Our new barn mates joined us on on Saturday, along with 22 new horses, let by Dressage trainer Nadine Pestana.
Our barn owner hosted a BBQ and the two teams mingled on the back barn patio over champagne, brats, and one of the DQs made this amazing homemade potato salad!
It's probably not fair of me to assign the Dressage Queen label just yet- these ladies seem super chill and I didn't spot a single rhinestone. Their motto is- "We all help each other." Read Zero Drama.
As an added bonus, it sounds like we may snag the occasional dressage lesson!
A few weeks ago Ellie and I jumped a 3' standalone fence. TWICE!
We were jumping around some 2'9" fences and this vertical had been riding really well so I nonchalantly suggested we put it up. Like so chill. "Hey- why don't we just put that up a hole?"
It wasn't until I was riding towards it that I realized the gravity of my situation. But it showed up.....a little deep, I sat back a hair, and over we went. That was the first time....the time not captured on video.
The second time I was like, oh shit I don't see anything! Pace! Kick! Run! Maybe if I Wiggle/Twerk a bit something amazing will happen. Nope- just a little long.
I usually get super excited when we "move up" but this just felt like we'd finally gotten to a place where the real work begins.
I recently ended up with a standing desk- this giant, black plastic monstrosity that has absolutely taken over my workspace. In an effort to make it a little more palatable I've added a few potted succulents in hopes of adding some visual interest. Paul drove me around to a million different nurseries and we spotted these cuties (pre-potted) at Cactus Jungle in Berkeley.
I have the best coworkers and have been meaning to get Nazera out to the barn for a hot minute. By day she works on Ariat's Marketing team but moonlights as an Equine Masseuse. Ells hasn't gotten a massage for a few years so it was nice to start that cycle again. I think starting a more regular schedule of chiro and massage may help to extend her stifle injections (fingers crossed anyway).
Generally my horses tend to get far more spoiled by bodywork than I do but I just happened to cash in on a gift certificate for a massage Paul got me back in 2013 on Saturday afternoon and I feel great! Massages for all!
Wrapping up our Sonoma show a solid month later! If you recall, our biggest challenge at Brookside in April was getting down those damn lines. So I started off the 2'6" Hunter division with some big spurs and a goal.
We dusted off some cobwebs on Friday and I realized that my left hand has a mind of its own (pulling + kicking = refusal). We got the strides in a few lines but Ellie's stop out of the tough diagonal line challenged my confidence. Ali suggested putting a colored band in Ellie's mane that I could reference for my hands when we got into the line- so on Saturday I added a little blue bow and each successful line was purely due to landing the first fence and "grabbing bow."
There was a tragic Flat class but I'm going to blame a saddle pad switch-up that left Ellie with a bee in her bonnet (even more so than normal). Something on that pad was incredibly bothersome to her- to the point where she looked like a large gray dog shaking off water.
We did have a Saturday class where we got ALL the lines (see Ellie round 1 video), a Derby with an accidental trot fence, and a Sunday Medal that we were busy killing until we trotted the last fence. So new goal. Don't trot non-trot fences.
Paul came to watch on Saturday and he took tons of photos and video for me! I was excited to show him how far we'd come! He was a trooper and staying till the bitter end (my over fences classes went at 5).
And I realized that I have the most supportive friends who send you awesome texts (see Trot Fence video) in response to watching a video of your Derby round.
Hoping to squeeze in one more show before the end of the season so we can canter some full rounds!
