Today was jump day! We focused on our ABCs.. and even got to D today. :) I hauled over to Caroline's new farm in Danielsville for a jump lesson with Kelly Eaton. It's soooo pretty and peaceful there! So... we jumped. She had some fun fences and we basically did all the basics. I warmed up and Kelly said he looked good and forward and open in his throatlatch, like she had wanted. She said my elbows were good and flowing and matched my feet. Yay! So then we trotted a cross rail twice. I had told her about our inability to trot fences. Of course he made a liar out of me and trotted it happily. He even cantered on landing the first time, but not the second. So then we cantered. Then we added an oxer with cones underneath it on the rail. And... for some reason... he was drifting hard right. But it's not even as he jumps.. it's like before he jumps. Like 1 stride away he suddenly veers and aims for the standard! And then I was trying to keep him straight and he got behind my leg, so.. it wasn't pretty. We tried it again and again, it was an icky distance and he decided not to jump with his hind end and only the front so he knocked his fetlock hard on the rail. Like.. he landed on 3 legs and was limping badly for a few strides. Like when you hit your shin on the trailer hitch painful. Well... when I close my leg... I mean it buddy! So.. Kelly took the back rail down and we tried again and it was still pretty awful. I don't get it. The other fences I can fix it... but this particular fence.. was just... some weird magnetic trajectory! Although... towards the end.. I did notice that if I didn't panic and immediately start digging my right leg into him... if I just stayed quiet and even in the saddle and rode forward.. he went straight! But it only happened once so I couldn't be sure what I did to really make it work. At that particular fence. We had straight fences in other places most of the time. hee hee. So anyways.... back to the ABCs.
A: Forward and happy and relaxed with an open throatlatch and topline, following elbows, and grabbing mane two strides out.
B: In front of my leg.
After the first few awkward jumps, Kelly had me pick up the trot and then go to canter and do a little shock and awe to get him forward thinking again. She said there should only be two answers when I close my leg. Either a smooth foward soft supple surge forward or... squealing like a stuck pig running away. ha ha... Dan's answer is "well, let's talk about this"... or "maybe later.. I"m doing a thing now". And no.... that's not acceptable. So.. we did shock and awe and got him moving again and sure enough... the leg now meant something and he went. It was a little in between the two acceptable answers, but at least it was now an acceptable answer. And man... the jumps where he responded nicely were amazing! So yes... along with B... we add some things.
B: In front of my leg... with a quick response and a legit response. Not lackadaisical. And I keep a calm chill canter around... and then the last two or three strides, I can slowly increase the pace. Just ever so slightly. Not too much before.
So then.. we added C. Straightness.
C: Straightness. He must jump the center of the fence and land in the center of the fence. (well, on the ground, but you know what I mean). This requires me to close my right leg and open my left rein, and push my right hand into the withers. The right handed dab, if you will. I also need to watch my lines and make sure I'm approaching straight and not over bent. And going forward helps with the straight too!.
So that wasn't too tricky, other than at the one fence. At this point we had strung together a couple of fences and made a small course. So then we added D... finessing it :) I was coming up to a fence and she said "Open the right rein". I was like... wait? What? Why? He drifts right? Are you confused? Ha ha... nope. She was right. She wanted me to open the right rein so that he landed on the right lead as we were going right to the next fence. Oh... duh! Finessing it. Making it pretty. :) ha ha. I honestly don't know that I ever managed to do it, but... I did manage to grab mane and sit pretty and lo and behold he kept landing on the right lead. Whether that's because that's his favorite lead to land on... I don't know. He did get a few of the left lead canter landings :) So yay for that.
But yep.. pretty fun day. I always enjoy my Kelly lessons! Hopefully we can play again soon!
And sadly, I didn't grab my phone... so no photos of the beautiful day. I didn't even get a selfie later... shame on me... shame on me.
But.. here's a cute photo from another day just because. :)
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