Do What?

My friend Katherine has a new horse so I went with her tonight to see the new fellow and since I was hanging around she let me ride her other horse, Rocky. K and I have been riding buddies for years and usually trade out our horses on a regular basis just for fun. Lately though, we're at different barns and she hasn't ridden Megan yet and I had not been on her boy either.

Didn't know what I had been missing! Rocky is as comfortable as the day is long. His transitions to the canter are effortless and all of his gaits are just flat comfie. So I'm trotting and cantering him around and Ricky, K's trainer, asks me to try a lead change. Okey doke, don't know what I'm doing, but sure. Once we get them in each direction with no problem, Ricky says to bring him around to an X. That's where the "Do What?" comes in. I haven't jumped in at least 5 years.

Of course it's gotta be part of the plan if I want to event Megan. Two of the three phases of the competition are JUMPING after all. But it all seemed so far off in the future. Don't know what teleporter I thought I was going to find to make me comfortable over fences again when the time comes, but logic isn't always necessary in my world.

Anyway, I trot around to the X and over we go. We ended up doing it several times and progressed to cantering over it and getting the lead change after. It was actually great fun. What a difference to ride a quiet easy horse that doesn't rush to the fence or bolt afterward. I could really enjoy this I think! Ricky offered to set up a vertical and now I wish I had gone for it.

The take aways from today's ride? Getting Megan the right jump training from the start and keeping her confident, quiet and rythmic will help me transition back to jumping with confidence and how quickly can I invite myself back to ride a broke horse over fences. :-)