Cob Jockey

Last week I took a trip out to visit Austen in DC. The reason for the trip was a bucket list concert:

Death Cab for Cutie (who I had seen before, in 2006) and The Postal Service (who I had not seen before because hardly anyone has ever seen them tour before) playing Transatlanticism and Give Up respectively, more or less straight through. Two incredibly formative albums for me. It was amazing.

but of course we also made time for ponies.

All photos by Austen.

First up, I had a Dressage ride on Bast. This is the second time I've ridden him in a couple of years, and it's always such a joy. He's safe, solid, and gives you the right answers immediately even if you're new to him and maybe not asking in the way he's used to.

Even things I really haven't ridden much of myself

For me, it was the first time I've ridden real Dressage since, well, last year when I visited Bast and Austen. I haven't ridden Dressage on Connor much since late 2021. So I'm not going to apologize or point out my positional flaws at all. They're there, but they were overshadowed by the fact that I've really made quite a lot of progress in not pulling. Like I know I've made progress on that since I started riding with CGP, but it was still wonderful to see it in photos (And I'm sure it's worse with Connor, being the old married couple that we are.)

Just me, soft hands, and a horse with a nice open throatlatch.

Later on that weekend, we took a trail ride. Mark on Guinness, Austen on Bast, and me on Chardy/Chardonnay/Charizard, who I also rode last year.

Such a good yellow horse

It's a shame that it takes an entire day of driving to get out there or else I would visit much more often! Just such a good weekend.

Horses grazing under the stars as we plane-spotted, since the farm is under the flight path for Dulles international flights.