spookypony
Well-Known Member
In my continued attempts to build my jumping confidence, I entered the 1m class at the riding school's league for the third time. Had a different horse this time: a 16.3 chestnut mare that knows her job, but can get a bit fast. I haven't ridden her often, so was happy to have her for a SJ lesson last night (where I got chewed out for looking down
).
We did the 75cm class as a warmup. She warmed up a bit tensely, and it took us a while to find a good rhythm into the practise fences. In the class, she was getting a little enthusiastic, and I was cautious about cornering, so it didn't flow as well as it might have, and we got some funny stridings (got a bit long). Still clear, though. In the JO, a numpty driver error saw us take a ridiculously long route after one jump, so ended up tied for 4th. I was a bit annoyed with myself, because the times were very close, and without the detour...
The 100cm went much better, as I felt I had much more the measure of the horse, and we had a much better canter all around. We were the only clear round, so got 1st!!
Each time, the jumps look a little smaller, and I spend more time looking where I'm going rather than staring at the jumps. So progress is being made!
We did the 75cm class as a warmup. She warmed up a bit tensely, and it took us a while to find a good rhythm into the practise fences. In the class, she was getting a little enthusiastic, and I was cautious about cornering, so it didn't flow as well as it might have, and we got some funny stridings (got a bit long). Still clear, though. In the JO, a numpty driver error saw us take a ridiculously long route after one jump, so ended up tied for 4th. I was a bit annoyed with myself, because the times were very close, and without the detour...
The 100cm went much better, as I felt I had much more the measure of the horse, and we had a much better canter all around. We were the only clear round, so got 1st!!
Each time, the jumps look a little smaller, and I spend more time looking where I'm going rather than staring at the jumps. So progress is being made!
