I am always a fan of happy surprises so when I showed up at the barn to feed this morning and the horses had already been fed... small mis-communication... I took advantage of my unexpected extra time, the quiet, and the cooler morning temperatures to enjoy some quality time with my boy.
Ready to ride... not a very enthusiastic look though...
The birds were singing. We had the place all to ourselves... I think he'd rather have been snoozing in his stall, but hey I enjoyed it!
We did our typical 30 minute workout on the flat working on bending and stretching, and transitions. He was going great. I could have ridden for hours... except for one little issue. I have a really weak right ankle which almost always cramps up or wants to give out on me half way through an hour ride... especially when I haven't been riding regularly the way I should. Needless to say the ankle interrupted our progress today. But, I wasn't ready to call it quits... especially since he's been cooped up in his stall more then he's gotten ridden this week, so I got a bright idea... why no longe in the big front jump ring? It would give me a chance to get him used to the bigger ring... and all those horse eating jumps.
Now in order to tell this story properly I have to back track a little for those of you who don't know my horse's entire history. I bought him as an almost six year old with minimal training, and in the beginning I tried him over small jumps. To say the least he either had no clue what to do with his feet over a jump, or he didn't want to. He repeatedly refused even small cross rails, and I had not done very much jumping prior to buying him. In part because lessons were always in consistent. Something always interrupted my progress and right about the time I started jumping lessons for the umpteempth time during college my mare started to get arthritis. Then we made a big move, and the money for lessons just wasn't there. So to say the least I wasn't going to be the one to push him into jumping.
So for several years now we've focused on flat work, low level dressage, trail riding, and giving beginner lessons to kids. I've wanted to push up to that next level of training with him for a while now... lateral movements, and maybe trying some jumping, but that's hard to do when you don't have the time or money to work with a trainer. I'm a decent rider, but when it comes to teaching the horse these new things I tend to lack confidence.
When we moved to Orlando last year I decided to let one of the teenagers at our last barn do some work with him... she had a ton of knowledge and experience with hunters, but no money to lease or own a horse, and I needed someone who wasn't afraid to break her neck if he refused a jump... yes that would be me... its true you really do loose some nerve when you get older and things just don't heal as quickly if you get yourself broken.
So for a few months Mackenna worked with him one or two days a week, but usually when I wasn't around thanks to a crazy work schedule. I never got to see her jump him, and I only tried jumping him over a very small cross rail myself maybe once or twice. I never really tested him out...
Until today anyways. I started longing him over trot polls which I knew he could handle. The nifty thing about being at a decent size barn mostly focused on hunters is that unlike my last two barns they have a decent set of jumps and equipment including stackable plastic jump standards which make longing a horse over a jump much easier because there is nothing to get in the way of the longe line...
So bright idea number two... set up some small jumps and see what happens of course!
Unfortunately being the only person there means no pictures of us jumping, but here are the pictures of the jumps...Ok I know... small... maybe a foot if that, but it was a huge step forward for us & I am excited!
To my surprise and delight he handled them easily & actually seemed to be having some fun! I did not get on to try jumping them in saddle... figured I would save that for a day when other people were around the barn just in case I manage to break my neck, but I was really really happy with the little experiment today!
Where we currently board I have the opportunity to work off part of my board and some lessons so you can bet we will be getting back into the swing of things... maybe stop going in circles and actually make some progress this summer! I am excited about the possibilities and of course we'll share the new experiences here! Hey look at me I'm actually keeping up with a blog for a change!
Until next time x0x0
Rio & Sam
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