Commit!
When Longines came to Miami Beach a few weeks ago, it was the perfect opportunity to kick off hot girl summer. I put an obnoxious amount of energy into visualizing the day. Horses, brunch, the beach, drinks, and a nice sunset were all on my radar. I made the reservation at one of my favorite restaurants. Invites were sent to my work besties plus Trainer T and another one of the adults at my barn. I even went to Target the night before and picked up a new pair of ankle boots.
And then they started dropping like flies.
Trainer T and my barn mate opted to stay at the show because, in true South Florida fashion, people were being extra rude about seats. Also, Longines, why on Earth would you say on the website that you require tickets for entry and then let quite literally anyone and everyone into the event??? Of the remaining attendees, one showed up an hour early and the other showed up an hour late. I'm reminded of why I don't organize outings . . . The restaurant also, just, didn't have the brunch menu that I've come to love. It was french toast taste on a pasta budget.
Regardless, the mimosas were flowing, so I was happy in the end, and it was super cool to see one of my favorite places turned into one of my favorite things. Truly wild to see the cruise ships leaving port while someone's doing 1.55m combination.
My choices were not as enjoyable when I had to make it to a 9am lesson the next day. Because of the show, Trainer T canceled lessons on Saturday, meaning we all got squished into groups on Sunday. I got grouped with a younger but very capable girl who's been with Trainer T for years.
Fuego was still really not wanting to bend to the left and was dogging my left leg as well. I tried a new setup with his saddle; the usual halfpad we use was swapped for a thicker wither relief pad. It definitely took more pressure off his withers, but it had me sitting so high off his back, and I wasn't a fan of that.
The jumps were moved around again, and we had some fun related distances to try out. Ever since laying down my expectations with transitions, it's been so much easier for me to remember to keep my shoulders back and engage my core. I can literally feel my obliques engaging now, especially at the canter. This change plus using my voice more when we jump has kept him both ridable and bold. Of course, there's a lot more work to do when it comes to adjustability, but I can legit move this horse up to distances now instead of holding on for dear life. I even made the decision to just commit to taking out strides because 1) he can do it, 2) he's happier that way, and 3) it's sick to watch him open up his stride. So proud of my big, dumb baby <3
I did have one goof where Trainer T wanted me to do a specific line in five strides. I had gone through it before and didn't count the strides, so I assumed we were going too fast and held coming in. Then as I was going down it and counting my strides, I realized my mistake, tried to press forward, but it was too late at that point, and we crashed through it. Fuego is consistently well-minded in these types of situations and stopped immediately when I slid in front of the saddle. I think it would legitimately take a nuclear bomb for me to actually fall off of him. I got myself together, and we went through everything one more time before calling it a day. Another consistent ride in the books!
Takeaways from this post:
- Commit to the distance
- Commit to brunch
i'd love to go to one of the Longines GCT events --- they used to post streams of the full events to their youtube channel, but now just do really short highlight reels, **if** that :( glad it was an overall fun day!
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