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We Are Flying Solo

April 22, 2012

Sometimes Disappointment Is A Good Ending

That was one of the reasons I have always loved Audrey Hepburn's classic Roman Holiday:  there is no perfect bow and there is no closure except goodbye.  Life doesn't wrap itself up in a nice, neat little package where everyone always ends up exactly where they wanted to be in the first place.

But before we go there, I will give you the answer you've all been waiting for, the question that has held you captive since Tuesday's Hoof Quiz:  half of you are right and half of you are wrong.


Hoof A has a robust, heavy wall and a sole that is concave, thick, and hard as a rock.  The frog is giant and the heels are strong.  There's a teensy bit of a thrushy crack, always a project.  Hoof B is narrower, with a sole that is almost flat, has little callous and jerks back dramatically in response to contact with the tiniest bit of gravel.  The middle of the frog got thrushy (grrrr) from a muddy pasture.

So who was right?  *drumroll*  A = Encore and B = Solo.  So Val, Amy, Beka Burke, Abbie, Lyndsey and RiderWriter got it right!

This has taught me the huge role that genetics play in hoof quality and integrity.  That old saw that OTTB's have crappy, shelly feet?  Well, buy one with good feet and you won't have that problem.  My QH has wussy, cracky feet that need constant attention despite six years of me obsessing over them. 

As for that little horse trial we went to...

Overall things went smoothly.  Although, there was this one time, in middle of downtown Raleigh where I clenched the steering wheel and yelled a string of very bad words, realizing in the complete chaos that was my Friday that I had remembered everything....except feed for my horse.  Fortunately, there's a lovely feed store in Southern Pines which is open for Saturday morning panic shopping runs.

Encore is a very smart horse.  As soon as he unloaded, you could see the lightbulb go on as he remembered the Horse Park and he knew what he was supposed to do in each section we rode into.  He warmed up for dressage rather well, but I still have not completely figured out what he needs.  More canter?  No canter?  More suppling?  A different rider?  I know I slipped into an old habit and tensed up as we rode in the ring.  As a result, he never relaxed and rode up into the contact, and we ended up with a mediocre score of 41.

The judge was fair and accurate and I am sure that our results were a mix of greenness and Encore just having a week and a half off due to injury.  We had ONE dressage ride in the last two weeks. 

Cross country followed and you can hate me because I forgot to turn on the helmet cam.  I'm going to start writing it on my arm.  I will post a virtual course walk when I get the pictures organized.

Now that we were running Novice, I was finally able to let Encore run a little.  Wow, does he have a powerful gallop.  It took everything in me to slow down and balance enough for the fences.  But he was bold and solid -- baby sunken road, water, trakehner, bank, combination, HUGE brush -- he gave it an excellent run and responded to everything I asked immediately.

Until Jump 16.  Three strides from the finish line.  The last jump on course.  It was a simple rolltop, although a bit narrow, and newly built out of light, treated lumber.  I knew it was a steering question and it came off an odd turn, as the whole second half of the course lacked flow in its design.  But I aimed for the middle and closed my leg.

See, the smurf has no problem with it.
Encore is a very quick and athletic horse, as I'd already learned in Februrary.  He slipped out to the left at the last second.  I was stunned.  We had already done all the hard stuff!

Then I made the mistakes that did us in.  I simply rode at it again, thinking he would just jump it the second time.  He didn't.  Then I did the same thing the third time with, unsurprisingly, the same result and that was our endgame.

What I didn't do is get proactive fast enough.  The second time, I should have switched the crop to my left hand, dug that left spur in and used a right opening rein to close the doorway he found.

But as I walked back to the barn and commenced the "Saturday Pack of Shame" of those who get eliminated on the first day, I wasn't entirely unhappy.

I was unhappy with my failure to get the riding job done, yes.  But when we were warming up for XC, I had noticed that while Encore jumped the XC jump very well, he rushed the stadium fences, getting flat, hard, and fast in the last three strides.  I didn't like it and I am fairly certain that it is a training issue that I have caused.  I have some ideas, but I need some video or sharp eyes on the ground to solve it. 

But it needs to be worked out and I did not want to run him around the stadium course like that, as that could potentially make a problem much worse and become a negative experience for us both.  As a result, I was thinking of withdrawing after XC and going home to up our show jumping game.

In the end, the choice was made for me.  So while I have a bit of wounded pride for an E on Encore's record (it doesn't stand for "excellent," folks), when I take a step back and look at the big picture and what is best for Encore's career, I see that we achieved experience in the dressage arena, got both our leads and were fairly accurate, and had a great schooling run around a Novice XC course for jumps 1-15 on a horse who was at his second real horse trial and his first go at Novice.

The experience matters.
Like Gregory Peck, I didn't get the princess completion I wanted in the end, but I got an invaluable experience for my horse and I feel comfortable knowing that our show jumping round (in the rain) today could very well have not been what it should.

And that is what makes eventing a challenge and a long game if you want to build an eventer who is confident in his rider and knows how to get his job done.  It's not all clean rounds and sunshine, but it's the hard decisions and how fast you can roll with the punches that sort the wheat from the chaff.

April 21, 2012

Tune In Sunday...

...for the much-debated, long-awaited Hoof Quiz answer!

...and why our Big E today turned out to be not such a bad thing (for those of you watching the live scores).

If you're not watching live scores, well, SURPRISE, I'm home early and Encore is happily grazing in his pasture.  No people or animals were injured in the making of the story to come.

April 18, 2012

Game On!

I jumped Encore tonight the second I got home from field work.  Note to self:  if you leave a young OTTB pretty much off for 1.5 weeks and then point him at a jump, you will have your hands full.  But.  He JUMPED SOUND and the leg finished CLEAN AND TIGHT.  So Plan B is a go!  Complete with veterinary approval!

I'm not giving out the quiz answer yet, I am having way too much fun reading everyone's guesses and justifications.  I am both intrigued and entertained, congratulations!

As for Longleaf, you will find live scores here.

You will find ride times here.

The unicorn will be doing dressage at 11:06 am on Saturday, then he will run cross country at 3:08 pm.  Then his rider will ingest large amounts of carbohydrates and fluids and Sunday, show jumping will run in reverse order of placing.  This will be his first Novice HT, so one hopes his rider will do her job properly and not screw him up, ahem, like last time.

I am hoping if I ride Thursday and Friday, I will NOT have a fire-breathing dragon on my hands on Saturday...

No, I have no idea why Longleaf is run in classic format, while others, like SoPines I, are not.

April 17, 2012

Up For A Little Quiz?

But before the question, I have some gleeful news to share:

I rode Encore last night in the arena and he was SOUND AND FRISKY AT W/T/C!  In fact, after I got off, his leg was cleaner and tighter than when we started, which is what I was hoping would happen once he got moving.  He kicked out with a giant buck picking up one canter, I think it was part exuberance and part annoyance at having just one leg wrapped in layers (I didn't want arena grit in the scab).  I have many smiles, it feels good.

Now, on to your quiz.  It's a simple one...or is it?  These are pictures of my horses' feet.  Both are back hooves on brown legs, both have been barefoot with the same farrier for roughly the same amount of time and both get the same management and same base feed.  No hoof supplements.  Size is irrelevant, the camera was just a different distance from the hoof.  So -- which one is a shiny Quarter Horse and which one is a doe-eyed OTTB?

 If you answer correctly, you win.....

AN ALL-EXPENSES PAID TRIP TO -----

wait for it.....

READ THIS BLOG SOME MORE!

Yeah, I know, best prize ever right.  *insert self-deprecating snicker here*

April 15, 2012

Why Not A 5 Day Weekend And A 2 Day Workweek?

I vote for that instead.

The Horses:  

Encore radiographed clean on Friday *HUUUUUGE sigh of relief* and was pronounced "He Who Hath Excellent Bone Density" by Dr. Brian.  He is on another course of antibiotics because there is still a little fluid pocket around the wound and slight fill in the ankle/tendon.  But it looks a little better every day.  No more bandages, just the daily bute/abx and tomorrow, I'm going to hold my breath and get on him.

Solo got his huge, shiny butt ridden today -- I think he will always be lopsided (not that he ever was NOT) because of the scar tissue in his back and his weakness there, so the bulge to the left is just default now.  I correct every second stride or so, along with constant reminders that locking the left side of one's jaw is not allowed.  I have begun to let him jump about 2' and under -- he is so terribly excited to jump again that he locks and goes, overjumps dramatically, flings his head in the air and tries to take off at a XC gallop every time.  Mr. Shiny may get his martingale and jumping bit back after all...

The Weekend:

Yes, it is Longleaf weekend, my favourite event of the year.  And I WILL pack up my trailer and my OTTB and we WILL go to the Carolina Horse Park on Friday.  Because the cruelty of eventing is that you can't get your money back.

The Plans:

Plan A:
We do the world's most expensive dressage test on Saturday and then withdraw and volunteer for a while before heading home Saturday evening.

Plan B:
We do dressage, check the leg, if it looks clean and tight, we run XC.  Cold wrap leg and standing wrap it overnight and if he jogs out tight in the morning, move on to SJ.

Plan C:
We do dressage and if leg does not look perfectly tight, we have a chat with Ground Jury to see if we can skip XC and just CT-it by show jumping on Sunday for the schooling experience on level footing.

Plan D: 
None of my plans will go according to plan and I just wing it, tottering about CHP on my bike with my bright orange milk crate while my brain chases its tail trying to figure out what to do.

The Added Bonus:

No matter which plan actually occurs, I still get to use the New Totally Awesome Horse Organizer's Dream Box.  Check it:

It starts like this.  Boots added for scale.  TFS sticker added for coolness.
Then it does this, like a fishing tackle box.
That's right, my OCD friends, just remember
to wipe up your drool.




Of course, I have to make it our own.
 Not only that, but it has a retractable handle like a suitcase.  And wheels.  WHEELS!  And you can lock every section.  Can you just step away and let me and the box have a few minutes alone together in the tack room....