So much has happened since my last post. Oh I hope I remember it all. This post may be a little back and forth haha.
Ok, so I was on vacation and was out at the farm working and riding every day. I made some new jumps, fixed some old ones, rode and did trailer training with both, and had a friend come visit from MD. She is a dressage rider. Used to be hunter, then jumper, now dressage but dabbles in eventing. She does low level stuff in jumping but really likes dressage. I had her do a lesson on Sophie with my trainer her first day here and boy was she in for a surprise! haha. She hasnt ridden Sophie before but they did a pretty good learning w/t lesson. Her seat is stronger than mine (she rides a draft) so Sophie really took her for a ride in the sitting trot until she was able to soften her seat up a bit. (I will try and remember to upload photos once my home computer internet starts working!). She learned a lot from Sophie though and has a new appreciation for how difficult and technical she is to ride. Im glad someone finally gets to see it. Non-dressage riders cant fully appreciate her because they dont know how to get her working properly. My friend did not enjoy jumping her though, which is opposite of what most say! Sophie was jumping very nicely, no bolting or anything, but she is a technical ride still and my friend said thats just too much working in a show jumping ring. Out on xc shes more enjoyable because you can let her stretch out a bit and not have to work so hard on keeping her together in a small ring. They did well together and I learned some things about Sophie from my friends different riding and she got to learn a good bit as well. Hopefully she takes it back home with her.
Sophie has really been improving a lot since weve been doing haunches in at the trot and canter and counter canter work. She even did 2 flying lead changes! I never thought Id see that day haha. Shes such a different horse. My trainer couldnt be more pleased with her and neither could I. I cant wait to get
So I rode Sophie and have had some great jump rides on her. One day (after several days off from being ridden every day for a week) I rode her out in the xc field and she jumped so softly and the whole ride I only felt the weight of the reins or her nose, not her whole body. I kept jumping ahead because she was jumping so calmly and in a beautiful, dare I say, hunter rhythm. I couldnt figure it out haha, it was so different than usual. It was so nice having a light and easy ride on her though, very rejuvenating. I then took her to a show a few days after that soft ride and did just 2'6 jumpers. I was going to bump her up to the 2'9-3' class if she did that class well but she was too tired after standing around at the show for 5 hours in the heat before showing. You know those h/j shows....hurry up and wait! She did the first round so beautifully and placed 2nd after the jump off. She was lifted and listened to all my spots and was taking me to the fences but was controllable. Not soft, but I wasnt fighting either. The second round I could tell she was very tired and whenever I asked her to really lift in her canter she just broke to the trot. It was the optimum time class though so that probably helped us actually since she goes so fast and covers so much ground. We got 4th in that class but actually ended up being Champion for the division! Quite impressed. My first champion ribbon EVER. I have had tons and tons of blues but those shows never offered champion and reserve ribbons until I started showing greenies and a good day was simply getting over every fence haha. Ive been reserve numerous times but now I have a pretty blue Champion ribbon. Sophie did wonderful roll backs and schooled over 3'9 with ease during my vacation. I think shes ready to move up to low jumpers, so next show will be 2'9-3' and I think, after a xc schooling or two, we will be back to BN and hopefully move up to N by the end of this year. Shes coming along great but I still want to take it slow.
Leo. Oh Leo. First day of vacation he cuts his leg up on the fence. He is so accident prone!!! So we did trailer training. Both legs up on the ramp, head and shoulders in the trailer, but he would not put his back legs up. We worked to that point for a few days and then I finally decided that he just needed to be pushed more. I got out my lasso at the end of the week and wrapped it around his rump. I would put pressure on the lead, if he didnt step forward, I put pressure on the lasso. He was a little nervous at first, not that I was pushing for more from him, but by the end of the session he had all four feet on the ramp and was very comfortable hanging out there. I did get to spend several days riding him. Its like starting over as far as him not knowing what the cues mean. Go has always been a lazy button for him haha but I am using my seat more effectively and he is getting more responsive to the leg. He turns off of leg well so maybe lateral movements will come easily when we get there. He started to finally loosen up and step out at the trot under saddle instead of his little jog that he does. We cantered once at the end of the week. He cantered last year twice with me and was a little nervous but this time he was very calm but is unbalanced, of course. He didnt want to pick up the left lead for me and I pushed and pushed and he kept getting crossed. I finally got it but then he tossed his head and bucked. He came back quickly but I pulled his head around but he caught me just right I guess because my back has been sore ever since! We continued on, cantered some more, and he was very good! We then rode around in the barn yard, had a minor spook or two, but he was very good out there as well. Im quite pleased with both of them. Hopefully I will get photos up soon!