One Year – Reflection

One year ago today, I drove with my trainer out to PA, and I traded my very handsome, 16.2, papered AQHA gelding for a 15.2, draft cross mare of undetermined breeding and pretty much unknown age. I wish I could say I never doubted myself for the decision, but I will admit, there was a lot of doubt in the first few weeks. Especially when I first put her in the stall, and this was the best picture I could get of her:

Our first ride looked a bit like this. My saddle didn’t really fit her, and she found my leg on her sides super offensive:

There are very few pictures from our first lessons together, as it was literally us attempting to steer in a circle. We did jump that first lesson, practically sideways through a gymnastic, but May showed off how honest and game she is!

We did go play around at a show in the area. May was a touch confused, and we got a lot of stares from the fancy warmblood people. I was over the moon though:

Our first time through a gymnastic, she bobbed and weaved. Our first show, we did a 2′ combined test. We scored somewhere in the high 40s (eventing scores) but had a very positive day. I ended up first… out of two.

Our first XC schooling was easy, but I was terrified. We barely jumped anything, and I apparently had an affinity for jumping up her neck.

We did a modified event for our next show… and I almost fell off in front of Marilyn Payne (see instagram below!). Our Dressage score barely improved.

https://instagram.com/p/6paAZAnsnr/

Then we started to hit our stride. We did a full horse trial at the Starter (2’3″) level and had an absolute blast. I am not sure where we finished, but I made it into the mid-30s with my Dressage score. The next show was less successful. Dressage and XC was great, but we seriously struggled in the Stadium. I am fairly certain we took down 4 rails… I continued to jump up her neck.

Over the winter, we put a lot of work into our Dressage, but we also did fun stuff – like bareback.

In February, we went to a clinic with Marilyn Payne. I actually did fall off that time… for the first time in nearly 4 years and gave my fiance the worst Valentines Day gift by scaring him like that. (I also learned to stop jumping up her neck). 
I got my big girl panties back, and started schooling BN sized XC fences:

(Just kidding… still jumping up her neck)

But didn’t get a whole lot of practice before our first full BN horse trial. We rocked it anyway:

It wasn’t a flawless year. I am sure a pro could’ve gotten her to BN a lot faster than I have and her basics would probably be more solid (instead of still a work in progress), but we have had a lot of fun getting here!