bright white lights

Another mostly quick post here today. But a fun one: A brief summary of our jump lesson at OF last weekend.

It was definitely a good lesson. Very reassuring. Isabel jumped around like her old self, like she had never stopped at a fence a day in her life. Well. Ahem. Let's be a little more honest here: She jumped around like she had just been tuned up by a professional.

apparently there's a learning curve in figuring out how to snack with the nathe

I could go into great detail on the ride - from the warm up (uninspiring) through to the jumping section... but I think I'll just let the video of the final course speak for itself.

video here

(plz disregard the large and mostly pointless circle at the onset of the course... I was in deep navel-gazing retrospection at the choices in my life that led to this exact moment of jumping this horse who has really not been all that fun to jump lately.... fortunately that feeling faded fast as we got through the course!)

Might not seem like much. And. Well. It honestly isn't much. Just an adult ammy and a cute arab mare cruisin around a course of 2'3-2'9 fences.

But damn did it feel good!

that's my girl!!

And if we are, in fact, being totally honest here? I'll admit to bursting immediately into tears at the end of the course. Those big, ugly, full body wracking sobs that are practically totally silent bc you're choking and you can't breathe except for those desperate shuddering gasps for air that come out sounding like some dying deranged donkey bray.

nailing the small corner!!

Thank god the course ended at the far end of the arena so I had the whole walk back to the group to compose myself...

i trued the horizon of this pic on my phone, but it still came out crooked on the computer.
oh well. too cute, sharing anyway.

Brita tells me that what I'm experiencing right now are called "feelings" and that they are totally natural and normal. Idk tho. I could probably live without it lol. But whatever. I will take tears of relief over tears of frustration and disappointment any day.

so easy she does it with her eyes closed!

She just felt great. Taking me to the fences and pushing up in front of my leg and into the bridle. The kind of feeling that when you get to a longer distance you know the horse is going. Never a single question. And as you can see - she's jumping quite well. She never really stopped jumping well either... she just. Stopped jumping sometimes. Idk.

barrels to the corner!

So now the focus shifts back to me. Some things trainer P wants to be very clear that I work on to ensure that Isabel continues to play nice. I've been working so hard to keep my hands quiet and not pulling on approach to the fence that I've just been nestling them into Isabel's neck... But then they never move or release over the fences either, so that needs fixing.

A couple other details too - staying committed with my upper body. It's not enough to just have my legs on, Isabel is so sensitive I need to say the same thing with my entire body language.

onward!

We will also continue riding in the nathe over fences. Isabel was happy and forward enough in this ride that I don't think it mattered, but it'll be curious to see how much it helps on days when she takes a little more effort to get in front of the leg.

For now, tho, we mostly just try to stay optimistic that we've figured some stuff out and are getting back on track. And should the fix not stick... perhaps another training ride (or two or three haha) might be appropriate.