What's in a year?

SO much has happened in a relatively short amount of time. Cash is now owned by a 9 year old girl who loves him to death. He took her to a show just 2 weekends ago, and although he was a little spooky, he was an awesome little show pony.

Marvel is being leased by another little girl. I love him dearly and don't think I could ever let him go, however when reality hits, it hits hard and fast and doesn't listen to emotions. By this I mean that although every last hope and dream I had were pinned on him, through lots of learning experiences I have come to realize those hopes and dreams weren't logical. Marvel has crooked front legs. He loves to jump, he has an excellent brain, and beautiful gates. But his front legs are crooked. He will, or better yet should, never be my training level packer. I want him to live a long healthy life in as little pain as possible and it's just not right to jump him big on those legs. But what he can do is teach other people the beauty and fun of lower level eventing! He is very soft mouthed, can come on the bit, jump up to 2'9", and travel while keeping his sanity. He's perfect for the girls who want to know what eventing is all about and are maybe looking for their own pony and need one to ride in the mean time. He's big and beautiful and gentle, although still sometimes green. He's perfect. I will always see him that way. The reality is that he isn't though.

So that brings us to Panda. Mr. Pandamonium. The horse that wouldn't load on the trailer. The horse I was advised to sell as soon as humanly possible. The mean horse. The horse that didn't know that kicking with the leg means go forward. He came August 2013. We began dressage lessons February 2014. We began cross country/jumping lessons around May. So it's safe to say we haven't even been doing this a year.

Panda went from not know what going forward meant to being able to do a turn on the forehand, leg yield, pick up both canter leads, and come on the bit at the walk and trot. The canter is well on its way to being balanced and beautiful which is a long stretch from the jumbled mess we started with. We are headed to ride with Debbie Bowman in 10 days!

I went from feeling pretty confident I could train Panda to jump to realizing I absolutely could make him pop over any cross rail in our jump field but not correctly and to no specific end. At our first cross country schooling we trotted itty bitty logs on the ground because our canter was atrocious and dangerous over solid obstacles. In June we competed at the Beginner Novice level and came in 3rd place. In October we compete at the same level at the same venue and came in first! Yesterday we schooled almost a whole novice course and even did some training level obstacles. If our canter continues to improve, we will be ready for regular old Novice near the beginning of next year!

We've ridden with Joe Meyer and we are about to ride with him again. We are going to ride with Buck Davidson in December after our 3rd beginner novice run the weekend before the clinic. We have Doug Payne on the schedule for January. I am so proud of how well he is learning and how incredible he is doing.

Panda and I completing our first place dressage
round at Pine Hill in October.

Our successes have not been without some failures. Panda sliced his eye lid in half on a metal hook one evening that almost made our October show a scratch instead of a 1st place finish. Shortly after that accident Panda also developed what can only be described as roaring. We have yet to get him scoped as he has progressively gotten better but it is on our list of things to do. Some days it seems like you take 4 steps backwards. Some weeks it rains so hard our arenas are washed out for over a week. Marvel is still fighting his white line disease but with his handmade shoes he has been doing very well.

If I have learned anything at all since the last time I've written a blog it's that you can't do it on your own. Not just you or me personally. No one can do it on their own. I've seen my trainers go through ups and downs and that is extremely encouraging. They are real people too and it doesn't always go according to plan. And that's ok. A huge part of working with horses is using common sense and problem solving skills because a horse will throw something at you that you've never seen before. Ever. And neither has anyone else. You have to think like a horse sometimes and also keep your fingers crossed a lot.

I would never have been able to get Panda this far this fast if it weren't for the help and encouragement of the people around me. I wouldn't have to guts to ride when I don't feel good, or when the most recent 20 degree temperatures blew through, or if I feel too busy, or if I want to do other things. If you want to achieve your goals you just need to get out there and do it! It's hard at first but it gets easier. Ride. Practice. Make a plan. Don't take yourself too seriously because your horse sure doesn't. I'm only at the puny beginner novice level so I am probably not a huge inspiration but in literally less than a year of even being involved in this sport I have learned so much more than I ever thought was possible. I have been humbled again and again by the vast amount of things there are to know and learn. Every day I am challenged to try something new or learn something different. I am loving it. I think I will be an eventer forever!

Stay tuned for our next post, a crazy recap of what it has been like thus far to be a working student at Denali Sport Horses!