I believe you can always improve. I’ve been
riding Saddle Seat since 2001 when I was fresh out of Kindergarten. I’m not
trainer good, but I’ve got a pretty decent handle on the discipline. I was
fortunate enough to have experience in both performance and equitation. Even
more lucky, I could do it all with the same horse!
As I’ve written about in my previous posts, Bella and I have been
trying our hand at new activities since retiring from the show ring, and
jumping is the current subject we are trying to tackle.
Bella successfully going boing.
My last Facebook post about our lesson showed
nothing but progress, but I did not post anything from Thursday’s ride before
then. I’ve had lessons that are good and great, but it has been a long time
since I’ve had a ride that was bad. And to be quite honest, it sucked. I’m not
saying in my recent lessons I haven’t learned anything or been tested. My
instructors have had me try some new exercises or worked on reinforcing other
things, but I had completely forgotten what a bad ride felt like.
On Thursday, Bella and I started out pretty
well and began over ground poles. The first jump I asked her to go over, she
hesitated for only a second before launching herself into the air. You know
those Grand Prix jumpers? With all the power from their horses, the riders almost
look like they are falling forward when they land. That’s how it felt when
Bella launched herself, except we were only going over the lowest level on the
jump standard.
Everything seemed great for the first jump,
but then it wasn’t. I could not get Bella to go over another jump the rest of
the ride. This was only the second time I’d ever asked her to go over a real
jump, but she had ended on a good note jumping just a few days before. However,
on Thursday, every time we approached the jump she ran sideways to get away
from it.
Here’s what has always made Bella a great
horse to learn on: She will never try to harm you while you’re in the saddle,
but she will not go through with something unless you are 100% on board with
what you are asking. This trait is how she shaped me into the rider I am today.
I’ve never taken a jump lesson in my life.
Andrew has been helping me teach Bella to jump, but this is something I’m just
doing for fun. With Bella out of training, and me looking at graduate school
after finishing up the UofL Saddle Seat team in April, my show career is about
to be hung up (at least for a while). I don’t care about looking like a
long-time jumper or going over a three-foot tall fence, I’m just enjoying life
with my favorite mare. Having a bad ride with her though, was not fun at all. I
felt defeated, and it was not something I was used to.
It was not Bella’s fault. I had psyched
myself out and questioned every move I made and every move she made. And that
smart little mare knew it, too. If I wasn’t completely ready and confident, she
was not going over that jump. I tried, and I tried, and it didn’t happen. I
knew what the result was going to be, a mentality I struggled with years ago
when we had cantering issues. Well, I had the issue. Bella and my instructors just
made me work through it.
Two days later, the day I posted a positive
message on Facebook about our ride, went much better. I was learning to push
with my legs and power through without going for speed. I even learned knee off
to use leg, which growing up in Saddle Seat is a big no-no (my jumping friends
are cheering right now)!
Cantering over ground poles in true Saddlebred fashion.
I wasn’t worried about every move ahead of
me, I was worried about getting over one ground pole at a time or gearing Bella
up for the jump ahead. I didn’t worry about what was going to happen two or
three steps ahead. I focused on staying collected and accomplishing the current
step.
Bella jumped the first level on the jump
standard, and then the second, and we even finished on a high note by jumping
the third level. While Saturday was not perfect (pilot error), it felt like a big
accomplishment. My horse was happy and having fun, and so was I. The next goal will be getting over two jumps. After seeing how that goes, we'll go from there.
Enjoy the most perfect pony learning to jump over the weekend while I take notes on a case study. Obviously the former sounds more fun. pic.twitter.com/1RoQaStIWU— Christine (@MakeMineTrimmed) March 22, 2017
We made it to the third level!
Ears pricked, a pep in her step, and head
held high. While the rides might be changing from week to week, the one thing
that never changes is Bella’s personality. I say this in probably every blog
post, but I’m beyond thankful for a mare that lets me learn with her.
Shout out to you, Bella. You will always be
number one.
What a good pony.
We get each other.
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