Jump Lesson

Jump Day!

Today was lesson day with Kelly Eaton. Dan and I had a 10:30 jump lesson with two other girls. I was tempted to take a short hack before and after so I tried to get there early. Dan ate breakfast and then was hanging in his stall after I ate my breakfast and got dressed. He's been doing that a lot lately but it's been hot. And I didn't toss hay this morning. Luckily he was fairly clean so I didn't bother hosing him off before we hauled out. And it wasn't too terribly hot yet. 

We got to Ashland and it was busy! I let him eat hay while I groomed and tacked up but he was just standing there. He was cranky when I brushed him like usual. Not any worse or any better. But he was just chilling... not munching... not looking around at everyone. Maybe it was his naptime. He does like to sleep around 10ish, although lately I haven't seen him sleeping as much. Or maybe at all, but... I don't think he's not. I just think it's too hot to nap during the day recently. 

We took a short hack out in the woods and he perked up. We rode down towards the lake but veered off on XC and then trotted up the hill to the backside of stadium. I sort of thought I had less time than I did. He was happy to trot up the hill. We headed into the arena and met one of the other girls we were riding with. Kelly wasn't there yet so we walked around a little bit. But man, it suddenly was hot! Steamy hot and we were in the sun. I sat there for a minute and noticed that Dan was blowing a little. He was almost panting - his barrel was moving and his nostrils were flared. And... we hadn't done anything but trot up the hill and then walked around a bit. Hmmm... that's a little alarming. We walked around and I asked him to trot and he happily did. Granted when I asked him to walk, he happily did. And was happy to just stand. But, he did trot and canter when I asked. Hmmm... We didn't do much because I knew we would be doing more, so .... we just went to the shade and sat for a bit. 

Then Kelly came and we started our lesson. She wanted us to warm up. Ha ha. Doh! But Dan happily picked up the trot and canter. She told us to make sure to do smaller circles and test the waters. We also should be doing transitions within and through the gaits. I needed to keep riding his shoulders and also keeping my hands low and wide. 

So then we started jumping. The other two girls were going BN, so... we started quite small. No worries. I was able to work on keeping Dan motivated and working on me. Not unlike my Lyric jump lesson, she wanted me to push a hair. Go a bit more forward so that Dan jumped out of stride vs getting too deep. But... only push for one mile an hour faster on the approach (until the no messy with them zone). Except when we did that, I would get pulled forward, so I had to work on lengthening my arms, while keeping my shoulders back. I also had to keep my sternum up, stay close to the saddle, and.. keep my landing gear out in front of me. 

Things were going decently and she mentioned again that we could add one mile per hour more. And then said something to the effect of "we don't need him all bouncy and rocked back on his hocks and connected until you're going training level". And I was like... "umm.... except I signed up for a training level CT next weekend". ha ha. Whoops!! So... yes... but I still need to ride forward. 

So we did another course and then she had the other girls do a course and finish up and then she moved everything up for me. yay! Not huge... and maybe not even training level, but... definitely bigger than earlier in the day. And he was super! She did note that when I asked for the "one mph more" he was a little sluggish about giving it to me. It was like "oookkaayyy.... here you.... go"... instead of "yes ma'am". So she had me do one "shock and awe" and then we did the last two fences again. And he was great. Oh, also I had to use an opening rein in the arc of the jump to help direct him on landing and it made my turns smoother. Yahoo! Except... I noticed as we were finished the last course and then walked between that and redoing the last two fences... he was walking a bit short again. I couldn't tell which foot and it was subtle, but I felt it. But I asked for the canter and he jumped right into it and didn't fight me or act sluggish. He was reponsive. And he was acting like his normal self. Hmmm. So after that me and Jenn went on a short hack to the lake. And I felt it. It almost felt like he was walking how I would walk when I had a blister and was trying to walk in a way to keep the boots from rubbing. I mentioned it to Jenn, also a vet, and she said that he didn't look at all lame! And I agree.. other than the walk, I never felt anything. She didn't watch his walk on the trails, but... she said she definitely didn't see anything in the arena. We went to the lake and splashed a little bit and then headed back. I decided to just go straight back rather than meander longer because of his foot. Maybe he's just footsore still from his trim? Maybe something isn't setting just right? But between the breathing, the mild sublte lethargy, and the limp....  Although he never acted super out of breath during our lesson and wasn't blowing that hard at all. And he was sweating. I hosed him off and he still wasn't super interested in his haynet. When we got home he hung out in the stall with the fans, but... so were the other ponies. And then tonight after he ate his dinner, he went out to eat hay but then came back in before the others did and was just hanging in his stall. Hmmm.... I hope it's just that it's hot and he's a little bit foot sore from his trim and nothing more. I wish his scoping was a bit sooner, but... 2 weeks isn't too long. 

Then Friday morning... he didn't finish his grain, but was anxious to get into Flecks stall to finish his. Maybe he doesn't like that new collagen supplement? And... last night we had a very brief sprinkle and then a rainbow!!