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Saturday, March 19, 2016

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!

17 comments:

  1. Sore feet is no fun. Glad she is doing better and have fun today!

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  2. Good luck! I hope you get it resolved because you guys are my jumping role models. :)

    Since I got Newer Truck two weeks ago, Old Truck has been for sale (facebook posting and craigslist ad), priced just a hair above what KBB suggested for a private party sale. Last night I got asking price from a cash buyer. I'm scoring it a win because (a) got asking price and (b) am done inside of two weeks.

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  3. It sucks to have those confidence murdering rides but that said you should feel happy that you worked through it yourself and got back on track! I hope your lesson is awesome!

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  4. I was shocked to read about the Isabel not wanting to jump! But sore feet totally makes sense. Fingers crossed for an amazing lesson!

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  5. Love it 'peace wand!' I hope the lesson was awesome!

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  6. omg! I just laughed so loud at these videos! We gotta jump more and of course use thrush buster!

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  7. Love the GIFs! Sounds like it was a pain issue and not a "you suck at jumping" day. You'll be back at Novice level in no time! Hope the lesson went well!

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  8. For sure it had to be pain related... that certainly doesn't sound like the Isabel we know and love! Hope she gets herself right as rain soon!

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  9. ugh confidence is such a fickle thing.

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  10. We had THE EXACT same problem a couple weeks ago. We crashed through a 2" jump from a trot. And had refusals. We think it was some soreness from his recent adjustment. I am also attacking his thrush issues with new force, so if that's a factor we will be able to rule that out soon.
    Last week he was good again, but from just the one ride the week before, I was riding much more defensively. It took a few lessons to get my groove back, and we are still just popping around 2'3".
    So, I feel ya. :0)

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    1. believe it or not - you and Cosmo popped into my mind *immediately* about the thrush thing and all the random issues it can cause... yay for blogging helping me sort out my own issues haha

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    2. Yay for shared experiences! You should check out No Thrush. It is a powder and it is doing AMAZING things to Cosmo's giant heel cracks in only a week.

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    3. oooh ok i'll definitely look into that!! fortunately isabel doesn't have giant cracks... but she's kinda a diva (shocking) about her feet so... we do what we can lol

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  11. I swear horses are so finicky!

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  12. It's amazing how a little foot discomfort can make such a huge difference. Glad you figured it out.

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  13. I am belatedly catching up so hoping all is well again with Iz's footsie and jumping. I just had to squeee in verbal form over the jumping German Sheppard puppy *heart-eyes*

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