She's so freakin' smart!
So... after our last jump lesson with the angled jump woes, I decided to try again today. It was so stupid hot today. Like... so much hotter than it has been, so I only rode one horse today! I didn't get up super early, but honestly, it's more humid first thing in the morning it seems like anyways. But I'm definitely glad I rode and was done when I was because it was still brutal. Plus, Funny and I were bored of flatting... and she needed some time in the woods! So.. we headed to Ashland and I booked the jump arena.
We got there at 9:30 and it was already getting toasty but we tacked up and headed out to the trails. We hacked around heron lake and down to the XC field and then headed out to XC. I figured we might as well walk up and down the banks and do the ditches and water on our way to stadium. She walked down the small bank without hesitating. Good girl. And then back up it and then down and up the big bank. No hesitations. Yay! We then walked over the ditches and then trotted right into the water. However, when I went to trot out the up bank, she stopped. And hard. And far back. Seriously Funny?? It's tiny!! I walked her up to, despite some sideways flingings on her part, and she went up it. Then we came down it fine. Then we went back in and went up the other bank, which was a little smoother. And then we went back and trotted in the water and up both banks and it was fine. Except... she seems kind of nervous about them. It almost feels like she can't quite judge how far to take off so she almost panics and throws herself at them. But she's taking such a long spot that it feels a little bit like she might miss and not get her front feet up and faceplant. Which... is kind of terrifying! I came back again and made her walk the small one and tried to keep her closer to the base, and it was a hair better. But hmmm... I'm not sure how to address this. I'll ask Jacel and Liz, but that's definitely something to work on. (Later I talked to Liz and she mentioned that those banks at Ashland aren't very well delineated and small enough that they are kind of hard to judge, but.. I also feel like maybe she's a little bit off at the non-water bank too.. just felt like that was more boldness but now I wonder if it's more insecurity?).Anyways... after that we trotted up to stadium.
And perfect! The jumps were set low. Maybe 18". Maybe one 2' or so. So we warmed up and we actually had a lovely trot! She was quite fancy. And we got some nice leg yield too, especially when I let go of the inside rein. ;) We cantered a bit and then we jumped a cross rail. And then I took her over the small vertical correclty and then we came at it from a steep angle. At the trot. She ran out. Which... fair enough.. I didn't quite close the door and I was way too steep to start. So we came at it a few more times with less angle but still angled and she got it and was jumping. And then I made it slightly steeper and she still got it. So then we moved to another fence and she was like "ohhhhh, okay.. I understand the question". And so then I strung a few together. They weren't quite a straight line with steep angles because of how they were set. So I had to arc some but overall, it was stil slicing and dicing! She was so good. There was also a line of 4 jumps set up and we popped over those. But holy cow.. ha ha.. She got WAY too big and long (or the striding was awful) and she boing boing boinged her way through on half strides! Ha ha.. I'm guessing it was a one stride, to a two stride to a three stride, and I'm guessing we did a 1.5 to a 1 to a 2 stride. Doh! We came again and I held her more and it was better but still super tight. We played with a few more angled lines and then I set them up slightly. Maybe 2'3". Nothing crazy. And we did some more angled lines and she was perfect! Well, she got quick, but once I rode and insisted she stay smaller, she did. Probably not small enough, but... smaller for sure. Good pony!!
After that, we were both hot. She was blowing hard too. It wasn't even THAT hot.. just so dang humid! So we went to the woods and hacked a little bit. We walked in the shade to the lake and I was hoping she's splash and paw some but she didn't. She did walk in and sniff the water.. then sort of spooked/snorted at the water... Silly! But she didn't try to roll. We headed out and took racoon loop back up to the field and then cut back across XC to get back into the woods in the shade. It was actually quite lovely in the woods. There was a great breeze, which was odd. Maybe there was a breeze in the field too but the sun was so hot it made it not noticeable.
We headed back and she got a nice long shower. And then she kept licking the hose water again. I tried with a bucket of fresh cold water and she licked the water a few times but never drank. She's so weird!
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