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.