To fall or not to fall….

Not! 

Yeah, that’s what I thought ~ so, thanks, but no thanks Copper…   > . <  We were off jumping again today and he was actually going quite well until he decided he’d had enough and that triple was just TOO much!!  He really pulled a few stunts today.  It’s not like the jumps were high, probably 45 to 55cms but three in a row?  Nah-uh!

The first few times I had to battle refusals at the second fence, than the third and then finally went we through all three without any hitches.  But then he had a wee break and he decided that he didn’t want to face the triple again; kthanxbye! 

He actually jumped the fences as he knew he wouldn’t get away with refusing, but when he got through the jumps he dropped his left shoulder as he went around the corner and tried to buck {I think}, and I lost a stirrup but after we halted, I promptly put him through it again.

Then he tried going really fast and dropping his left shoulder than swinging out to the right which almost had me off the left side, but no dice. 

I knew then that the first time wasn’t a mistake or high spirits then, he meant business and, therefore, so did I.  This was war!  : P Lol.  Not really, but there was no way I was going to let him get away with his naughty behaviour so we heave ho’d and headed for the jumps again. 

So he’s all “Well, that didn’t work” and this next time he did this really weird prop-drop-left-shoulder-bounce-right-prop-drop-right-shoulder canter-thing which seriously had me ten feet up in the air above the saddle{!!}, but somehow I managed to hang on.  I don’t even know how ‘cause he had me all a kilter with his bouncing, dropping shoulders act!

Thankfully after that little display he apparently didn’t have any more fight in him, and he waved the white flag of surrender.  Yay!  We popped through the triple again, this time reasonably neatly.  I would have preferred to go a little slower but it was definitely better than it has been. 

We took a few more little ‘uns {35cm} and I hopped off him and traded horses with a friend I was riding with.  She walked Copper around for me as I mounted her 17hh Andalusian, Bailey. 

Gee, now he is one BEEEEG horse!  It was so strange being up on his back, he was so tall, so wide and so slow…  Each stride felt like he was wading through jelly!  Anyway, my friend wanted to see him jump, so I popped him over the small ones a few times.  I’ve never ridden him before, so even though I knew full well he could jump higher, I could also feel him going “Who. Are. YOU??”.   He was sideling sideways and generally doing the head~for~home dance and I was all like; okay, I’ve done my fair share of almost falling off today ~ I soooo not going to push this! 

And gosh, it’s such a long way to the ground when you dismount the big fellows!  Most of our horses have been under 16.2hh, so I really am not used to the big guys, but Bailey is really quite sweet although he’s a bit spoilt, so I certainly wouldn’t mind riding him again.

Plus, there’s always the experience.  I love riding different horses and figuring them out ~ it’s such an exciting challenge!  Unfortunately, I don’t get the opportunity to do that very often at all, but maybe that’ll change in the future.  Who knows? 

See ya!

bonita

Training Tip: Legs on

I was doing some show jumping with Copper and he was racing around like a manic…  So what else is new?  The frustrating thing was that I knew he could do better than that, so I figured the problem had to be me.
Well, it turns out I was right.  I had forgotten the old adage ~ use strong legs on a fast horse and infrequent, but strong and demanding legs on a lazy horse.

With a horse that rushes it’s really easy to get into the habit of riding with a light, barely~there contact through your calves and heels.  However, this is actually counterproductive if you wish to slow the horse down because as soon as you apply any pressure for an aid, the horse will automatically speed up, and not necessarily listen to your aid.  Putting your legs on the horse {gently pressing them against his sides without squeezing} will, in time, desensitize him to the touch, and help him to balance through the corners so that he doesn’t have to rush them. 

I also found that a strong leg and seat on Copper while he was jumping steadied him and helped him to slow down.  It gave him confidence so he didn’t have to rush, and made my half halt far more effective, thus creating impulsion{controlled power}, not speed. 

Trouble Shooting:  If you are applying your leg to your horse and he is still rushing around, try sitting deeper in the saddle by pushing your shoulders up and back at the same time and slowing the motion of your hips.  If you move slowly in the saddle, say at a trot, slower than what your horse is going, you will encourage him to slow down as well. 
Don’t forget that training a horse not to race is a long process, and you will need to be consistent with using you legs and your body to slow his tempo {how fast he walks, trots, canters} down.   You can also use circles to encourage him to slow down.  The smaller the circle the hard he has to work to stay balanced and moving forward.  It may be hard work for you too, but it’s worth it!

See ya!

bonita