Leo's First Cross Country School
I had my first lesson in the cross country field yesterday with Leo. In the ring, he has been fairly blase jumping. Not very sharp, hits the rails, in general feels like he's half asleep. Well, that was not the case out in the field. Granted I haven't ridden him in the field until now, but he still seemed to know something was up. He's always extremely attentive to his environment, but that was doubled out in the field.
He warmed up with no problem. He was pretty steady and his transitions were pretty clean. We started jumping with a single, small long and then continued over a small pile of stacked logs. A part of me was still nervous about this moment - the cross country. Though I knew he had a clean cross country record, after everything with Apollo I think I was still thinking that maybe it was all my fault. That Apollo didn't like cross country jumping because of me, and maybe the same would be true of Leo. Alas, that was not the case. He caught sight of that first fence and there was nothing I was going to do to stop him from jumping it - and that feeling never left.
This horse loves cross country jumping! I point him and he takes me to the fence. He jumped the little logs fairly big, and he was definitely excited to be jumping. We trotted a little 12" jump and then canter the 2 log fences going in the opposite direction and again, it was no sweat. Then we jumped the tire fence going into the ring and cantered around over a stadium fence. He slowed down going into the tire fence and that was my mistake. I need to learn that a forward horse still needs leg. We did it a second time and by then Leo understood the question and started getting strong. He definitely has a bit of an attitude with the cross country jumping, like I-know-what-I'm-doing-try=not-to-get-in-my-way.
Next Becca had us jump a stadium fence, then canter the tire fence and jump out of the ring into the cross country field. Leo was super bold here, had a bit of a long spot, took it and jumped big into the field - he landed in a gallop and keep going! I struggled to bring him back after that.
We hopped over the ditch next. By now he was landing in a gallop and strongly moving away from each fence. Becca explained the concept of bridging the reins to me. She said, you can't pull on a fast/strong horse because you'll never win. By bridging the reins - planting my hands in Leo's withers and not moving them - Leo ends up pulling on himself. I can maintain his position and he learns that he can't fight himself. I managed to do this when I landed from the ditch and Leo galloped off. Rather than pulling and leaning back, I stayed in 2-pt and held my hands firmly in his neck and he slowed down far more easily.
We added a fence 2 strides from the ditch and jumped that back and forth a couple of times. It was no problem for Leo. Then Becca put together a little course for me and we cantered around the cross country field over a couple of fences, then jumped over the tires into the ring to end. Leo was good through the course, but "took off" when he landed in the ring. I forgot to bridge the reins and ended up in a pulling match with him.
It'll take me some time to learn how to ride him properly, but I am super excited! He's going to be a lot of fun! The flatwork needs A LOT of work, but its cool to know I don't have a stopper! He wants to do it - which is an awesome feeling.
He warmed up with no problem. He was pretty steady and his transitions were pretty clean. We started jumping with a single, small long and then continued over a small pile of stacked logs. A part of me was still nervous about this moment - the cross country. Though I knew he had a clean cross country record, after everything with Apollo I think I was still thinking that maybe it was all my fault. That Apollo didn't like cross country jumping because of me, and maybe the same would be true of Leo. Alas, that was not the case. He caught sight of that first fence and there was nothing I was going to do to stop him from jumping it - and that feeling never left.
This horse loves cross country jumping! I point him and he takes me to the fence. He jumped the little logs fairly big, and he was definitely excited to be jumping. We trotted a little 12" jump and then canter the 2 log fences going in the opposite direction and again, it was no sweat. Then we jumped the tire fence going into the ring and cantered around over a stadium fence. He slowed down going into the tire fence and that was my mistake. I need to learn that a forward horse still needs leg. We did it a second time and by then Leo understood the question and started getting strong. He definitely has a bit of an attitude with the cross country jumping, like I-know-what-I'm-doing-try=not-to-get-in-my-way.
Next Becca had us jump a stadium fence, then canter the tire fence and jump out of the ring into the cross country field. Leo was super bold here, had a bit of a long spot, took it and jumped big into the field - he landed in a gallop and keep going! I struggled to bring him back after that.
We hopped over the ditch next. By now he was landing in a gallop and strongly moving away from each fence. Becca explained the concept of bridging the reins to me. She said, you can't pull on a fast/strong horse because you'll never win. By bridging the reins - planting my hands in Leo's withers and not moving them - Leo ends up pulling on himself. I can maintain his position and he learns that he can't fight himself. I managed to do this when I landed from the ditch and Leo galloped off. Rather than pulling and leaning back, I stayed in 2-pt and held my hands firmly in his neck and he slowed down far more easily.
We added a fence 2 strides from the ditch and jumped that back and forth a couple of times. It was no problem for Leo. Then Becca put together a little course for me and we cantered around the cross country field over a couple of fences, then jumped over the tires into the ring to end. Leo was good through the course, but "took off" when he landed in the ring. I forgot to bridge the reins and ended up in a pulling match with him.
It'll take me some time to learn how to ride him properly, but I am super excited! He's going to be a lot of fun! The flatwork needs A LOT of work, but its cool to know I don't have a stopper! He wants to do it - which is an awesome feeling.
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