Baby on Board

Classic us: Frankie hamming it up for the camera, Maggie constantly distracted, Nicholas keeping an eye on the giant allergen over his shoulder, and me laughing at my favoritest creatures. Love our little family ❤

The last month or two has been very light on the riding front for me as I’ve started adjusting my schedule and expectations due to the tiny creature currently inhabiting my body. I quickly decided to limit my riding to only Frankie – while friends have offered to let me hop on their wonderful animals, I simply trust Francis the most out of all of them and know him the best.

I’m also only riding when there are other people nearby/in the barn/in the ring. I’ve never hesitated to ride solo before and I’m also very sure that Frankie won’t pull anything silly, but it’s an easy enough restriction to put on us to make sure we’re being safe. Our barn almost always has other boarders or lessons going on so this hasn’t posed a difficulty.

My parents even came down for a weekend visit! Such a treat.

I did spend several weeks only flatting, largely because I felt a bit like death warmed over. The phrase morning sickness is a lie – I was a nauseated goblin most of the day and especially in the evenings. Every ride ended up being play-by-ear; some days I hopped a crossrail but more often I’d flat around and then call it a day. Now that I’m finally feeling a bit better, we’re doing very advanced crossrail courses of 4-6 jumps. Wildly advanced stuff.

While I’m not convinced that Frankie knows what’s going on (sweet boy is not the most observant), he has continued his unbroken streak of being a Very Good Boy. I was joking the other day that he’s clearly already putting in his application for short stirrup pony: he loped around those crossrails happily, offering auto changes and letting me sit there and do nothing.

I’ve never seen another horse with such kindness and sweetness in their expression. He is truly one in a million. PC – Courtney Noel Photography

From my conversations with other friends who have kids, it sounds like everyone takes a step back from riding at different points – some stop early on, others continue flatting but stop jumping, and others keep going with few changes for quite some time. I’m planning to keep riding at this more low-key level as long as my body feels comfortable with it, and I’m endlessly grateful to have my perfect Francisco who I can trust to keep me safe. My saddle time and my barn time overall are so important to me, no matter what other changes are going on.

However, realistically I will need to take a step back at some point, so I am investigating options to ensure Francis still has a job to do when that does happen. I certainly have my preferences for what type of situation I find for him and my trainer is on board with those plans, so fingers crossed that things work out the way I’m hoping. Regardless of what option we pursue I’ll be eager to get back in the saddle with him once the little one is here and I’m feeling recovered. As sappy as it may sound, Frankie has been with me through so many big changes in my adult life already and it feels right that he’s part of this next chapter too.

Forever my perfect happy boy ❤

To my friends with kids: what did you do with your horse(s) when you took a step back? Any tips as we explore different options?

Piedmont Jumper Classic 2020

Phew, I’m so relieved that the cat is finally out of the bag. Do you know how hard it is for me to keep my own secrets?? I’m the opposite of a private person.

But now that I can actually share what happened, I want to capture this show as a record for me to look back on. And it was a blast!

In classic Francis fashion, I received this pic from my trainer roughly 20 minutes after he got off the trailer. Show naps are best naps in Frankie’s book.

You may remember that the plan was for me to go in the 1.10m High classes since Frankie was going so well and we were getting back into shape post-grad school. And I will say, we did continue schooling around that height even after I found out I was expecting – I trust this horse with my life and honestly feel safer on him than my own two feet.

However, as we started pushing a little bit harder it became apparent that Frankie was having a bit of an identity crisis. Several times a week I hopped on and told him to fire up into Spicy Jumper Mode(TM), and several times a week his kid hopped on and they worked on mellowing out into 2’6″ hunter mode. He is excellent at both of these jobs. But I think it was a bit too much for his brain to try and switch back and forth on a day-to-day basis. I was left feeling like I was kicking and holding nothing, and he was getting fast with the kid.

After some frustrating rides where I just couldn’t get the right pace to make the bigger jumps feel comfortable, we decided to keep the height feeling very comfortable and not try to make Frankie be two things at once. We talked about what my goals were for this show (have a lot of fun) and for the rest of the season (I knew due to scheduling this would likely be my last show for a long time) and ultimately we opted to actually go in for the lowest classes they offered: the 0.80m.

Real mature Francis, making faces at your friend

I am honestly so glad we made this decision. I knew this was a height Frankie could quite literally walk over, at a venue we’ve been to many times, and I could point-and-shoot the entire thing. There was no stress and no nerves, just bopping around the ring enjoying my perfect packer in a setting where he strutted out of the ring feeling majorly confident about himself.

Not to mention the stunning views over the hills as I got to watch the bigger classes run.

It was a far cry from the turn and burn that got us Champion in the Lows last year, and an even further departure from the original plan to go in the Highs, but it set us up for a wonderful relaxing experience before I took a break from showing. We had several clear rounds for pretty blue ribbons, my husband got to come out and cheer us on one morning, we went for walks around the pretty showgrounds, and Francis was happy as a clam to play packer pony.

Love of my life ❤

Of course, I’m already itching to get back in the show ring with the Frankfurter. Counting down until I can take Francisco in the jumpers in the morning and stick him in leadline in the afternoon!

Frankie’s New Adventure

I’ve been sitting on a big secret, guys. The biggest secret. And bestest secret. It’s why you haven’t heard from me in a while – it was impossible for me to say anything at all without spilling the beans.

I’m very excited to say that Frankie will be adding to his already impressive resume. In addition to jubilant jumper, exquisite equitation mount, delightful derby-er, happy hacker, excellent eventer, and all around Best Boy Ever, next spring Francis gets to try out a new adventure: lead line pony.

We’re so excited to welcome the new member of our family next May!