Aiken 2022: Doin' the GP

 

Herro? On the road!

I really failed on the blog front this year. Last year I kept notes, blogged pretty much every day at the Airbnb and kept photos in order.

This year I was more focused on enjoying the moment and running myself into the limits of human exhaustion. haha.

But Aiken was amazing and as usual did not disappoint!

Very thankful for an uneventful drive down with the exception of hitting some dense fog in the mountains that nearly made me shit my pants.

Always the first order of business

The boys (Hamp and stepbrother Royale) hauled great and settled right in, as did the other 4 geldings in the convoy. We stayed at Jumping Branch Farm again and it's starting to feel like a second home.

The next day, a Friday, we schooled at Bruce's Field under the eye of AM - an S judge - who I took lessons from back in December. Hamp schooled wonderfully and I felt prepared for the weekend where we would do the Grand Prix Saturday and Sunday.

By the way the weather was GORGEOUS

Palm trees haha

Saturday's test was .... not great. He warmed up great and I felt like we might have a good go when I went into the ring. The canter work was pretty good (hit all 15 ones!) but ... there was some sort of miscommunication because he just ... quit ... in the piaffe passage. I mean like just stopped dead. And then he did it again in the right canter pirouette. I'm not sure if it was my tension? Or the way I warmed up? I took him back into warm up after the test and he resumed pi/pa just beautifully. He didn't seem tired, or annoyed or anything like that. I feel it was me and I was probably too tense and half halting way too hard. I think he thought he was doing what I wanted. He never got pissy or snarky. It was like "Stop moving my feets now?" and I'm like "NOOOO!!!!!"

A Porkchop nose 

Also I am a little ashamed at my stalker fangirling of people in Aiken.
Like we don't see Boyd Martin at local shows in Louisville OK!!!
(This was at JBF which held a recognized event the same weekend we competed at Bruce's field because it's Aiken and just take your pick of shows every weekend no biggie)

Without any pi/pa it is not possible to get a 60 in the GP since those are a third of the score (well, I guess you can if you score 8s-9s in everything else), so we got a deserved score of 53. I was disappointed, but decided to change my warmup for the next day to help prevent that problem.

Sunday I warmed up just a little bit differently and had a much better test! I still made some mistakes (I screwed up last part of the canter zig zag, and flubbed the very start of the ones). And this time he started to dive in the poll affected the overall balance and quickness to the aids. BUT we did get pi/pa and there was no stopping at all. 

On the way to warmup with a game plan

I was quite happy with our now best score of 59% and some change! While annoying, I now know that a 60+ is not impossible. We just need more polish and I need to be better about keeping the balance throughout the test. And AM saw the test which I was really happy about because now she saw exactly what he does in the ring (which he does not do at home) so she could help me with some tools in our upcoming lessons.

The Grand Prix is HARD, YO. 

A 59% cannot ruin riding such a good boi in such gorgeous weather!

Every time I go in there I learn. These might not be admirable scores but honestly I am not going to get better unless I keep doing it. Hamp only knows he was a Very Good Boy and has no idea of the scores, or what he cost or how other horses find this so much easier. So that's what counts. Bringing our at-home quality work into the show ring has ALWAYS been an issue for us from the very beginning. At every level. So I know this will get better, just gotta keep working.

And the good thing was I had a week of lessons and riding coming up to make everything stronger!

But after that weekend, I decided we both earned a break from dressage land .....*evil grin*

My barn friend K (right) in the warm up with multi-Olympian Boyd. No biggie.
She made her Third level debut and rocked it!

Aiken 2022: Prologue

Mini adventure before Aiken.
Annnnd a powerwash for the trailer is in the plans.

It's that time already! Holy smokes our Aiken 2022 trip has snuck up so quickly.

I am in the midst of preparing. Getting organized, getting the horse cleaned up, packing. Making lists. Freaking out. The usual.

This is the big group trip, and right on schedule everyone is having their own freak outs. Incidents have included:

• Breaking halter and running off
• Rider falling off
• Horse rearing, striking out
• Horse bucking and bolting
• Mild colic
• Hampton Anonymous Grand Prix horse refusing to stop!!
• Back soreness

I won't embarrass anyone by calling out which horse did what though. haha. 

I also took a day off work and hauled up to Indy to take a lesson with JC. I really needed a boost before Aiken. Here are some notes from our lesson.

• Square exercise. In each corner turn on the forehand, but get out before he falls on outside shoulder
• Trot out of turn, think piaffe in turn
• Then start to "tiny passage" on sides, piaffe in turn
• Medium on one side, piaffe to turn
• Kick kick to keep shoulders up! Not forward and flat 
• Slide legs forward toward his shoulders
• Canter out of turns, do 2 flying changes before next turn. Walk, do the turn, canter
• Eventually do a turn on forehand in the canter.
• Outside legs sends him forward
• Think turn on forehand with inside leg, outside legs keeps the forward thought. ... Bingo, super canter piro!
• STOP OVER RIDING (I accept too much work. lol)
• Act like he will be perfect, and then work from there with corrections.

And Hamp got a good session with a Bemer blanket after work, too. He seemed to really enjoy it.

A leg wrap works great as a poll thingie too

Hampton was of course a very good boy. He is feeling fresh, swingy (thanks Adequan!) and fit.

We leave Thursday! 

The Silent Teachers

I saw this post from Olivia Lagoy Weltz on the Gram and thought this was so perfect. It reminded me of Hampton and so many of our horses. Such important creatures.

The road to the Grand Prix and the international arena is a long one full of many ups and downs. It takes a village to get there, and in that village are the horses that the world may never know. They may have just one gift, or many gifts, but they all have something to offer. These amazing teachers come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes you find them in the place you least expect it. Few of these horses will ever become international horses themselves but their place in our lives and our journey is invaluable. To the silent teachers, the horses the world may never know, but without whom there would be no journey.

Human gets a vet check

Hamp and I are a team, and while he is definitely the most spoiled of the team members sometimes you have to care for the human, too.

With the recent, shocking, news that another direct family member has been diagnosed with cancer, I decided it was probably in my best interest to have some genetic testing done. Especially since I now have two direct family members with hormone receptive cancers (my dad had prostate cancer that reoccurred and metastasized, eventually killing him). 

No one should ever have to walk into this building.
It was so busy with patients it broke my heart.

The first part of the appointment was really simple. I met with a lovely genetic counselor who gave me her speech about genetics and what that means as far as chances of developing cancer. She answered my questions, and then drew out a family tree and where there was cancer in my family.

That was alarming to say the least.

Here's a list of cancers in my family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings. Did not go out further than that).

• Prostate cancer
• Glioblastoma
• Lymphoma
• Cancer of salivary glands
• ovarian cancer (diagnosed young)
• Cancer in the spine
• Melanoma

It was pretty much all over both sides of the family. Eeeks. But the most concerning is the ovarian and prostate cancer since those can be more associated with gene mutations. Interestingly, there is no history of breast cancer in the family. Go us!

A list of gene mutations I will be tested for,
and what cancers they can be associated with

Looking at my history, she did recommend I get the screening done. I agreed.

All I am looking for is information. I could have gene mutations, and never get cancer. Or, I could have no mutations and get cancer anyway. But should I be positive for certain mutations (like the famous BRCA genes), I can reduce my chances of cancer by 90% or so with preventative actions like frequent screening or even surgery.

Cost? The genetic counselor told me most insurance covers this, and no one ever pays more than $200 for a screening. And that's the broad spectrum one. I chose to focus mostly on breast and ovarian cancers, so it will be cheaper if I even have to pay anything.

Results will take about two weeks. *cue Jeopardy music*

Otherwise Hamp and I are just surviving midwest winter!

Catch ride!

 

A feral December Porkchop.

I have said it before, and I will say it again.

Blogger friends are truly some of the BEST people I have ever met.

When T was driving through Louisville on her way back home, she sent me a message and OF COURSE I was like YES LET'S DO LUNCH! And then immediately offered up Hampton to ride.

Aren't they well matched??

Kentucky weather was nasty that day but we weren't too bothered. T rode Hampton beautifully. She is a quiet, kind rider who looked great on Hampton, as she does on any horse. 

Hampton even did a spook n scoot and she sat it quietly, didn't react and kept going. I suspect riding a Saddlebred probably installed this instinct in her. He isn't ALWAYS the most perfect boy hahaha!

Seriously she's never ridden him before. Gets on, has him going around this this.

We had a great lunch and then she headed home. A really nice treat in the middle of a busy ass week!

Thanks T!

Merry, happy, booze filled wishes to you!

 Wishing you all a very happy holiday!

Love,

Karen, Hampton, Buckley and (current foster furr, Stroganoff!)

Stroganoff staying with me through the holidays.
 He is being monitored for bladder stones poor guy
Made himself right at home though haha!

Buckley: GIMME YO LUNCH MONEY
Strogi: No.

A home like this

 

Saturday morning hack

Saturday was a day to just chill and cheer on H who absolutely demolished her first Training XC course. Hamp and I went on an early morning hack around Jumping Branch, played in the water jump for a bit and he had the rest of the day off. 

We left early Sunday and thankfully the drive was uneventful.

Except the customary "How brave am I today?" when it comes to sketch gas station bathrooms.

This is fine. 

Also recommended, podcasts Dr. Death season 3 and Suspect.

After a few days off, Hamp will go back to work. 

Buckley was happy to see me and did not starve to death,
 thanks to a friend who checked in on him.