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Oct. 21st, 2009 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickHorse let me catch her today with La's cat Tart sitting on my shoulder. (Yes. I'm wandering around the field with a tiny, tiny siamese-colored classic tabby on my shoulder trying to catch my unfriendly horse. No, I'm not insane -- why do people keep asking me that? The cat has good balance and I had enough layers on to not get clawed.)
So we go out to do work. I've not messed with the jumps (eensy baby jumps of 18") for a while so I got those back out. I haven't worked her over the jumps since probably August. It's been a while, anyway. Riding her up to the jumps, even ones with a built-in encouraging center point (like cross rails) was like riding a very wiggly thing. She'd wiggle left and wiggle right and honestly, it felt like riding a fish. Oh, she'd eventually go over the jump and she was reasonably forward (Nick is always forward) and stuff but it felt like she was offering you six or seven wiggly go-beside-the-jump options. Her internal narrative felt like it was along these lines: "Yo, rider! There is a THING IN THE WAY, an OBSTACLE. You stupid human, can't you see it there in the MIDDLE of a PERFECTLY GOOD FIELD. You've got me aimed RIGHT FOR IT, asshat. Shit, I'm gonna have to ... LEAP. *Whew* That was a close one!"
In the very beginning, I put the jumps up on the dirt road, which is about jump width. This encouraged the horse to go over the jumps because there was woods on both sides and it wasn't like she could veer off the road. Once she could do those, we moved off the road and into the field because the footing was nicer and because if she can jump obstacles that are standing alone by themselves without wings (to prevent veering to one side or the other), she can jump. Period. That was when the wiggly option showed up. :( The wiggly didn't feel very confident. It was distressing to ride, felt very insecure. After a couple of weeks of the wiggly not going away, I put the jumps away.
On a whim, I got the jumps out again today and set them up. Horse, instead of acting like they were going to eat her, grazed while I set them up in a friendly cross rail. I got on the horse. I rode a decent distance away from the jump and turned around to trot towards the jump. I asked for a trot and got one, until horse saw we were aimed at the jump. Horse *picked up a canter* on her own, aimed for the center of the jump, and jumped in a straight and entirely non-wiggly line. Pleasantly. Three times.
O-kay.
I rearranged the cross rail to a regular vertical with a ground line. It was only 18" but we'd had significant wobbly issues on an open-field approach at that height back when we were playing with the jumps. Also, I don't have enough leg to look decent on 18" if my horse is all wobbly. More height will be for later, once we look and feel secure at 18". Horse trotted towards jump, saw jump, picked up a pleasant canter, jumped exact center of jump, landed in pleasant canter. (And believe me, I am not doing much with the approach or the adjusting of strides. That's all on her. I aim her at the jumps and ask for forward motion. It's her job to handle the rest of it.)
What the hell? Back in summer, we did some jumps, which were wobbly and gross and whatever. I put the jumps away for three months, give or take, and suddenly my horse has it all figured out? Seriously, she went at the jumps like Shadow did when I was eleven. (Shadow was a dead broke 11.2hh Arab/Shetland cross who carried me bareback over 55 gallon drum jumps. Endlessly, kindly, carefully. It was so easy -- you just aimed and the pony *handled* it.) There was no wiggly crap. There was no uncertainty. Shadow felt rock-solid, you just *knew* she would go over whatever you aimed her at. Goof felt like that today. It was bizarre. Good, but bizarre.
I called it a day after several rock-solid efforts on the 18" vertical because she was so solid and so confident that I wanted to end on a good and happy note.
So we go out to do work. I've not messed with the jumps (eensy baby jumps of 18") for a while so I got those back out. I haven't worked her over the jumps since probably August. It's been a while, anyway. Riding her up to the jumps, even ones with a built-in encouraging center point (like cross rails) was like riding a very wiggly thing. She'd wiggle left and wiggle right and honestly, it felt like riding a fish. Oh, she'd eventually go over the jump and she was reasonably forward (Nick is always forward) and stuff but it felt like she was offering you six or seven wiggly go-beside-the-jump options. Her internal narrative felt like it was along these lines: "Yo, rider! There is a THING IN THE WAY, an OBSTACLE. You stupid human, can't you see it there in the MIDDLE of a PERFECTLY GOOD FIELD. You've got me aimed RIGHT FOR IT, asshat. Shit, I'm gonna have to ... LEAP. *Whew* That was a close one!"
In the very beginning, I put the jumps up on the dirt road, which is about jump width. This encouraged the horse to go over the jumps because there was woods on both sides and it wasn't like she could veer off the road. Once she could do those, we moved off the road and into the field because the footing was nicer and because if she can jump obstacles that are standing alone by themselves without wings (to prevent veering to one side or the other), she can jump. Period. That was when the wiggly option showed up. :( The wiggly didn't feel very confident. It was distressing to ride, felt very insecure. After a couple of weeks of the wiggly not going away, I put the jumps away.
On a whim, I got the jumps out again today and set them up. Horse, instead of acting like they were going to eat her, grazed while I set them up in a friendly cross rail. I got on the horse. I rode a decent distance away from the jump and turned around to trot towards the jump. I asked for a trot and got one, until horse saw we were aimed at the jump. Horse *picked up a canter* on her own, aimed for the center of the jump, and jumped in a straight and entirely non-wiggly line. Pleasantly. Three times.
O-kay.
I rearranged the cross rail to a regular vertical with a ground line. It was only 18" but we'd had significant wobbly issues on an open-field approach at that height back when we were playing with the jumps. Also, I don't have enough leg to look decent on 18" if my horse is all wobbly. More height will be for later, once we look and feel secure at 18". Horse trotted towards jump, saw jump, picked up a pleasant canter, jumped exact center of jump, landed in pleasant canter. (And believe me, I am not doing much with the approach or the adjusting of strides. That's all on her. I aim her at the jumps and ask for forward motion. It's her job to handle the rest of it.)
What the hell? Back in summer, we did some jumps, which were wobbly and gross and whatever. I put the jumps away for three months, give or take, and suddenly my horse has it all figured out? Seriously, she went at the jumps like Shadow did when I was eleven. (Shadow was a dead broke 11.2hh Arab/Shetland cross who carried me bareback over 55 gallon drum jumps. Endlessly, kindly, carefully. It was so easy -- you just aimed and the pony *handled* it.) There was no wiggly crap. There was no uncertainty. Shadow felt rock-solid, you just *knew* she would go over whatever you aimed her at. Goof felt like that today. It was bizarre. Good, but bizarre.
I called it a day after several rock-solid efforts on the 18" vertical because she was so solid and so confident that I wanted to end on a good and happy note.
