As promised!

 I'm not sure who had more fun this morning.. me or Funs!! We FINALLY got to go run and jump! 

 

We got to Ashland for our XC lesson with Laura this morning. And Jo came along to watch too. Yay!! We headed down to cross country and did some trotting. Laura cantered.. I didn't bother. :) Then Jacel had us warm up over a small log and a small coop. Funny was excited and bold and very forward. And I got handsy. Jacel told me to ride her barrel instead. Push her out in the turns, leg yield in and out essentially to the base of the fence. Which.. is a little intimidating! BUT.. it kept me out of her face, which made her happy. And then she doesn't fight back. So... I tried! And it does work. Quite nicely. We just... are jumping at prelim speed and pace, but... it's balanced, so... it works. 

 

We moved on to some bigger jumps and did the bank. It was nice because Jacel had us do a handful in a row, which was helpful! And made it more fun for everyone. One jump at a time gets aggravating and makes them either super rushy because they can't settle or super annoyed and unable to get in a groove. Or both. We did the down bank and the fake ditch and wall thing. Then I asked if we could do the up bank because of our issue with it. So she had me do it at the trot and leg yield her in and out as we came up to it. It helped!

Then we did a few in the field. She had me do the triple log to the roll top (which might have been a training level roll top) and then around to the corner. Yay! I took one tug too many so we chipped at the roll top. Ugh. Whoops. But then I leg yielded and did my half halt and then released and she was almost perfect over the corner. We were maybe a little too far right, so it was wider. But.. she was lovely. 

Then we headed over to the water and did some fun stuff there. We did the down bank and some other fun things. And then Jacel had us do the tiger trap, cut into the water, then back out and over the skinny chevron. So we did... and I leg yielded her rather than grabbing her face and... I'm not sure she knew she was jumping it until the very last second, but she did it.. boldly and bravely! Good girl. We were going to head over to the ditches, but I asked to jump the up bank out of the water to practice. The first time she left longer than I wanted, but the second time it was better. I tried to leg yield her and stay strong in my core and half halt but not hang. Jacel suggested that I just trot her up it nonchalantly every time I'm out here. Yep.. that's the plan!

We headed to the banks to finish and we skipped the upright very vertical skinny. Jacel said she didn't like that jump.. it wasn't kind and was awkward. I agree. It's not like we're prepping for prelim or anything crazy! Nothing is even coming up soon. So phew! But we did do the slightly offset coffin, which was easy peasy. 

After that Laura and I hacked to the lake for a little splash and then headed back. It was so nice to hang out with her and Smarty again. I've missed them. And it was so nice to get back out on cross country and to get to do big kid stuff. Funny was thrilled too! She was so ridable today. Oh, and I asked Jacel about my seat. I told her I was working on staying closer to the saddle and she said that whatever I was doing.. .to keep doing it. Because I was more balanced and connected looking and Funny seemed to like it. Yay! I do think it helped me keep my hands lower too. Of course, so does leg yielding. Funny felt very big and powerful and bold today, but she felt more balanced, even within her big open stride. Laura said she was jumping better than ever too and even when she got long and open, she didn't look strung out or on the forehand. YAY!! So much fun!!

 

And... like usual... yesterdays ride and todays ride confirmed what I already know. Stop getting in her face. I need to stop worrying about her being "on contact" and just let her be soft in her body. I can ride her body without riding her face.