monday media (dump)

Thanks to all the fun rides I’ve been having lately there’s some media dumping that needs to happen.

Here’s the entirety of my dressage test.  I’ve been waiting A YEAR to do the clever Emma scores-on-the-movements-in-the-video thing and I FINALLY GOT A CHANCE TO DO IT!!!!  Ha!  I feel like my scores were somewhere between “fair” and “generous” — I have certainly never ridden a 33.15% test before so have no idea what it feels like, but that sure as shit didn’t feel like a 44% (what I’m used to feeling during shows).  I know the judge was generous with some timing/geometry mistakes (i.e. she didn’t mark me down that much for late/early transitions, partially because she also had the transitions in the wrong place in her mind), but there are also some really nice moments in there.  So you know.

And now for a great many dorky and some cute pictures of little Murrmalade doing what he (kinda) does best.
If you’re going to make me canter past the scary thing I refuse to look at it.

I still need to shorten my reins a bit, since these are loopy and I’m hardly releasing, but I’m otherwise quite happy with this picture.  At what point do Murray’s knees qualify as hunter knees?  I’m pretty sure he’d love hunterland — loping around, jumping casually.  Hunters don’t mind getting buried to the base, right?

Jumping the novice aqueduct with room to spare.  Pictures like this always make me think Murray really could go training with ease — and then I remember the spreads.  We will see, little brown horse.  We will see.

Celebratory synchronized ululation after a good novice fence.

I suck at riding drops.  Must practice more.

This is not that big, Nicole. You are not Andrew Nicholson.  Stop it, or get better at it.

Slightly less suckage, even though Murray took this one from a standstill.

Immediately prior to this shot I told Murray “careful, there’s a ditch!!”

His neck looks weirdly enormous up there.  Like a little bit on the side of disproportional and horrific but I’m not going to complain after 3 years of pencil neck.

This chicken and broccoli pot pie by Olive Garden has pasta inside a pie crust.  It’s worth putting it in your mouth.  Also it was like 3x the size of my hand.  10/10 would put in my mouth again.

 

 

Misty sunrise pee, because why not.

Plus – jumping the arrow with room to spare!  This is really only a Novice sized fence, though perhaps its airy-ness and placement on course (last fence) qualified it as a Training question.  Regardless, he didn’t exactly struggle to make it over.

XC schooling peanut gallery.

This is the jump from when Murray practically stopped and then went over the arrow.  Magnificent, isn’t it?

Let’s get a closer look at my face.

Ah yes.  That’s the expression.

The bugged-out eyes, filled with sclera.  Flared nostrils.  Eleven chins.  I’m not even sure what my mouth is doing — is that a frown?  (I historically have had too tiny a mouth to frown.)

The picture of zen right there.