At the beginning of July, Ellie and I tackled our first ever BN level XC course at a competition! We take jumping lessons with Babette at RABT Farm (Rest & Be Thankful Farm), so having Babette there that day to coach me was perfect. We did have some bobbles on my part, like not riding to each fence and not enough leg (NEVER ENOUGH LEG) so we had one stop on course, but I was super pumped to have a chance to jump around a course at a place we are totally comfortable but it was a crazy chaotic day with 50 horse/rider pairs and a ton more activity than our Wednesday lesson days! ready to go I paid for a second unjudged round after our division of nine riders jumped and we went clean. It was a beautiful summer day and such a fun opportunity. All COVID protocols were in place and people were super respectful of them. Due to our stop, we ended up in 8th place with a 3rd place team finish! I paired up with two of my Epona PC teammates for the team competition and they both won their di
Besides the normal spring shots and Coggins draw that my horses had last month, today I had my vet back out for a chiropractic evaluation on Snappy. At age seventeen this year and with twelve years of racing under her belt, it is only a matter of time before she shows some arthritic changes. Late last fall, I noticed she was hesitant to canter at times and I didn't feel it was training related. Of course, it was time to start our winter hibernation anyway and after our last six weeks of "work" up until December only really being low impact trail rides, I figured I may as well give her time to rest over the winter and reevaluate this spring. She has been EXCELLENT under saddle this spring, a far cry from the flighty bundle of nerves last year at this time . She is walking, trotting, and halting without a fuss, calm transitions, and correct lateral work at the walk. All the basic buttons are finally there without any temper tantrums. The snow is gone (thank you, r