Friday. I am doing lots of mental "prep" for the AECs; every time I think about them, I try to imagine myself setting in front of the dressage arena waiting for the person before me to finish, and then I try to push away my nerves and exchange them for a very calm, sedated feeling. This year, we had a couple of dressage tests that started with us cantering center line because of my nerves, so I'm doing everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen at the AECs! I have no idea if this well help or not, but it certainly can't hurt!

Finally, Val got his tail and mane washed last night, and for the rest of the days leading up to the AECs, his legs will get washed every night to help get out any embedded stains, so that they'll shine nice and white for the competition! His tail turned out especially nice; it's even in a fairly decent braid to keep it as clean as possible until Tuesday evening when he gets his final bath.

So, the schedule until we leave:
Today- Dressage lesson. Wash white. Bring all tack home.
Monday- Val's day off. Wash white. Clean tack/boots. Wash sheet.
Tuesday- Bring tack back. Dressage lesson. Wash Val completely. Pack trailer.
Wednesday- Wrap legs. Leave! (Wash legs in morning if necessary.)

We leave early Wednesday morning. 3 days. Here we come!

I'm alive when I'm vulnerable...

"I'm alive when I'm vulnerable/ I'm out of control, I'm losing my soul."
-"Alive" Papa Roach

Our schooling show went very well last Sunday! In dressage, we put in one of the best, most forward tests we have the entire year and ended up with a score in the low 30's. He needed to be rounder through parts, and there was one trot circle where he almost broke to a canter, but other than that, that's the test I want at nationals! We got all 6's and 7's :)

Then, we went and did stadium, where we had one refusal at this brick wall. I didn't realize fast enough to swat him and get him over, but I did realize in time to shove my lower leg forward so I didn't come off! Then we went right to the XC box, walked around for a few minutes, then went.

The refusal in stadium rattled me a bit, so I was nervous and really pushing him to all the jumps and riding defensively, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing! We did everything at a really good pace, with a pretty controlled gallop, and even cantered through the water with zero hesitation. We got 2 strides in this one combination, which I was happy with. He's short-strided, so we have a tendency to put 3 strides in that combination and get a bleh spot to the second jump. It rode well, though. We ended in 3rd place! So a very good weekend. Without the refusal, we'd have been in first!

This week, my trainer has called to my attention the we've been making some holes in our dressage. Of course we have! He's started to carry his haunches to the inside in the canter, and we can't have that. He's also started to go a bit above the bit, so we spent the lesson on Friday working on making the contact even in my hands.

We did a pretty simple test: give one rein forward 2 inches. Does he reach forward and take the contact? If he does, squeeze the rein you've given and take the contact up a bit (you did the right thing!) and release the other rein for a step (good boy!). If he doesn't, ask with the leg on the side of the rein you've given to encourage him to do so. You can do it with both reins going either direction, and it really helps them to understand, "Yes, you need to hold the contact like this."

I've apparently been really lax with what I've been accepting in our dressage works as far as roundness goes. I can't really feel the difference between what he's been giving me and what he needs to be giving me. So we're trying to always ride under the eyes of my trainer and really make sure we're doing everything right on the way to nationals. Since dressage is the most important part of the score, we really need to do well.

Nationals in 12 days! Yikes. Yikes, yikes, yikes.

I'm so excited.

Banks, Riders, and Falls, oh my!

We had our cross country schooling today in preparation for tomorrow's one-day. It actually went very well, except for some rather significant lows- both my trainer and I fell off, and there was at least 1 scarily incompetent horse/rider combo.

We actually went to a concert last night, Shinedown/Rev Theory at the State Fair (which was awesome!) so we were all really tired for cross country this morning, although we perked up after we set up the dressage arena for the show tomorrow and ate lunch. Then, we tacked up the boys and headed out.

My trainer went first, and except for a fall/slight mishap at a trakehner, was very pleased with her horse. It was my turn. Things started out just so-so; after the first few jumps we did a bit of gallop-collect because he was dwelling a bit. Once I had a more forward horse, things started going pretty awesome. At the first jump, we were cut off by this one rider, who I'm fairly sure has been rude/stuck up at other shows I've been to. A long way away from the fence I was jumping, I called, "Novice!". Then, as I saw her going in the same general direction, I called it twice as loud, and she said, "That's where I'm going too!" Really? Did you ever think about maybe calling it?!

At the warm up area, I also saw this one crazy out-of-control horse and rider. They were having major steering/stopping difficulties, and the rider looked completely out of shape and overfaced with this horse. The scariest thing? She was teaching others! She'll come in to play later.

So, we continued on, jumping the next roll top twice and then heading through the trees. There is this one fence that's just plain rails on either side of a large brush, but I've always thought it was a bit freaky. Today, we jumped it! My trainer told me to go a bit far away in the field, gallop for a while until the fence, then really get his "dressage" canter and make him jump it well. So, we did exactly that. A few strides out, I felt, "Eh, I don't know about this, mom" but I was able to change his mind with my handy stick. Then we came back and did it again with less hesitation and more "go" on landing.

We were going to jump a large grey ramp to the novice rails combination, but out-of-control lady comes barreling towards it, has a really violent run-out from her horse, and falls off, apparently injuring her ankle. It was a complete non-surprise. That she even pointed that horse at a fence the way he was going is beyond unbelievable. The horse looked like a really fantastic guy that, under the right hands, could be amazing. He ran off to the trailers with, oddly, one of her students chasing him on horseback! Really, who doesn't know that it's a bad idea to chase after a loose horse? They only run faster. (The lady was fine except for a sprained ankle.)

So, instead of doing the grey ramp, we just came straight to the rails combo, did that twice, then headed down to the water. There, we jumped the cordwood very nicely and I finally cantered through the water! We usually trot through it and pick up a canter in the middle, but this time we cantered all the way. We also did a tiny bank up out of the water a few times, and that went fine.

We headed out to the remainder of the novice course, did another in and out, and then received our assignment- go jump the novice log to the bank down, come around and jump the red coup, then jump the red roll top.

Well, I had a mite of a problem with the bank down. Two, actually. We hopped over the log easy, and I was attempting to get a nice, slow canter to approach the bank down. Well, apparently I forgot to add more leg with my hand, and Val thought, "Stop? Okay." Problem number 1. Then, I remember actually weighing my options- reaching back and smacking him, which would probably cause him to jump way out off the bank, or just letting him stop. I didn't smack him. Problem number 2. So, I did a rather painful tumble down the bank. I've got to tell you, looking at the ground from the particular angle I was at in the air was a bit disturbing. I was really lucky I didn't land straight on my head; I tucked at the last minute and rolled on my shoulders.

Val, being the good boy he is, was just on the top of the bank staring down at me. He seemed to be saying, "Well, that was dumb." I agreed. I'd had the breath knocked out of me and had hurt both my shoulder and thumb minorly. So, my trainer told me to hand my horse off to my mom and walk around a bit and drink some water. Once I could actually breathe again, I got back on, and trotted off the bank several times until we had it down. Then, we ended up just doing a real simple coup a few times.

Except for that mishap, it was a very successful day for my horse and I. At out last event, where we got third, I felt like I was lacking speed control on cross country. I was very close to pulling up and retiring on course, but I didn't. Why? Because the jumps were coming great- we had a great ride to every one. He even saved my butt on a bank up that I got him to on a ridiculous angle. He was like, "S'okay mom, I'll fix it!" He just hopped right up. My trainer pointed out the obvious- jumps always ride better when you actually have impulsion.

Turns out, that's very nearly the feeling I want. I'd just never gotten up to that speed before, and it felt uncomfortable to me. So, today we practiced on kicking it up a notch to real XC speed, and not trying to maintain our show-jumping canter around the whole course. It worked much better. I've also been having a bit of a problem lately with getting the spot different from my horse; either jumping ahead of or behind him. That was much better today.

It helps that XC is really my comfort zone; I have complete faith in my and Val's abilities. Sure, we still fall off every once in a while, (that's actually only my second XC fall) but going out there with any uncertainty is always a bad idea. It translates so easily to the horse, and can lead to ugly things. XC is all about being confident. If you can't put your nerves in a steel-tight box or find a horse that can deal with a rider's nerves, you don't belong out there. It is so much better to go out believing things will be great then feeling that you know they'll go wrong.

So, that's my bit of wisdom for the day. I'm thinking tomorrow will go well, and we'll prove that we really are ready for nationals. I'm still so excited!

(Dang- I can't believe I have to add a "falls" label already!)