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.

I think spring may actually be here... Shocking!

It was beautiful today!

Hard to believe just last week we had single digit temperatures! Oh New England and it's ever changing weather!

The Wednesday after that last entry, I jumped UK again and used him to help Stef learn how to relax and let jumps come to her. UK was very patient while she worked on her position while trotting crossrails. I jumped him over verticals, and we did more simple changes. Even though we got some awesome weather after that, I didn't get to ride. I had a nasty cold/flu thing that I preceded to battle for two weeks straight. I managed to lunge UK on one of the better days, but other then that he had a little vacation.

Then this week I rode him more, doing flatwork on the barn's dirt driveway (ring was a lake, and the field wasn't much better), as it's a gradual hill. Lots of trot work! UK then tried to get me to take him on a trail ride by heading to the trail head while we were walking out on the road. I would have loved to, but I had other places to be. Damn normal life getting in the way of my riding time!

Today, as I'd forgotten my cell phone (which I will not trail ride without), I tacked UK up english and took him in the ring. I'd set up two verticals, one on each diagonal, a single barrel as a skinny jump with nothing on the sides, and there was a crossrail on the outside line. We warmed up and started by trotting the crossrail, which the red horse insisted on actually jumping because he was so excited. He was a very feisty pony! At least it was happy feisty, and not rebellious feisty!

We did the crossrail at the trot the other way, and then cantered one of the verticals. Then we did the barrel at the trot, and he never even considered running out! So I gave him major praise and we didn't do it again. Next was our other vertical, which had some shadows in front of it. UK decided to jump those too, which made the thing about three feet wide, and he jumped it like it was 3'6". Boy does he have a rocket pack for a rear end! I stayed with him, granted a bit behind the motion, but I stayed on and didn't hit his mouth or anything, despite the serious airtime I had! UK then realized he'd oopsed a bit, and got a little nervous. I calmed him down, and assured him it was okay, and we went back and did it again, this time jumping it's actual 2'3" height.

I made us a simple course, and we were doing great, until UK decided that rather then stopping at it's end we should really keep going and do them all again. He'd been so good lately that I've been jumping him without a standing martingale. Well, after some irritated head tossing because he didn't want to stop, I think we'll be bringing it back for awhile.

Well his freshness meant no more courses, and that we'd wrap things up by jumping a jump and halting in a straight line, relaxing, walking, and then we'd do another jump. He found this hugely unfair but eventually got the idea.

Overall I was rather pleased, as even when he was frisky, he'd still settle down and keep a consistent pace to each jump, only getting fast after landing, which is an easy fix. I think we'll do more halting, and then work up to lines where we halt in the middle to teach him to wait. We'll do either flatwork, lunging, or a trailride tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how my non-horse things go.  

We jumped!

The last few days of warm and sunny weather thawed our outdoor ring to the point that it'd gotten a bit muddy. However, muddy meant the ground wasn't frozen solid for once! So instead of riding western and trail riding like we usually would do, I tacked Mister Yuke up english and set up a couple jumps in the ring. 

We'd been doing a lot of bareback work (for my benefit, as bareback is even more of a workout then no-stirrups) with collecting and extending, circles, bending, etc. So I didn't bother doing a lot of flatting before getting to work (also, I have low energy reserves because I'm sick. Again.). UK and I haven't jumped since the beginning of December, so I wasn't entirely sure how he'd react. Would he get excited? Or would he stop? I had no idea, and he's never had that long of a break before. 

Well, all my worrying was for nothing. UK was excellent. First we trotted a little crossrail, and he popped over it nice and neatly. We did it again, cantering away after landing, doing some canter work on the right lead, simple change across the diagonal and then back to trot to do the crossrail off the left. After we cantered the crossrail off the left, we did some canter work that direction and then another simple change back across the diagonal. We walked half the ring then we trotted the vertical (2ft or 2'3" ish), then we cantered it, then the same thing the other direction. As soon as we landed after cantering the vertical one last time, we walked, halted, and I hopped off, so we could walk out together. 

When UK is truly excellent I get off quickly, praise him, and loosen his girth right away, so he learns that doing his job right the first time means we finish quicker and he has to work less. This approach has really worked for him, as it makes it very clear that he won't be forced to do the same thing over and over again (which is why he used to be miserable doing western pleasure). 

It was so nice to get to ride my horse over some jumps again! I love jumping so much, and it's even more enjoyable when my horse loves it too!

Another major milestone passed!

UK jumped his first real course earlier this evening! It's the first time he's had more then a line to do in one go.
We had an outside line, two jumps on separate diagonal lines, and a jump on the other outside line with the plank rails he hated so much that he refused to jump them if they were more then six inches off the ground until now.

We did a couple of different courses and didn't have any major problems. He even did a bending line! All of the jumps were 2'3" or 2'6" and he jumped them all like they were no big deal. I also didn't do much more then set the pace and let him figure out the rest on his own. That's when he really impressed me! He never took the big one!!!! He waited and balanced himself with no cue from me!!! I am so proud!

He's still a little bit wiggly down the lines, but otherwise he's improved by miles these last couple of months. I can angle the jump and he doesn't care. Our only problems stemmed from landing on the wrong lead and not wanting to slow down to do a simple change because he was so excited about jumping. Which means I need to start teaching him flying changes.... argh. I hate flying changes.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get him out in the back field to jump the jumps out there. I need to where the spurs for that though, which means I need new spur straps. I broke the buckle on one this afternoon.

Oh and we're doing a hunter pace weekend after next! No turning back now! I'm nervous and excited and totally over-thinking it. But we'll be fine, we're going with Jean on Maggie and Gail on Bubba. A bomb could go off next to Bubba and he wouldn't care.

Okay, need some sleep! Toodles!

Dressage practice and corners!

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I sort of married into a dressage family. Both my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law do dressage. Then Betsy who owned the barn where I had UK before was a dressage rider, as well as my friend Kristy who owns Dacharia. I felt a bit outnumber to be honest, as I have always considered myself a huntseat/equitation rider.

Anyways, the reason I'm pointing this out is when it comes to dressage as a sport I'm really rather clueless. I can watch and evaluate just fine, as I know a lot of dressage as flatwork, but competing in dressage is a whole other ball game. I did drill team and I know where the basic dressage letters are, but other then that I'm just not up to par. Considering I want to event with UK, I really need to learn how to do a dressage test. So I asked my sister-in-law, Amy, to come to the barn last Saturday and give me some help.

We never got around to practicing an actual test because it dawned on me that I didn't know exactly how big a 20 meter circle was. So we mostly practiced those after warming UK up. Plus I didn't want him too tired because Amy was going to ride him for a little bit after me.

The other big change was I decided to ride in spurs. UK actually didn't seem to mind them, and was much more willing to listen to the spurs then listen to a crop/whip. He's a lot of work on flat, he really needs leg every step of the trot and canter. He's very responsive but tends to want to suck back more then move forward because of his western training as a baby. And as I'm still not exactly at peak physical condition I could use the extra help.

UK has no trouble tracking forward, which is why we now use bell boots.

Look at the muscles!

Amy getting a lovely working trot from UK.

UK's still weaker to the right, but he has improved. We can go straight without dropping our shoulder now, and even have a fairly balanced circle if I give him lots of help. All the bending and stretching has done wonders for his confidence. He's much more willing to try new things because he knows he's stronger now.

Amy finished her ride on him by trotting over some poles someone left in the ring.

So I lunged UK on tuesday and ended up lunging him over a jump as well. It wasn't a regular jump either, it was a corner! Using two barrels, I lay them down and put a pole on each end, then had the poles resting on safety cones so it all made a triangle. I let UK take a good look at it and then asked him to trot it. He did it every time, and never tried to run out! In fact he was enjoying himself so much he kept jumping the widest part, clearing it by at least a foot. After that display I decided that purchasing a neck strap might be a very good idea.

It rained for three days straight, so he got them off to chill in his shed with LD. The rain stopped yesterday afternoon, finally, and I went up to ride. He didn't have a whole lot of energy so I just flatted him lightly, and then decided to jump the crossrail that someone had left up in the ring. My corner jump hadn't fallen down, so I asked him to jump it tracking right (I always start out jumping off his bad direction as it gives him confidence). He did it great! We trotted it again, and then cantered it a couple times, switched directions and did it off the left just as well! I was able to point him right at the end of it and he never tried to run out. I'm ridiculously proud of my little paint horse!

I hope to do some more jumping with him tomorrow! 

Okay, I'm overdue for an update. Sorry!

There has been a lot going on lately. UK's been pretty good. I've been alternating between english and western (mostly for my own comfort). After forcing him to work hard in the round pen a couple weeks ago he's been pretty much back to his normal self and less of a rebellious teenager.

The biggest change has been in what bit I use when I ride him over fences. Normally I rode him in the same bit that I flatted him in: a full cheek three piece snaffle with a copper roller. Last week I decided to see how he'd be in my full cheek slow twist snaffle, as when he'd get excited or fresh I felt like he was able to ignore the bit. Boy! What a difference! I swear that a full cheek slow twist snaffle is the ultimate bit for any downhill horse. It's got just the right amount of twist to get their attention and be able to stop them.

The first time I rode him in the slow twist he was shocked. He'd gotten strong after jumping a vertical and tried to pull and demand that I let him do what I want. I closed my legs and my hand and he went "OMG WHAT WAS THAT?!?!" and slowed down and went back into a frame. I actually felt a bit bad for him as he was that surprised. But I wasn't about to go back to less bit as this bit really kept him from trying to sneak sideways.

I jumped him again today, in the slow twist, and he was fantastic!!! I'd flatted him the night before and he'd been a bit off (I found out that he'd had a rough night) so I wasn't going to demand too much from him. I let him know from the get-go that if he was good then we'd be done quickly.

I've been setting up a pole 9feet in front of our verticals to help him not try to always take the "big one". The bounce poles have really been making him think, and he's starting to understand what I'm trying to teach him. He only messed up once, getting distracted and then doing an "oh crap" jump when he realized there was a bounce pole he had to navigate. He jumped from the pole and over the vertical and cleared both, good thing I'm in better shape or I wouldn't have been able to keep up with him! I let him know it was okay and then picked up the canter again and went right back to it, he got it right that time. We finished with jumping an oxer a few times and making him wait, rather then take the big one again. His biggest problem is he knows he can jump the smaller jumps with very little effort and tries to be lazy and take the long distances in order to jump the jumps sooner.

What I realized tonight was how happy he got after jumping something successfully. I'd tell him he was a good boy after landing and he'd be all happy and energetic, wanting to keep going and jump more rather then take a break and walk. He wasn't jigging or anything, but I could feel how ready he was. Really made me proud at how far he has come.

We were only in the ring for maybe 15 minutes tonight, there was no point in making him do more when he kept learning and doing what I asked. We went for a walk outside the ring and then he got to chill and graze for a bit before I put him back in his paddock with LD.

If he could perform at a show like he did in the ring tonight, we could have won every green hunter class I could ride him in.... He was that good. I love that I don't have to fight him or have a lot of contact to get my message through (that was Tess, she always thought she knew better). I have soft hands, and I prefer light contact in the reins at all times, as I prefer to use my legs more then anything. It is so nice to have a horse that is willing to respect that.

Well, let's see what tomorrow brings.... (hopefully I'll be able to take him over some XC jumps before winter!)

Insomnia makes for late night updates

My husband has been in Maine since Tuesday morning. Guess who hasn't gotten any decent sleep since then? I'm wide awake at the moment, I know I need to sleep but my body isn't cooperating. I don't begrudge Neil his vacation, but I do look forward to his return home tomorrow.... or should I say later today. Heh.

UK has pretty much settled in at the new barn. He's got all sorts of new girlfriends and hates being parted from them. I think I'm going to have to do something about that soon, as his screaming for them while I try to brush him is getting old.

He's also done with the doxy, thank goodness. Wednesday was his last dose of the yellow stuff, which is good as the coffee grinder was about to bite the big one.

His energy level is still recovering, but otherwise he's starting to get back to normal. Each time I ride him he gets just a little bit better, and that's all I ask for. We've pretty much stuck to the ring, as I wanted to get his confidence back before we tried anything new. This approach seems to be working, as we finally made it down the driveway bareback last week without rearing. He struggled and we doubled back a few times but in the end we made it all the way. I'm hand walking him everywhere too, forcing him to go new places constantly.

Undersaddle he's been pretty excellent. Like I said before, he doesn't have much energy but while he has some we make the most of it. The ring at the new barn is much larger then the one at Betsy's, which is nice as we can really work on going straight at the canter now. He tends to be less balanced when tracking right, so we've been doing a lot of work that way, just trying to keep him even. It's starting to pay off!

Before I get on him we play with a couple of the jumps in the ring. UK didn't want to jump some barrels so I started walking over them and making him follow me. We do the same thing with the big round plastic brush jump. Now he'll pop over them from a standstill without a second thought.

UK viewing the barrels we just jumped.

Thursday all that prep work paid off, as UK jumped the barrels undersaddle from the trot, twice. We trotted up to them and he stopped the first time, got smacked on the butt and then we tried again. He almost chickened out again, but then sucked it up and made a huge effort and jumped them like they were four feet high. I was prepared for this, and stayed with him no problem. Huge praise was given and I let him walk for a couple of minutes before trying again. The second time was much smoother, he still slowed down and jumped big but with less hesitation. More praise was given.

Those two big efforts wiped him out of energy so completely that he wasn't able to trot a crossrail afterwards without knocking it over. Because of that I was nice and gave him yesterday off to recover. 

I rode him tonight... I mean last night, and planned on just letting him hack around and chill. Somebody had moved everything in the ring to practice for a trail class so we played around the obstacles. One of them was a small wooden bridge that someone had put the flower boxes on it's sides to form rails. I figured UK would be terrified of this. He really wasn't. A bit cautious but he followed me right over and even walked over it with very little urging once I was on him. 

The mailbox however was terrifying and he seriously considered fleeing when I stopped him next to it and opened it from his back. Maybe he thought there was a tarp hidden inside it? Hehe! 

I pretty much rode him on the buckle the entire time, letting him have a break from all the bending and flexing we normally do. He cracks me up, as he can be so balanced on the left lead that he'll be cantering with his nose touching the ground, hind end engaged and going straight all at once and with no urging from me. Can't do that on the right lead as well yet, but we'll get there.

Because he was so good I took him for a hand walk in the woods to find the field out back where Sally said there was jumps. UK ranged from being excited and wanting to explore to leaning on me because he was nervous. Silly horse needs to make up his mind! He had no problem climbing over the small stone wall or a few fallen branches. Good to know.

Tomorrow... um, I mean later today I'm going to possibly try to go trail riding again. I'm really hoping he'll be ok just to go for a nice long walk. I'm sick of being in the ring and I know once he gets over his fear he'll love being on the trails!

So cross your fingers, knock on wood and say a prayer that UK decides to be brave and good for me!

I think this weather sucks.

Yup, I really hate it. Mid to upper 80's in May is so not okay. The bugs are killer and there is no relief from the heat. Ugh! I've been riding UK bareback as the thought of putting on half chaps makes me wince. I have never enjoyed the heat, and I doubt I will till I'm old and decrepit. 

The upside of riding him bareback (besides making my muscles work twice as hard) is that it's as close contact as you can get, so it's great for working on lateral movements! We do a lot of bending and circles, as he's still not quite balanced enough when tracking right. Counter bend seems to help him the most, and it has the added benefit of keeping him focused. 

This morning before the heat reached unbearable temperatures I lunged UK, first on a lunge line then free over a jump. He was a bit cranky at first, as Dacharia was making a big deal about me keeping him from her. I took pictures using the sport motion setting again. I love going through all the photos, it's like an animation!

Look at him bend! Look at that neck!! 

I am so very, very proud! 

He only knocked a rail down once, and it was because Dacharia distracted him and he got too deep. Other then that he was excellent. (I started him out over a crossrail oxer first before putting it up to the height in the pictures.)

:p

So that's it for now. Hopefully it will cool down soon so I can actually jump him under saddle without getting heat stroke!

Verticals, Outside Lines and Bareback

So here I sit, heatpack pinned between my shoulder and my neck in an attempt to sooth very angry muscles. The human body is a funny thing. You can crush it, maim it, and do all sorts of things to it and you manage to be just fine. My body has survived some crazy things and let me come out none the worse for wear. But then there are some days where my body just gets weird.

I have/had a lot of injuries, I'm not going to lie. I have torn my ankle, broken that same ankle, two bad knees, torn inoperable rotator cuff, broken elbow, broken arm, fractured back, fractured cheek bone, 2 or 3 broken noses and countless broken tailbones. And I feel I forgot some things...

As for my current injury, I really don't know why my muscles are so mad, I didn't do anything unusual. It started last week when I dragged the ring, I got home afterwards and the muscles started screaming. I managed to get them to calm down until last night. I'd spent the day up in Egremont, MA for the South County Riders Horse Show running The Gifted Pony tent with Robin. I got back, went to the barn and decided to hop on UK bareback to hunt for Dacharia's missing flymasks. It was really rather fantastic. We found the flymasks, and then let ourselves into the ring. We hacked around for a bit, worked through his spooks and attitude problems (they only crop up when we go bareback now). Then I got up the nerve to canter him bareback for the first time. Dacharia took off bucking and cut us off, but UK and I stayed united and enjoyed a good canter each direction. Other then grabbing his mane as a backup I didn't do much with my right arm. Yet all of a sudden while we walked around the ring my muscles from the shoulder socket up into my jaw became a line of fire.

I rode UK last week while I was still sick and he was pretty damn good. We did our first line of jumps undersaddle! Both were little verticals, and we had a crossrail on the diagonal. Our only hiccups were when I asked him to walk over the tarp... I fell off, totally my fault. My reaction time was way off as I really was too sick to ride and had jacked up my stirrups to help my ankle which was acting up.  I got his brain back and we jumped around again, then we were walking and the wind blew a jump standard down on top of the tarp. He shot sideways while dropping his shoulder and I slid right off. Both times I had landed on my hip with my head never touching the ground. I was barely sore the day after.

Once I get the pain down to a level where I can turn my head again I plan on riding again. ^_^

Jumping in the rain

So I ended up lunging UK again last night. It was a spur of the moment thing as I hadn't planned on having to be at the barn that evening.
I moved my little jumps around so we had the small cavalletti towards the inside again, and a small ramped oxer slightly higher then the cavalletti on the outside. On the opposite side of the ring I had set up a larger vertical (about 1'8").
I groomed UK and got him all set with brushing boots in the front and polos behind, and then off we went. Well of course, as soon as I set foot in the ring the clouds started getting heavier. By the time we were done it was raining steadily.
We warmed up by starting tracking left as it seems to be his weaker side (I came to this conslusion as he likes to drop his right shoulder). After flatting for a bit we started by popping over the cavalletti at a nice relaxed trot. He's gained enough confidence that he just relaxes and pops over it now instead of the awkward "trot, trot, trot, huh? where do I put my feet, whack, ee, oo, ah, whew, trot, trot, trot." Then we progressed to a canter and eventually popped over the cavalletti a couple times before moving on to the vertical.
You could tell he'd never jumped anything bigger then a cavalletti before, but he was soooo game! I'm really very proud of him! He went over the vertical the first time like a champ! As he landed he got this little gleam in his eye and seemed to glow with pride. He was praised and I didn't even have to ask him to keep going he wanted to do it again! I let him do it a couple of times and then we progressed to the oxer.
UK loves to jump! With little or no prompting from me he did the oxer a couple more times, then the oxer to the vertical. Yes here and then he got a little too fast and messed up his distance, but he never stopped trying. We took a break for me to pick up the fallen rails and then he was game to try again (I never end with a downed jump).
His other big progress was not having a fit over hitting or knocking the jumps. He obviously wasn't happy with himself, but he'd finally learned that just continuing to go forward is better then throwing a fit.
We did everything tracking right next, and he was equally awesome. He really impressed me with how game he was to try new things. It's a completely different side of him, as when he's just flatting he tends to spook easy. Nothing phased him as he jumped, not the rain or the fact that the sun had set and we were basically jumping in the dark at the end.
I'm really beginning to think he was born to be a hunter or an equitation horse. If I hadn't bought him and he'd just continued to do western pleasure the rest of his life..... well, what a waste. It's fairly normal to have a horse who jumps well and looks good doing it, it's another to have a horse that enjoys jumping, it's unbelievable when you have a horse that is both!
So weather permitting, I'm going to continue the lunge work whenever I'm not up to riding. I'm grateful just to have a horse that likes me again!

Toodles!

Our lunging weekend.

So it's quickly become apparent that it's exhausting being pregnant (Yes I know, that should be obvious).
I feel like one of those jugglers that's already juggling a bunch of knives and someone suddenly threw a flaming torch into the mix! The pregnancy brain alone is making things way more complicated. *yawns* Like I said before, this is exhausting!
My juggling skills were really put to a test this week, but I was determined to make time for UK on the weekend, weather permitting. So I got up Saturday and went up to the barn, fed, cleaned and snapped a lunge line on my spiffy Stacy Westfall Training Halter (I'm a big enough fan of this halter to mention it by name!) which I had put on UK.
So out to the ring we went, and we walked over to the nice wide (about 16feet) cavalletti height jump I'd put out for him. I was immediatly given the puppy eyed look, that seemed to say "that's for you, not me, right?" We warmed up by lunging walk/trot over a couple of ground poles both directions, then it was jump time!
He was a good boy, having been lunged over small jumps in the past before I owned him. He's good with his knees, but tends to get distracted and then have a bit of an awkward jump every few times. Half the wide jump was a standard wood cavalletti which I had closest to me, then I had a pole going from the cavalletti to a jump standard on the rail. I'd also given the small jump nice white ground poles on each side.
I was just about to end our little session when he hit the pole and knocked it down. He threw the funniest little temper tantrum! Bucking, head tossing, pure disgust and humiliation radiating from him. But then he slammed on the brakes and stared at me quivering, as if awaiting a punishment from me (e.g., a beating). I had been laughing, but seeing him waiting to be whacked just horrified me! Needless to say he wasn't punished, I just made him move forward and get over himself and then we did it again once I had put the pole back up. He then jumped it perfectly and we ended after he'd done it nicely both ways, as I didn't want to end too close to his little fit.
He was rewarded and released (cantering and head tossing out in the field).
I then had tons of stuff to do at home including throwing a double party for my sister and parents....

Sunday dawned grey and wet. I went up to feed and clean (Betsy is away so it's just me for all feedings and barn cleaning till she gets back). The rain had tapered back to just a disgusting drizzle. Enough to get you soaked, but not enough to really stop you from doing anything.
I was resolute and went out to the ring to modify the jump from the day before. I left our original wide jump/cavalletti but now added a second that was narrower one stride away. Thus I had the option of having him just do the inside of the wide jump, or having him go closer to the rail and do the one stride combination. I left the new jump half down to make it easier, with nice ground lines like the other jump.
I went back and got UK ready, this time putting on his (his in a loose term) brushing boots as it was now cooler thanks to the constant drizzle. This time we warmed up without looking at things first or going over ground poles. Once he was nice and loose and listening well we started out over the inside cavalletti until he was staying relaxed over it and maintaining the same pace. We repeated it the other direction and then did some nice canter without going over anything.
Then it was time to try the new thing!! (As far as I know, he'd never done two jumps in a row before, as he was only trained western and had learned about jumping in order to show a perspective buyer.) So he did it first try, no spooking or stopping. Once he seemed comfortable and had figured out the distance somewhat we took a break and I made it a full jump by picking the rail off the ground.
He was fantastic and really seemed to enjoy the new challenge. Occaisionaly he would test me and get fresh, or throw a fit if he hit a pole (the fits grew less dramatic as he slowly realized I didn't care and he'd just have to do it again). At one point a Red Tailed Hawk flew out of the woods and within 10 feet of his face and he was landing, that caused a fit, but I just made him keep going and ignored his drama.
We wrapped up by doing some groundwork as we cooled off (I say we, as in order for him not to have to be turning as he landed I was running with him so he could approach and depart straight), playing some follow the leader without anything attached to his halter. Then we stopped, I took his boots off and we continued walking, stopping again in a few minutes to remove the halter. We finished by exiting the ring with nothing on him and him politely following me till he was given a treat and dismissed.

Now the rain has finally stopped today, and I'm going to borrow my Mother-in-law's endurance saddle again and try to go for a ride tonight when I go up to feed and tuck them in for the night. I've been have a major pregnancy symptom day and really need to do something for me.

Needless to say, I think my goal of competing in The Ride For the Cure this year is just not going to happen. Which is really disappointing but there is always next year. I promised my Husband I would not jump till after the baby is born, and I think going on a hunter pace is even more dangerous then jumping at home. So my new focus and to continue UK's training over jumps on his own, so that way he can figure out his balance on his own. We'll continue to desensitize him to scary things and help him to get braver. If we eventually get to a point that I feel safe to take him on a trail ride with someone else, that would be amazing.

So simpler goals for this year. Next year? Ooooh trust me, I have ideas already!! XD

Toodles!