MizElz
Well-Known Member
I cant believe I am saying this but...I think I may have partially, at last, recovered my jumping nerve
We went on a fun ride today with our neighbour, C, who was very eager to pop a fence or two! Ellie and I have not jumped for 3 years now since our accident, and I honestly thought I probably never would jump again. But after a lot of soul searching (pathetic, isnt it?
) we followed Puzzle over a tiny little 1'6 pole...then over some rails, then a little tiger trap...and Ellie was an angel! C and Puzzle then decided not to do the three bigger fences - the first of which was about 2'6, but Ellie was adamant she wanted to carry on, so on we went, and she flew them! The last one in the line was a huuuuuge tiger trap, about 3'3, and there was no way I was prepared to do that! But Ellie had already locked onto it and didnt give me much choice! I shouldnt have worried, for she flew it like she's been going cross country all her life.
Bearing in mind we only ever did show jumping, because I was far too much of a chicken to take her cross country, I'm beginning to think we missed out on a lot of things! I always thought she'd be too spooky to go XC, but her attitude to jumping today - put me at it, let me figure my own stride out, I'll jump anything - combined with the way she jumped when I hunted her 3 years ago, make me think I should give her a go at some low key hunter trialling or something.
We did three more flights of fences, all foot perfect...and neighbour and I have now decided to try and find a little hunter trial pairs class somewhere! I cannot explain how happy I feel.....I think I have finally realised that the reason I got so uptight about jumping before was because of the expectation I had piled upon myself - we had done well in the past and exceeded all expectations, and I panicked because I was so scared of failing and letting people down. At last, I can see that it may still be possible for me to take Ellie jumping, just for fun. No competitiveness, no need to go up a level simply because we have the ability to do it - from now on, any jumping we do is because we want to, not because we feel it is expected.
Ellie seemed so happy to be jumping again - the minute she saw them, she started to prance and jog, and there was certainly no question of whether she found them spooky or not - she didnt care! I'm rambling on and on now, but as you can guess, I have had a bloody good day, and am now trying to get my head around the fact that I've figured out something that has been plaguing me for years!
Havent got the pro pics yet - will post a link when they're available - but a few photos that my brother took are in the PG
Pony nuts to anyone who has read all of my ramblings!
We went on a fun ride today with our neighbour, C, who was very eager to pop a fence or two! Ellie and I have not jumped for 3 years now since our accident, and I honestly thought I probably never would jump again. But after a lot of soul searching (pathetic, isnt it?
Bearing in mind we only ever did show jumping, because I was far too much of a chicken to take her cross country, I'm beginning to think we missed out on a lot of things! I always thought she'd be too spooky to go XC, but her attitude to jumping today - put me at it, let me figure my own stride out, I'll jump anything - combined with the way she jumped when I hunted her 3 years ago, make me think I should give her a go at some low key hunter trialling or something.
We did three more flights of fences, all foot perfect...and neighbour and I have now decided to try and find a little hunter trial pairs class somewhere! I cannot explain how happy I feel.....I think I have finally realised that the reason I got so uptight about jumping before was because of the expectation I had piled upon myself - we had done well in the past and exceeded all expectations, and I panicked because I was so scared of failing and letting people down. At last, I can see that it may still be possible for me to take Ellie jumping, just for fun. No competitiveness, no need to go up a level simply because we have the ability to do it - from now on, any jumping we do is because we want to, not because we feel it is expected.
Ellie seemed so happy to be jumping again - the minute she saw them, she started to prance and jog, and there was certainly no question of whether she found them spooky or not - she didnt care! I'm rambling on and on now, but as you can guess, I have had a bloody good day, and am now trying to get my head around the fact that I've figured out something that has been plaguing me for years!
Havent got the pro pics yet - will post a link when they're available - but a few photos that my brother took are in the PG
Pony nuts to anyone who has read all of my ramblings!
