I had the most fabulous lesson EVER with S today :)!!! It was my first lesson in over a month because of France/bad timing/etc. and I was super excited to get some professional help with the problems I've had lately. We started out doing flat work and she was pretty adamant about how much she likes the three-ring for us, which is awesome because I really like it too! It's officially our jumping bit, while the boucher will be reserved for dressage. Only time will tell whether or not the three-ring will work for XC, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Anywho, S was thrilled with how much we've progressed since she last saw us (early December) and was extremely pleased with our canter work especially. We did maybe 5 minutes of trot and canter both ways on a circle, then moved on to jumping back and forth over a baby cross-rail. Limerick was good, though the teensiest bit distracted, which causes him to drift =/
However, today really drove home how important it is to ride to the jump and really get Limerick going in a forward trot. The more energy and impulsion we have, the smoother the whole thing feels and the easier it is for me to ride his jump. Then S added another cross-rail on a diagonal from the first one, which we also did without any problems, other than the drifting. Lim even landed in canter a few times and we cantered on to the next jump without any meltdowns on my part! I really do like cantering jumps and I think I'm finally starting to chill out about the idea, but when I first started, my heart pounded out of my chest and I was a giant ball of nerves.
Next, we made a course of a cross-rail -> cross-rail oxer -> 2-foot vertical -> big cross-rail -> outside line of 2 cross-rails, which went really well when I remembered not to let Limerick putter out in front of the jumps! The lesson was awesome, Limerick jumped the best he's ever jumped (thank you, Rood and Riddle), and I felt like we were really in sync with each other :) For smaller details and to watch parts of the lesson, here's the video that my awesome-possum friends took!
Finally, here are some pictures from the day:
FAVORITE
P.S. A special thanks to the bestie for coming to visit me this weekend, taking pictures and videos, and just generally being amazing <3
Or did Groundhog day already happen this year, and spring has come?! I don't know what it's like where you all live, but it was 60 degrees and sunny the past two days. Talk about lovely riding weather :) Yesterday, I decided to jump a tiny little cross-rail, do some canter poles, and then move the cross-rail up to a roughly 2-foot vertical. Limerick was so adorable and excited to jump, and we had a ton of fun! I also figured out that my jumping problems stem from two issues. One, Limerick has a massive/powerful jump with a pretty insane bascule (when he's being normal), which is kind of hard to ride if you don't have a ton of jumping experience (read: me). Therefore, when I'm already up in two-point or half-seat heading to a jump, I get thrown even farther forward by his crazy jumping skillz.
Two, stirrup length. I have more trouble finding a comfortable length, and yesterday my knees were basically touching my eyeballs, making it extremely hard to balance... I know, my fault, but I convinced myself that I was more stable that way. NOT. I tried extremely hard to focus on staying still and not moving when he left the ground, but it just didn't work. We even cantered the cross rail a few times, which is still new and scary to me, though admittedly much smoother than trotting them. Finally, we did the vertical twice. I know this is the teensiest bit superstitious, but I can't set a certain number of times for doing something. For example, yesterday I said we would do the vertical until it felt smooth to me and wasn't super awkward to ride. That just happened to be two times, rather than something I determined beforehand. This is all because my friend Kate said that she and her horse were going to jump one more and be finished... Long story short, her horse was too tired, tripped immediately in front of the jump, crashed into it, and she went right over his head. She nearly had a concussion and couldn't ride for a few weeks, never mind the fact that she had massive scrapes from the rock-like footing at my old farm. So yeah, that's why I'm superstitious.
Anywho, on to today! I was in a crappy mood due to some sucky things happening at school and being a little bit rushed, so I really needed a good ride and to blow off some steam. Limerick read my mind and was so so good :) We didn't do much serious work, mostly just cantered around and practiced adjustability, which is quite a challenge. I got some feedback from Julie and Hillary that my stirrups looked super short in my videos from the other day, so I dropped them two holes, which helped a ton! I feel like my leg is flapping around, but I can also sit much deeper and have a little bit more leverage for when he pulls on me.
Unfortunately, Jazz is lame, so Kimmie chilled ringside while I worked and decided to take some goofy pictures. This post is going to be yet another photo dump, because our mission towards the end of the ride was to take fun pictures and try to capture awkward moments... then we went out to the front field (for the first time since CRAY) and she took a video of me cantering towards her, which was so much fun!!! I laughed and giggled and Lims was awesome :) Then we went and said hi to some cows, which didn't blow his mind in the least. Both parties just kind of stared at each other like "What are you? You are the weirdest looking creature I've ever seen." We called it a day after that and enjoyed some delicious pizza!
Here's what's coming up in the near-ish future:
Appointment at Rood and Riddle tomorrow to have a general wellness exam and figure out what exactly is causing all of his back problems and soreness
LESSON on Sunday
Hillary visits tomorrow-Sunday!!!!
Schooling day next Saturday at a local show barn :)
COWS
Turnout buddy, Levi
AWK
poor guy......
Please ignore my shiny butt
S-E-X-Y neck
He looks pissed because he was about to spook at Kimmie sitting on the fence...
