A Taste of Humble Pie

Shortly after I posted about our experience at the George Morris clinic, Soonie and I went viral.  The Chronicle of the Horse saw my blog and asked to repost it.  There were thousands of likes, hundreds of shares, hundreds of comments.  The Retired Racehorse Project, CANTER USA, Bernie Traurig, even George Morris's social media people picked it up and shared it.  I was completely surprised not just by the popularity of it, but the exceedingly nice comments that everyone shared.  Usually social media isn't that kind.  I was shocked, in the best way.

Riding the high of this media wave, I once again got myself and Soon packed up to head to our second USEF rated competition, the Piedmont Jumper Classic (held at Salem Farm, home to the Upperville Colt & Horse Show). It was here I got reminded that I'm human and make stupid mistakes and got a taste of some freshly baked humble pie.

We left for Piedmont on Thursday.  Soon hauled over well and got settled immediately.  He really has the travel thing down now, and after last week at Beverly for the GHM clinic, this was cake.  This show was like Upperville Lite - all the fancy jumps, the tent stalls and some of the atmosphere, but on a slightly more modest level.  It is a lovely venue and a lovely show to take a green horse to.  Put it on your calendars because it's a great show.

We call this "making friends"

This is his horse show face

Soon hacked well on Thursday, and came out feeling great on Friday.  Kim and I worked with Canadian Olympian, and Middleburg-area local Sonya Crampton for the first time, and I am so thankful for her truly outstanding coaching.  I added the .80m schooling jumper class as a warm up, in addition to our .90m class immediately afterward.  Soon jumped around the .80m just fine, but a little look-y.  I had a stupid rail having not judged the four-stride correctly.  We came back into the .90m class and he went around like a star.  Sonya had us going along on a much more open, flowing canter stride, focusing more on getting to the jump a little earlier - once again coming flowing out of the corner with leg on, soft hand, and allowing Soon to find the base of the jump.  We went double clear and walked away with a blue ribbon for our efforts in the schooling class.

Photos:  Hannah Jones Photography

I planned on stepping up to the 1.0m schooling jumper class on Saturday morning.  We had schooled more than that at home and with Joe, and felt it was a good challenge.  But as I walked the course, seeing the exactly how large the jumps were, I started to have doubts.  I should have scratched and stuck with the .80m and .90m classes again that day to build upon Friday's success.  But I didn't.  I saw numbers as progress, and ignored what would have more training value.

We warmed up confidently and went into the ring.  The first jump was okay, Soon listened very well to my leg and my request to open up his step significantly and come forward.  We rolled down to the oxer in the bending nine strides, he felt much more confident over that and I thought we were good as long as I rode him well.  We came around the corner off the short(ish) turn to the one-stride, which we met very well and jumped out of nicely.  And that's when the wheels started to come off...I didn't close my leg enough off the oxer, and our four strides to the vertical left him a little long to the jump.  He took it like a champ, but when we came around the next corner to a big, single oxer, I didn't have him forward or straight enough.  The distance was gappy and he didn't feel confident enough, so he ended up stopping.  I came off elegantly, but still came off.

I immediately regretted my decision, and I felt terrible.  Not for myself, but for Soonie.  I stretched him just a little too far.  I had to be 100% accurate with that ride for it to succeed, and I fell short, which left Soon to figure it out at a level where he wasn't completely confident in himself.  He trusts me completely, and I failed him.  This was poor horsemanship.

I calmly ran up my stirrups, reassured Soonie, we walked out of the ring together (no temper tantrums here!).  Sonya did an excellent job of getting my head back on straight, as I was completely frustrated with myself for pushing too fast, being greedy, and asking too much of a green horse.  We jumped a few small fences in the warm up just to end on a good note, and I went and added the .80m class in order to get him around again in the show ring and end on a positive note.

I put Soon away and we both took a break between classes.  I felt sorry for my poor decision making and I generally wallowed in my situation.  Soon and I went around the .80m again with no issues - a little look-y again, but he went around as I asked him to, and went double clear for another blue ribbon token.  As Sonya said, it was money back in the bank.  Soonie didn't hold anything against me.  This horse has all the scope I need, all the talent I need (probably more than I need), he just needs mileage.  And mileage can't be rushed.

We looked good in the 1.0m while we lasted!

Rocking around the .80m again for good measure

Good boy Soonie!

Overall, I think it's hard to look back on this show and call it anything but a good experience.  I can't say enough wonderful things about Sonya and her coaching this weekend, I'm excited to work with her more in the future.  Soon went well on Friday.  Yes, I made a mistake and had him just outside his comfort zone the next morning, but he wasn't traumatized and didn't hold it against me.  He jumped around fine later that day, and seemed pretty content with horse show life.  I learned, conclusively, that he needs more experience in the .85-.95 classes for the foreseeable future before we try 1.0m again.  And I realized that if we were to try to attend the Anne Kursinski clinic in November (still undecided), it would need to be in the 2'9"-3' group, to avoid overfacing Soon again.

This horse wants to do it.  He tried very hard all weekend even when other horses, under the same circumstances, might have quit.  He wants to do it.  He just needs to be shown how.  I've been unfair in how I regard him - he trains with horses that are vastly more experienced, and he not only keeps up, but he performs on that level in training.  But he's not on that level.  He hasn't seen what they have seen.  This is his first year out showing.  Piedmont was his fourth show.  He still needs to get used to dressed fences, max widths, galloping strides.  All those things are more than just jumping a specified height.  He can do the height (see the 1.0m photo - plenty of scope to spare), it's everything else he needs to see, to learn, to become confident with.  And he will.  He just needs time and a patient approach.  He is a very careful horse - that careful quality will make him an incredible jumper, but it presents a minor challenge in development.  I think he has a real talent, and could legitimately be that 1.20m horse I've joked about.  But he'll need plenty of time to tap into that talent and develop confidence.

I should have known that before, but I know it now.