Saf has had a fairly easy time of it really. Well, an easy time for a Saffy anyway! She's been having quite a few days off because of work etc so she's been quite lively to work. I put a triple up on Saturday, starting as just poles on the ground. She was being a bit of a moose at first and having a hissy fit about being made to walk over poles. She soon settled though and began to work properly. We built it up to 1 jump, then 2, then the triple. I was quite nervous because I had jumped a triple the week before and managed to fall off. Although I wasn't hurt and I got straight back on, my stupid mind had been mulling over it and of course I'd decided that was going to happen every time I tried to jump a combination. Grrr. Good thing was though I had my friend with me who was shouting at me that Saf was more than capable etc. The daft thing is, I don't let my worries stop me from doing stuff, I just argue with the voices in my head! So it's good to have someone shouting louder than those voices. Needless to say, with more confident riding Saffy flew through the combination and we didn't have a single refusal.
After a couple of days off and some flatwork (to which she was completely disinterested...she was powering around the school in a lovely jumping canter..shame we were aiming for steady and dressage-y) I decided to put some canter poles out with one set of wings today. She was a star :) The canter poles took a couple of tries but she managed it perfectly once she remembered she had 4 legs. I put a piddly little cross up at the end of the line of poles and she wobbled her way upto it but, and it's a big but, didn't stop! We came round a few more times and it was much more stylish. I put it up to a straight and suddenly got nervous again. It wasn't big, but my mind was saying 'it's a straight, it looks different, she'll stop'.
About 4 strides out she backed off my leg. Suddenly everything went into slow motion. My mind was saying 'she's going to stop and try and jump it from a standstill...it's too big for her to jump from a standstill without a massive catleap...you'll fall off'. Somehow my body was functioning without my brain and I kicked her on and gave her a tap with the whip. Two strides out and she literally got the bit between her teeth and went 'mother, sod off and let me do it my way' and she flew it like an absolute pro. It felt amazing! My baby pony, sorting us both out. On landing I tried to say 'good girl' but it came out as a bit of a squeak. I was so happy :) We went over it a couple more times and she was foot perfect.
So now we have our transport (Mabel!) and she's showing me *she* can be (and wants to be if her flatwork performance was anything to go by!) a showjumper, even if I'm having confidence issues. I'm quite proud of myself for pushing myself through it though and I'm really looking forward to getting back to the level of confidence I had last summer.
Show season starts Sunday! Better pull the flatwork out of the bag :)
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Lesson Number 3
So today was our 3rd lesson with eventer lady 
It was a lovely day and I was looking forward to it. I always seem to get good results in her lessons.
We started with an exercise on a circle where there was a little jump at 3 o'clock then a pole on the floor at 12, 6 and 9. We then progressed to have the same but with 'half' cross poles at 12 and 6 (as in, one wing one pole) to encourage her to land on the correct leg. We tried it a couple of times and she was really powering round and getting her striding spot on
The next exercise had the beginnings of a grid set up. On the right rein there was a big cross on one long side, coming round to a triple. There were 2 poles one stride apart then 2 strides to a small vertical. She went over that ok both reins but I really needed to focus on the quality of the canter. She flies them fine if I set her up right and push her on, otherwise she loses impulsion and jumps like I imagine a llama would
After a couple of goes over that the grid went up so there were 3 jumps rather than poles. On the right rein it was a straight and then 2 oxers. She went over it fine when I rode her forward. It felt great when she met every jump at the right stride We then changed the rein and changed the combination slightly.
It started with a cross, followed by an oxer then a vertical. As we came to it I felt her back off a few strides out. I sent her on but obviously not enough. She took a massive flyer over the first, sending me skywards. I should've sat up straight away, but my muscles don't respond all that quickly to brain commands I was tipped far too far forward so when she stopped at the 2nd I came off. Didn't do much damage, although I'm aching a bit now. I'll live! I got straight back on (with a bit of effort..legs had been replaced with jelly) and brought her back round to do it again. She stopped at the first 
I brought her back round again and pony club kicked as if my life depended on it She threw herself over the first, plodded to the 2nd and managed the 3rd. We were through it, but it wasn't pretty
So round we came again. Again she slowed and jumped it llama-style. I was pleased she was going down the line without trying to stop or run out, but it definitely wasn't glamorous. My instructor said to wait a few minutes, get our breath back and try again if I wanted. I didn't want to stop until we got it right! We got our breath back and got our quality canter going before popping the big cross on one long side. We carried on to the grid and although she went through it all in canter, it wasn't particularly fluid. I kept her going back over the cross and then to the grid again. I was ready for her this time (had only taken me 100 attempts) and had her charging forward as if we were going into battle! She flew through the whole thing, foot perfect 
I felt like we'd just gone double clear at HOYS
So that was our lesson! I really enjoyed it and once again it's given us plenty to work on. In a way, I'm strangely glad I fell off. It wasn't dramatic and I wasn't particularly hurt (landed on the softest part of me
). I'm hoping it will help with my confidence. What am I scared of? Falling off apparently. But then, actually falling off isn't always too bad.
It was a lovely day and I was looking forward to it. I always seem to get good results in her lessons.We started with an exercise on a circle where there was a little jump at 3 o'clock then a pole on the floor at 12, 6 and 9. We then progressed to have the same but with 'half' cross poles at 12 and 6 (as in, one wing one pole) to encourage her to land on the correct leg. We tried it a couple of times and she was really powering round and getting her striding spot on
The next exercise had the beginnings of a grid set up. On the right rein there was a big cross on one long side, coming round to a triple. There were 2 poles one stride apart then 2 strides to a small vertical. She went over that ok both reins but I really needed to focus on the quality of the canter. She flies them fine if I set her up right and push her on, otherwise she loses impulsion and jumps like I imagine a llama would
After a couple of goes over that the grid went up so there were 3 jumps rather than poles. On the right rein it was a straight and then 2 oxers. She went over it fine when I rode her forward. It felt great when she met every jump at the right stride
We then changed the rein and changed the combination slightly.It started with a cross, followed by an oxer then a vertical. As we came to it I felt her back off a few strides out. I sent her on but obviously not enough. She took a massive flyer over the first, sending me skywards. I should've sat up straight away, but my muscles don't respond all that quickly to brain commands
I was tipped far too far forward so when she stopped at the 2nd I came off. Didn't do much damage, although I'm aching a bit now. I'll live! I got straight back on (with a bit of effort..legs had been replaced with jelly) and brought her back round to do it again. She stopped at the first I brought her back round again and pony club kicked as if my life depended on it She threw herself over the first, plodded to the 2nd and managed the 3rd. We were through it, but it wasn't pretty So round we came again. Again she slowed and jumped it llama-style. I was pleased she was going down the line without trying to stop or run out, but it definitely wasn't glamorous. My instructor said to wait a few minutes, get our breath back and try again if I wanted. I didn't want to stop until we got it right! We got our breath back and got our quality canter going before popping the big cross on one long side. We carried on to the grid and although she went through it all in canter, it wasn't particularly fluid. I kept her going back over the cross and then to the grid again. I was ready for her this time (had only taken me 100 attempts
) and had her charging forward as if we were going into battle! She flew through the whole thing, foot perfect I felt like we'd just gone double clear at HOYS So that was our lesson! I really enjoyed it and once again it's given us plenty to work on. In a way, I'm strangely glad I fell off. It wasn't dramatic and I wasn't particularly hurt (landed on the softest part of me
). I'm hoping it will help with my confidence. What am I scared of? Falling off apparently. But then, actually falling off isn't always too bad.
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