holding my line

I wrote last week about finally getting some rain after a few weeks of drought-like conditions. AND -- we got even more after that!! Yessssss, large horses on small feet everywhere rejoice!!

just charlie being cute

Which worked out fairly perfectly for getting in another jump lesson. Bc ya know... That's basically where we're at this summer, stalking the weather forecast to plan our weekly riding schedule lol.

charlie and a goose!!

The lesson went fairly well, too. Trainer K even tried to grab some video for us, tho.... considering we kept knocking down rails on jumps that were repeated in courses, it meant the footage didn't quite work out. Still got enough for some screen grabs tho! It's not much, but I'll take it.

US show jumper Rich Fellers' approach to flatwork.
source: Noelle Floyd youtube channel

In terms of flatwork, I'm continuing focusing on how we go as it relates to being successful in jumping courses. Right now, as far as I can tell, our biggest regression since quarantine is in the "straightness" department.

Which... obviously also has some serious implications in jumping haha. Like when we jumped through the triple a couple times from each direction -- laying down two completely distinct tracks equally distant from center haha, womp.

lol @ charlie's 'smile'.......

So... Yea. Probably need to work on that some more too. I also think addressing our straightness will help Charlie jump in a better form -- which should also theoretically make it a little easier for him to jump more cleanly.

see the jomp!!

Biggest takeaway from the lesson tho, other than straightness (and straightness in turns too, we were pretty bulge-y in places...) related to me sorta 'giving up' at times.

Specifically -- Charlie became very forward (which I like!!) but instead of keeping his hind end up under him even as he went forward, I sorta just surrendered to it and let him drag me along. This showed up especially in the bending lines we did -- 3 and 4 stride lines off both leads.

be the jomp!!

Somewhat amazingly, the right bending lines went wayyyy worse for us than the left bending lines, even tho they were the same lines just ridden opposite directions haha. I would have expected the left to be harder bc of our drift and lack of straightness, so this was maybe a good wake-up call.

Bc what was happening was that we'd get to the in jump in a little bit of disarray since Charlie was kinda running on his forehand, but then we'd land in a heap and not be able to make the turns effectively.

me thinks we need to tighten up and improve straightness with some gymnastics again....

After messing up two courses in a row in this way, I managed to sit down and bring Charlie's hind end back up underneath him again. Tho, actually, it was really interesting the feeling in the connection at that moment bc I still felt like I could have a softer contact and Charlie still made the adjustment. That's definitely a feeling I need to remember...

And anyway, when I rode the canter more appropriately, go figure, Charlie jumped much better and had way more options when it came to getting to the fence from different distances or approaches.

gotta love his enthusiasm tho!

On one hand the lesson was kinda annoying bc it followed what seems to be an all-too-predictable pattern: warm up was amazing, almost like we should have just finished with that (fwiw, warm up was a twisty turny cycle through a couple single verticals and oxers, and Charlie turned and burned!!). But... No, bc it's a lesson and we want to do the actual exercises. 

But then the exercises ended up exposing quite a few weaknesses, which meant maybe more repetitions than I want in my head. BUT.... Isn't that actually kinda the whole point of the lesson anyway? Get into a rhythm, then tackle a challenge. Figure out the weak spots, then address them, and smooth it out.

we luv left

Emotionally haha, sometimes I wish I could do the beginning and end of that cycle -- skipping the whole "exposing the weaknesses" bit in the middle. But then, would we ever really learn?

For me, the feeling I need to remember was how well Charlie came back to me when I asked, and how it actually wasn't nearly as "high volume" an ask as I expected. Maybe I'm still kinda expecting him to pull like a freight train... But he really just isn't. Like he still gets strong and forward (and hopefully always will!) but his education means that he "hears" me make a quieter request now.

So my biggest takeaway is to make sure that I make that request, that I react and recover quickly, instead of letting myself get pulled out of position and then just kinda surrendering to it. Bc it turns out, Charlie will do it haha. Not the worst lesson to learn, honestly!