that's a wrap

The end of the season is a really tough time for me. I usually get my best runs in the fall, feel like everything has come together, and then, whoops! No more horse shows left to go to.
In many ways it's a blessing that I'm too poor to go to Aiken or Ocala and keep competing. I doubt that I am unique in that I push myself and my horses pretty hard toward our goals, and Neil is so easy to over-fit that it's often a struggle not to ride him too much. Couple this with how much fun we are having by the end of the season, and it's even harder not to ride him too much.

This year, for the first time, I'm giving my horse the entire winter off. To be a horse. Last winter, when Neil got January off, he felt like a different horse when I got back on him-- in a good way. He's six years old. He isn't going the Olympics next year (I know, surprise everyone, it turns out you have to have Canadian citizenship to ride for team Canada). Last winter circumstances kept him cooped up inside more than he or I could help, and it took a serious toll on our collective psyche. So this year, he's going to live in a field and learn to pull my friends around on skis (hope they have health insurance). But the tough thing is, that's not very many weeks away, and I have to start letting my horse down on his workload soon.

I thought that was going to suck, but I got off him yesterday and told Jeremy that it was one of the best rides I had had in a long time. The ride being, showing up to the barn just before dark, warming up my horse on the flat, and putting him away. Because I have no plans to drill my dressage skills through the winter or really to do anything except hack for the rest of the year, I rode him connected and relaxed on the flat. The last few weeks of Neil finding his new balance WITH MY LEG ON and SITTING UP (sorry, these words are just always in all-caps in my brain) have helped him to travel so much more forward and to feel so much better in his back. Now that I can combine this with riding relaxed, I'm able to help Neil more and also to enjoy my rides (surprise, ding ding ding).

That doesn't mean I'm not going to push myself through the end of fall into this winter. When I was sick for so long this summer, I lost all of the cardio from training for that marathon that I didn't end up making it to, and a lot of my overall strength. I'm stoked to take some more time for myself to hit up the hills on my feet and on my bike, and also to take advantage of the zillion free yoga classes at Middlebury to re-focus and re-center and get stronger. Some of my absolute favorite things to do this time of year are to watch YouTube videos of awesome riders and their technique, and also just great videos of eventing that make me cry tears of joy (like this one).

That also doesn't mean I'm not going to have a damn good time with my horse. For example, last weekend being fall break at Middlebury College and Anna and clearly not having enough homework to do, we rode Neil and Remington into the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM) and proceeded through town to do what we've been desperate to do since we took our respective tours of the campus before we matriculated; that is, gallop around on Battel Beach. Pretty much the greatest moment of my college experience was jumping Neil over a couple of adirondack chairs right in the center of campus, and posing with my beloved BiHall in the background.

Good times had by all. 

Finally, I was stoked to see a photo of Teddy (formerly our pal Tiz) jumping all the things at Arbrook Farm's October jumping clinic; he is looking so great with Alyssa and Kerry keeps reporting great things from him. Here's Sophie's photo:

That's a wrap! Fall season is over, fun things done with horses, fun things yet to come with horses, life is pretty great. Oh! And in case you missed it, Neil is now sporting the Team Canada logo on his butt. Just in case (faint hope) I can someday convince Clayton Fredericks that you don't really have to be a Canadian to ride for Canada. Sigh.

Cheers!

Marina and Neil

Hitching Post and Wonderpony Recap

Hey y'all-

Since this is our blog and you have chosen to subject yourself to the shameless narcissism of me writing about how much I love my horses, let me tell you how much I love my horses.

Two days before leaving to return to Vermont, I let myself be talked into taking a pony back with me to sell. His wonderful owner decided that with her expanding herd of trail ponies, one very special buckskin was simply too talented to handle. Skeptical at first, I got on him, and then was no longer skeptical. Tiz had jumped a couple few times before I rode him, but sorted out a gymnastic with such a great attitude that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play with him for a little while. So, Neil had a buddy for the trip home to Midd, and Tiz got to join the fun. Yesterday I sent him off to his new home with Kerry Lambert! He's going to do lots of trail riding, but also some jumping and eventing. She has updated me that he settled in well, and I'm excited to keep hearing about all their adventures.

Neil has benefited a LOT from some chiro work from Matt and a dressage lesson with Mary Brust, where he let out all of his angst about deer/friends/dinnertime and I got to practice SITTING UP and KEEPING MY LEG ON (you think??). This paid off with a much nicer dressage test at Hitching Post schooling trials than we had a couple of weeks ago at Stoneleigh-Burnham. All of this followed up by a confident, if, er, brisk, couple of jumping rounds led to us taking home the win and our very appropriate prize of some new red bell boots. It's great to end the season feeling like Neil is very confident at the Novice level. We may follow up with one more schooling show to practice going SLOWLY, but when the speedbumps aren't big enough anymore, what's a girl to do? If there was one downer about the event, it was discovering that my very old, very tired Hunter wellies had finally developed cracks in the soles (while having a look at the footing in the water complex...in a couple of feet of water). Luckily I had extra socks, though if anyone saw how quickly I exited onto dry land, they probably thought I was properly crazy.

Many thanks to Carol Pierce for her awesome support and her awesome pony, who took many friends on trail rides and provided for oodles of entertainment during the past month. Also to everyone on the road when I missed the last turn for HPF and got to practice straight-backing the trailer for a hundred yards or so. Also, to the wellies, for not giving out on me til now.

Cheers!
Marina and Neil, sadly solo #ponyshoutout.

home basing it

Hey team,

I've been off writing for quite a while, living a little too hard to stop and blog about it. Now, lots of my friends are posting the beginnings of their study abroad adventures all over the world, or chronicling their babies' first steps, or their professional careers.

I'm doing none of those things.

I'm home on the first real break I have taken in, er, a really long time. The beauty of coming home from my summer job with a camp cold is that I've been forbidden from doing any work, or training for anything, so I've had a lot of time to get stir crazy, but also to do somethings to center myself and get ready for the upcoming junior year at Middlebury. In case you were curious, here is how you center yourself, a la TLDH (Team Little Dark Horse):

1. You go a little crazy with the experimental recipes (and make your parents eat a lot of vegetarian cooking): like forbidden rice (but with some mango and less lime next time), and this one (still good in the fridge after 8 days = winner). Peanut rice noodles came out a little, er, better luck next time.

My friend Liza, who was another riding instructor at Camp Nashoba North this summer, made the trip up to Houlton with me and we immediately took over the kitchen. It didn't hurt that I talked Mom into buying a big bottle of Srirachia, possibly the best discovery of my camp experience.

2. You go camping with your horse:

Neil and Dublin made it up Day Mountain to catch this view at Acadia National Park. 

3. You reflect on how tough your summer job was: 

Liz Moyer photo, from the barn staff remake of this gem:

Guess who I'm playing (hint, not T Swift)...

4. You pull your horse out of the field and jump some jumps:

and reflect that maybe, at some point this year, your horse grew up a little bit.

5. You stay up late, read books you don't have to read for school, and stalk all your friends who can never be in the same place at once:

6. and you be grateful for the one who's there for everything,

even if he's kind of an asshole. 

Friends and other awesome folks, adventure is always on the horizon. Lots of you are going away or doing big things or trying new stuff, rock on. TLDH will be here when you get back, and if Neil has anything to say about it, we will do some shakerattlen'rolling of our own. 

Kick on!

Marina and Neil