Funny and I headed to Ashland for our jump lesson today. We were not early enough to do any hacking before so we had to walk straight up to the arena. And she was explosive feeling!! Jacel had gotten to ride Jean's new horse so she was coming down to the trailer to untack him while I was walking up. So we had to wait a few minutes, which was fine. But since Funny felt so explosive I was torn... I wasn't sure if I should just walk and let her breathe... or go ahead and give her feet something to do. I felt like the second choice was the smarter one, so we picked up the trot. And... she was lovely! So lovely that I was even brave and picked up the canter! We had a very nice (short) warm up and she was breathing and soft and not super quick, so we took a minute to just walk and get praised and then Jacel was ready for us.
It was a great lesson. We worked on getting a more collected uphill canter over some canter poles. I had to sit deep and hold a little bit to get her to shorten. Then we got that and then added a bounce of small crossrails. For that, I had to allow her to get slightly bigger. Do NOT send her!! Ha ha. Lyric I can send, and have to send... Funny, just allow! That's plenty! Hee hee. So then we got that and added a grid of poles to a small vertical. That meant we had to go back to the smaller more collected canter. Then we added a V pole vertical, which was meant to be done in the slightly bigger canter. Then we added a vertical with a placing pole, which was a smaller canter. And finally we finished with an oxer, out of a more forward canter. So... the course was slowly built up, but it worked on ridability. The smaller canter to the bigger more forward canter and then back to the smaller canter. And she was soooo good! She was much more ridable in general, but I did have to remember to not hold! I can't use two hands at once. I have to alternate my half halts and make sure I'm releasing and not holding. If I'm kind... she's kind of kind back. Ha ha. She really was trying though. And there was no naughty behavior - just a bit fussy at times. She was also mostly ridable and ratable. A few times she would make a bid for the jumps, but mostly she was willing to let me "hold" her back a bit. In fact, when we did the big oxer at the end she even backed herself off, rocked back, and jumped it nicely without me having to do much more than half halt! Smart girl!
So, throughout my lesson, we talked about accountability. I have to hold her accountable. I baby her too much. I started the ride by asking... and she only gave me 25%. Nope.. that's not good enough my dear. You need to give me 100%. Because 25% is going to get us hurt. 25% isn't going to make a prelim 3 day horse. I have to show her (and politely insist) that she gives me at least 85%. I have to show her how to be a good horse... a good safe athlete. And then, we can have fun!! I don't have to force it or be awful about it, but I need to not let her get away with mediocre. She's not a mediocre horse. So I have to hold her (and myself) accountable and encourage her to get better/more ridable/safer/etc. And then, she can really shine!
I did have time to do a short hack after and we saw some deer!
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