Today was a good day. I felt like I actually knew how to ride and Funny felt like such a professional. We had a last minute lesson with Kelly Eaton at Ashland. I was sad we didn't get to cross country school with Jacel yesterday. The weather was threatening to be awful but ended up being quite nice, but we had already postponed til next weekend. But with the rains on Friday, the footing was kind of perfect for schooling. So when Kelly texted me Saturday that she was teaching, I jumped at the chance. And luckily she could get me in early so I could still go to the lake for Mothers Day! YAY!
We got there at 8, for our 8:15 lesson. Oops. But we managed to trot onto the XC field at 8:18, so not too bad. It was so good to see Kelly again! I warmed up and even cantered and Funny was fairly ridable. Quick and big strided but not feral. Kelly reminded me to keep my elbows at my side, my hands wide, and to not be so stiff in my neck and back. I know, but my neck isn't real happy right now. She said that I also needed a bit more contact (ie.. not a loop in the reins). Mostly to be a boundary. Not to direct or control, but that if Funny went rogue (which she can quickly do) I didn't have so much lag time in my response by having to gather up the reins first. Legit. And I could still be soft and following with elastic elbows (at my side!).
So then she told me to pick out a few jumps and pop over them. So we did. Funny was quick and the first one or two I held and she deer jumped them, but then we settled into a rhythm. I still had a soft connection but was giving, but... I did have a connection. She told me that she'll eventually get happier with it. (I know... trust me.. I know! We've only been working on it for 6 months, but.. it is better!).
So then we went to the banks and played with those. She had me trot them and Funny actually trotted!! We worked on me not tipping my chest forward on the down banks and keeping my butt in the saddle so that she didn't launch. She also had me "scrunch" her trot up before the down bank and sit the trot. That kept the trot small and put Funny more on her haunches and leaving the bank with both hind feet together vs launched off a single hind foot. If she launches off a single hind foot, she lands on the forehand and is crooked and... while it's fine now... eventually we will have to land and do a short related distance to a skinny, so we'll need that engagement and straightness. We got better at it and Funny didn't seem to mind it too much. Yay!
Then we went to the ditches and she was brave and trotted them just fine. So we played with those and did the same principles and then she had us do the ditch to the hanging log and it was lovely. I believe Kelly said "textbook" a few times. :) And, yes, she's so encouraging and kind, but it really did feel like Funny was just clocking around like a schoolmaster.
We moved onto the water and Funny cruised right in at the trot.. no hesitation. Yay! So we did the up bank out three times. The first time she left rather long and I threw my shoulders at her. Kelly had told me to ride it more "collected" and wait for her. She told me not to change my ride at all and try again. And this time Funny got a much closer take off spot. We rewarded her and then came a third time and this time she nailed it. She's so smart! So then we trotted down it... sitting the trot and scrunching it up, and she was awesome. So then we cantered a jump, then into the water, and out over the roll top. (Which.. ha ha.. I didn't tell Kelly we had done yesterday farting around in the water). She was lovely and took a slight flyer to it, but I asked her to because we didn't quite have room. She moved right up though for me. Nice! So then we did it backwards and she was bold and jumped the roll top and then cantered right on into the water without hesitating. And then we made a nice smooth arc to the table. Kelly said it was lovely and beautiful but if she had to nitpick it... I should have sent her a little bit more forward through the turn so it was a bit smoother. So we did it again and fixed it.
So then she asked if I wanted to do anything else and I said that I wanted to jump big things but didn't think I needed to today. She was so good and so ridable (mostly... a few moments of head tossing and sass) and there was no real rush to jump big things, so... Kelly told me to walk over to the corner. Yay! Ha ha.. Except no... she didn't want us to jump the corner... she wanted us to jump the brushy thing around to the water and then over the bigger rolltop. Oh! ha ha... Okay. So we did that and as Funny came up to the big roll top, it looked big to me! And she felt a little flat and strung out. I thought I half halted at the last second so Funny added and took a very awkward jump as she really didn't have room for that last stride. Kelly said that it wasn't me... she even had video and rechecked and said she didn't see me tug. So yay me. She thought Funny was just a little tired and needed some leg. So we did it again, and sure enough, I closed my leg and she jumped it nicely! Yay! So we quit with that. We talked about how I should pay attention to when Funny starts to feel fatigued.. is it jump 8? Jump 15? And realize that I'll have to support her more with my leg. Kelly did laugh and say I probably wouldn't in the beginning of the course as Funny was quite forward without my added leg. Ha ha. Right?!? But it was a good point. I can't just rely on Funny to carry me over things without giving her a little help when she needs it. The tricky part is that if I help her too soon she gets mad at me, but if I don't help her when she needs it, we could get into trouble. But, I think I'll figure that out pretty quickly. I just need to maybe remember that when I feel her get strung out...I need to ADD LEG in addition to my half halt.
So yes... a great morning!! Funny just felt so professional the whole morning. Like... there wasn't much for Kelly to comment on... other than nitpicky things. And maybe that's just me being cocky.. .maybe Kelly was secretly gasping at the awfulness! Ha ha... No... It really felt like such a smooth nice ride! Like... a very ridable and enjoyable ride. And I do think it was. Funny's stepping up to the plate!
Afterwards, I had some time so we took a nice walk around and went to the lake. I was going to let her splash (but not roll) but she wasn't interested. So we hacked back home. Good pony!!!
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