WE XC SCHOOLED!!!!

 It was at Ashland, but.. it was more than just popping over a few fences. Like... I put on his XC boots and my safety vest! I figured if I was going to go to Full Gallop, I'd like to make sure that we still have it in us. And we are supposed to have a XC lesson on Tuesday, but the weather is looking sketchy, so I'm not sure that it will happen. So I took advantage of the weather today and gave it a whirl! Cindy came to check my saddles for me and was my cheerleader. We did my dressage saddle first and then I sat in a few county jump saddles. BUT... I didn't quite find the "one". So then I put the Black Country I'm borrowing back on and Cindy offered to come out in the field with me to keep me company. She's the best!

So off we went! I popped over a few fences and it wasn't great. We kept chipping at the roll top and the other fences were smaller and he wasn't quite going at them yet. Cindy said that he looked a little behind my leg. So we got more amped up and it got better. And then I started to pick a few bigger fences because at this point, I was (sadly) still aiming him over the tadpole labeled fences. Sigh. But we did! We got better! We got braver! Both of us. I think that we were both a little apprehensive at first and then we both started having fun and trusting again. :) So after doing a few fences here and there I decided on a course. It was mostly the BN fences but I did try a few novice fences maybe... and apparently one "training" fence but... it was training for Ashland, not training for anywhere else. He was super! He was game and tried to jump everything even when I wasn't quite committed. He may have chipped to a few that I wasn't committed to but he went. And we did the double novice coops and I pulled him out after the first one the first attempt because I didn't think we had it, but he was going to try. And we nailed it on our second attempt! We also did the big log to the up bank to the big log and then reversed it. We did the ramp (the little one, but still) and we did the half coffin. So yay!!!!

Then we went and "iced" his legs in the lake for a bit and then took a short hack home. Then once home he rested a bit and then I adjusted him and acupunctured him. He enjoyed it and I got a big release in his sacrum today! Yay!

So yep! I'm feeling better about Full Gallop. And a little better about sticking with Beginner Novice because... we're still a little chickeny to some of the bigger fences. And I'm not sure if it's because he just doesn't have the power/push he used to before his injuries or if it's just that we need to rebuild our confidence, but... we'll see. 

Good pony!

Now to just hope that we don't get rained out of riding on Tuesday... and see how he holds up. It wouldn't be the end of the world if our XC lesson got moved to Thursday or the weekend because of the weather, but... I do want to see how he feels tomorrow and Tuesday just to see. 

Ooops!! I forgot yesterday! We met Liz at Harbins and did the 6 mile loop. Then we went to Taylors farm and Kathleen massaged Dan. :) Liz and I had too much fun chatting and I didn't get any photos. But we did hack. :)