showpony
Well-Known Member
So to give a quick run down for those who are not familiar with me..... I fractured my neck years ago & gave up riding for 12+ yrs..... roll on last year & bought a fantastic 4 yo who has taught me so much..... however she is a total powerhouse when it comes to jumping so for the moment Ive handed the jumping reins over to a super experienced rider!!!!
So today had the pleasure of enjoying being an owner from the ground lol & WOW my mare did the novice course ( first time out at an XC style show ) ....... was so so so proud.... she bloody well looked like a schoolmaster lol.... no tanking , cat leaps etc.... rider just rode her so sympathetically & they would have gone clear BUT my mare jumped HUGE out over a ditch & was a tight line to next fence & they had to deal with a bloody nappy horse who had taken a lead off them & then napped again as had tanked off on front of my mare so they had to circle & do fence again.... grrrrrrrr.
Anyhow onto me - the rider with MASSIVE Jumping fears lol... bought my new boy couple wks ago.... 8yrs old, loves to jump! ( have done things backwards lol....... got the youngster then got the schoolmaster lol )
I have only had him for a couple of weeks & until last week had yet to jump him in an open field!!!!! roll on prep this week & first session did NOT go well, I ended up in tears & dismounted feeling I just couldnt get a grip on my nerves....... Problem was I was riding behind someone & I just did NOT feel I had brakes & at my age with two young children brakes are a necessity!!!!!
Roll on session 2 days ago..... got my brave pants on!!! & just kicked on & went for it... my instructor noticed a HUGE improvement....
So today we started with pairs in the Hunter Trials - biggest fence 80 cms & it was a total DISASTER!!!!!! I was tense, which caused Ponio to spook, nap & refuse a multitue of fences............ NOT good especially I am NOT the most confident rider.... so entered the singles.....
Just went for it.... he is naturally " Looky " & just kicked on and gave him a good talking to when I felt him back off...... 20 fences, we were clear over 18 of them... One I could not for life nor money get him over as the fence we were meant to jump was beside the Open fence of massive blue barrels with pictures of deers lol and he just wouldn't look at fence we were meant to be jumping lol......... there was a downhill trio of pretty meaty ( for me ) Log fences & 3rd had to be jumped at an angle, sharp left after first two.... unfortunatly I was galloping past the headlands at this stage so had to circle back....... got over it & kicked for home!!!!
Crap on paper but for ME a massive confidence achievement...... couple of pics below CC Welcome but not harsh lol.... this time last week if someone had asked me to jump 20 XC jumps would have told them where to go lol.....
Bear in mind he refused this one point blank in the pairs & jumped from a standstill which resulted in me getting whacked in the nose lol.
second last fence
So today had the pleasure of enjoying being an owner from the ground lol & WOW my mare did the novice course ( first time out at an XC style show ) ....... was so so so proud.... she bloody well looked like a schoolmaster lol.... no tanking , cat leaps etc.... rider just rode her so sympathetically & they would have gone clear BUT my mare jumped HUGE out over a ditch & was a tight line to next fence & they had to deal with a bloody nappy horse who had taken a lead off them & then napped again as had tanked off on front of my mare so they had to circle & do fence again.... grrrrrrrr.
Anyhow onto me - the rider with MASSIVE Jumping fears lol... bought my new boy couple wks ago.... 8yrs old, loves to jump! ( have done things backwards lol....... got the youngster then got the schoolmaster lol )
I have only had him for a couple of weeks & until last week had yet to jump him in an open field!!!!! roll on prep this week & first session did NOT go well, I ended up in tears & dismounted feeling I just couldnt get a grip on my nerves....... Problem was I was riding behind someone & I just did NOT feel I had brakes & at my age with two young children brakes are a necessity!!!!!
Roll on session 2 days ago..... got my brave pants on!!! & just kicked on & went for it... my instructor noticed a HUGE improvement....
So today we started with pairs in the Hunter Trials - biggest fence 80 cms & it was a total DISASTER!!!!!! I was tense, which caused Ponio to spook, nap & refuse a multitue of fences............ NOT good especially I am NOT the most confident rider.... so entered the singles.....
Just went for it.... he is naturally " Looky " & just kicked on and gave him a good talking to when I felt him back off...... 20 fences, we were clear over 18 of them... One I could not for life nor money get him over as the fence we were meant to jump was beside the Open fence of massive blue barrels with pictures of deers lol and he just wouldn't look at fence we were meant to be jumping lol......... there was a downhill trio of pretty meaty ( for me ) Log fences & 3rd had to be jumped at an angle, sharp left after first two.... unfortunatly I was galloping past the headlands at this stage so had to circle back....... got over it & kicked for home!!!!
Crap on paper but for ME a massive confidence achievement...... couple of pics below CC Welcome but not harsh lol.... this time last week if someone had asked me to jump 20 XC jumps would have told them where to go lol.....
Bear in mind he refused this one point blank in the pairs & jumped from a standstill which resulted in me getting whacked in the nose lol.
second last fence
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