In the northeast our riding season can be quite short…particularly for riding outside of the arena. The footing on trails and in fields can take months depending on the moisture and makeup of the grounds. Some places don’t open until June.
Stanley and I were lucky enough to have a head start, and while we were home and waiting for certain places to open we took trail rides where we could.
At the end of June Larkin Hill Horse Trials took place, and we were able to stop in to cheer on a couple of friends towards the end of the competition day. After the recognized competition the wonderful venue begins to open up more for schooling. The day after the trials a few friends and I were able to audit a clinic with the great Marcia Kulak. Marcia is a local equestrian and 5* rider, having been shortlisted for the Olympics twice. We watched closely as she taught students on the cross-country course. I have two lessons with Marcia coming up so I made sure to pay close attention, and in my riding at home I work on following her system; Rhythm, Track, and Balance. You can read about these in a recent Practical Horseman Magazine article: https://practicalhorseman.com/training/a-3-part-system-to-ride-better-in-any-discipline/.
Later my friend Suzanne and I took our horses to our trainer’s facility for some cross-country schooling of our own. Earlier in spring I set out with a goal to move up to beginner novice by the end of the season. I made this goal with clear event markers and a (flexible) schedule that will help me stay the course. During our lesson Stanley and I tackled jumps that would once have backed me off. It was a big win for the day.
The following week I signed up for a cross-country clinic at Larkin Hill with the owner, Margie, as a benefit for the Old Chatham Pony Club. This would be my first time back on Margie’s cross-country field in 3 years, when I broke my foot. I arrived in a good headspace, not worried about my history but excited to come back and ready to put in the work.
My biggest goal for the schooling session was to get to the water “cold turkey.” Stanley is very good with water with friends and after he’s been in the water…but we haven’t had enough outings to have him charge through water on the first presentation. So far he’s been wonderful cold turkey; he stops, considers it, I lower his head and encourage him with my leg…then he goes without a fuss. We don’t typically step backwards, we don’t get flustered, we just take a second then trot out confidently.
In our session he stopped like he typically does…so I lowered his head, added leg, and in he went. We trotted out. I’m incredibly proud of this, it’s another outing and another positive experience for Stanley to go through water. I have no doubt that as we do more of these sessions the stopping will start to go away. They aren’t even refusals, either, since we don’t step backwards.
Stanley confidently jumped the ditch with no issues.
From the beginning I could tell Margie wasn’t going to push us out of our comfort zones. After a warmup over starter level I began to push myself. We took the beginner novice options whenever they were presented.
We came to a red gate along a very busy thruway, he stopped. He’s stopped at a similar gate at the Vista in Aiken, too. The highway was distracting but the gate also seems to have an element that he doesn’t love (Do I hear a new build for practicing at home?). After touching his nose to it we went over it, then circled back to it once more before cantering into the woods and into the next field. In the woods we cantered up a steep hill and I practiced trotting down it and out of the woods into a new field…he was remarkably level-headed!
Now in the far field we all had a chance to ride around and check out the jumps that were laid out. There were banks, cedar planks, stacked logs, a small table, a bench. My eyes were drawn to a jump of three stacked poles cresting a small hill. I rode up to it. It was beginner novice…and you had to ride uphill to it and land going back down the hill. It wasn’t enormous or steep, but I found myself nervous about it.
But a manageable sort of nervous. A nervousness that has an aftertaste of thrill and excitement. The footing was good. The jump height was good. The hill was small enough. The challenge seemed to be the exact right amount of scary but doable. I told Margie and the group, “that jump scares the bejesus out of me, so I feel like I need to do that before we’re done here.”
During my turn I jumped up the bank, turned around midway up the hill and came back down the bank. We cantered across the field to the grey beginner novice bench. We both gawked at the bench on the last two strides in, so I made my mind up and said we’re doing it…I put my leg on and instead of a stop Stanley chipped in and we went over. It wasn’t the most beautiful jump, I got ahead of him, but we made it over together. He listened to me and got more confidence from that.
Next was the log pile on the hill. We rode up…and as we approached and Stanley locked in, we lost momentum. He ran out to the right. He knew I wasn’t fully committed. We went back, touched it with his nose, and took a circle. This time I got Stanley into a nice rhythm up the hill and maintained it. I stayed committed to my track and guided him up and over. I slipped the reins just slightly so he could land and descend the hill. We did it!
To celebrate we cantered up to the beginner novice cedar plank jump. Again, Stanley backed off but went over it so I circled back to it one last time to end on a good note.
Margie gave us some excellent advice and also complimented our partnership; she was also very empathetic towards my fears/nerves as I worked through them. She told me not to sell myself short, which felt like a massive compliment.
Overall, the day was a phenomenal success. We had a positive ride and came out stronger and more confident. It feels like we are right on track for a beginner novice three phase this fall.
Summer isn’t over, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, I’d love to hear about what you’ve been up to this summer?
The Green Horseman 
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