Horse of the Year 2025 Part One: Arabs

pics by Mawarda's kiddo's lovely mom

You guys, I have SO. MUCH. MEDIA from this show! I also have a lingering horse show hangover, so for once, it will be light on the words and heavy on the pictures.

I wasn't going to take Lancey to HOY this year, even though I really looked forward to showing him here after Summershow in November. When I did the Nooities' entries, the budget simply didn't stretch as far as another entry for Lancey, too. I elected to leave the little guy at home and take only Mawarda and his child. But at the last minute - a week before the show - an entry for the novice riding horse class came up for sale. I snapped it right up. We were going to HOY.

In the madness of getting Thunder back into work after his boo-boo and prepping Arwen, Wynnie, Faith, Raya, Rene, and Charlie for HOY, I hadn't given poor old Lancey much attention beyond hacking with friends since Summershow, so we jumped into a five-day boot camp to get our ducks in a row for HOY. There was no question about his fitness - Lancey holds fitness like a beast; I bet you could fetch him out of the field and ride a showing class without getting him out of breath - but we definitely felt a bit rusty in the arena.

To make matters worse, when I have been schooling him lately, we're working on changing the frame and getting him in a more uphill balance as for an open showing horse. Unfortunately, this led us to run up against his age-old issue of throwing his head against the hand. He's had every check under the sun and the issue doesn't come from elsewhere in his body - it's an old habit from a previous rider. We'd more or less conquered it, and he'll work in a low, soft novice frame without a problem, but inviting him to come up into collection just triggers the old habit in a big way.

eek

Thus, having muddled through our tests in something of a mess, we popped him on the box on the Thursday morning of HOY with Mawarda and headed off without high hopes for ribbons but with the happy anticipation of getting to go out and do an Arab class, which I was really excited for.

For some reason, I, in my wisdom, had decided that an hour was enough time to get ready for my class, including getting snowy-white Lancey's stains cleaned up. The only reason why I managed to show at all on this day was because DH rigged up a portable wash bay using a water tank in the front of the horsebox and a little pump with a hose and nozzle. This thing was absolutely magical for washing Lancey's legs and the odd stain on his butt and flanks. No more struggling around with a bucket. I got him cleaned up and shine sprayed, brushed his hair, and hopped on to warm up.

at least he really was clean

The warmup by the Members Arena can be pretty spooky for no apparent reason and there was some snorting from Lancey, but he remained the very best boy as I started our warmup. He was against my hand a little, but getting better when DH arrived to tell me that Mawarda had just pulled his kiddo's dad right off his feet - a rude habit we have since remedied with a stallion chain and careful timing - resulting in a scraped knee and the kiddo being in tears. I instantly began to worry about poor little kiddo, who is only eleven and riding her second HOY ever. I was still worrying about her as we headed into the show ring, and truth be told, I didn't stop.

In the end, my worrying proved useless. Kiddo's dad was fine, kiddo pulled herself together admirably, and Mawarda was a perfect little angel once she was on his back. But I kept eyeing her in the warmup as we were going around the arena instead of, you know, riding my horse.

riding, instead of whatever this is, would have helped

Barring one snort at a big scary sign on the arena fence, Lancey handled this new-to-him venue with great aplomb and went around the go-round like a star except that he did throw his head against the bridle multiple times. I wasn't focused enough to truly keep him on my aids and had the miserable impression that I was riding the most well-schooled horse in the ring but making him look like a green bean. Still, he was being angelically good for his distracted mom, so I gave him many pets and good boys when we stood in the lineup.

The extremely kind and lovely British judge gave us all a simple test to do (albeit necessitating the ring steward to explain to a very Afrikaans kiddie rider). We walked away, trotted a bit, cantered a change of rein, cantered down the long side, trotted up, walked, and halted. By this point I was no longer stressed about the kiddo but still fairly distracted, and if I'm not *perfectly* on my game in the contact with Mr. Lancey, we have real difficulty getting it back. He was super obedient for the test but not remotely on my aids for most of it and it also didn't include a rein-back or lengthened trot, which is usually where the little bro stands out.

looking up would also have been of assistance

I had no hopes of a ribbon as we fell into a heap at the end of our test, but I was having a good time and so pleased with how mature and sweet and lovely and perfect my Lanceycorn is. We got off and took off our saddles, during which I forgot that you should, like, hold the reins in the show ring, but Lancey just stood there like a good boy with no one holding him.

We haven't trotted up in hand for ages, but he was absolutely perfect in every way for this, and also of course stood like an angel to be saddled up again and for me to scramble aboard. And then, to my surprise, we pinned second despite the contact issues. I guess his perfect manners endeared him to the judge despite my wobbling around.

The rest of the show went super well; Mawarda's child won the children's riding horse class in fine style and survived through a best rider class full of grownups, even if she lost a stirrup during one transition and then didn't get it back for what felt like ten thousand years ("I was showing the judge what a good rider I am without a stirrup, Auntie Firn," she earnestly told me.)

please admire his quarter marks, doing them gives me a n x i e t y

Despite the generalized chaos, everyone was dead happy as we luxuriously hosed off our horses at the box and loaded up to go home. It was a great start to one of the most fun HOYs we've done - and we've done a few great ones.

the hubby who makes my dreams come true 💜

15 More Questions

You know what I miss? A good ol' blog hop. Luckily for me, Anna had even worse weather than I ever do, so she posted one!

1 – What would you consider to be your favorite item you’ve purchased for your horse?

Oooh, tough one. Y'all know I'm not big on shopping, but I'll have to vote for the nearly-new brown Wintec 500 I bought for Arwen in 2023. It was such a literal Godsend - the first saddle I tried fit the horse great and I got it from a friend, so there was no fussing around with awkward trial periods or couriers. Although I have to say that my cute show ear thingy is also very high on the list.

okay so this helmet, these Nu Angles, the double bridle my friends and hubs got me, and the blue glitter browband are also on the list

2 – When you found your current horse, what drew you to them?

I found my horses and my husband the same way - they kind of just showed up. Skye and Arwen arrived so long ago that I barely remember any specific reason about liking them, I just liked them because I was a horse kid and they were horses. (Of course, I found lots of reasons to like them later on). Thunder I loved because I was a horse kid and he was a foal - even better.

I picked Faith out of her group of two-year-olds at the time because she had an ethereal, airy-fairy beauty. Not the greatest reason to pick out a horse, but she really still looks not-quite-real, and is far bigger and more athletic than those same peers today.

Lancey was a repo case - I claimed him because his people couldn't pay his stabling. I originally planned to resell him, but his perfectly cuddly, goofball personality made him too irresistible, and I realized that you only ever get one Lancey in your life. It would have been silly to let him go.

Finally, I picked Wynnie and Raya's sire primarily for his movement. He had all the basic things that would have been total deal-breakers for me if they weren't in place (good feet, good mouth, good brain, good back), but his free, elastic movement set him apart from others in the breed.

3- If you could move your horse and yourself anywhere in the world, budget is no problem; where would you go and why?

I think it would be really fun to spend one season in a super horsy neighborhood overseas like Ocala and be fully immersed in that culture, but only for a season. I love where we are. It's far enough outside the city that it feels very rural, but all the major shows, vets, and other amenities are an hour away. Absolutely perfect.

4 – Is there something on your horsey wish list you’re coveting? What is it? (new pad, halter, bridle, a trailer, etc)

I'm dying to completely level out and redo my arena footing, but without a tractor, it's proving to be a challenge. We'll likely have to hire a tractor next spring to do it. In the meantime, trusty old Flash has been harnessed to the harrow and has to pull it around every time it rains, so that's fun.

5- Do you have a playlist for your horse? What is on it?

I don't have a playlist, but Arwen does have a song. It is a relic of my upbringing as a homeschooled teenager whose friends were only allowed to play Minecraft and delved the oddest corners of the internet. You have been warned.

6 – In 3 sentences or less, describe your horse- bonus points if you can use a gif. (inspired by Mamas Magic Way being described as one of Boyd Martin’s kids in a recent article tbh)

Ages ago we assigned an animated movie character to each horse. This is the perfect time to showcase them.

Arwen is obvious.

the Nightest Fury there ever was

Thunder is warm, cuddly, and always patient with my general BS. He's also chubby and in his extended canter you can practically hear him say, "I am not fast." He's obviously Baymax.

Me: Oh no I'm bad at life! Thunder: There, there.

Lancey is another obvious one. "Some people are worth melting for."

7 – If you could go see a clinic or participate, who would you audit/participate in? (Again, budget is no question here)

This one is tough for me, because as much as we all want to ride with Olympians, I do not ride an Olympic-bred horse. I love having J as my coach specifically because he has shown many off-breed horses all the way to GP, so he understands how to break down movements into tiny bite-sized pieces and introduce them to horses to whom they don't come naturally.

I think it would be really fun to watch a completely different clinic to the worlds I'm used to, like Western or saddle seat.

8 – Favorite fictional horse?

This is super niche, but I loved Ardanwen from The Letter for the King. Not only is Ardanwen the fastest Friesian in all the land (as they always seem to be), he also spends most of his time rescuing the hapless main characters from all kinds of disaster. He also carries most of the plot on his back, let's be honest.

9 – Opinions on Devacoux’s latest saddle design?

I'm neither smart enough (or, let's be real, in the right price bracket!) to know what it's really about, but I will say that it's a little silly-looking. If it works, though, who cares?

10 – If money was no problem, would you get a custom saddle?

Absolutely. With many sparkles. Nothing really fits my oddly-shaped little round horses perfectly, so as much as we happily make do with what we have, it would be cool to get the perfect fit.

11 – If your horse wasn’t a horse, what animal would they be? (basically copy paste your horse’s personality into another animal – what animal would they be)

We've long since established that Arwen is a dragon (and so is Wynnie) and Lancey is a unicorn. Thunder would be a big, fluffy dog or an orange cat. Skye is a pegasus. I will die on this hill. (You never said they had to be real animals).

12- Favorite horse and rider combo? (i.e Boyd Martin and Fedarman B)

That's an easy one: Becky Moody and Jagerbomb. They look like such a harmonious partnership even though Jagerbomb is clearly a bit of a live wire, and her social media is humble and hilarious. Plus he's a homebred like my Thunderbird. Love it.

13 – What was your favorite or best advice for horses you were ever given?

J said to me once that every horse is a Grand Prix horse until proven otherwise. Sure, not every horse actually will be able to compete at Grand Prix. But if you set aside barriers like soundness and extreme age, approaching every single horse like they have the ability to go all the way puts a measure of belief behind them that might just surprise you with its results. That doesn't mean pushing or forcing a horse to be something they physically can't or mentally don't want to be; it's just believing in them and daring to dream audaciously.

14 – What is the best and worst registered name for a horse that you’ve seen recently?

I don't really want to pick the worst name because, you know, somebody did pick that name and thought it was a cute name, but I do find the Friesian names kind of funny. 17 hands of midnight and fire bound by muscle and lit with strength - and you show it under the Dutch equivalent of, like, Joe or Henry or Pete. Hilarious.

Magic had the stupidest racehorse name I've ever seen. He was called Gadsfly, poor bro.

I love lots of the old Afrikaans names that the Nooities and Boerperde have, like Voorslag (the cracker on the end of a whip), Vastrap (firm steps, also a traditional dance), Bomskok (shellshock), Voorspoed (prosperity), and Haastig (in a hurry). Waaksaam (alert) is another favourite. One used to come across lots of horses with Boer War names but I haven't met a De La Rey in a while.

15 – Do you want to try another discipline or something fun with your horse?

If I had unlimited time, Arwen and I would 100% be doing working equitation. SO fun.

16 – Free space! Leave a funny story, photo, advice, a quote, or something you want to pass along to the next person!

This is a Sebright (albeit not a show quality one). They're adorable and about the size of a pigeon. I thought you should know.

God is good.

Briefly Benched

 While we were at the first interschools qualifier last weekend with Mawarda and his child, M called to say that Arwen had a mild fever of 38.5 at breakfast. It was 38.8 an hour later, not staggeringly high, but certainly climbing.

This made me a bit twitchy because it's prime biliary (similar to piroplasmosis to my US readers) season in South Africa and I like to jump on them very early and aggressively, which generally gets them sorted out within 24 hours or so. But as it was one of my own, who always suffer from a little neglect compared to a client pony, and also as it was Arwen, who is made out of cast iron, we finished up the show first. Her temperature had dropped to normal by 2pm, but when I finally reached her around 6pm, it was 39.0. Again, not a raging fever, but not right at all.

meanwhile, Mawarda and kiddo were perfection

Now normally I never, ever treat a biliary without a positive blood smear. It's so common here that people LOVE to dose them up with Forray (imidocarb) without a definitive diagnosis, often missing other diseases and giving the poor horse colic because Forray's side effects can be a real beast. But I was looking at the most classic biliary I've seen in years; she was jaundiced, her heart rate was in the 40s (high for her), and she had a miserable look in her eye. It was 6pm on a Sunday and though I take my own blood smears to the vet, it would necessitate a (more $$$) emergency consultation. So I just phoned the vet to check and then gave her Forray right away with a bit of vitamin B/liver extract as a booster and a round of flunixin to make her comfortable.

The next day Arwen's heart rate was still a touch high, which is pretty typical as they can have anemia after the Forray kills the parasites and their host cells, but she didn't have any fevers. After that she declared that she was perfectly fine, thank you, and didn't need any more needles. She has been her usual self ever since but is still getting a couple of weeks off to give that hardworking heart some extra rest.

no Arwen pics because Felix stole her thunder by damaging himself in a far more expensive manner than she did, and yes, there is not a thought behind those eyes

In the meantime, we still had a pretty busy week. Thunder's fitness is slowly returning - thanks for nothing, Friesian blood - and I had a couple of nice rides on him. His canter, as ever, remains a bit of a mission, but it'll come back with strength and fitness. We currently lunge at least two or three days a week to help him rebuild without my hindrance and he should be fit enough to get back into lessons in March, I believe.

I had a really cool ride on Wynnie last week, too. I still plan to do a proper post about her backing, but I've had five or six little "rides" on her now where I basically just sit there and pet her and give her treats. I introduced the (very gentle) whip aids for walking forward and shoulder-in on the ground a couple of weeks ago and last week was the first time they really seemed to translate for her in the saddle. She was still a little sticky and hesitant, but we walked all the way around the arena. Obviously, there was no drama - Wynnie is a brat and a babydragon and the wiggliest youngster you've ever seen, but there's no malice in her. It was the greatest feeling. We're basically Olympians now in my book.

so very grown up

can you believe this was the same horse?

Lancey also had a good week. We schooled on Tuesday for the first time in a hot minute, which is always a bit messy, but he was an absolute rock on Wednesday when I ponied Wynnie out the furthest she's ever gone. Wynnie was pretty good - generally staying by his side on a loose lead - but Lancey handled her odd spooky moment with great aplomb. Of course he did. He's my unicorn.

Erin came over on Friday to teach us more about showing. We obviously started out with a hack on the two unicorns, who were both excellent, although Erin's unicorn did have moments when he thought he might not be.

Then I presented Wynnie for some turnout tips for HOY. Wynnie was impeccable the day before when I bathed and plaited her and she stood still for nearly an hour and a half - a magnificent feat. Sadly, it seems she ran out of standing-still-ability and had none left for Friday. Erin tried to show me how to plait her tail but Wynnie was having absolutely none of it. Horses gonna horse. Anyway, we also showed her our in-hand work, and Wynnie was a star for this part, even standing up for the judge.

That rounded out our week, and this week has been even quieter. Arwen is still off, we had wonderful rain for the past three days, and I had to have a (very) minor procedure that left me with a tiny incision which is annoyingly not allowed to get wet, so there's been no riding in the rain for us. We needed the rain, so there are no protests from me.

Erin is a horse butt artist seriously

Looking forward to green pastures and sunny days. God is good.

also got to hang out with Mystique, who was my up-down pony at the riding school nearby when I was a tiny kiddo <3

Thoroughbred Series Leg 1 2025

Apologies for the wall of text. Apparently I was 0% good at candids on the day.

We kicked off our year without delay. Despite a two-week break over the holidays, Arwen came back into work in January absolutely raring to go, having apparently lost no fitness. Thank you, you athletic little ball of rage. So we entered a nice local show to break the ice at our most favourite venue in the world for February 1st. K was happy to get to come to a show, DH was happy to get pizza, and I was happy to ride, so it worked great for everyone.

Our ride time was only at 16:36, so we had a leisurely morning and then I, true to form, started getting stuff ready much too late and ended up in a flat spin by the time K arrived to help. We were dropping Midas at Penbritte to get sold (boo, but also yay), and of course while I was plaiting Arwen, he rolled in the biggest pile of moo poo he could find. Thanks, bro.

Anyway, K got him cleaned up, I threw Arwen's plaits in, and we jumped in the horsebox without further ado just on time. I've been experimenting with reducing the amount of omepracote she gets for traveling and gave her only one dose before we loaded up, which proved to be a silly idea. She was sweaty by the time we stopped for our routine check at the end of the dirt road. Sorry, big girl. Two doses are clearly where it's at.

Nonetheless, we were all chill when we arrived at beloved Penbritte. I had time to fuss around a bit and poor Arwen dried off from her sweaty ride in the box. We got Midas installed in his new stable across the venue and then it was time to tack up and hop on.

It's been a couple of months since we went down the centreline, but Arwen didn't show it. She marched into the warmup and went to work like the professional she is. We had a nice deep stretch in both walk and trot, and although she had her standard magnificent buck through her first canter transition, we very quickly settled into a lovely warmup.

We'd spent the week before the show working our butts off on our worst mark for 2024 - the change left to right. I am simply bad at them and struggle with both horses, likely because of my uneven hips and general inability to do dressage. But we had really started to nail them down the week before, and she was giving them to me cleanly in the warmup. I knew it would be 50-50 if we got them through in the show ring or not but the progress made me happy.

have a blurry screenshot

We were relaxed and ready as we headed down to the show arena, and as we walked in, Arwen engaged in a new habit of looking up and having a little whinny as we approach the judge's box. Ever since that test at Gauteng Champs where all the horses evaporated from the face of the planet during our test, she likes to just check in and make sure that she, a herd animal, can see other animals of her species. Normally it's one whinny and then we get to work.

This time, of course, Midas heard her from his new stables and whinnied back. Thus ensued a screaming conversation between the two and I knew it was going to be a little bit of a train wreck. She was jogging and whinnying when we reached the judge's box, and the lovely show organiser expressed her surprise.

"She's usually so well-behaved," she said.

I grimaced and explained the situation, which perhaps garnered a scrap of sympathy from the judge. As we waited for the bell, we trotted a little figure-eight. Arwen was obedient to a fault - honestly, she always is - but already trying to dive behind the vertical as she does when she's stressed. I quietly insisted that we stay up in the bridle, and then the bell rang and we wibble-wobbled our way down the centerline to fall in a heap at X. To her credit, she only wiggled a step or two before she stayed still, so we scraped up a 6.0, "more immobility."

She knew the medium trot was coming despite her tension so I didn't give her a single aid for it, just turned onto the diagonal and hung on. This mare pulled out suspension I didn't know she had. Though I felt her collapsing in the frame a little, I worked hard to keep her up and to sit the amazing bouncy power she'd found somewhere. The judge was unamused; "more length of frame and airtime," 6.0.

The rest of the trot work, albeit faultlessly obedient, was mostly my quest to keep her in front of the vertical with varying degrees of success. My unaccomplished butt can only push her neck up if I'm not bending her, so the lack of suppleness dinged us in the half-circles, the shoulder-in, and the half-pass, which were 6.5, 6.0, 6.0 all with "more bend." She threw her head and put her tongue over the bit into the extended trot, then put it back and gave me a really nice trot, but still had 5.5, "some tension." Fair enough. I have to put the bit low because of the melanoma in the corner of her mouth, so that's a thing that happens sometimes.

We started to settle down and halted perfectly for a really fluent rein-back, except I was convinced it was five steps instead of four, so we got 5.5 because I cannot count. Our shoulder-in was another 5.5, but she was feeling less worried and got 6.0 "more uphill" and 6.5 "better" for the half circles and the half-pass.

To her eternal credit, tense as she was, Arwen did not take a single jog step in her walk work. To my credit, I didn't stuff up the TOH. We got 6.0 for both and 6.0 for the medium walk, "some tension, more fluent."

She was still tight and unsteady in the connection in our extended walk, 6.5, "step more to the bit." Again, she was absolutely obedient to the walk-to-canter transition for 6.0, "more cadence." Her half-pass left felt fantastic; she'd gotten over her tension for the most part and was listening nicely, so she asked politely if I wanted a pirouette (which we've been working on) on the centerline and lost her tempo for a couple of steps when I declined It was 5.5, "more steady head." She wanted to dip BTV in the half circle and I worked with all my might to keep her up in the bridle, but we did make a very nice little change that was not late behind despite having a bit of a bounce in it, 5.0, "croup high."

Our next half-pass was great, 6.5, but I was so relieved about our "bad" change being good that I forgot to, like, ride the good change, which was close behind for 4.0, "late behind."

She didn't get antsy in the extended canter although I rode it a little conservatively for 6.5, "more uphill", also 6.5 for the transitions. For once, when we came down to collected trot, she was easy and steady and not rushing, so that was another 6.5. We ended on a high note with our 7.0 for a really fabulous, straight, square, steady and immobile halt. (This particular judge appears to have a case of the 5-6-7s).

We had 6.0 for the paces, an expected 5.5 for the impulsion and submission, 6.5 for my seat, and 6.0 for my aids. Our comment was "Unfortunately quite tense today with tongue over the bit at times. Settled a little towards end of test, relaxing a little over back."

As we walked out I knew it would be touch and go whether we scraped out that last grading point. This judge tends to be harsh, but even under a generous judge, it wasn't a good test. I was really proud of two things, though: that Arwen remained imminently rideable even though she was genuinely upset, and that I rode every step and didn't let my feathers get ruffled. I kept her up in front of that bridle to the extent that we didn't get a single BTV comment, which was no easy feat.

It was a good show, it just wasn't a good test, and I wasn't surprised with the final mark - 58.87%. We'd missed getting our tailcoat by 1.13%. 

I waved the test at DH and told him the mark, and his response pretty much equaled my sentiment. "Oh, well, honey, now we have an excuse to go to another show soon!"

We bought way too much pizza, loaded up, and went our merry way with happy hearts despite the marks. It's always a good day with the horses and people we love.

God is good.

Back Again

Here's a really quick recap so that I can get back into the swing of things with posts for 2025.

As fantastic as 2024 was, our plans did fall off the rails a little toward the end of the year. Although Arwen rocked our socks in October by winning Medium 3 at Champagne Tour and we had another really fun show after that, we didn't quite manage to get our ten grading points for Advanced yet. No regrets - we had an amazing year of showing together.

Thunder also went to Champagne Tour and had a very tense warmup, but settled in the test for a decent score. He started his 2025 three-legged lame with the kind of swelling that makes your heart turn cartwheels, but after a set of ($$$) x-rays, the vet proclaimed that he was merely bruised and would be sound within ten days. I was riding him again the next week and he is completely fine now, having lost much less fitness than I expected over the holidays and after his injury, so good for him.

Lancey went to our provincial Arab show in the end of November to finish off our show season. He was absolutely superb in every way, not putting a foot wrong for three full days of classes, and we brought home a little bit of satin to boot. Our highlight was coming third in a large and strong hunter pleasure class even though, truth be told, I have absolutely no idea what hunter pleasure even is. Someone told me to ride forward so we just zoomed around basically. He makes everything so fun.

Faith was diagnosed with bony change in her left front navicular, the result of an injury she likely had as a foal before we got her. It explains the chronic short-stepping issue she has, as well as the tightness in her back. We gave her a shot of Legend and put bar shoes on in front and I put her into boot camp with me for four or five weeks to lose weight, get supple, and regain the musculature she needs to move comfortably. It worked insanely well, and Faith was going the best she's ever gone by the end of November, when she somehow ripped a hole in her right front. After (more $$$) stitches, it healed like a charm and she lost hardly any fitness. She and K are looking incredible together.

Skye is beautiful, perfect, and still living her best life with no apparent signs of slowing down even though she'll be about 37 this year at our best guess. Her joints remain creaky, but honestly, I'm not seeing anything get worse. She had biliary when the first round of ticks came out in the spring and recovered like any young, healthy horse would. I even had to reduce her concentrates because she was getting rather portly on the summer grass. I know she won't be with us forever, but I'm grateful for every happy, healthy day we get to have with her.

this is me teaching K to ride on Skye like a thousand years ago

Raya handled her weaning with aplomb and is living out now with a cute little two-year-old colt friend who is, in fact, smaller than she is. She has a super-sweet, submissive, totally calm personality with nothing pushy or dominant about her - very similar to her mom's, but more expressive and personable.

Finally, and most excitingly, I started working with Wynnie in November. She already had all the citizenship skills nailed down (after all, she's been to three Horse of the Year shows), but as her third birthday approached, we started playing with ponying off Lancey and then little bits of groundwork. Wynnie has an insanely active and agile mind and is the only horse I've ever seen who actively gets bored in the field. I also took one look at her big personality, loud opinions, and girl-boss energy and decided to sit on it sooner rather than later, thanks. Her physical maturity was there, too, so we did very gentle and basic groundwork and then I popped on for a few little sits in December and January. I'll try to do a full post just about backing her, but in case I don't, here is proof that the baby dragon did not, in fact, launch me during her first few rides.

The stableyard is chugging along fine, with plenty of training horses to keep K and I busy and a few new darling retirees. We nearly closed our doors in November when the terrible drought persisted, but Abba provided the most beautiful rain in December, and now we are full steam ahead with breeding plans for this season and a string of ponies getting ready for HOY.

this child raked in the ribbons on Sunday riding dear old Mawarda

Looking forward to staying caught up as much as possible now, although with so much richness in our lives, it's not surprising when we get too consumed with life to journal it.

God is good.

Penbritte Thoroughbred Series 2024

 September didn't present any suitable opportunities for local shows. We skipped our national championships—the entries were expensive for only two or three classes—and took the opportunity to hang out at home, take a couple of lessons, completely break the flying change to the right, and repair it.

I have so much happy news about the other horsies at home, but for now, let's talk about the main quest: qualifying for Advanced. Arwen and I had six points after Gauteng Champs and needed ten to reach the next level and earn our tailcoat, so now that plenty of fun local shows are happening, we're hitting them as much as we can.

We started with a trip back to our favourite venue last weekend. Penbritte is perfect in every way, from its footing to its show stables to its genuinely delicious pizza, so I looked forward to a chill day out. The forecast was devastatingly hot, and it felt nice and balmy when I fetched Arwen from the field at 6:15.

By 6:30, we were on the road with Arwen and Mawarda for a kiddo. Arwen loaded with a hint of wariness, but I couldn't blame her for that---we've been using the horsebox as a temporary chicken coop after a major storm destroyed one of ours. She nipped at Mawarda's nose and earned herself a tight leash on the hour's journey to Penbritte, but she was only moderately sweaty when she arrived and looked very chill when we disembarked.

I promptly realized I'd cut things a bit fine with our timing. We arrived at 7:30, and my ride time was 8:20, which would have been perfect, except that I still had to get both horses settled in their stables. This is normally my darling husband's job, but a stable cat appeared at that moment, making adorable noises and rolling over to have its tummy stroked. This rendered my husband thoroughly enchanted. He forgot that wives and horses existed at all and lost himself in a joyous world of friendly kitties.

I scrambled out of the stable with my bridle all hanging out of its keepers in a terrific fuss. DH snapped out of it at this point and filled water buckets while I struggled into my boots and charged off to the warmup, leaving this longsuffering man to sort out the complete tornado I'd created in the process of tacking up.

Arwen, at least, was a thousand times more relaxed than she'd been at Gauteng Champs. She strolled on a loose rein to the warmup and didn't even mind when I accidentally shut the paddock gate on her hind fetlock (equestrian of the year, I know). Our competition, a majestic warmblood, was being well-behaved in the vast warmup when we arrived, and Arwen happily did her walk work. She was a little rushy stepping into the trot, but after a few quiet reminders, we even had a stretchy trot almost right away. It was chalk and cheese compared to Gauteng Champs or even Eaton Farm. I had my horse back.

Of course, my horse is still the Dragon, so when I asked her to canter we got a few handstands instead. This is pretty normal behaviour for her so we just went back to walk and tried again. She was gorgeous; into the bridle, forward but not racing off, and collecting every time I asked. We had a few more bucks through our changes, but after some practice, she settled and felt good.

I think the day that Arwen doesn't give me a little extra sass at a show will be the day I know she's done. Her tension at Gauteng Champs was real worry and anxiety, but this? This is just who she is - somebody who gets excited about life. I don't expect her to be a happy little robot. She's a majestic beast with loud opinions and a cheeky streak, and I love it.

We had a little less time to warm up than I would have liked (thanks for nothing, adorable cat/Firn's brain), but we still felt fine as we headed in. Arwen had a moment of worry when she glanced around to make sure that all the horses in the world didn't abandon her again, but the sight of several horsies in the parking lot reassured her, so she gave one whinny and then relaxed about that. We halted by the judge, who made me introduce myself (talking to people, eek). I then noticed that the strap of Arwen's noseband had escaped its keeper. Knowing there was a livestream, I decided to fix it real quick so that it wouldn't flap around on the video. That gave us this true gem which garnered over a thousand likes on Shitedressageunited, I'll have you know. (Equestrian of the year once again).

Crisis averted, we headed in for our test. I immediately felt that our trot was much less rushed than before and she felt steady in the bridle, to my tremendous relief. I had an issue with looking at her neck instead of at the letters for most of this test. This was pretty dumb, but in my defense, I was concentrating really hard on keeping her from diving behind the contact. So our first halt was an uncharacteristic 6.0, "not quite on center line after entry, not quite square." This judge never likes our medium or extended trot so I'm not surprised that our very sexy medium was a 6.0, "slightly hurried, needs ground cover." She actually parked a bit behind my leg in the first shoulder-in so I booted her a bit and we wobbled in the connection, but it was accurate enough for 6.5, "curling back."

I remembered to look up for our half-circles and not to completely destroy them this time, so they were an easy 7.0, her rhythm much easier to maintain on a nice flat level surface unlike what we have at home. Her half-pass felt nice for 6.5, "more lateral bend". I rode the extended trot a little conservatively but needn't have worried; she gave me a fabulous, powerful, rhythmic trot that still got a 6.0 from this unimpressed judge, "more ground cover." Her extended has been a 6.0 and an 8.0 in the same test from different judges, so I take that with a pinch of salt. We got 6.5 for the transitions.

I hopelessly botched the halt and rein-back by halting about four kilometres before A (see above re: not looking up). She gave me a nice rein-back, though, for 6.5, "not square, willing rein-back." We wobbled in the position slightly in the next shoulder-in for 6.5, "changing position", and 6.5 for the two half circles. Her next half-pass, the right one, has always been the tricky one and I pushed her up in front of my leg for 6.0, "lack of bend, becoming slightly hurried." I often mess up this half-pass a little because if they don't come off my leg in it, we struggle with the flying change to the right, historically my worst movement.

That concluded a boring but very solid trot tour and we confidently moved into the walk. I felt she was calm and not hurried or tense, but ready for some mischief. Our first turn on the haunches was a colossal flop for no good reason other than that I rode it badly for 4.0, "stuck badly." I kicked myself for that one and rode the second one much better for 6.5. She maintained an effortless, loose medium walk for 7.0.

When we went to the extended walk, she snatched the reins a bit, an issue we've since been ironing out with the Nathe. I'd much rather deal with a little snatching than the BTV issue we had before, but it kicked us in the teeth now, making one of her best movements a 5.5, "head bobbing a little too low at times, needs more ground cover." I whispered "Don't buck, don't buck, don't buck" as I gathered her for the canter transition and apparently she listened because it was a 7.0. We cantered merrily up the short side as I congratulated myself for my awesome dragon-taming abilities and gently put my outside leg on for her best canter movement, the half-pass left. Arwen promptly planted her head between her knees and threw a few little bucks. I scraped it together swiftly and she continued into a lovely, easy half-pass, but the damage was done, and we had 4.0, "resisting badly, broke." So. Thanks for that, Dragon.

the moment at which I realized it was about to go down

She REALLY, REALLY wanted to buck through the left to right change and gave it to me on the aid but plunged downward afterward for another delicious 4.0, "croup high, late behind." After that we got our marbles together a bit and had 7.0 for the half-pass right and 7.0 for the flying change to the left even though I was doing some major buck management there, too.

Given the level of dragonness that we were dealing with, I rode the extended canter conservatively too, but honestly I doubt it would have mattered - we got the expected 6.0, "more forward, more ground cover". The transitions were 6.0, although I felt quite controlled as we went around for our trot transition, which was a surprising 7.0. And then I promptly realized that I had absolutely no brakes. Zip, none, zero, zilch, nothing. I gave an experimental pull and an experimental half-halt from my seat and got nothing at all. We careened around the turn onto the centerline, with my dragon proudly snorting and flinging her feet, and I momentarily thought we would end up in the judge's lap but then Arwen remembered there was a halt at the end and tried to stop a few steps before G. I gave her a little squeeze and she took the few extra steps to G and halted absolutely immobile and obedient as if we'd had brakes all along. Somewhat breathless, I threw down our salute like a gauntlet, and we left with much patting of the fabulous, ridiculous dragon. The wobbly halt got us a 6.0.

first flying change photo

Our collectives were not to be sniffed at. We had 7.0 for paces, 6.5 for impulsion, and 5.5 for submission (I would not exactly apply the term "willing cooperation" to several moments in our test). My seat was a 7.0 and aids a 6.0, understandable considering that I only have about 70% control over the dragon at any given moment.

"Horse could have been more consistently active and ground covering but showing some pleasant work," the judge summarized. I thought that "horse" could also maybe have not bucked, but we still garnered a 61.12% - enough for a precious grading point toward earning our tailcoat.

Arwen was relaxed and chuffed with herself as we strolled back to the stables on a long rein. If we'd had ten more minutes in the warmup, I know we could have gotten the tickle out of her feet and avoided a few fours in that test, but I also hadn't competed since Dressage Connection and felt a bit rusty in the ring. I also feel that we would have gotten better scores for our extended movements with many other judges, so I wasn't at all dismayed by our final mark. We had a messy test, but we still did it. Best of all, my dragonbeast felt like herself. She was silly and playful, not the tense and nervous mess we had last time.

She did give me a worried few moments when we were back in the stable. She isn't great about drinking water directly after competing and didn't go near it, but she also only picked her hay for a few minutes and then stood in the corner shifting her weight in a suspicious manner. She didn't have that tight look in her face that real colic horses get, but I wasn't super happy. She also didn't want the slightly wilted carrot I had for her (equestrian of the year yet again) but crunched the nice fresh one that one of the kiddos brought. Her gut sounds were fantastic and she'd passed plenty of normal manure, so I gave it half an hour to see what would happen, and it completely resolved and ended with her eating her haynet with great relish. 

feeling a little off

I had caught her eating sticks in her field the day before as if she had no grass to eat and was a poor starving pony, so I wouldn't be surprised if they caused a little irritation on the way through. The other possibility, always present in a performance horse, would be a bit of gastric irritation or a brewing ulcer. If she does this again, she'll go for a scope. I don't think it had anything at all to do with her behaviour. She was just being the way she always is - even at home on a fresh morning - and the bellyache only started several minutes after she was done riding.

We spent the rest of a long and very hot day at the show for kiddos, but Arwen was perfectly behaved and content in her stable. DH and I enjoyed milkshakes and pizzas because Penbritte is the best. We got home in the dark, but Arwen was really nice about it.

91F at 5:30pm on the way home - and no, the judge did not waive jackets

Though we've had nicer tests, I couldn't have been happier with the feeling she gave me. My dragon enjoyed it out there. As for me, I can't help but enjoy a happy day out with my cat-obsessed husband, the man of my prayers.

sometimes he looks at me the way he looks at pizza

God is good.

Dressage Connection 2024

 We're in the privileged position where we live that we have many of the nation's nicest show venues within two hours of our home. KPC hosts all the big shows, Penbritte is my personal all-time favourite, and there are many others nearby in Joburg.

show photos by Denford Studios and Crystal Baldwin Photography

I'd never ridden at one specific venue, though, and it had become a bucket-list item for me. United Equestrian is one of the fanciest and most aesthetically pleasing venues in the country. Its gorgeous, beautifully decorated clubhouse oozes class, the arenas are stunning, and the whole layout is very horse-friendly, too. Sadly for me, it only hosts a handful of dressage shows each year. For 2024, the only one I saw was Dressage Connection.

this venue is drool-worthy

This is one of the best opportunities afforded to dressage riders in South Africa. Dressage Connection brings an international judge to South Africa a few weeks before our national championships, not only to judge riders, but to present a kind of mini-clinic. We receive videos of our tests with the judge's full commentary in real-time, as well as getting feedback directly after our tests. While each class is expensive---I normally pay around R400 (roughly $25) a test; this one was R1400 (closer to $65)---the judge also conducts a free seminar open to riders, spectators, and anyone else interested on the second day of the show, using footage from the show to explain scores and concepts.

It's a fantastic chance for South African riders to receive European input that goes beyond a score-sheet and, since the horses were kinder than normal this winter in terms of vet bills, I was able to pick one horsie to attend one test. Thunderbird was the obvious choice. I adore my dragonbeast, but she's not exactly conventional. Also, we only have about a 50% chance of standing still for judge feedback. No thanks.

I haven't shown Thunder on his own in years, but he was amazing---the best he's been all year. He loaded and traveled absolutely perfectly and arrived at the show with barely a twitch of an ear despite very noisy construction going on right next to the parking space. I tied him to the box and got him ready in a leisurely fashion, greatly helped by Erin when she arrived and did the most exquisite quarter marks on his ample bottom.

hubby resprayed my stirrups for me

Thunder was still being very relaxed as I saddled him up and headed to the warmup. The lovely large warmup is right next to the show arena, and both are surrounded by paddocks with resident horses in them. I'd had misgivings about being the last rider of the day (again), but thanks to these factors, there was no need to worry. He was chatty, as always, but never tense. He's perfected the art of whinnying to everyone without lifting his head or even getting tight. He just likes to say hello and announce his presence, which is fine with everyone, especially since I don't ride with a caller anyway.

He warmed up better than he ever has. Though we did have one teeny-tiny spook at an extremely ominous leaf, the rest was great---relaxed and stretchy on a loose rein. This venue has a huge screen next to the warmup featuring an enormous digital clock, which made a world of difference in timing our warmup. It was divine. I felt so spoiled. It was so easy to take our time through the stretching and suppling work knowing that we had time to spare.

peep my support crew in the background <3

When we moved into the canter work, he was instantly better than he has been at the last few shows. His canter was not particularly cadenced but had none of that four-beat nonsense he occasionally pulls out at home and almost always starts with at shows. Though he gave me a few late changes in the warmup, he was on the aid and instantly off my leg, which was great. They were those only-barely-late changes that I, to be honest, don't reliably feel yet. Erin helped me to feel them a bit better and we got them straightened out before we headed to the arena a little early as they'd allowed generous time for the judge's feedback.

This next bit boggled my tiny brain a little, but luckily Erin had been watching and pointed me in the right direction. The dressage arena was the length of the whole arena, with just enough space for the judge's box at the end. I'm in no way complaining---the venue had a friendly gate-opening man to let me in---it was just something I wasn't expecting. I walked in feeling like we'd broken the rules, but the judge kindly asked if I'd like to go around once and let my horse have a look around, so I relaxed instantly and said yes please. I proceeded to walk a lap on a loose rein looking like a complete fool because Thunder was half asleep by this point and didn't look at a single thing. I let the judge know we were ready, and he rang us in.

Though our scores might not reflect it, this felt like the best test we've ever ridden together. There were no big mistakes except that his first flying change was sort of late---that kind of barely-late for which some judges will nail you and others will give you a 6 if it's calm and on the aid. That was our worst mark. I was a little distracted in the trot half circles and didn't make them quite accurate. Apart from that, I felt like we put in a good effort, with no major oopsies, and that Thunder was a real dream. He was a bit sleepy but I didn't feel like I had to boot him through any of the movements; he gave me both changes willingly and on the aid. His halts were super, and his walk work was great. Instead of giving a play-by-play recap, here's the video. Sound up for the scores and the judge's comments.

The judge was extremely kind, constructive, but accurate in his feedback. I had half expected to be screamed at by an angry German, but I absolutely loved how much the judge put me at ease and had good things to say as well as giving solid criticism. He complimented Thunder's obedience and willingness but mentioned that he was flat in his canter. Looking at the video, Thunder was pretty flat for the entire test, which is par for the course for him but I can and do get him more engaged at home. It wasn't anything new to us, but it was so good to have that feedback in real time, and the video was extremely helpful. I hadn't realized how many marks we lose for gait quality despite doing really correct and accurate movements, like the last centreline where we only got a 7 because of the trot quality when the halt itself was an 8.

so fancy!

Overall, it was not a cheap show to attend, but it was absolutely worth it. The venue is breathtaking, the judge was great, and I regret that we couldn't stick around for the seminar. It was amazing to go dancing with my Thunder while my dear husband and my best friend were there to support me. I loved every second!