Hannah & Surf - May 25th XC school (LONG)

Before I get into yesterday's ride, let me introduce us. I'm Hannah -- tarheelmd07 from NCHN -- a NC girl born and bred but now living in Baltimore. I got into eventing in medical school and have gotten even more serious about it after moving up here and having the opportunity to train with Julia Wendell (a *** rider, and owner of An Otherwise Perfect Farm -- http://www.otherwiseperfectfarm.com/) and ride 2 of her old campaigners. The horse of the moment is Surf Guitar, a 14yo 17.3h OTTB who Julia rode successfully through Prelim/*, but never quite made it as an Intermediate horse, and is now out of semi-retirement to further my education while Huey (the 20yo campaigner I worked with last year) is on sabbatical recovering from a suspensory injury. I've only been riding Surfie since the beginning of April, and we're still figuring each other out. Surfie is very different from Huey. Huey is a brave and bold a horse as I've ever sat on. You could put anything out ona cross-country course and he would jump it without batting an eye. In stadium, he hunts down his fences, and has a tendency to really take you down the lines to your fences. He's not the best mover, or the softest, roundest jumper, but he's got heart and a desire to jump like you would not believe. Surfie, on the otherhand, is equally as honest but much more shy to his fences. He'll jump whatever you point him at, provided that you can be brave for him on the way to the fence, support him with your leg, and really be clear about what you want and where you're going. HE's much softer and rounder -- and a better overall jumper -- but he lacks Huey's joy de vivre...it's hard to explain really, without having sat on both horses. Luckily for us, our trainer has competed both horses...

We started the season at Novice (2'9" division, for those unfamilliar with eventing) and are hoping to move up to Training (3'3") soon...but more on that in a bit. In preparation for our upcoming show (in the short term) and pending move-up (long term) we went cross-country schooling yesterday at Fair Hill (http://www.fairhillinternational.com/ -- a BEAUTIFUL venue on the MD/PA/DE border that hosts many events every year, including a *** event). There was much chaos at the schooling, as tons of folks showed up because the schooling days at Fair Hill are few and far between. We started out yesterday with a quick flat warm-up -- the goal of which was to get Surfie in front of my leg. He's a big, long horse, who likes to get behind your leg, slug along on the forehand, and lengthen out behind you (when he needs to get that butt under him!). The best way I've found to get the engine going, is to soften him up with a little walk work on the flat, then go for a nice canter/gallop on a loose rein without worrying about his frame...just to get him thinking foreward. Then we go back to the walk and trot, trying to keep the energy while getting him to step under himself and use that big behind to push into the bridle...easier said than done! We've spent a lot of time working on our flatwork...as Julia's horses really drive home the point that jumping is really just dressage with Speed Bumps. Surfie is very responsive to the aids to come back from a gallop into a more collected canter before jumps, and it's been amazing how much my ability to rate him out in the open has progressed as our half-halts have gotten better in our dressage work.

We started off over some simple logs, jumping them on a circle in both directions. I had to remember not to lose the impulsion through the turns -- to keep pushing the horse through the turn, to develop a tick more canter than I need so that I would have something I could half-halt and balance on the approach. Surfie also wanted to go back to the other horses, so it was a good lesson in keeping him straight -- pushing through the turn with the inside leg, then straightening him from the outside...with my legs, not my hands. After a few trips over the BN, N, and T logs, we put the T log together with a gallop down to N fence 2 - a maxed out cabin off a tight turn. Then, again working on balancing and keeping forward through the turns, we made a loop, first jumping the cabin, then around to a T roll-top/ramp. I have a tendency to lean at the fences...which makes Surfie's job harder and makes him put in an awkward chippy stride at the fence...and my tendency to lean increases with the size of the fence. Yesterday the goal was to get my but down, legs under me, and shoulders back and WAIT WAIT WAIT for the fence to get there...to support Surfie on the approach and stay out of his way and let him do his job in that last stride. We cruised over a few N and T fences and went to tackle the turning combination -- 2 skinnies set at angles to each other so that you had to jump the first, resist the urge to turn too sharply and go straight for a stride or 2, then turn right to the other skinny...riding in 3 or 4 strides depending on your horse's stride. I had to work on having a polite jump at the first so as not to eat up my turning space...which translated into working on getting Surfie to collect into a smaller stride without losing his "jump" or forward energy...easier said than done! From there we worked on the N & T open log ramps and oxers...a bit of a bugaboo with me after an accident where my little Sprite got his feet stuck in a similar jump and went down with me aboard. Then it was on to my other bugaboo -- up banks! Again, due to an accident with Sprite at a bank (out of water, he chested it and flipped, I went flying) they make me nervous. Julia and Surfie were very patient with me and helped me to work through waiting for the bank and not jumping ahead...I have to remember that there's always another step to the bank than I think there will be, so I need to sit, push, and grab mane! We but the bank together with other fences in combination, then went to play with putting some big Training Tables together. The vertical face of tables makes them quite intimidating...and having to string several together in a row was a good reminder of how to sit back and wait for the fence, land galloping, then get your horse back together into a more collected step to the fence. I can't tell you what a great feeling it was to nail that line!

After the tables, our last group of fences was 3 of eventing's most imposing questions -- trakhaners (logs suspended over ditches), water jumps, and coffins (jump...ditch...jump). Now, I'd never jumped a trakhaner before...and they're fenced that bother riders much more than horses. My heart was in my throat as we took a long spot and swum over the N trakhaner...after which Julia reminded me that my job was to be there to support Surfie and be brave for him. I had to be 110% committed to the fence for him to jump it as well as he can...and boy did it jump better the 2nd time around. Then it was the T version -- a GREAT BIG log over an EVEN BIGGER ditch...with the top of the log sticking right at the 3'3" max. All the way to the base I was chanting "leg leg leg leg --- release" and Surfie took it in in great style, and cruised over some smaller fences to the water. At the Water, we again had to face my fear of up banks out of water...and Surfie was a great sport putting up with my backwards monkey riding...after several sucessfull but not-so-pretty jumps, Julia got on the old man and showed us how it was done (boy can that lady RIDE!). Up banks will be my homework over the next month...and I'm OK with that. The last exercise of the day was the coffin...coming downhill to a skinny, 2 strides to a ditch, then pushing 2-3 strides up hill to another skinny. It was a test of accuracy, balance, and ability to expand and contract your horse. Coming downhill, I have to remember to sit back...way back with my shoulders, and use my legs to push Surfie's hind end into contact, without pulling on his face...or leaning at the fences. To end the day, we put the T coffin together with a long gallop over the final fence on the T course....and with big smiles, called it a day.

I want to get another showjumping lesson in before the show next weekend...and work on our dressage test (plenty to do this week!), but I felt good about the school. Lots of things to work on at home, both on the flat and over fences. Oh...and the icing on the cake is that Julia gave us our blessing to start sending in entries for Training! Yikes!