It only took 13 years

 I had every intention of being a responsible young adult and studying for my Series 7 exam on Friday...but when my instructor texted me that afternoon to say that the weather was great for riding, well...an addict can only resist temptation so long. I'd been cooped up in a classroom from 8:30-5pm all week, it snowed, and temps have barely budged over the 25-degree mark all week. I'm sure in some places that's just life as usual, but in Maryland it tends to bring all nonessential activities to a grinding halt.

Meaning that 40-minute commutes become THREE HOUR commutes. Ugh!

So I snuck away from studying to play--and I'm glad I did because I had a real riding breakthrough. Probably my biggest issue is that my body gets very tense without me realizing it (particularly in the knee and thigh). Of course the horse feels that death grip on its back, but I just end up fiddling around and getting frustrated at my complete inability to get a horse truly forward and round. Then when the horse gets nervous and quick from me simultaneously saying "go" and "stop" at the same time, I just tense up more. I knew the problem but not how to fix it.


Enter our group lesson on Friday. Pretty much everyone who rides at that barn came out to take advantage of the few hours of tolerable weather! After our warmup, my task was to practice some bareback work--something I've never really had a problem with.

"Let her movement go through your legs and into your hand," my instructor explained, just as my thighs were jiggling and loose, moving with the horse's back. Duh! All of a sudden I realized that's what I should be feeling when my feet are in the stirrups as well. Before I never really understood how your thigh could be relaxed and you could stay in balance just using your calves. But with this new jiggly-thigh seat, I was able to bend my horse easily, and she was suddenly forward and responsive (perhaps too responsive, since I don't think I was sitting 100% straight).

I guess that's why you see top-level dressage riders who look like they're getting jiggy with their saddle.
They're getting jiggly with it. And that's OK.

It's amazing how someone explaining things in a slightly different way will make everything click!

Opening Hunt

From my last bout of posting you may be wondering about how Opening Hunt actually went!

Well here is my writeup for Horse Nation. And here it is republished in Foxhunting Life.  (that was an honor!)

I didn't mention it in the story, but it's a miracle I actually made it to Opening Hunt at all. It was an insane couple of days because on that Thursday, I got a piece of sawdust stuck in my eye at the barn and couldn't get it out. Being an eager young journalist incredibly stupid, I decided to go to Washington International Horse Show in DC that night to interview the pony steeplechasers anyway. My eye was so swollen I looked like Quasimodo and when I was getting my press pass, immediately the security people asked me if I was ok and if I wanted to go to the first aid station. So I did that; it didn't help. I interviewed the kids and their parents anyway and they were polite enough not to run away screaming. It was all I could do to stay long enough to watch them actually race--my eye hurt so badly that my head was pounding and my stomach was starting to turn. Somehow I managed to get the photos I wanted despite not being able to really see what I was photographing.

Unloading showjumpers on the streets of DC

Totally normal...

My favorite shot of the night...the next generation!

Go ponies go!

I was in such pain I didn't sleep and I went straight to the opthamologist in the morning. He flipped my eyelid inside out, and removed the tiniest speck of sawdust--the size of the point on a pin. I couldn't believe something that tiny was making me so miserable. But hey--I could see again, so I got some rest and then went to the barn that night to get Seven Up bathed and braided. It took way longer than I thought because he wouldn't stand still for me, and I was at the barn till 9:30 pm. I was so frustrated with Seven and so focused on getting the job done that I completely forgot to call Byron and let him know I was coming home late. When I did get home, he was so worried and on the verge of calling the police...he thought I had been in an accident, or maybe that something bad happened at the barn, but he had no idea how to find me since my phone was dead and I was at a barn he hadn't been to before.

Note the blurry cross ties. HE WOULD NOT STOP FIDGETING.

Did I mention that the next day (Opening Hunt) fell on my 4th anniversary with Byron? Oh man. What with the medical emergencies, foolhardy journalism and missing person case, I put that poor man through the wringer that week. He was going to come take photos as an anniversary gift but I excused him given the circumstances.

And that's the FULL story of my first Opening Hunt.

P.S. -- The braids were acceptable, but not as nice as I was hoping. Apparently this is because I pulled his mane with one of those blade things as opposed to a thinning comb. Oh how I hate pulling mane on a horse who won't stand still!!! It took me three or four hours just to get the braids in since he was weaving so much. On the bright side...someone did say I had a "nice tail." (I think he meant my horse.)

Kinda crooked but good enough for my first time ever braiding.

Guess who won horsey Christmas?

I hit the Christmas jackpot thanks to my fiance, a riding buddy who dropped a hint as to what would be the perfect gift, Horse Nation, and my family, who never fail to disappoint with weird horse doodads they find in New Hampshire.

Absolutely beautiful vintage sandwich case.

Byron gave me an absolutely wonderful sandwich case with a thick glass flask and sterling silver box inside. I love it!!!  (Even if he does call it a "foxhunting lunch box.") He also gave me a "foxy" stock pin with tiny ruby eyes. He wins Christmas this year.

I got to test out both on my last hunt of the season. Probably for the best that I have to wait to use it again, because I need to have the dry, cracked leather straps on the sandwich case replaced.

And what Christmas would be complete without a completely weird gift from my non-horsey mom and stepdad? Look closely, because the Christmas mare and foal appear to be swaybacked and wormy.

 

Also got some cool horsey gifts from my Horse Nation Secret Santa:

This year was also the first that I succumbed to horsey decorations on the tree. Why fight it and try to seem like a normal person? The bits hanging on the wall right when you enter my house kind of reveal the fact that an insane horse person lives here. I gave my fiance an ornament that looks like him riding his favorite lesson horse, and I just put a bunch of bits and things on there just because it's better than letting them sit in boxes.  The shoe in the middle belonged to my horse in high school.

Merry belated Christmas everyone! What did Santa bring you?

I have been hunting, I swear!

So...total fail on blogging after every hunt. I'm going to cut myself a little slack though, because at points this fall I was working two jobs and studying for my Series 7 broker exam...so riding in my free time took precedence over writing in my free time.

Now I have used up all six caps I purchased in addition to five or so free cubbing days, and I am most likely done hunting for the season unless I get special permission to ride as a guest. (A possibility, but not guaranteed.) Last January I would have been absolutely thrilled at the prospect of hunting once, twice, or MAYBE three times in 2014, so I am really pleased with how the year turned out.

I learned many new and important things. For example: safe galloping position, the beginnings of an auto jumping release, and the fact that tying a stock is actually not that difficult. Other, less conventional lessons learned: the necessity of making sure your girth is REALLY tight before moving off, mounting an ADD horse from the ground (learned that one in tandem with the girth thing), and how to WALK through ditches as opposed to leaping through them (OK, I only succeed about 50% of the time on that one).

Proof that foxhunting=sunshine and rainbows

Now that it is cold and I'm focusing more on lessons in the arena, I have also learned that foxhunting is TERRIBLE for your overall riding! I find myself leaning forward and tightening my hips, resulting in lots of unintentionally fast trips around the arena on horses who think I am telling them to run like Smarty Jones. Oh, and did I mention my neuroses about riding unfamiliar horses, my fear of being run away with, or my "first-jump-phobia" which has led to countless refusals, runouts, and bunny jumps? Good thing I am working with a saintly and tough instructor who will help me channel my inner Lillie Keenan.

Opening Hunt: Possibly the worst jumping I have ever seen myself do (Photo: Robert Keller)

In addition to hunting adventures, 2014 was extra special because my fiance caught the riding bug. Over the summer he took weekly lessons and got really good at walking, posting the trot, steering, and even went on a few walking trail rides,  but once he was starting to canter he had a bunch of work things that made it hard to schedule regular lessons. Now I think we are back on track and we just had our first group lesson together. I love seeing how happy he is in his lessons, though it's slightly infuriating how naturally riding comes to him!  I think part of it, though, is that unlike when I was learning to ride, I now know what kind of instructor to send him to so he will learn correctly the first time around, and not let bad habits become ingrained (like me!).

2015 promises to be another fun year with riding. Since I've found it is totally doable to hunt without your own horse, I am saving up to join the hunt as a full member. I'm also planning on joining my local Horsemasters chapter (Pony Club for adults). I never got to do Pony Club as a kid, and as I've alluded, there are many strange gaps in my riding education that I would like to fill in. (For example, I have no fear jumping a coop out hunting yet I have only the faintest idea of how to get a horse to come round on the bit.) I have also resolved (officially!) to volunteer more, and I've already made concrete plans to do so.

Hooray for another year of riding...may this one bring bigger jumps, longer gallops, and fewer concussions than the last!

The Bane of Manes

So Opening Hunt is next weekend and I am SOOOO EXCITED!

I have lined up a horse to borrow as well as transportation. I've ridden this saintly horse several times before, including a lesson where I learned some ways to improve my galloping position, and how to ask for a flying lead change (something I have always wanted to learn but never really needed to considering I never showed much), so I feel confident about using him. I have my melton, canary vest, stock tie, and magical hairnet, so I feel confident about how I'll look. I also FINALLY resigned myself to the fact that my favorite watch is gone forever, and got a cheapo replacement so I won't be late like the last two times I've hunted (only one of which I wrote about...oops).

The one thing I am NOT so confident about is braiding manes. I've watched a lot of videos so I understand the basic idea, but I've never actually done it.

I French braid my own hair nearly every day though, and I've got a week to practice...so here's hoping Seven will look like this:

COTH

And not like that one person who shows up at a schooling show feeling really proud for braiding...until the braid ends up sticking up in all directions, falling out, and frizzing up to such a degree it would have been better not to try in the first place.

The day of Opening also marks my fourth year together with Byron and my last anniversary as an unmarried lady. Byron gave me his blessing to go hunting in the morning before we celebrate (not like he had much choice in the matter). Is it wrong that I'm not sure which I am looking forward to more--exploring local wineries in the afternoon, or outriding and outlasting all of the noobs who retire after an hour? Granted, I'll be on a horse that could hunt in his sleep...but still!

This week I'm also riding (not hunting) a horse a local instructor wants to get back into work and sell. He's a much different ride than the guest/husband horses I have been riding lately...he's a chestnut 8 y/o Warmblood cross who is a very forward show hunter type. He's only around 15hh but there is so much movement in that ground-covering daisy-cutter trot!

It's funny, but in the ring when they get quick, I get nervous and tense. Yet out in the hunt field when everyone else is doing it,  it's exhilarating. So, provided that he doesn't do anything too naughty, I think this will be good for my confidence.

Conquering the Ditch of Death at B's

Today I rode L's horse Blue (more on him at a future date--it's an amazing story I plan to write and submit around). It was an exciting day for me since it was the first time I got to wear all of my secondhand/homemade informal season finery! I scored a used Grand Prix jacket for $50 (ended up being a total of $80 since I had to have the sleeves lengthened), used Tailored Sportsmans for $30 ($50 with alterations), a used white ratcatcher shirt for $10 and I made my own stock tie (materials: $7). Of course I forgot to ask someone to take a picture of me though.

Hounds were moving off at 8, so I woke up at 5, spent 30 minutes fiddling with my stock tie, and arrived at the barn to get my horse ready at 6. Turns out that with a non-gray horse and tack already clean, you need next to no time to get presentable, so I put Blue in a stall and tried to make myself useful (the operating word being "tried").

I picked out stalls (successfully) but in the dark, I spilled about a third of the wheelbarrow's contents off the side of the manure spreader.
Blue pooped in his stall and rolled in it.
The owner of the barn spilled water from the trailer's tank ALL over her breeches.
We nearly took down B's fence trying to get through the gate to park the trailer.
And on top of that, it looked like it might rain.

Needless to say, we were late. Thank God I have one of those easy Real Women Ride hairnets because if I had to figure out hunter hair, we never would have gotten there. (Good thing foxhunters don't care about your hairstyle anyway.)

There were a couple of other stragglers who knew the direction they most likely went, so we hacked on the road and caught up with the group soon enough. We ran this way; we ran that way, then doubled back and did it again. Good thing was the skies were clearing--bad thing was that it was starting to get hot in my layers! Oh well, better to be hot and look proper.

Soon the pace settled down to that stop-and-go that happens when nothing is really going on except some horses walking slower than others and having to trot to catch up, which makes everyone behind them trot to catch up. A breeze started picking up...it really turned out to be the perfect fall day.

Except for the Ditch of Death.

Up to this point, we had crossed a couple streams with no major incident. Blue is really good about being careful where he steps and can actually listen when he's revved up from other horses in front of him. But this ditch was at least a 45 degree grade, about 20 feet down and a larger hill up, and horses were trotting and cantering on the other side. Even though it wasn't my turn to go just yet, I knew Blue was going to catch up whether I was with him or not.

I looked down the ditch. I looked up the ditch. I heard my internal riding instructor yell, "DON'T LOOK DOWN, OR THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE GOING," in my mind. So I looked where I wanted to go--across the ditch--grabbed my "oh s***" strap, and I think I might have closed my eyes.

I'm not exactly sure what happened in between, but I found myself and Blue--still attached!--but stuck in a bramble on the other side. I kicked him on, accidentally cut off the woman hosting our hunt breakfast later--oops--apologized, elated--We made it! Good boy Blue!

Apart from that, the rest is kind of a blur. A couple hounds got stuck in someone's field fenced with hot wire so we had to stop and open the gate. I held the gate-opener's horse for her. Hounds nearly came right up on a fox but didn't get it--that was a lot of noise but not much running. We rode past a scenic outcropping of rocks where I had seen a picture of a fox gone to ground during cubbing. Mostly, Blue treated the whole thing like a bore, napping on the reins at checks and trying to put his head up his pasture-mate's butt  when he walked in front of us.

We hunted about two hours total, then headed back to wash horses (love trailers with a water tank!) and load them up to go to I's place.

With every turn in the driveway revealing another amazing part of the property--a pond with a fountain, literal amber waves of grain, an impeccable ring, a BARN WITH CHANDELIERS IN IT--I became more and more convinced that I needed to figure out a plot to get these people to adopt me somehow.

The food (quiches, bacon, sausage, hash browns, etc. prepared by the host's personal chef and housekeeper...oh, what a life!) was simple but it hit the spot. ESPECIALLY the macaroons for dessert. Chatted some, saw photos of one of the Master's steeplechase horses, showed off my engagement shoot pictures on my phone and generally had a great time.

One of my engagement shoot photos

Sorry if this post is rambly and has no structure. I just want to get the details down before I forget.
I am SO LUCKY to be able to do this at such little expense!!!