another jumping clinic

Somehow I managed to miss commemorating Doozy's actual one year anniversary since coming home.... It was technically last Friday, whoops! 

amazing how easy it is to get the correct lead when the horse is balanced and straight lol

It's been a very different first year with her, compared to Charlie. And maybe on paper, it doesn't look like we've "accomplished" much. Except... I'm actually honestly really happy with how the mare is developing.

learning to half halt

We have had to learn a LOT of soft skills together. Lots and lots of trust building. Day after day of going through the motions. Everything always felt so hard with this mare. Hand walking. Leaving the pasture after joining a new herd. Riding outside. Just like, trotting. 

trying to find moments of soft release

She's honestly kinda redefined the idea of "patience" for me. Bc it just felt like this giant mountain of "basics" that we had no choice but to overcome. And realistically, we're still in the land of basics. Except... Suddenly, the horse is so ready for it. It doesn't feel so hard anymore.

this horse is such a trier it's not even funny

I legit had to race out the door after my last work call, arrived at Doozy's barn with just enough time to yank her from her paddock and go directly onto the trailer (which I'd packed the night before), then get to this week's lesson with Dom with just enough time to tack up for our turn. 

And Doozy was completely unruffled, good girl.

walkin like a boss

We spent the warm up phase of the lesson working on melting into the half halts. Working primarily on a 20m-ish circle, Dom instructed me to sit an extra beat (ie, change my post) about every 12 or so steps. But softly. Slower, softer, in such a way that the extra beat of sitting felt smooth and relaxed vs bouncy or jarring. Then increase the frequency to about every 6 steps.

video from our warm up flat work

He wanted it to feel like in that extra sit beat, the horse could exhale and I could release. Essentially, creating the half halt. And he wanted me to be more disciplined to wait it out, get all the way there --- don't get 75% of the way to the trot I want, the softness I want, and give up. 

i know it's hard to see -- but there are three sets of white standards (we're at the middle element) with little bounce Xs

Once the moments were really good and soft, he had us transition to canter. And same idea -- find moments to soften and release the contact on more or less a 20m circle. 

In our last lesson he had us halting straight in a soft gentle polite manner after ground poles, and then wanted us to remember that transition feeling once we moved to the jumping. This time was basically the same -- except instead of a full halt, we would be focusing on using that melt-y exhale-y half halt to ease our way around.

relaxed between trips

I still about choked when he started us immediately through a bounce exercise tho haha. But it was fine -- three small Xs in basically the same configuration that we've been doing as ground poles for weeks and weeks. Doozy understood the assignment and happily stepped right through.

bounces the other way! also lol @ the little filler panels "watching" us

Dom advised to hold on for that last step of trot, not to give in too early, and that this would help us get the correct lead through the exercise. We kinda just circled around repeating the exercise a few times off each direction, and honestly I am so impressed with how patient Doozy stayed the whole time!

jumping out in the open!!

Then it was onto some modified course work. Still trotting into everything, planning down transitions and turns carefully. 

omg it's an oxer haha

We started with the bounces, then sorta just swept around to catch a few singles (including some without placing poles on takeoff omg) all around the arena. 

and another oxer!! this time with a cross front and low vertical back rail (and a takeoff pole to help us)

And I'm proud to say I didn't have any serious bloopers this week, yay me! Still a couple fences where I maybe gave in a step too soon (like the oxer above), and Dom still wants to see me keep my hands lower (with a taller upper body) when I'm trying to slow the mare down. 

we repeated the course twice to reinforce the learnings

But overall the little course rode pretty well for us! We repeated it again a second time just to really prove the concept to the mare.... And guys, she really got it!

such a star <3 <3

She's such a cool horse, she wants to be good, she wants it to be comfortable, and she likes being right lol. Plus, she's so forward thinking --- she has plenty of desire and more than enough engine. 

this is me, trying so hard not to tip inward lol

The feeling I'm getting from jumping her now is lightyears away from even just a few months ago. Like my biggest fears have been worrying about shutting her down too much bc I couldn't channel all that energy. Or, on the flip side, letting her devolve into a frantic out-of-control maniac....

what a good patient mare!

Rides like this give me hope tho that we're on the right track -- that she's learning the skills and beginning to understand the game.

wheeeee!!

I just wish it was a little easier to keep the momentum going haha, ya know? But bc life is the way it is, it'll probably be another 4wks until the next clinic at this venue, womp. Tho maybe we'll be able to sneak in a trip up to PA in the meantime. It's annoying to have to drive so far for just a lesson but c'est la vie, right?  

video of the jumping

It'll all work out one way or another hopefully. Probably lol. In the meantime, I really appreciate that these lessons build off very simple exercises and constructions that I can keep working on at home. 

visiting with the adorable minis before going home <3

Plus, there's local trainer KGK to help us fill the gaps and get our reps in. One day at a time, right?