We are approached three years since I moved to NJ. Ever since moving, I have been striving to get back to a place where I felt I was when we left. We had been competing at BN and, in my head, were totally comfortable cruising around that height. The other day, I shared a post on my insta from a clinic I took around that time (full blog post here).
And it’s a decent photo. That saddle never did me any favors, but you can clearly see our efforts to move down the line. In a moment of nostalgia, I decided to dig up the video and give it a watch.
Wait… what? I remember it being VERY hot and humid that day, but there is a lot going on here not related to the heat. Mainly, why on green Earth are we SO crooked. AND, as always, I remember the jumps being bigger hahaha.
This can’t be right, I decided, so I looked up another video from that time.
What do I see? A horse that is pretty far behind my leg. One that isn’t comfortable in a more uphill balance with power, and a rider who has decided that sucking back around corners and gunning it down lines is the best way to ride… oops.
None of this is a reflection of my trainer at the time. May really only had a few months of eventing training under her belt at this point, and I had some serious PTSD from my previous horse. (aka – riding forward was NOT my thing). Honestly, it is shocking that she got me to jump anything larger than 2′ at all at this point.
Then I had a moment of… maybe my lessons recently haven’t been going as well as I thought. So I went back and watched one…
And this is why media is so important. That last video shows a forward horse who is clearly more comfortable at that balance (and not DIVING at fences) and a rider who has learned to put her leg on.
So my advice to everyone this weekend? Just keep on trying. I promise, you are getting somewhere. Happy Friday friends!
She looks so different now! So much better!! And still adorable!!
Thank you! <3
Love seeing those reminders that all those little incremental wins add up over time <3
Right? It makes such a difference to be able to look back and see all the skills you have developed.
Having old media (or any media) is so so so useful to look back on and recalibrate as we go!
So useful! Even if I never do fully wrangle that right shoulder 😉
This is so great! And true!!
Thank you! And it is so true and such a great reminder for all of us. 🙂
Small wins add up for sure but man is it hard to see in the moment
It is so much easier to celebrate the small wins our horses accomplish and so easy to overlook the small wins WE accomplish.
Media and the blog are so useful for comparison!
So useful! I am not sure I would realize the progress without it all. 🙂