Haven't posted in a while, but have had plenty of lessons in the past few months, including a couple with my 'other' barn, where I learn a lot about being a brave jumper.
At my weekly lesson barn yesterday we worked on getting through a short hunter course (5 cross rails), which I was told to do at a trot because my pony has been refusing jumps (and, in fact, he did attempt to refuse). The first time I tried to do the course, I had to circle back to jumps, or halt infront of a jump and use the crop. But the second time, we got through it, even if he broke into a walk over one jump, I did not let him refuse. I've always been told (as a humble adult beginner it's easy to believe), that it is not the horse's fault, their behavior stems from the rider's error. And in this case it proved true. The walking over the jump was from me not getting out of the saddle far enough. Probably, enough students have made this error, so the pony associates it with an uncomfortable jump. So working on my jumping position is in order. But it was exciting to do a course, and I can't wait to get it down at the trot and move up to the canter!
At my weekly lesson barn yesterday we worked on getting through a short hunter course (5 cross rails), which I was told to do at a trot because my pony has been refusing jumps (and, in fact, he did attempt to refuse). The first time I tried to do the course, I had to circle back to jumps, or halt infront of a jump and use the crop. But the second time, we got through it, even if he broke into a walk over one jump, I did not let him refuse. I've always been told (as a humble adult beginner it's easy to believe), that it is not the horse's fault, their behavior stems from the rider's error. And in this case it proved true. The walking over the jump was from me not getting out of the saddle far enough. Probably, enough students have made this error, so the pony associates it with an uncomfortable jump. So working on my jumping position is in order. But it was exciting to do a course, and I can't wait to get it down at the trot and move up to the canter!
