Jumper turns with gentle hands

I scored a private lesson yesterday and got to work on doing tight circles (at the trot) over a jump, as well as broken lines. I had to go over a jump, circle back and jump it again, find the broken line to the next jump, halt when I was straight on, then repeat the process over the next jump.

Yeah, I used SnapChat to draw it out and then screengrabbed it. What of it???

The getting a straight line to the jump in time to halt was hard! One time we were riiiight in front of the jump. I suppose if the horse I was riding liked to rush jumps, it would be a good exercise, but in the case of a horse that has been refusing jumps, I was motivated to do better.

One thing I gave myself a pat on the back for - I'm getting better and using multiple aids at once - half halting while lifting a should while bending and then releasing better over the jump. It was tricky to release when you also have to turn the horse in a circle, but something I know how to work on now (hopefully)!

Sunfishing and Stayin' On

Today I rode a 5-year-old that was very green. More green than any horse I have ever ridden (I know, that’s not saying much). Our lesson group was so crowded because of the extreme temperatures the day before that he was the only pony left. They put him on a lead rope and a working student had to jog along side my as we worked on trotting in a straight line. A lot of head-tossing happened. We went over a cross rail a few times. I got taken of the lead rope to go over the cross rail by myself and went into a trot that turned into a bolt and bucking that probably only lasted 20 seconds but was very exciting. Finally was able to walk the pony to the jump, go over it and bring him back to a very sloppy halt. I learned a lot about liiiight aids. Tiny pulses for half halts. Tiny squeezes from quiet legs.

I have a new-found respect for people who train young horses. This guy was small - I wasn’t that scared because just weren’t that far from the ground. But apparently I missed the training session where he tripped and fell with my instructor on him. He’s been better about picking up his feet ever since. Phew.

A brief LOTR reenactment

I broke my wrist playing football in October and was down for the count for just a month as far as riding was concerned. Then I was off for my honeymoon in New Zealand, where I managed to get an awesome trail ride in. My husband and I have been together for 6 years and this is the first time we were on horses together so that's quite the achievement. It was an amazing ride - there were wild goats battling, baby cows romping, creeks and hills to ramble across.

There I am with my awesome wrist guard. A lot of the horses were standardbred (and bay, as you can see!). There were a lot of horses to spot during our drives across the country. I would be prefectly happy picking up that lifestyle permanently.

In other news, I got back to my riding lessons these past two Saturdays. My flatwork is like riding a bike - I have no problems getting back into it, and even saw improvement this past Saturday keeping the horse at a trot between two big (okay, 2'9", but big for me) jumps. I really need to get someone to video tape me because I have no idea what I'm doing in the air, it just feels very disorganized. Even though I'm better about re-organizing between jumps, I want to get that beautiful position with the release I see in every photo ever.

It was about 5 degrees in the indoor this weekend. After a half hour of trotting I had regained feeling in my fingers but completely lost feeling in my toes. There was frost on the horses muzzles, they had a lot of energy to get out, but were actually very well-behaved. I rode a different horse the weekend before who bolted on me (for only about the length of the indoor until he came up on his friends' butts). It all happened too fast to be scary. Those OTTBs can move. What an amazing feeling. I mean, bad that it happened, right? But put yourself in my position - I've never gotten to flat out gallop a horse. So just a taste of it was sort of thrilling.

I know. It's no wonder I break bones all the time. I'm missing the gene that says "Don't do this! It's dangerous! Abort!" You think I'm kidding? In New Zealand we went skydiving and I didn't have an ounce of fear. I was like, well if I die, it'll be quick!"