We did it!!!!

So... I've been wanting to jump that ditch and wall and trakehner at Ashland... the baby ones! We tried the trakehner about a year ago and Dan said NOPE! so I hadn't tried it again. I was going to wait til I had a coach for back up. But I've been getting the itch. I was hoping to get to ride with Kelli yesterday and was thinking maybe I could do it then, but that didn't pan out. Today I had to do some stuff with Mike and one of his coworkers, so I got up early and rode. And darn the weather channel again. I swear... It was supposed to be nice this morning and then rain all afternoon starting at one. What happened was that it was drizzly this morning and then it got super muggy and humid and then it finally rained briefly at 12 and then was beautiful and sunny and clear the whole rest of the day. And even kind of not so humid at one point. Stupid weather people... oh well. It wouldn't have really mattered. I might have ridden this evening but I was glad I rode this morning because Mike and I were able to get a lot of stuff accomplished. :) 

And... it was a fantastic ride!! I put Fleck's thin snaffle on Dan to see how he'd do with it and if it would give me a bit more of a half halt. He was fine with it once he figured out how to eat a treat with it on. :) We had a good hack and did a bit of trotting and cantering. I also made him be on the bit some, but not the whole time. We also had some really nice leg yield and shoulder in and haunches in again. :) Then we ended up in the XC field and I just couldn't help myself. I walked him over to the ditch and wall and let him sniff it. He walked right up and was like "yeah, so....?!" and then we walked up to the trakehner and he did the same thing. So I thought, well...... 

I  picked him up and we cantered over the two coops on the roller coaster/loop de loo hill and he popped over those happily. Then we cantered up the hill and over the two hanging log jump. Then we rolled over to the ditch and wall and he just popped right over it. So we kept going to the trakehner and popped right over that too!! YAY!!!!!!! I'm so proud of him. He just didn't even blink. :) So we did it a few times to make sure it wasn't a fluke. :) 

Yay!!!! I'm just so glad that at least at the small levels, the ditch and wall and trakehners aren't a "thing"... Now to just keep it that way as we get to the bigger ones... :)