Lesson Day

Guys.  I had my lesson today, and we jumped an oxer.  AN OXER!!!!

Okay, it was a 2-2'3 baby oxer, and we had a refusal at one point at a different jump earlier in the lesson that was mostly  entirely my fault, but seriously today was the best lesson/ride that I have had on my horse so far.  He was incredible.  He was jumping 2' like he'd been doing it for years (he started jumping 2 months ago, and until today we've pretty much only done crossrails and nothing more complicated than a diagonal line), but today we jumped all of the things, and for my baby birdbrained pony, 2' is a pretty big deal at this point in his life.


We started off outside, and I was a little leery because I haven't ridden out there since before my vacation due to the weather - even though we lunged outside yesterday, he was kind of an ass towards the end and I don't entirely trust him to not be a dick.  But to my delight, he was being really good.  Tense and giraffe-like, but no rearing or running sideways.  After approximately 10 minutes, it started pouring down rain, so we retreated to the safety of the indoor.

When I first brought Leo to CEC, he HATED the indoor and loved the outdoor.  At some point, he decided that the indoor is a better place to behave and that the outdoor is for fun things like spinning in circles and running amok.  He occasionally will try to dart down one of the aisles, but we've done enough work inside at this point that he seems to have completely gotten over it.  He didn't even look down there.  And once inside, he began to relax enough at the trot to stretch his neck down and set his head a little bit.  It was beautiful. When we cantered, he didn't start off with his prancer giraffe gait - he actually settled into his lovely 'normal horse' canter (which always starts off absurdly quickly, but at least he's using his hind end and his head is somewhat down).

And then...we jumped the things.  The 2' things.  It was glorious, and he was forward (probably a little too forward) and willing and HAPPY.  We successfully completed bending lines.  We had an awesome circle-to-jump exercise, and WE JUMPED THE OXER.  Attempting to add video proof, but not sure if it will work.






Homework: when my horse is being good and doing the things, I need to RELAX, get out of his face, and TRUST him. After all of the dramatic tantrums in the last month, learning to ride this new version of Leo is going to take a lot of trust-building.  That he isn't going to dart sideways or run out, or take off to the wrong end of the arena.  That first video was his first time ever attempting an oxer, and he barely even looked!  I am so proud of him. 


Comments

  1. TrainwreckInTealAugust 11, 2016 at 4:14 AM

    Sounds like a VERY successful lesson! Way to go! 😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. kaityAugust 11, 2016 at 10:48 AM

      I am so proud of him! He is definitely turning into one of those horses that does better the more he is challenged, I think he gets bored easily.

      Delete
  2. EventingSaddlebredStyleAugust 11, 2016 at 5:09 AM

    Go Leo! I really struggled with letting go of the face and trusting for awhile. You will get there it just takes time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. kaityAugust 11, 2016 at 10:50 AM

    I hope so! I've noticed that the more challenging our lessons get, the more he starts to relax - I think that when he gets bored with what we're doing it manifests as prancer giraffe mode.

    ReplyDelete

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