Jump day for UK!

UK had a great deal of fun today. My friend, Sabrina, jumped him around for me. A veteran of the jumper circuit I knew he'd be in good hands. She was a bit worried as she hadn't done anything other then crossrails in quite a long time (cowboy mounted shooting is her current thing). I wasn't worried though, as Sabrina rides  her horses very well.

She started out jumping 2'3" mostly to warm up and get a feel for him. She jumped ahead a few times but eventually started to get a feel for mister booger. I'd set up a line with two verticals, a stand alone plank vertical, barrels on one diagonal, oxer on the other diagonal, and the brush roll in the middle of the ring.

One of their warm-up jumps. 

UK was a rockstar. Even when Sabrina jumped ahead, or if she dropped him a little bit (her leg kept slipping  because he's narrow and her stirrups were a bit long), UK would compensate to the best of his ability and just do his job; just like I trained him to. The above picture is a good example, Sabrina jumped ahead and UK adjusted and still jumped it clear. 

On their way to the next jump in the line.

So this photo was taken seconds after the previous one. Sabrina recovered and UK locked on to the next jump and they did it beautifully. 

Look at those knees!!!

After they'd jumped everything once or twice I put everything up to 2'9" so UK would actually put in some effort (he gets bored with anything smaller then 2'6"ish as he's gotten a bit cocky). More adjustments ensued, and I gave Sabrina some tips to get what she wanted out of him. 

Brush jump.

Roll back turn to the oxer.

Got a bit deep to the barrels, oops!

Brush off the other lead. 

The more they jumped the better they got. UK went nice and forward and as a result he did two flying changes!!!!!!! I was practically jumping up and down with joy as a result, as I've only just started teaching them to him. 

So much improvement!

I'd flatted him twice this week in preparation, making sure to work on balance and straightness, and then popped him over a few jumps the night before. It's one thing to jump him around myself, but with no one to take pictures or video I have no way of seeing just how well we're doing. So it was nice to see him go around so well for someone else. It's a good feeling to know that 2 years of hard work are paying off!

And now for video of the last set of jumps they did. Sabrina and I wanted him to do the line one last time, then she just threw jumps at him (listen for her "think fast!" as she decides to suddenly do a bending line). 

UK will get at least a couple of days off as a reward, and as I have work all day tomorrow, and then stuff to do Monday.