North West Arabian Championships 2021

One of my favourite venues ever, the Parys Afridome, is a massive indoor arena in Parys, Free State. Even though Parys is in a different province to us, it's only about an hour and a half away with a horsebox. Gauteng (our province) is the most populous in South Africa but also by far the smallest (a little smaller than New Jersey), so we're pretty close to the borders of everything.

Anyway, the Dome is used for a lot of different agricultural shows and even weddings, but mostly for horse shows. It's a huge oval-shaped arena bordered with tons of seating and has a built-in restaurant with massive stables, numerous outdoor grass arenas and even paddocks for the horses sleeping over to stay in during the day. The Dome itself can be quite spooky but I've really enjoyed showing there, especially on a reliable horse that likes a bit of atmosphere like Madam President, who really lights up in the big indoor.

The Arabian Horse Society here in South Africa is struggling somewhat. Arabs were all the rage several years ago but have gone out of fashion a little and at the last Arab show I did, there were only 10 or 15 horses in total. However, it seems to be making a comeback, and I'm trying to support it where I can even though I only have little Lancey. Breed societies are really important and really under-supported by the average owner, and I want to do my bit. So when they let us know that there would be an Arab show at the Dome with very reasonable entry fees in the beginning of December, I decided that it would be our little Christmas break.

It turned out to be one of my favourite horse-related memories EVER, start to finish.

I entered the show with the whole purpose being just to go and enjoy. Of course I truly enjoy dressage, but the goal is always to get better and ride better - even though that often means "ride with more relaxation", of course. But for this show, I just wanted to relax after a rather high-pressure spring season. I didn't care if anything went wrong, I just wanted to ride my horse and have a good time and I wasn't at all bothered with placings or even with how well he went. As long as he gave me a ride I could enjoy, I didn't care. He's not a particularly big, flashy, or pretty Arabian, after all, and unlikely to win ribbons even when ridden perfectly - at least, so I thought.

That's why I didn't even bother trying to enter him for the in-hand. We've done that once and it was a complete disaster. The others all went around with flagging tails and flying feet and the ring steward had to chase Lancey with a clipboard to make him trot at all. He fell asleep in the lineup and drooled on the judge. Never again, thanks. So instead we entered the novice show riding and the adults riding horse (both pretty standard showing classes) and then the hunter pleasure which is exactly like a hunter flat class in America. Of course, this is not America, and I had never actually even seen a hunter class before. I did take one lesson with a showing judge beforehand just to feel prepared, during which I may have given her some grey hairs when she started describing how to clip his face for the Arab classes and I said that I wouldn't be clipping at all. Lancey kept his whiskers and the showing coach went away despairing. Very long white whiskers they are, too, showing up nicely against the dark background of the Dome.

Anyway, the show was planned for Friday and Saturday, but my classes all ended up being on the Saturday. By then I'd booked us a night in a nice little place in Parys, though, and cancelled my Friday lessons, so we decided to load up on Friday afternoon and drive out there. Parys is a gorgeous little tourist town filled with cute shops and restaurants so we decided to meet up with Erin while we were there and hang out in the afternoon after our classes, Lancey being totally safe to leave in his show stable with a haynet. (Thank you Lancey).

Friday was a total freaking disaster, because that's how we roll. Nothing went as I planned, I got away from work late, and when I bathed Lancey I accidentally dyed him blue. I'm much too cheap to buy proper shampoo for greys so I just make my own with normal shampoo and a few drops of gentian violet, but the gentian violet leaked all over my hands and I didn't notice and thrust my hands cheerfully into his mane, smearing it with neat gentian violet. It does not wash out, by the way, especially not if you try washing it out with more gentian violet (I know, I know). After a few minutes of trying, I decided that I was not going to fray any more of my nerves over my blue horse, so I just left it. This is why I am not a showing queen by any stretch of the imagination.

Then, while we were packing (yes, we did start packing one hour before we were supposed to leave), a huge thunderstorm rolled in. We threw the last of the stuff in the bakkie and I ran Lancey up to the horsebox while the first few thunderclaps were starting to roll right over our heads. Lancey, to his eternal credit, waltzed straight into the horsebox despite the fact that giant raindrops were pinging off the top like gunshots. He started picking at his hay and off we went.

It's a lovely drive to Parys. We stopped over in Meyerton for a snack and to check on Lancey, who was still blue and still happily eating his hay, and then drove through an absolutely pelting rainstorm with gigantic thunderclaps that had me convinced that we would ruin poor Lancey's ability to travel sanely forever. Every time I checked on him, though, he was still eating his hay with no sign of concern. Legitimately the best Arabian who has ever lived.

It was still drizzling when we arrived, and we were late because of the rain, so we had to stop by our guest house - a gorgeous little place 7 minutes from the Afridome - and check in with Lancey in tow. Of course, he just chilled out in the horsebox while I ran inside and the beloved kept him company.

We eventually arrived at the Afridome just after dark, with a little more than an hour left for arena familiarisation. Lancey strolled on out of the box looking happy as can be (and only literally blue), and we sorted out his stable, let him have some water and hay, and then I tacked him up and took him down to the arena. The arena itself can be fairly spooky, and he was snorting at shadows on the way down, so I was relieved to see a few kids on quiet school horses going around when I arrived. There were a lot of people in the restaurant and plenty of chatter, but Lancey didn't seem to mind this too much. I contemplated walking him around in hand a bit first like I did with Madam President when she showed here for the first time, but my legs were tired and the sand was deep so I figured falling off would be less effort and jumped on.

don't mind the dressage queen trotting around with square numnah and earmuffs

Of course, I didn't fall off, and Lancey didn't so much as snort at a thing. We walked, we trotted, we cantered. He avoided one spot in the arena where a drip of rain had made a little dark patch, but steering around it was easy enough, so I didn't push it. We had just changed rein and started going around the other way when suddenly the horde of school horses disappeared, and I prepared for Lancey to be reduced to a screaming maniac, but I had woefully underestimated him. Lancey didn't seem to notice they'd gone. He just carried on working like a good boy, tail up, thoroughly enjoying himself.

I tucked him up in bed, gave him his dinner and covered him with a day sheet in the vague and pathetic hope of keeping my pure white horse (well, slightly blue) at least moderately clean for the night. Then we had to drive over to Erin's in another bucketing thunderstorm because when I went to pack my cream show breeches I discovered that they had GIANT FREAKING HOLES IN THEM (yes, my life is a train wreck). Erin generously helped me out with a pair of hers. We got to the guest house around 9, which turned out to be absolutely lovely despite the low price point.

The next morning we slept in a little since my first class was only at nine. Reaching the Dome around seven, I found everything unbelievably wet (even part of the indoor had flooded!) and many of the horses looking a little shell-shocked. Not Lancey. Lancey was eating his hay, happy as a bird, while the morning's new arrivals were kicking their doors and screaming all around me. He ate his breakfast while I discovered that the damage wasn't much - just some dirty legs and tummy. The beloved helped me to give him a quick spot-wash (without gentian violet, this time) and sorted out some breakfast while I tacked up for our first class.

Pony in one hand, coffee in the other. He's just got this

The outdoor warmup at the Afridome always tends towards spooky and was practically underwater, so I just gave up on that and walked and trotted him up and down the chute a few times. We had a little canter and he was being picture perfect even though the first class was the novice show riding, ridden in a snaffle. Now this DQ basically only ever rides in a snaffle but Mr. I Throw My Nose Up In The Air Sometimes has cost us a few show classes in the past by pulling out his signature move, so I did want to show him in a Pelham, but showing coach said that this would necessitate entering the open class. So I went into the novice class thinking it would be a nice little warm-up for adult riding horse, which is ridden in a Pelham.

The novice class wasn't very big - four or five of us, I think - but only one was an obvious youngster-losing-his-marbles. I didn't think about the others, or even really about riding; I just let Lancey float around, soft and strong, forward and listening, fighting the connection a little bit the way he does but continuing that conversation as peacefully as we could. I let one of the other horses go in front but Lancey didn't mind a thing. He just went around like a good boy and hardly gave me any resistance in the bridle at all, just a little tightening in his jaw from time to time, and a slight hollowing in some of the transitions.

sincere apologies to the showing people for the numnah being the wrong colour

We were pulled up in random order for the individual test, and Lancey and I went first. He was totally divine. We almost made a little mistake in our walk to canter where he wanted to take the wrong lead, but I managed to stop him before he actually took that canter step, so it was just a small wobble. He enjoyed the big arena for his lengthened trot and I was grinning fit to burst when we finished our test and saluted to the judge. The others rode their tests and then to my great surprise Lancey was being pulled out in first place and given a big red ribbon. He had won. The judge said that he was going beautifully and had the best "extended" trot in the class, and Lancey tried to smear his foamy nose on her suit but luckily I stopped him.

I was amazed and pleased, but no one was more delighted than the beloved. He has always been a Lancey fan because Lancey boxes well and doesn't drag him around at shows, but now "his" Lancey had won a ribbon and therefore had become the most amazing horse who ever existed. He only took a thousand pictures of Lancey and his ribbon (I did not feature prominently in most of them) and was doubly excited when we returned for the novice championships. This was a big class - Arab shows take the top 5 of each class to championship, so it was about 12 or 15 horses if I remember correctly - and it included the novice stallions, who were completely. losing. their. minds. In fact there was a lot of communal mind-losing going on, and while we were cantering on the rail my perfect lil man with his perfect lil collected canter ended up being in the line of fire when the younger horses needed to pass. One mare absolutely sideswiped us by overtaking on the outside just after a corner - I actually felt her breath on my knee when she came past - but lucky for me I have Lancey and he does not care. He didn't even flick an ear. This was not the case for many of the others, who got pretty freaked after Sideswipe Mare crashed past them.

With the rail over, we stood in a long, long line-up. This was a little bit of a train wreck for many of the less fortunate riders (and I have the deepest sympathies because on any other day, that would have been me clinging to the youngsters). The stallions in particular mostly lost it and started rearing and screaming and bucking wildly. Lancey, bless his perfect little soul, was sleeping on the buckle for the whole thing. I tried to hang back in the line-up and let the crazier horses go first since mine was content to wait, but we ended up being called out third to do our individual show.

It started very well, but he had a wobble when we passed the restaurant and a waitress with a big white tray popped unexpectedly through a doorway. Lancey didn't actually spook, but he did break and drop his back for a few strides and it took me a minute to get it back together. He was a little worried about that spot the next time he went past, too - again, not a spook, but he lost rhythm for a second and lost his quarters to the inside. I gave him a lot of love and petting as we went past and he was fine after that, but I do think it probably cost us a place; the judge said as much.

We went back to snoozing in the line-up and avoiding the crazies for a while, and then the judge called out the placings. And he was third! Obviously the beloved was in ecstasy, and I was just so happy to enjoy a lap of honour without being afraid of falling off (laps of honour are a major reason why I hated showjumping and showing for such a long time - I am quite content not to gallop around madly with rosettes on, since Magic used to spook at them and start fly-bucking until they fell off). I still elected to do my lap of honour in a nice lengthened trot, but luckily his lengthening is so pretty that it got some extra cheers, which was fun.

There was a brief break between the championship and Adults Riding Horse, which was also a big class - eleven or twelve horses if I remember correctly. The beloved fed and watered me and I quickly switched Lancey into his Pelham and back in we went. Lancey was quite happily in the swing of things by now. I'd discovered that a lovely adult ammy was riding a youngster that I backed in my time working for the stud that bred Lancey, and it was so nice to see them; the youngster was being OK but a little nervous so I offered Lancey's services as a good example. So we went in with Lancey in front and the youngster right behind him, and of course perfect Lancey didn't care at all that the youngster was bouncing off his bum from time to time.

There were several Open horses in this class, including one that has won nationals many times. Her rider is my showing coach so I had someone to talk to in the lineup, which is always nice. Lancey, obviously, was being perfect, and someone else gave me tips on how to get rid of his blue hair (baking soda apparently) but luckily the judge hadn't noticed that he was blue even if it was driving me a little crazy.

Our individual test was foot perfet this time. We did the changes through walk because we were in the Pelham, and he had completely forgotten about ever spooking at all. I was unbelievably impressed and happy with him. Still, I was also surprised when we came third again, beating out several of the Open horses! Showing coach and her Nationals-winning horse came second, so it felt pretty good to place in that kind of company, and also completely unexpected. The beloved was bursting at the seams, of course, and sending pictures of "his" champion horse to everyone he knows.

After this Erin appeared, making my day even better. We grabbed a nice meal at the restaurant inside the Dome, watching the classes through the big window as horses passed just a couple of feet from where we were sitting. The Dome's food is incredible and we were all thoroughly stuffed by the time we waddled back to the stables to get ready for the hunter pleasure. Erin and I had a fabulous time getting Lancey all plaited and pretty.

Now this hunter pleasure business was an entirely different animal for me. It's very similar to a hunter flat class, with similar turnout, and you show walk, trot, canter, and hand-gallop on the rail, turning around against the rail instead of changing rein over the middle. There's no individual test either. And the whole style was different to me, too. I was trying really hard to figure out this whole light seat but not taking your bum out of the saddle, and also coach said to have the frame "long and low", so I obediently stretched Lancey down to the ground for much of the class. For the record, this was unsuccessful. Lancey and I didn't even place in the top seven, but he was an absolute superstar, Erin and the beloved cheered disproportionately to our performance, and I just galloped around grinning madly because my pone was being perfect and beautiful and easy to ride and everything I needed him to be.

He was quite happy to hand graze for a bit and then relax in his stable with a haynet while we went off to explore Parys. We wandered through a bunch of little shops, including one which had the most gorgeous horse themed decor to the tune of R1200 (about $50) for a throw cushion, so we noped right out of there. We did find these cute little shelf thingies which Erin and I each bought one of, Erin for plants and me for boring grown-up things like tins and paper towel. I also found a secondhand bookshop and decided to lash out on three books from an author I haven't read before, Jeffery Deaver. I'm truly glad I did because I only paid R170 for the lot (about $12) and I absolutely LOVE them. Definitely see more Deaver in my future.

We had lunch at this beautiful place serving traditional Afrikaans food right on the main street, and the restaurant across the street had musicians playing, so our restaurant had turned off their speakers and we enjoyed being serenaded by a string quartet while Erin and I demolished some traditional pies and the beloved had offal (my dude is gross).

It was starting to rain again when we got back to the Dome, but Lancey was more than happy to trot right into the horsebox and go back home. We got home just before dark on Saturday evening, happy,  healthy, content, covered in satin and filled with wonderful memories. And honestly, what more can you ask of a horse show?

Extravagantly spoiled by the God of all my days. He is good!

you can see a little of the blue here lol

noble Lancey feat. tail of youngster we were babysitting

Lancey Dancing

 First, thank you all for the concern over Magic 💜 He is hanging in there and being the best patient, as always. God's will prevails 💜

Thunder's leg also finally felt a lot better to me last night, and is even better this morning. It's a difficult place to ice, but I think I've gotten the hang of it now. Of course, the big guy is also being a super patient. He had a little run around in the field last night before he came in, but that was right before the leg felt a lot better, so it might actually have been just the thing to shake off the last of the edema. It's not hot anymore, at any rate.

On to the actual riding this week. Despite the disgusting weather (August arrived with a vengeance) and all the other chaos, Lancey and I did fit in some training. I didn't get to him Monday (deadline) or Tuesday (taking Magic to hosital) so I was a little worried that I might have a f e i s t y Arab on my hands for Wednesday's lesson, a fear that turned out to be entirely unfounded.

This was the first lesson ever where Coach J started out by asking what we were working on. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, as normally Coach is not particularly interested in my opinions and works on what he sees. I told him about our super awful score in test 5 at the show in June (I totally disregard the 51% for test 6 because lil dude was spooking so much) and that he was obedient and put in a clean test but was kinda hollow throughout. Coach first gave me a little bit of a pep talk and said not to put too much stock in the scores at a single show. "One show isn't a pattern," he said. "Three shows is a pattern. Not three tests - three shows." I felt a bit better after that. To be fair, this was our first proper dressage show together and his first one ever, so I can cut us a little bit slack.

the stuff this poor coach puts up with

Then we got to work, and Coach, as he does, immediately identified the issue. Lancey was being obedient and doing his transitions like a good boy, but he wasn't truly forward off my leg. I was pretty surprised to hear this because he feels forward and responsive compared to Thunder (and honestly most of the Friesians), right up until Coach said, "OK, now do a medium" and we did a medium and he then said "Right! This isn't your medium trot. This is your working trot." My mind blew a little bit.

Turns out that just because Lancey feels so petite to me, compared to the Friesians and Thunder, I've been riding him like he's a pony and has pony gaits. "You've been playing too much My Little Pony," said Coach, possibly in reference to the giant hearts on my horse's butt, causing my manbeast to snort in amusement. Lancey actually has HUGE gaits when I actually ask him for them, and as soon as I pushed him up into my hand and got him really flowing forward, he rewarded me with the most balanced, powerful trot I've ever gotten from him. I've been trying to balance him by slowing him down in the front, when I should have been pushing him up from behind. (Amazing how applying, you know, the basic dressage principles makes your horse... more dressagey).

Coach's actual words: "You know this, woman!"

The weird thing is that I do ride most of my horses really up in front of my leg, except Lancey. Like I say, I think somehow I just expected him to have tiny gaits. But when I really started getting that big trot... wow. He felt amazing. Best of all, my aids felt like they were actually going through him. I could bend him, put his bum out, put his shoulder in, send him forward, bring him back - he wasn't blocking me through his neck the way he so often does, because he was over his back and into my hands. He also gave me a great feeling in the connection; not curling and soft, but no longer pulling and setting his jaw and constantly grinding his teeth, either.

I had a lot more trouble applying this in the canter, but his canter is naturally his best gait, so we still did some good work there before Coach called it a day. Watching the video, I am SO happy with how he looked by the end. He was pushing forward, using his back, lifting his neck, and not curling up at all, but he also wasn't hollowing every 10 seconds.

Our homework is simply to ride him forward - borderline running, at first; we'll regain the rhythm and balance once he is truly obedient off my leg - throughout all of the normal exercises we always do. Shoulder-in, but in something that feels like medium trot to me. Canter-walk-canter, but covering much more ground in the canter. An exercise we did a lot during the lesson that I really liked was just to trot in shoulder-fore on a 20m circle, then straighten for a circle, then shoulder-fore again for a circle. It reiterated to him that my leg always means something, that he needs to balance and not just run forward when I'm asking him to go more forward, and it will build up to doing better shoulder-in since that's where he always wants to block me and hollow or curl up and lose his hindlegs.

I was unhappy with my position on the video, as well. I'm not sure why, but I was reaaaally wanting to go back into my chair seat. I lost my lower leg a lot in the trot. I think perhaps this comes from the amount of tension I was carrying in my arms - elbows lifted and wrists cocked - which is from my anxiety that he's going to hollow. Riding him more forward will help me to relax my elbows and fix my hands, and I hope this will help for the rising trot. The canter looked OK, which is nice because historically I have been really bad at sitting up on his canter. I think my old Wintec's tiny knee rolls also don't help when I'm very used to sitting deeply in the new Wintec Hart and Bates Isabell that the Friesians wear.

He was also supremely well-behaved to load, wait in a stable, and ride, despite the howling wind and cold. He is becoming such a solid little citizen for everything 💜

Coach clearly didn't think that the penny had actually dropped during the lesson, because he called me later that evening with "Did you understand what we did in your lesson???" just to be sure. It was nice to talk over it and just hear it reiterated, so I was very grateful for that.

Thursday the wind was really awful, about 9m/s, but the kids came to ride anyway and my tiniest tot wanted to go out on Flash unexpectedly so I threw Lancey's bridle on and scrambled on board. It kinda blows my mind that I wouldn't even canter him outside the arena a year ago, and now I go on bareback outrides in the screeching wind. Definitely something to celebrate. He was perfect, of course, except for one hairy moment when Blizzy came exploding out of the woods behind us. Flash noped right the heck outta there with the poor kiddo clinging on for dear life, and I, acutely aware of exactly how round and slippery Lancey is, bailed off before Lancey could move. He only cantered a step forward and then stared at me with big eyes, like, "oh no mom did you fall off??" No buddy, mom's just a ninny. The kiddo got Flash reeled in very quickly, I found a bank and scrambled back on Lancey, and we went happily on our way.

Wild as Thursday was, yesterday was one of the most miserable days weather-wise that I have ever seen. The wind was even stronger, blowing our poor little Pekin bantams across their pen, and it was overcast and unbelievably cold. Some of the crazier riding school kids showed up for lessons and clung to their plunging, snorting ponies for dear life while I shouted over the wind, which was miserable, but I appreciated their commitment.

It was so windy that just getting Lancey's tack on was a challenge. His quarter sheet and numnah kept blowing off while I was trying to put the saddle on. He was angelic for all this, even when the quarter sheet was snapping deafeningly around his legs, and I tried to ride for about 15 minutes. The wind was gusting so hard that the jumps had all blown over, and of course Mr. Araby McArabface had to snort at those a bit (standing in place - the dude has the quietest spook ever, thank you Lancey). He also didn't like the gusts of dust sandblasting his poor feet at times, and his quarter sheet kept blowing up over my back, which, to his credit, he didn't seem to mind at all.

He did express some distaste for my new ideas about moving forward into the contact by throwing a couple of his giant bucks, but I stuck on and booted him, and he quickly abandoned that idea and settled down for some really good trot and canter work on a 20m circle (if we tried to go in straight lines we would inevitably end up with his bum to the wind and the quarter sheet threatening to go over my head). I experimented with a couple of canter-walk from this bigger, more engaged canter, and they were actually a lot better. It's almost like basic dressage principles improve the moments, go figure.

Erin and I were going to do a long ride with our neighbors on the other side today, but various circumstances intervened, and it is yet another freezing and blustery day so Lancey earned a pyjama day in the field. I'm looking forward to all the rain that this wind must be bringing us.

I am so so grateful to have this wonderful little horse that I trust so much. God really does know what we need long before we do 💜 It sucks not to have Thunder in work right now, but it was really nice to spend extra time on my Lancelot.

God is good.

Long Mane Care

 I've learned more than better dressage working at the Friesian farm. The management there is incredible, the best I've ever seen, and no detail goes unnoticed. One of those details is managing the pride of any beautiful Friesian: a long, flowing mane and tail.

Henson Anke's mane isn't even that long by Friesian standards. Photo credit Ashley K Photography

For years, I'd been keeping my own horses' manes trimmed. I'm not on board with pulling but one really can't tell the difference when the mane is plaited, and anyway, I kinda like the cute cut-mane look. I could never get long manes to grow properly long - below the neck - and they were always getting tangled and gross.

The only horse whose mane I didn't cut was Lancey's. It just seemed like a crime to cut an Arab mane, and his was always decently long, but it bugged me that it was uneven and never grew longer than the bottom of his neck.

The fabulous head groom at the Friesian place has been maintaining Friesian manes possibly longer than I've been alive, and he showed me how to handle long manes and tails. I've been using this method on Lancey for about a year now and the difference is just amazing! Here's how we do it.

On a day-to-day basis, we do our best to leave the manes and tails alone as much as possible. We'll pick out the straw and shavings and maybe put a little coconut oil on the roots of the tail, but otherwise, nada. We only brush the manes and tails when they've just been washed and conditioned (once every 2-3 weeks). 

It's also vital to have any kind of parasites or allergies under control. No amount of product or care will be any use if the horse is rubbing his mane and tail. Ticks, pinworms, and midges (no-see-ums) are some of the most important parasites to control.

Obviously, good nutrition is key, too. Hair is just protein, and the horse is only going to use his protein to grow hair if the rest of his body has got enough. Having enough fats and oils in the diet also helps to keep things really silky. The Friesians get a scoop of canola oil in their feed every day, and we have really high-quality, well-balanced diets at both stableyards.

Also, some horses just don't grow long hair. Arabs, Friesians, and Nooitgedachters almost always do, but there are other breeds who might just never grow much of a mane no matter what you do (looking at you, Appaloosas).

Once all that is covered, we have a bi-weekly pampering routine. It's just the cherry on top of good management, but it really does seem to help the hair get that extra bit of length, thickness, and waviness that makes a show Friesian (or Arabian) so spectacular.

Step 1. Washing

washed and dry unicorn actually looking white for once

We redo the manes whenever they start looking a little messy. For horses with long, even manes, this can happen every 2 or even 3 or 4 weeks. Some of them tend to rub their plaits out early, though. If it's been less than two weeks since the last session, we usually just skip the washing.

When we do wash, we often take the opportunity to just wash the whole horse (especially since I cannot handle Lancey being yellow and gross all the time). Both at the Friesians and here at my yard, we just use whatever cheap shampoo we have on hand. My super groom at my own yard uses Endeavon's Lemon Fresh shampoo, and the Friesians use Easy Waves Herbal Shampoo (which is for people). The Friesians follow up with Easy Waves Herbal Conditioner. While washing, we detangle any knots with our fingers while the mane is wet and conditioned. Then we rinse everything out very well.

Step 2. Gather the equipment

You can do this on a wet or dry mane. With Lancey, I prefer to do the mane when it's dry, because he naturally has a bit of frizz in his hair and plaiting it wet is just a recipe for explosive poofiness. The Friesians are generally plaited wet because then their manes look super wavy and cute when they're loosened again (we especially plait them wet the night before a breed show, when they're shown natural).

I like the elastics that come in a tub from Solo Saddlers - the tub is very nifty and they don't seem to break as easily as the cheaper ones that come in a packet. The colour doesn't particularly matter but I guess if you wanted to be pedantic you could use elastics that match the mane and tail.

I also really like this tail brush from Solo Saddlers. It's not cheap, but they do last really well and they don't pull the tails too much. Once again, this isn't for daily use - only for special occasions - and I tend never to use the tail brush unless the mane/tail has just been washed and conditioned. If washing wasn't an option, I use a leave-in detangler or conditioner to let it glide through the mane easily.

Whenever I redo the mane, I also use this Black Chic Hair Food product. I'm not sure if the exact product is available overseas, but the BEST tip for Friesian manes and tails is to use products designed for afro hair. This particular product is extremely inexpensive and really works well. You can get it in big buckets too.

The purpose of the Hair Food is mostly just to make the plaits neater and add a bit of conditioning to the mane and/or tail. It also smells SOOOO GOOD, especially the coconut one. I meant to buy the coconut one and grabbed the lanolin one by accident, but this one is just as good. It's supposed to help the hair grow, too. I'm not sure how much I buy into the idea that anything you rub on the hair really makes it grow, but I do like using this.

My one caveat is that dirt/dust do tend to stick to this stuff once it's on the mane. It washes off easily enough, but Lancey looks pretty gross after a roll or two. For that reason I only use Hair Food every second time I do his mane, otherwise the dirt just drives me nuts. I don't actually notice it on the Friesians, probably just because their black hides the dirt.

You could obviously also use a step or something to stand on while doing the mane, especially on a bigger horse.

3. Secure the horse

Most of the Friesians (and obviously Lancey) are very cuddly and love having their manes done, but the younger ones tend to get really fussy and fidgety. It can take a while to do everything - half an hour or so - and it's just not fair to expect the younger ones to stand for that long. We usually give them a haynet (with a little lucerne mixed in to tempt the more wiggly ones) to help them stand still, and usually put them in the cross ties for this.

Lancey is angelic in the cross-ties but Titan still offered to assist

4. Brush out and plait the tail

Lancey's tail was really smooth and silky after his bath in this example, so I just gently brushed through the tail from the bottom upwards. If it was knotty, I would definitely have used copious amounts of baby oil to work through the knots. Because he's white, I do tend to avoid oils where I can because dirt sticks to it, but the Friesians always get baby oil for brushing out.

Then, I work some Hair Food into the very top of his tail where he's rubbed it a little bit. Finally, I plait the bottom of his tail in a big, loose braid. It looks pretty silly, but it does protect the tail from dirt and helps it to look fuller and thicker once the plait is taken out. We generally don't do this with the Friesians just because their tails are SO thick and will knock you flat if they swish one of those massive plaits into you (and it's probably uncomfortable to have all that weight tied up for them). Some of them tend to get very knotty and soiled tails, so we'll braid those into four or five smaller braids, depending on the individual. The day before a show, we wash the tails and put them into a bunch of small plaits to make them look extra thick and wavy the next day.

5. Brush out the mane

Next, using the tail brush, I gently brush out the clean, conditioned mane from bottom to top (or put baby oil in an unwashed mane to get the knots out). There shouldn't be a ton of hair coming out in the tail brush, unless it's been three weeks or more since the last brushing - some dead hair is inevitable.

exactly one year's growth since starting to keep his mane in plaits

6. Plait the mane

These plaits are very different to the ones we make for a show. It's really important not to make the plaits too tight at the top - this pulls and gets very uncomfortable after a while. I also prefer not to plait right to the end, since that damages the ends of the mane.

I start by separating out a fairly large chunk of mane. I generally do fewer plaits than I would for a show - maybe 7 or so on Lancey's neck instead of 9 or 11. Smaller plaits do stay in for longer. Then, I rub some Hair Food into the roots of the mane and into the skin at the base of the mane. Keeping the plait loose at the top, I plait it neatly but not tightly until about two or three inches from the bottom, and then secure it tightly with an elastic.

I repeat this for the whole mane up until the bridle path.

Having the long mane plaited doesn't really stimulate its growth or any of that, but it really does protect it from getting caught on things, and especially from getting bits of hay or grass stuck in it and causing snarl-ups. What's more, especially for the Friesians, those long, thick manes are intolerably hot in summer when they're left to float in the breeze. Plaiting them gives the horse a nice flow of air over the neck and really helps them to keep cool. It also keeps the mane from getting all snarled up in the saddle and in the rider's hands, or rubbed by the blankets in winter.

I suppose, theoretically, that a particularly accident-prone horse could hook up a plaited mane on something more easily than a loose mane. I've never had a problem, though. Sometimes you can see that they caught the mane on a twig or something, but the plait simply pulls out, no harm done to the horse. The time that one of my Friesians came in from the field with half a branch stuck to her mane was when she happened to have her hair loose at the time!

7. Plait the forelock

Sometimes I skip this step if I'm busy, but I generally like to keep forelocks plaited so that they stay out of the horses' eyes - long forelocks in particular tend to irritate the eyes and get all snarled up with grass and things. I apply a generous amount of Hair Food into the roots of the forelock, then braid only the bottom loosely - not a French braid at the top like you would do for a show (this would pull and get irritating). Some of my Friesians have forelock plaits that go all the way past their nostrils!

apples for a good boy

8. Admire your pretty pony!

The plaited look might be a bit unflattering in the field, but I've found that it really keeps long-maned horses looking their best - and feeling cool and comfortable. It's a lot of work, but if the mane is even and the horse behaves, these plaits tend to last up to three weeks without needing to be redone. The longer you can leave them, the better. Undisturbed hair is happily growing hair!

Now I just need to practice doing a proper Friesian stallion plait for shows...

God is so good!

Lancelot's First Elementary

Two weekends ago, Lancey had his dressage debut with me.

It was quite the experience for the little guy, and I was pretty nervous going into it. Firstly - I'd entered him in Elementary 5 and 6, for better or worse, and I knew that it was a big ask. What's more, we were going to a venue where neither of us had ever shown before, and we were traveling with Vlinder so Lancey would have to ride in a box he didn't know with a horse he didn't know. He also spent the night before the show at the Friesian farm, and he's never had to overnight anywhere except his breeder's.

Still, he's a good lil dude. He traveled and overnighted absolutely great, enjoying his sleepover with all his big, black buddies. It was very strange to arrive at the Friesian farm on the morning of the show and see a little white head looking over the door at me. He'd even had a nice sleep in the straw, so that clears up any worries I'd had about how he'd be at overnight shows.

(Thunder and Arwen are both horrible at overnight shows, so thank you, Mr. Lancey).

He was a little sticky to load, but not too worried, and traveled like a little pro as always. When we arrived I hopped straight onto Vlinder and left her groom with Lancey, who ate his hay and ignored the rest of the world completely.

I was totally exhausted when I got off Vlinder - she was good, but gave it everything I had - and it was so pleasant to get to work plaiting my own horse and not get pulled all over the showgrounds. Don't get me wrong - I adore Arwen and we had a really, really wonderful time competing together - but it's so nice to have a sweet quiet little gelding who just nibbled on his hay while I sorted out his hair with his lead hanging over my arm.

We walked over to the warmup to find it fairly busy and full of relatively stressed people frantically practicing their simple changes. (I very quickly became one of them; Elementary is dang stressful, y'all).

I had changed my approach to the mental side of this competition. I knew going in that Vlinder was going to get her grading points pretty much regardless of what I was doing up there, and I wasn't worried about getting a certain score on Lancey - we were going for the experience. So it seemed like a good opportunity to tweak my approach a bit, even if it was taking a little risk. I have heard such great things about visualisation and for the last few shows on Thunder I was using it a LOT, especially the night before the show if I couldn't sleep and on the way to the show. For some reason, if I woke up in the night and rode my tests perfectly in my head, it would always go well, chill me out, and I'd go straight back to sleep. But if I tried to visualise on the way to the show, I always, without fail, forgot my tests and panicked. It ended up making me even more panicked once I was riding the actual tests.

I think I was overthinking my attempt not to overthink, which would just be typical.

my face though

So this time, when I woke up in the middle of the night before the show, I ran through all my tests in my head like I always do. But the morning of the show, I skipped it. I ride my tests at home foot perfectly without visualizing or doing anything different - I just ride them, and a dang sight better than I ride at shows, too. So that was my tactic: stop overthinking and just ride like I always ride.

The other new piece of kit I have in my anti-show-nerves toolbox is box breathing (inhale for a count of four, hold for four, exhale for four, wait for four, repeat). I synced my breathing with Lancey's strides as we walked around the warmup, and it didn't take long for that tingly nervous feeling to leave my hands, and my brain actually began to work. Amazing how oxygen will do that.

Lancey himself was super in the warmup. He couldn't care less about the other horses zooming around; he was a little looky at his surroundings, but went on with his job very nicely even though he'd never been to this venue before. To be fair, he's always a bit looky. It doesn't mean a thing.

We ran through our test movements and he was just fine. After a few minutes, I checked the time. It was nearly my ride time, but we were number 18 and number 17 was still in the warmup. I assumed that number 17 would be riding before me, but actually, they had only entered test 6 - I'd entered both. Something I definitely could have like... looked up on the ride times, but apparently my organization skills - which keep 10 kids together through 20+ classes on a SANESA day - had completely failed me. So I sat around happily waiting for number 17 to go, and when my ride time came and went, decided to head over to the arena anyway.

We were standing on the outside of the arena and I was shrugging on my jacket when suddenly the bell went. I looked up, and there was no one near the show arena except me. Normally I think riders have to be allowed to go around the outside of the arena at least once before the bell goes, but I was late anyway, so I decided to just roll with it and off we went down the centreline.

why yes that is a dirty patch on his bum

He did a nice little halt and then saw the judge's box at C and hesitated. I could have spurred him through it, but knowing Lancey, that would have resulted in tension through the rest of the test, so I let him stop and petted his neck and talked to him until I felt him take a deep breath. Then we carried on, and he didn't look at it once. I think if we'd gone around the outside before the test, he wouldn't have cared about it at all.

Of course, because I was busy sorting out his spook when K read the next part of the test, I then got promptly lost. The judge must have thought I was certifiably insane. No big deal, though; we went back around and started again, with an exasperated K yelling everything extra loudly (sorry K).

Overall, I felt like the first test went pretty well. I asked him for too much angle in one of the shoulder-ins, and he got a little stuck behind in the turns on the haunches, but that's something we have yet to iron out at home so I wasn't too bothered about that. His canter work was extremely obedient - I think he took a trot step or two going down into one of the simple changes, but they felt pretty good, and the counter-canter felt balanced and together.

I was really happy with him when we came out of the test. Despite the mistakes in the beginning, he had been identical to the way he always is at home, and best of all, I had ridden the way I ride at home. I didn't once get that wobbly, disembodied feeling that always means I've stopped breathing in the middle of the test. In fact, I felt normal and natural in the saddle and I breathed like a human being throughout. I don't think I've ever felt so good coming out of a dressage test. He really is the best boy 💜

The second test was in the next arena, which had a little shed/judge's box thingy near P which was full of jump uprights and things. It didn't seem particularly spooky just looking at it, but a lot of horses had been very nervous about it - Vlinder even had a little look at it and she's not even remotely spooky. Lancey is the BEST boy but Arabs gonna Arab so I had some concerns.

He looked at the judge's box at C, but again, I just stroked his neck and talked to him and he went right on past. The judge rang the bell before I could get to P but I decided to use my 45 seconds for good and spent some time letting him look at the spooky box. Still, he didn't take a deep breath, but my time was running out so I just walked him past and headed down the centreline.

He didn't look at the judge's box even once, and we started our test very happily and obediently. He was behaving pretty much exactly as he does at home - until we reached the last part of the test. It involves a half-circle E-B in counter canter, a simple change over P, a canter-to-walk at K, and then the walk tour: turn right at V, turn on the haunches right between L and P, turn on the haunches left between L and V, trot at L, centerline at A, halt at X.

It's a lot of movements packed into one small part of the arena, which would be no problem except that that happened to be the spooky part of the arena. Lancey was OK going past the spooky box, but when we did the counter-canter half circle, a bunch of ducks came running across the field right behind the box. His canter gave a big stutter, and he trotted sideways down into the simple change. We picked up the canter again but he was quite discombobulated and I didn't get him put together quickly enough for the walk transition. Of course, when we turned across the arena towards P, we were heading directly towards the box. He kept it together, but the turns on the haunches were a joggy, wobbly mess (and they're honestly kind of a mess in general).

When we finished that test, I had already mentally discarded the score. He hadn't been naughty or difficult, but tense enough to mess up all those movements in the end, and I chalked it up to experience. The little guy just needs to get out and about and see more things for that to go away; he stayed rideable, he stayed listening, it was just a bit of greenness.

I was unsurprised by my score of 51% for the second test; that whole last section was a slew of 3s and 4s for breaking and hurrying and doing all those fun things. But I was honestly pretty shocked when my score came in for test 5. It was 55%. I wasn't expecting miracles - I was hoping for a 60% - but it was a lot lower than I'd been expecting. We did have those two mistakes in the beginning, but overall we did just get a whole lot of 5s.

I was honestly a bit disappointed by that score, but I think it all comes down to the fact that he doesn't always let my aids go through him, and when I'm being a little conservative then I'm not consistent enough about really asking for those aids to go through. He doesn't quite carry himself right yet, but because he's such an obedient and willing little horse - and has three lovely gaits - he can do the movements of the level cleanly, just not well enough to get a better mark. Comparing the photos from the show to the photos from our last lesson, I think I let the gait quality slip in favour of the movements over the last week or two.

Still, scores or no, I was really, really happy with my first dressage show on Lancey just because of how relaxed I was feeling even though he was spooky. I don't know if I've ever trusted a horse like I trust him, barring old Skye when I was just a kid. It was genuinely fun and relaxing even though we weren't doing it perfectly. He gave me a feeling I've never had in the dressage arena before - a really, really good feeling.

I'll chat with my coach about what we do with him competitively going forward. I think I might show him at Novice for a few shows, mostly because shows are expensive and it'll be easier to get our grading points at Novice, which is mostly an obedience test (Lancey's got that covered). I can always skip Elementary entirely and ride him at EM once he goes up a grade, which is honestly a very attractive option (down with the simple changes!).

Either way, I was really happy with how this show went, and with this wonderful little horse. I'm going to have a lot of fun showing Lancey in the years to come, God willing - and I'm grateful for every minute I get to spend on his back.

God is good!

Riding the Mielie Fields with Erin

After the last of three really good dressage rides on Lancey last week, I took a kiddo out for a little walk ride with her new thoroughbred. The mare is absolutely lovely but hasn't seen our trails before, so I decided to walk with Lancey in tow, just in case I needed to make a grab for a bridle. Lancey, of course, would be excellent moral support.

I led him part of the way, but when it became obvious that I wouldn't need to be wrangling any thoroughbreds on this day, I realized that I really needn't walk the whole way home. I was still in my helmet after our ride so I popped on in a halter and we walked home. The thoroughbred did end up giving one spook right up Lancey's bum, but obviously, he didn't care at all.

It's so incredible how this horse has just transformed my riding confidence when it comes to going out. A year ago I was still celebrating the ability to go on a 10-minute walk ride alone, and there I was riding him bareback in a halter with a horse who didn't know our trails at all. He's just amazing 💜

Thunder, too, is amazing, even though the poor guy is currently still in get-off-my-leg boot camp, but he outrides are definitely not his forte. He was really nice on trails as a young horse, and then I made the mistake of using him in the riding school and he bolted once with a teenager who was not even remotely helpful and since then he has never been the same. Every two or three months I'll feel sorry for him being stuck in the arena and try to take him on a long ride, and I always regret it. We spent Friday afternoon skittering sideways through the soya bean fields while I hung on for dear life, not helped by the fact that the dogs found a porcupine and brought it to bay. For the record, African porcupines are not at all the tree-climbing creatures of the Northern Hemisphere; in fact, their quills are significantly longer and larger, and they're pretty vicious. This one was rattling its quills furiously, much to poor Thunder's consternation.

please mom take me back to my sandbox

We'll go back to tiny little hacks and slowly build him up again, if he starts to enjoy them at some point. I already have a lovely trail horse and it's not like I'll ever sell him, so if he never gets to like riding out, he doesn't have to do it. He's already a unicorn in the sandbox; he doesn't have to be a unicorn everywhere.

Lancey, it would appear, is a unicorn no matter where you take him at this point. This was evidenced on Sunday, when my bestbestbestbestbest friend, Erin, came over. After overeating ourselves hopelessly (this man of mine can cook, y'all) we rode Ladybug (more on that later) and then headed off for the best kind of conversation you can have: one punctuated by the steady thump of hoofbeats, and filled with fresh air and warm African sunshine.

I smelled trouble from the second my butt hit the saddle. Thunder had pushed me a little bit on Friday's ride, never shoving my nerves beyond about a 3 out of 5, but they did go up to a 3 and stayed there for about half an hour - much longer than I'd normally maintain that level of nervous just because we were outside instead of in an arena. Clearly, it had its effects. I was mostly OK, but jumpy about silly things and dreading the thought of having a nice canter rather than looking forward to it.

Thankfully, Lancey really doesn't care how nervous I am. He'd had a good week of work and seemed delighted to be on the trails; he instantly flowed into his Arabian power-walk, and he was eating up the ground effortlessly on a loose rein, not looking at a thing. Erin was riding one of my trusted school ponies, the handsome Flash, who was being angelic - barring having to jog every few minutes to keep up with Lancey.

We took the direct route to the gate to our kindly neighbor's farm. In the spirit of anonymity, I've renamed it Magic Oak Tree Farm in blogland, and Lancey seemed to know he was on familiar territory. We rode right along the first
winter grazing field and then found ourselves faced with a choice: north, towards the game camp and the magic oak tree; continuing west, towards the tar road; or south, deeper into the mielie fields.

I could already see that the game were up in the northern part of their camp by the road, so we wouldn't be able to see them if we took the north route to the bottom of the poplar woods. There are horses in the western field and at least one stallion - while Lancey doesn't care, I'm a little concerned about the stallion climbing over the fence. So we swung south instead into unchartered territory and continued on through the mielie fields.

This proved to be a perfect choice. There was nothing for the horses to spook at and no distractions at all from a much-needed catch-up between best friends. I quickly forgot I'd ever felt nervous at all, and Lancey swung along on a loopy rein with Flash right beside him. The sunshine was wonderful. It's hard to think of anything more relaxing, and I think I'm finally starting to get the whole "relaxing outride" idea at last.

At one point a little winter whirlwind grabbed a whole bunch of the dry, fallen mielie leaves and swirled them around Lancey's legs as we crossed one of the fields. My scary, spooky Arab didn't seem to notice. When the whirlwind had passed, I finally had gotten my nerve back, and we had a long trot all the way to the fallow fields on the southern side of the farm.

After turning for home, I realized that actually, I really, really wanted to have a canter. It would be good for my nerves, and it would just simply be fun! But especially with a school pony in tow, I didn't really want to canter heading towards home, so we took a detour to the east and through a tall gate.

This was where Lancey had his compulsory Arab Moment. The fence corner was completely covered in some kind of huge, green bush, which was obviously alive with birds. Lancey didn't actually jump, but he did put up his tail and give some wonderful snorts. Flash - who is definitely the more sheep-like type of school pony - had to grumpily go first, and even then Lancey barely deigned to tiptoe by. He was a bit bug-eyed for a few moments even after passing the bush, but after a little bit of lateral work back and forth on the trail, he realized that he was OK and relaxed completely. I think this is why I trust this horse so much: it's not that he's never spooky, it's just that he never, ever spins, jumps, or bolts when spooked. He just snorts and stares, and I can deal with that.

So even after all that, once we'd walked a little way and both taken a deep breath, I squeezed him into a little canter and we were off. He didn't put a foot wrong, as usual; he was a little forward, and clearly having fun, but I could half-halt him from my seat and if I dropped the rein a little then he just stretched down. As we reached the top of the hill I had to squeeze him a couple of times to keep him going, and when I asked him to walk, he plodded down into it like a good little boy.

With my nerve officially restored, we walked the rest of the way home almost on the buckle, the two little geldings just swinging along as happy as could be. We were out for about two hours and I'd guess we covered around 10km, but I really should get an app to track our rides sometime.

Lancey had broken a tiny bit of sweat when we got home, but he was super cheerful and happy, and I didn't even feel any stiffness or tiredness in our dressage ride the next day.

He also, obviously, turned himself into a mud monster the moment I'd hosed him off a bit.

It was an absolutely perfect ride on the best little white Arabian ever, and in the company of one of the best, smartest, kindest people I've ever known.

God is just so good 💜