Doozy's First Jomp Lesson!!

Happy Monday, y'all!! I'm going to, uh, skip a couple steps in reviewing recent activities. Mostly because, ya know... We went through a lot of careful, intentional, boring practice the last few days --- with the specific and explicit aim of being ready for Doozy's first JOMP CLINIC OMG!

pictured: my post-ride mare, looking quite pleased with herself

As as much as I know some of y'all appreciate seeing all the nitty gritty details in putting the pieces together... I also feel like we all deserve a bit more excitement around these parts than just, "survived while two horses cantered!" Lol...

And so, without further ado, allow me to press ahead with a few new big firsts in the Land of Dooz: 

1. First ever ride in the jump ring
2. First clinic
3. Jompies!! And gymnastics!!

welcome to casual levitation with Mondeuse

My farm kinda randomly hosted a pop up clinic with Hadden Frost, second generation (at least) English steeplechase jockey who has more recently turned his attention to show jumping, basing in Florida with his wife (who is also a jockey). And obvi that sort of resume looked attractive to me, so we signed up.

Again, a LOT of planning went into preparing for this ride, up to and including asking another barn mate to audit from horseback so her mare could be Doozy's emotional support friend. Which proved absolutely perfect when the two of us were off exploring the farther corners of this new outdoor ring while the lesson before us exited --- meaning Doozy completely missed seeing all those horses leave. 

Not gonna lie, that was the moment I expected to be most difficult in the whole lesson, so when it went off without a hitch, I got a really good feeling!

this is her concentration face

And guys --- Doozy was READY for this lesson! Like, sometimes I feel like I'm going too slow with her or whatever, not asking enough... But, eh, nobody will care more than I do. And I care about feeling safe and secure and ready. 

It felt incredibly reaffirming that almost every exercise we worked on this lesson seemed familiar and known to Doozy. Up to and including passing between random riser blocks (something we did earlier in the week).

i'm trying so hard to support while staying out of the way

The whole lesson was basically ground poles and cross rails built progressively into easy gymnastic exercises. One main exercise (above) was a cross rail with poles close in on takeoff and landing (again, built progressively, one element at a time). And the other eventually built into a one-stride line.

was an ace at the landing poles!

I was obviously very honest with the clinician. Well. Mostly, lol. I told him the mare was about two months under saddle post-track, instead of three. Which, eh, feels about accurate considering the cellulitis / abscess history. 

But was basically like, "We've never been in this ring before, we have an emotional support barbie dream horse, we have not really jumped before.... We're all yours!"

we built up to this gymnastic progressively -- it's all in the video

Obvi I internet-stalked Frost in advance (as one does), and learned that he particularly enjoys working with young horses. So I was hopeful he'd set us on a good course. And he did! 

Really, you should watch the video to hear his commentary, bc it was definitely very much in alignment with my philosophy. His whole thing was to ensure Doozy has time NOW to fully think through each and every step she's taking, to read and evaluate the exercise independently, and learn to think with her own feet. 

 

figuring it out, piece by piece

For example, he wanted me to be really sensitive to letting Doozy process through the steps especially after little mistakes. Like when we kinda splatted through the A element of the gymnastic --- when we came around the next time he was particularly focused on supporting her even as we let her react to going back in after a mistake. 

In the video, you can hear him saying, 'Take your time, she's gonna have to process that right now! You're gonna find out if you have a champion!'

we both made mistakes

Tho, simultaneously, he also reminded me to be confident for her. Which reminded me to keep talking more to her --- something I do constantly when we're alone, but then sometimes when I'm concentrating so hard in a lesson I forget to keep talking to the horse, ya know? 

And I could really tell the difference. This might sound silly or stupid or whatever, but it really is starting to feel like Doozy realizes I'm her person now. That I'm in her corner, on her team, there for her, whatever you wanna say. And that this horse, now, is very different from the horse I couldn't hand walk around the dressage court a few weeks ago. 

but we did it, squee!!!! <3 <3 <3

Tho let's be real, it also felt like Doozy legit quite liked this whole game LOL!! The gymnastics were for sure the easiest part of the lesson haha, the part she seemed to understand and like the best. Which, obvi gets me all sorts of excited haha!

Especially compared to the group of playful boys who are turned out in the field surrounding the jump ring, who kept doing weird and annoying gelding things like breezing past the ring, or gathering right exactly at the spot in the fence line we'd be aimed at following the gymnastic. 

She found the external stimulus a bit harder than the gymnastic exercises themselves, but still never failed to focus when I'd gather her up. 

so much pride, and more than a little bit of hope, for this sweet red mare!

Some key takeaways from Hadden: 

• Keep working on adding more leg, particularly inside leg to keep pushing her out
• Utilize bends and turns to keep the horse soft and listening during a warm up, don't just circle large endlessly
• Be more straight, always and forever, but also particularly on the backside
• Continue trotting the jumps for now, she needs to learn to keep thinking and NOT resort to rushing
• Be more accountable for riding the horse from my core (with leg on tho!)

link to full video - imho this one is worth watching

My own additional takeaways include being absolutely thrilled with how well Doozy handled the jump ring. Like, yea, it was hard for her at first and then a little at the end too, plus a lot of distracting stimulus throughout. But also just generally felt like a positive place for her. 

Which is SUPER exciting, bc that just gives us so many more opportunities for exposure. I'm also really pleased considering our focus on 'traffic school' the last few weeks. Basically, it felt like we'd done our homework and Doozy was as prepared as she ever would be for this type of lesson.

d'aww doozy wanted to wait for her Emotional Support Barbie Dream Horse!!

I'm just so pleased with this little red mare, guys! Ain't none of us perfect, including myself and including her too. But I had some pretty specific hopes when I brought her home, and so far she's living up to it! 

Obvi she's a really different type of ride than I'm used to, but I'm committed to learning how to get a good tune out of her :D 

(And stay tuned for more of the 'boring' preparation type stuff to come in future posts lol)