First XC school of the year

Leo was a jumping machine in our xc lesson with Ashley today. We drove down to the Gibbes Farm in South Carolina; Ashley brought her intermediate level mare, May. Watching them was awesome. Ashley is so smooth; her position never changes even though you know she's adjusting May as she rides.

Warming Up: An Ab WorkoutWe started off on the flat, bending and supplying Leo. In our canter work, Ashley had me practice moving forward in the canter then collecting all while keep my hands forward. This meant I had to hold in the core of my body to slow Leo. Harder for me than it sounds. (Let me tell you my abs were hurting like crazy the next day!) I always let me reins get long and ride with my hands in my lap- not effective at all. When Ashley galloped May, her hands were completely independent of her body, halfway up the horse's neck, following the motion of her gallop. I have this image imprinted in my mind now. Ashley also didn't want me micromanaging Leo all the time. I had to make an adjustment, get a response and then leave him alone. And with cross country, I can't ask subtly and hope I get the right response from Leo. I have to do a little more demanding so I can get out of his way sooner. I also have to ride forward and stop thinking slowness equals control.

Setup, then ride forward to the fence

First few fences were far from great. Leo is always a little sticky to start and I wasn't riding very positively. Stepping it up, Ashley had us canter a roll top to a larger coop to a larger hanging log. The fences were among a bunch of trees, so I had to ride the fences on a forward stride while navigating between the trees. Leo was awesome! And I was happy I actually started riding forward - like Ashley said, it is cross country! Then we did another larger coop to another larger hanging log with rocks under it simulating a ditch and again Leo was awesome. We caught both the fences out of a nice forward stride and at just the right distance.

We went on to jump a fences with a up-hill approach going one direction and a downhill landing going the other. Then we cantered through the water and jumped a fence in the middle of the water. Leo stopped at this the first time. Ashley said he's careful and when he doesn't understand something he needs extra encouragement. She also pointed out that I have to break the habit of riding backwards because he is so forward. I need a forward pace going to my fences. So I need to set up far out from the fence and then ride forward. Three strides out I can't be pulling back trying to get control.

Pure boldness with the half coffin

We went on to the ditch and coffin. Because Leo is sometime sticky with ditches when he's schooling, we jumped a mini-course and then cantered the ditch. I galloped around the field, jumped 3 fences and then the ditch. Then we moved on and jumped the ditch, one stride to a roll-top. Leo was brilliant here and really bold. Ashley's boyfriend Mark said he jumped 2 feet over the fence! Then AShley had us jumped the roll-top to the ditch. Again he was awesome. The first time thru with got one stride and a shuffle step before the ditch. The second time we got the clean one stride. Really bold stuff from Leo! I rode more forward the second time and thought wow, I'm going too fast. I asked Ashley and she said it was a good ride, ideally we would want the same forwardness but slower footwork from Leo. This reminded me of Boyd who said he wanted long, slow strides from Leo in his gymnastic work.

Conquering banks into water

We went over to the water. I've had problems in the past with jumping banks into water with Leo so we wanted to work on this. First Ashley had has canter thru the water complex and jump a log going out of the water. Then we turned around and jumped the log going into the water and jumped the bank out. She didn't want to start with the bank in since it was a decent size and she said the log jump in simulates an easy bank. Leo was really good with this. Then we trotted off the bank the first time. He took a huge leap and we landed in a pile. The next time he refused. This is definitely the pattern. Ashley had me ride on a longer rein and ride more positively to the edge of the bank. She said he wanted to do it; he wasn't being naughty; he just didn't quite understand how to do it. I got him jumping off and it was very exuberant. We keep trotting off trying to get him to drop in quietly. He did get better with time.

Because control and Leo's listening skills are the main themes we are working out, Ashley had us put a couple fences together - all related to the water. There was a roll-top/table that we jumped heading towards the water, we had to jump the bank in, canter across the water and jump the log out. Doesn't sound complicated but Leo gets stronger after every fence - especially when he knows the sequence. The first time, I didn't get control soon enough after the roll top and held too much at the bank. Leo launched off the bank and then we had a really awkward jump out of the water. Leo ran past the distance and somehow managed to get his feet out of the way and over the jump. Whew! Ashley had us to it again and told me to get control within a couple strides of landing from the roll top. I did and we had an awesome, controlled jump off the bank into the water. But we still screwed up the log out. We tried it again and the bank jump was great but the jump out still not great, but better.

Part of the issue is I am not reacting quick enough and then can't ride forward to the fence. In a related line this is really magnified. When I landed from the bank I needed to half halt and then ride forward to the log. But instead I didn't get organized until we were too close to the log and then I ended up screwing up the distance.

A better relationship

I learned a lot during that cross country school! In the past month, Leo has been a completely different horse. We have a really good working relationship right now and which is so much better than how things had been this past fall! I was dreading my rides on Leo and was frustrated all the time because it felt like we were getting no where. Once in a blue moon we would have a good ride, which was not how things were in Pennsylvania. Yes, Leo is a difficult, hot, opinionated horse but his behavior had never been as bad as it was this fall.

Since switching bits, I haven't had any rides that I would consider bad. Which is pretty incredible considering the last time I rode Leo in the citation bit he was freaking out. Today I rode Leo in the field and he was just fantastic. I love loving my horse and loving riding again! Switching trainers is hard (and kind of awkward); switching gear without the advice of a pro is intimidating; but in the end, sometimes you just have to follow your gut and see what happens. Especially when everything is going wrong, nothing is going to get worse!