Bit of Honey Training: Highboy's Completed Horse Trial

Highboy, Jasi, Miles, and I made it to the Colorado horse park for the horse trial this weekend! We had a great jump school on Thursday afternoon so Highboy got a good look at the show jumps and dressage areas during our ride. We kept our fingers crossed that he would stay this reasonable all weekend!

On Friday my original dressage ride time was to be at 4:41pm, but when thunderstorms with hail and lightning moving through they put a hold on the show to make sure no one was electrocuted in the inclement weather! Sitting in the barn, we waited out a heck of a thunderstorm with big loud drops of rain and hail on the barn roofs. Miles insisted if we would just let him loose he could herd the storm off and we could get back to business. He does have a 100% success rate, after all.

We did a little shopping as we waited for our ride time as well, resulting in a splurge on a horse show dog collar for Miles and a stunning browband for Highboy. When I got all dressed Jasi noticed that the browband perfectly matched the beadwork on my stock tie!

After the storm blew over (thanks Miles for barking from the barn!) Highboy and I got all dressed up for dressage. With the rain delay we were the last to go and rode close to 6pm. I enjoyed the best dressage ride Highboy's ever had in the warm-up, only to have him devolve into a bolting mess when we were riding the actual test for the judge. I suspect it was partly because he hadn't ridden in that particular part of the show grounds the day before, and partly because I was doing more complicated work in the warm up versus a very simple test. That horse wants it difficult or he doesn't bother trying! As I write this it occurs to me that I have picked a horse with an attitude just like my own... otherwise why would I enjoy such complicated horses? However, I didn't come off and Highboy didn't jump out of the arena, so we weren't disqualified. The only way to make him more consistent is to keep doing this stuff.

Jasi and I went out to walk the cross country course one more time Friday night after dressage was over. It was a series of friendly, inviting jumps just as they should be at this level, but it was challenging because of some of the angles. I was thrilled to see that Highboy and I were going to be able to jump through the arch which said "Happy Trails" as part of our course!

Saturday rolled around and my ride time wasn't scheduled until after 3pm. Since we had time to watch, Jasi, Miles, and I went out to the tent to view some of the other levels riding. An acquaintance of mine was riding her horse that started the same season I got Monty going, and was having an incredibly good cross country round. Unfortunately, on the second to last fence her horse caught his front leg on the front of the jump and had a rotational fall. I watched it happen and saw her horse somersault over the solid jump, then kick her as he jumped up from the ground. She ended up being taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and another rider who fell at the same time in a different section of the course was taken as well. In hindsight I wish we hadn't been watching, it was not an ideal way to mentally prepare to ride the course.

Naturally there was a hold on the show while the paramedics took care of transporting the riders to the hospital, so everyone's ride times were bumped out a bit. We went back to the trailer to rest and so I could mentally regroup. To calm my nerves I closed my eyes and rode the cross country course in my mind over and over again, imagining it going perfectly smoothly. When my brain would predict Highboy bucking or stopping at a fence I would mentally pause the picture, then rewind it to before it went awry, then replay it with perfect behavior and strides. A mind can't hold two vivid images simultaneously, so I abolished the picture of my colleague getting injured with a detailed and positive predictive vision of my own ride.

I tacked up Highboy and rode him over to the warm up area across the street. I love showing at the Colorado Horse Park because the cross country warmup is situated so that the horse can see other horses beginning their runs. When I was walking there with Highboy another person was leading her horse, and began talking to me about my injured acquaintance. The horse community is small and she was on everyone's mind. By the time I actually reached the warm up I had some significant anxiety about my impending ride.

I understand that my sport is dangerous, and especially the cross country portion of eventing is risk-laden. I do my very best to minimize the risk, and I was competing Highboy at the lowest level. I wear my safety vest, my air vest (an airbag that inflates should I part ways with the saddle), my helmet, and I had prepared Highboy as thoroughly as I could for the event. That being said, I have brain damage from a horse accident that occurred in 2008 (not eventing related), and an accident like my acquaintance experienced would be catastrophic for me (as it may be for her). The cross country warmup was definitely an exercise in positive sports psychology.

When Highboy and I were walking in the warmup, my mind began to race. A litany of honest, but dangerous thoughts were parading through my consciousness. I knew that if I entertained them I was setting myself up for mistakes on course, making the negative postulates a self-fulfilling prophecy. I had to either dismount and withdraw from the competition, or find a way to replace the negative with something else.

I treated myself the way I would treat a nervous thoroughbred. I set myself and Highboy into a rhythmic trot and began counting strides. When he was warmed up and my mind had quieted some, we would go back to walking. The negative thoughts returned quickly. As soon as we had caught our breath Highboy and I did some cantering and gallop work, adding in some of the warm up fences. This combination of physical work with mental duties did the trick, I was able to focus on the job at hand instead of picturing disastrous scenarios.

Highboy did his best to keep me entertained. He thought this warmup cross rail was too easy, so he performed his little song of, "I will jump it high, I will jump it low, I will jump it long, I will jump it short...."

Finally he decided to jump it like a normal horse. We also hopped over the vertical and oxer in the warmup, as well as the logs.

Finally it was our turn to take off! Highboy and I went double clear, which means no refusals and no time faults! He had watched a few horses go before him, he caught on to what we were going to do (amazing what they learn by observing), and when it was his turn he morphed into a jumping machine. I was pleased with the photos, in them I've never seen a horse look so happy to be galloping and jumping.

I crossed the finish line feeling ecstatic. I really am an adrenaline junkie. I thrive on the feeling of accomplishment that comes with not only finishing a cross country course, but finishing it with a horse I have brought along from the beginning. It has taken four years to get Highboy to this point. When he arrived as a four year old I knew he was a long-term project. Now here we are four years later, he's four inches taller, and his brain is finally participating in the adventures! Something clicked in his equine mind this weekend, and he figured out the job: galloping and jumping. I've taught him how to jump, I've taught him how to gallop, and finally he's mentally been able to put the two together. He has been a hot, complicated horse every stop of the way, but finally, FINALLY I got him here. Of course there is a long way to go especially with regards to his consistency when working away from home, but the past four years of trail riding, schooling shows, horse expos, and clinics has paid off. I'm proud of him, but mostly I'm proud of myself because he wouldn't be doing this without me. And he loves this job.

Miles was happy to have a pillow to rest his head after cross country day.

Some video of Highboy's cross country round can be seen here:

Upon viewing this clip a friend of mine commented, Highboy: "What's over heeeerrrre? Oh, wait, I'm supposed to jump that? Okie-dokie. Wait.... What's over theeeeeerrrre?" That's pretty much how it felt, he was sort of wandering around at speed wondering what we could jump next.

Highboy says, "You are my favorite human" *Smooch*

Showjumping on Sunday went well. The show was running a bit behind and I didn't know how much warmup Highboy was going to need, so I was awfully early into the warmup arena. Fortunately he warmed up well and had a good run in the course. He was wiggly and drifted around a bit making it not the prettiest round I've ever had, but he got his lead changes and did go over everything I pointed him at. I'm thrilled with how he did overall, there was no stopping to look at the fences or pretending he'd never seen a jump before! I'm so proud of the foundation he has in his training.