It’s been a very interesting month that started with me finishing up an awesome weekend at Rolex and took a hard turn at Jersey Fresh.

A lot has already been said about the tragedies at Jersey Fresh where Philippa Humphreys died in a fall on cross-country and a horse was euthanized due to an injury, so I won’t add much else.

It was an eerie feeling to be there on Sunday morning, unlike any event I’ve ever been to. I’ve been to a few events where a horse has been euthanized, but it was just a totally different feeling in the air when a person died. It was somber and quiet for show jumping, and the event became a challenge to write about, knowing that while the winners were happy with their horses, there was still a dark cloud hanging over the weekend.

I’m proud of how the story turned out for the magazine though. I spoke with a few riders and people involved with the event, and got some interesting responses about safety in the sport and dealing with a tragedy.

Unfortunately my  co-worker and friend Kimberly was at the fence when it happened, and I can only imagine what she’s going through. As an enthusiast of the sport and someone who wants to try it, I hope it doesn’t dampen her spirit. In the end, we’re all out there knowing the risks but loving the reward. There’s no better feeling than coming off a cross-country course, knowing maybe you were a little scared before and getting it done when you thought you couldn’t, or breezing around on a young horse who’s finally “getting it.”

There are people out there working to make the sport safer but it takes time and money. I don’t think galloping at solid fences on a 1,000lb animal will ever be totally safe, but things can get safer.

Oh So has been feeling as good as ever on the flat. I’ve been able to have several flat lessons over the last few weeks, and we’ve been working on our walk/canter and canter/walk transitions and just really being able to stretch him down in trot and canter.

I had a chiropractor out to work on him about 2 weeks ago, and he was quite sore over his back, which he sort of always has been despite frequent saddle fits. The vet thought he might have a mild case of kissing spine, which he may have always had, but it’s hard to know when his work has been getting better under saddle.

I’ve started him on Robaxin to see if that helps him, but I think I’m going to pursue a spinal X-ray and see if injecting his back might make him more comfortable.

I took him to Morningside for a novice CT two weekends ago, and it was pouring rain the whole time! I can’t seem to luck out there this year. Three out of the four times I’ve been it’s been miserable.

The footing was horrendous, but the base was OK, so we went ahead and competed. I hardly had much of a planned warm up since I was so worried about the footing. He was tripping a bit during the test, and we were both just trying to get through it. We scored a 27.5, but it was far from a fluid test. He just felt a bit tight and unhappy, sort of like me!

The show jumping warm up on the track was basically a giant puddle, so we jumped two fences, literally, and then waited about 15 minutes for our turn. I hate the jumper show-type schedule, but he was remarkably good for waiting around, and I didn’t screw it up too bad! I picked to fence 4, and he landed on the wrong lead,, and I brought him back to trot to get it, but other than that, it was an OK round. We ended up winning! He feels really good so I’m hoping we can try a training CT next time, at the very least for the more interesting dressage test.

On Sunday we finally got out to an event! It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since his last one at Waredaca.

Unfortunately it was just the starter trial at Loch Moy, so the fences were quite small and the course design was a bit twisty. I feel like we could have done the training, but just to be out was a gift in itself.

Our dressage of course ended up in the newer ring of five, which had the deepest footing. Neither of us liked it, so again, our test was just trying to get through. We scored a 27.8. My dad missed our test though, so no video!

Show jumping was a bit inconsistent on my part. I just need to be able to get in the ring frequently or I start freaking out and picking or taking long ones.

Cross-country was pretty good too. I had a beautiful jump out of the water and turned the wrong way…oops! I realized my mistake and had to make an awkward turn back to a random loop on course, but the rest of it was good.

Everything felt out of stride, all I had to do was lift up my chest a bit as a I came to the jumps and he rocked back and found them, just like old times!

We ended up winning and got the TIP reserve award!

On Monday I moved him to a new barn in Waterford, about 20 minutes from my place but not really on the way to work unfortunately. It’s brand new, and there’s a nice indoor, but at the moment the footing is too deep for him. I’m hoping it will settle by the winter.

The areas around the barn are under construction, as is the interior of the barn, but it will be done soon. He’s settled in seemingly well and is out with an older gelding and two mares, the first time he’s ever even touched a mare I think! So far so good though. He seems to have met his doppleganger in one of them. It’s hard to tell them apart.

I’ll miss my friends at the other barn, but I learned a lot about boarding and what I can live with and without while I was there. The main reason I started looking was because he was being beaten up by a recently gelded jerk of a horse. When a paddock finally opened up for that horse and then Bear sold, I thought it would be a good opportunity for a fresh start.

I’m happy to be at a place now where I feel comfortable about everything involving my horse’s care and have a barn owner who lives on site and treats each horse individually, so I know he’ll be in good hands.This month I’m planning on running the novice at Seneca and maybe doing a couple of first level tests at a dressage schooling show because I’m getting tired of doing the same boring novice test!

I’m also heading off to Bromont next week, which is one of my favorites!