So proud of my boy tonight

[vivhewe]

Had a lesson tonight and my friend rode Dan and what a star! We've come to the conclusion he's lazy and likes avoiding work (even taking off but I trust her judgement!) and so I've been working on slowing his trot and me putting my weight to the back of the saddle in order for him to not take advantage of my position and take off and so he was great!

And seeing as my friend will ride anything I told her to pop him over a fence and see how he got on, although he is quite green and only started jumping when I got him, but he never stopped once (although did step over the groundline on one occasion) and finished by clearing about 4'

What an ace birthday present that was!

If he carries on as he has tonight he will be staying afterall

 

[Weezy]

Ummmmmmmmmm didn't you say 2 nights ago...

[ QUOTE ]
She also thinks it is probably more of a pain issue with him

[/ QUOTE ]

So why on earth were you jumping a green horse over 4ft? Height isn't everything you know

Not trying to be difficult, but I am confused

 

[vivhewe]

As since then I've found out the only pain is erm... him

I wasn't jumping him, my friend was - no way do I have the balls to jump that big, 2ft is my limit! As she felt he could jump that height I let her try him, as she has the experience behind her to know how much she can ask of him.

Totally see where you are coming from though Weezy

x

 

[Weezy]

OK, well keep it low and fun and get the training spot on in the early stages first before jumping the big jumps - 2ft will be PLENTY big enough to get him athletic

Then you can grow and learn together maybe?!

 

[vivhewe]

I'm not even going to think of jumping him at the moment - my aim is to get his flatwork sorted and have a nice responsive pony again at the end of it

He enjoys jumping but I think popping the odd log out hacking will be enough for me to cope with

Oh and sheep troughs, they're about a foot off the ground. Nice height LOL!

 

[BethH]

Glad it's going well, just to say I agree that for his joints possibly leave off the jumping and get his flatwork sorted that way he will be more balanced when you do jump and less likely to suffer joint problems as he gets older.

My horse didn't stop growing until he was 6 or 7 and the professional advice was not to do too much to soon, so we have only just started doing some small fences now, but ground poles would be great for his concentration and you can always get him to stop and start in between the poles to get him listening to you as that is a great way to maintain control and slow his paces. Riding with weight is an excellent skill, just make sure your weight comes back from your upper body (ie take your shoulders and upper back back a little) not because you have shifted your whole body to the back of the saddle as that will put you in the wrong position and posibly make him sore.

Hope that helps and Good luck

 

[vivhewe]

That is exactly what my friend said re: the weight!

As I am expecting him to do something, I tip my shoulders forwards and generally sit with my legs almost in the correct position but tip forward from the waist upwards. I've been focusing on sitting up straight with my shoulders back, and my arms bent at the elbow properly, and then putting my weight down into my saddle so that I am balanced and he can't take advantage of my position as easily

I have another lesson on Saturday

I can't wait!

 

[BethH]

Common fault of most riders except the best ones who have very flexible hips! Glad to hear you are getting some good advice hope it all goes well