Blenheim Spring II - The Ammy Days

The short summary of my three days showing Winds last week is that things went okay, then they were a bit tragic, then they were somewhat better. 

Classic photo-of-a-photo moment

The longer story is that it's really obvious I haven't shown in a year, and haven't ridden Windsor outside since...... germany. 

He is, a god damn saint.  Horse deserves a halo.  (Also, this horse wears his ears WELL, getting good photos is not going to be a challenge... )

I have literally never had a horse who is so frigging easy to manage at a show. 

He is quiet in his stall.

Quiet on hand walks

Quiet in warm up

Quiet at the back gate

Quiet in the ring...

Quiet in the wash rack...

He's just the same god damn horse (gelding!) everywhere, every time.

East, but not always interested...

And that is so EASY, that my poor overachieving brain has to find something else to wig out about.

So I decided those things were going to be reading my distances in the lines (face palm) and left lead changes.  Because why leave well enough alone.

One of Windsor's best features is that no matter where I throw him at the jump, a) he jumps and b) he doesn't get mad.

This is in stark contrast to Prair who was unhappy (and freaked out) if you missed her distance by more than 6" either way.  Her panic attacks have left me with severe PTSD about missing, but I got pretty good at not missing because I always knew were I was with her.

Winds is so adjustable, and so sensitive to contact, that when I go to take a feel and lock in on a fence, he backs off the distance (even though I swear I'm not pulling) and things go to shit. 

Then I get into the lines and his stride is so adjustable I spend all 4 or 5 (or 6) strides changing everything all the time and end up somewhere I shouldn't be on the out.

This is not ideal.

(and maybe led to me leaving a stride out... MAYBE).

So, things were a bit rough on Friday for my Eq rounds (though we pulled a 2nd after we cleaned things up in our last trip) and I didn't really beat myself up because - new horse, so that was great.




Saturday, I had expectations to add some polish to everything and totally self destructed.  I chipped, I pulled, I kicked, I waited, I leaned in on my changes, it was ugly.  I thought my trainer was going to demote me to cross rails.  really. I did.  She had every reason to. 


(I really like the girl at the end telling her trainer I got 5 in the 6... dammit)

Saturday left me really discouraged because, while I'm used to having issues to work out - I'm also used to FIXING THEM and not just repeating the same mistakes. 

By the end of the day, Windsor had finally had enough of my bad decision making and started tuning me out, which led to better distances, but isn't exactly the end goal.

I ended up Reserve in the Eq - mostly due to that one 2nd place ribbon and a win on the flat (thank god).  The other two rounds over fences were... interesting.

Sunday, we started with an Under Saddle which was going great until I let him almost step into the wrong lead right in front of the judge  (BAD) and that killed it for us.  I am figuring out how to find his ideal pace where he swings his shoulder a bit more and carries a nice little hunter frame.  We'll dial that in next week no prob.

Finally, I had two more Hunter rounds which were EXCELLENT (given our new relative scale of tragic to acceptable) and even the parts that felt fast or tense look pretty hunter-y on video.  so yay me. 

Our ribbons were worse (since apparently everyone else also stepped up their game) but at least I finished the week with a solid sense of competency and excitement about what lies ahead.


All in all a great start.  We ribboned in every class, which is something that I sort of expected given his CRAZY CUTE factor, but we've got a long way to go before we're kicking ass and taking names in any sort of consistent manner. 

I just have to keep reminding myself that I really don't know him that well yet - we haven't been outside in big rings EVER before this and Winds also doesn't totally understand his new job description.  I think once we get used to at least one of those things - we'll be a much more consistent team and maybe (just maybe) we'll get out of the baby ring.

See you next week!!!

Blenheim Spring Classic II - Day two

Oh god, it's all a blur!!

Thursday (if I can recall) was a lovely day at the show.  Windsor started with his Under Saddle classes for both the Low 3' and the Pre Greens. 

Trainer rode him in the Low since... well... he's never been in a flat class before and I wanted to video (side note, I forgot to video), but he was a good boy.  no concern over the traffic, or all cantering in a group.  he even stood in line politely until they called his name for a pretty pink ribbon.

I hoped on to ride the Pre Green flat since we had another horse in the barn also in the class and it was really, really fun to hack in the giant open field.  I pushed Winds a little too much and made him tense and rushed instead of open and flowy, but he was relaxed, and chill and squeaked out an 8th in a pretty competitive class of about 16. 

Then it was onto fences, one final round for the Lows, and 2 rounds for the PG. 

If he was a good boy on Wednesday, Thursday he found his literally stride.  Just a bit more relaxed off the ground, and a bigger slower step made each round lovelier than the last. 

In full love. deep.

I did actually remember to take some videos of his last two rounds... so here you go.  Such a stud.




When they finally pinned the class I couldn't believe that I heard Winds called for the win in the Low, then 3rd in his first PG and another WIN in the last round. 

We ended up missing Reserve by ONE POINT which is pretty freaking spectacular given the guy is literally learning on the job.  I already can't wait to watch him go around again.  I'm thrilled.

I love that little man has not only snagged some satin but two blues in the first week.  Plus since I managed some cute photos and videos, I can already call the show a success...

Hang on to your hats... it's on to the am my days (gulp)

Blenheim Spring Classic II - Day One

Windsor's first day of showing (in the States) was a great one (for him) and a long one (for me).

I was up at the crack of dawn for an early flight down to California.  It was the time of day where I'm only up if I'm a) still dancing or b) doing something for a horse.  :)

The flight was quick, and although the rental car process was not - I still made it to the show in time for his classes.

horrified I forgot to bring treats

Having never shown here - I'm a big fan of the grounds.  Grass everywhere (read: no dust) and the footing is lovely.  Most of the grass we show on at home is pretty gosh darn hard, and so far I'd have to say the footing here is really well maintained here...  The grounds also seem rather spectator friendly with ample shade and seating and places to enjoy the show.  Bonus points for a big Dressage show going on as well so I'm sneaking in some time to watch the super fancy ponies do their super fancy things. 

The report from earlier in the week was that he had schooled wonderfully, but since the show rings are on grass - there was no opportunity to take him for a spin in them and see how he felt about grass (or caulks, etc..).

Because of that, we opted to drop him into the 3' so that we didn't feel badly about adding a second division for extra experience.  That meant that N would take him in a (giant) Low 3' division, and the 3' Pre Greens.

This was (for sure) a good call.  He was calm, and confident in the ring, but still a bit.... jumpery to the fences themselves.. 

He was definitely a bit confused about the job description and what all was going on in the giant grass field - so much so that he didn't even see the first fence, and ended up with a stop before he even got started... (Monkey-covering-its-face-emoji). 

But after that bobble, he got to work and he started to figure things out a bit.  He slowed himself on takeoff, relaxed in the huge turns, and started to enjoy the show.

He was able to do all four rounds nearly back to back, and really looked like a total pro at the back gate and on the grounds.  Nothing phased him.  Not the kids running around, not the flags flapping in the wind, not the water pouring off the tent roof, not the garbage trucks, or wild horses, or anything.

His brain is sound - he just needs some time on the job.

(iPhone video still)

If you follow us on insta (@cfantonelli) I'm doing a better job of frequent updates... but I will try to blog often enough that I don't forget the (fun) details.

I managed two iPhone videos on the first day- his second round in the Lows, and his first Pre-Green round.

The Low Class:



His Pre-Green:


The Low division had almost 80 horses in each round, and even though they split it into two sections, we missed the ribbons (though clearly the round with a stop was a throw away..).  However, He managed a 3rd and an 8th in a pretty lovely Pre-Green Division of 14. 

I was (OBVIOUSLY) thrilled to have some satin to commemorate his first foray into Hunter Land and promptly took all the pictures and hung them proudly on the tack room wall.

We ended the day with smiles all around, excitement about what's to come and a slight sunburn on my forehead because I am not an adult and cannot keep my face covered...

He's a KEEPER!!!

T-minus NOW

Oops, it's showtime!

I've been beyond negligent in reporting on show prep.  But mostly it's looked something like this:

Good ride, good ride, good ride, GREAT RIDE!
(new saddle)
Good ride, horrid ride, good ride, SHOW!

The best at tiny jumps

Winds is officially in California and has schooled twice.  My reports are that he has been "perfect" and is jumping "great", only landing on a cross lead a couple of times.  (yay!).

Almost all of the show is on grass, which is pretty for pictures and feels tres fancy - but all the schooling is on sand and the show rings are closed for any prep work. 

From a competitive standpoint - I like it. I hate that Hunters get to school all-the-things before showing, but now that I'm staring at a new horse who's never seen a real Hunter Fence before - I'm wishing for the luxury of not only schooling the ring, but the jumps, an everything in-between.

So we still haven't ridden on grass, but in an attempt to increase experience without jumping the pants off of him, we dropped him down to 3' so he can do both an Open division and the Pre-Greens.

That way he gets a few extra rounds in before I take the reins on Friday and we have to deal with my own panic attacks and not just worry about the horse.

I am officially sunshine bound tomorrow morning at like 4am.  I land at 8:30 (in theory) and Windsy's classes start at 9:15.  hopefully I can get my bag, grab a rental car and get to the rings before I miss his rounds.

That's the plan anyway.

Oh, and we had super fun bloggy time with SprinklerBandit last week which was the last "good ride" in the show prep sequence.  We had breakfast sandwiches and barn time and most importantly - taco time all of which is fun and lovely, and means I actually got some new videos and pictures.

I'll let her do the real posting on that, since, well - she's really good at it and actually edits things, but I've stolen a few photos for the sake of not making your eyes bleed with a boring post.

SEE YOU IN CALI