Cob Jockey: The Many Stages of KPG Clinic-Related Crazy

April 3, 2018

The Many Stages of KPG Clinic-Related Crazy

Today is the day!

Let me tell you, I've done a good job of keeping my KPG clinic-related crazy off this blog so far, so most of you guys don't know what my brain has been like the past week.

Thank you to my poor horse for putting up with being bubble wrapped for a few days.

It started just over a week ago when I emerged from my "new job fog" to suddenly realize the clinic (and its magazine photographers!) was a week away. What am I going to wear? When is it going to be warm enough to bathe the horse? What do we need to fix before then?!

Never, the answer is it's never going to be warm enough to bathe so just thank the stars you've got hot water and do it. This is the coldest spring I can remember.

The next phase was worrying about horse leg protection, whether I'd look like an idiot if I braided, if the truck and trailer were ready for a 3 hour RT interstate haul, and lamenting how Connor's half-winter, half-summer coat looks moth-eaten right now.

My trainer complimented his "dapples" from far away, then I told her to see if they still looked like dapples when she got close to him and she was like "Well...they do still look like dapples from far away...?"

For the last phase of clinic-related freaking out, last Friday night I went out for a quick ride. I wasn't able to do my usual pre-ride lunge because a new lesson student with a hot mare was in the ring with me, so I just got on. The walk and trot felt fine, but the canter felt so bad and clunky, I was worried he was lame.

Had this nameplate for two years, figured it was about time I got a belt to go with it. #represent

Then I had a lesson with my trainer bright and early Saturday morning in which I laid out my worries that Connor had a mystery lameness that only showed up at the canter. (I know, I know)

To her credit, she did not directly tell me I was crazy, and she basically smiled and nodded and made me ride the damn horse. And what do you know, as soon as I sat up, used my core, kept my shoulders down, sat evenly, and put my hands forward, that lame feeling in the canter went away.

Wild Saturday night spent polishing the $140 secondhand La Mundials

So...that's what I'm going to keep in mind today. I have to focus on myself first. It's going to be too easy to panic and think "my horse is broken and I'm going to ride poorly in front of this really accomplished person!". I have to keep in mind that she's here to help me, and I have to make sure my position allows Connor to be as good as he can be.