jumping inspiration via gifs

Today is jump lesson day at OF!! Yay we <3 jumping!!!

Except... um... wow we've really sucked terribly at it recently. The combination of missing the last couple of lessons (trainer P was away, and then I went to a clinic instead) and focusing almost exclusively on dressage in anticipation of said clinics.... well that combination didn't help.

But idk. It honestly seemed like something was up. Isabel was refusing (to the point of crashing) tiny < 2' jumps from a trot. W.T.F. That is NOT normal for this horse.

And naturally it's not the greatest experience for this self-described 'fraidy cat who's trying to claw back up to 3' but somehow suddenly can't make it over a 2' cross rail from - and I can't stress this enough - a trot.

In fact, things quickly devolved to both of us totally losing confidence and more or less quitting on each other over the course of a single ride. The way things were going, there wasn't a chance in hell that we could make it around a BN stadium course, let alone the N. To say I felt miserable would be.... an understatement. 

But a liberal application of thrush buster, followed by a carefully planned ride (complete with our friend the crop peace wand) and suddenly we were back in business. First fence was a refusal... but I legitimately believe that had more to do with the mare anticipating discomfort in her tootsies. Bc after that, we were cruising.

Nothing big, no - a couple singles ranging from 2'-2'3", and a one-to-one stride grid of low verticals. We'll save the complexity for when trainer P is on hand to troubleshoot issues. It was just enough to reassure me that perhaps we had solved at least this one mystery and that we haven't totally lost our jumping mojo.

Phew! Hopefully today's lesson reinforces that good feeling! Happy weekend, everyone!