Gia - session 133 - Gia's first jump!!!
Finally the day has arrived where Gia gets to go over her first jump!
I was a little worried that I was getting too excited about it in my head, and it would totally end up flopping.
It did not flop. 😊
Gia was tacked up, for her first time, in the jumping saddle. Yay!!
Of course, nothing felt different to her.
I started our ride just like any other - stretching circles at the walk, shoulder-in at the walk, diagonal lines and centerlines at the trot.
She started out a little quick today, so I had to do a lot of half halting in the beginning until she relaxed into the work. She did need a few circles in the corners today at the trot before her lines, but nothing was bad.
Then we went over the 6 trot poles.
They were so EASY!
She just floated over them like they weren't even there. Not too slow, but not too fast either.
Finally, the moment I have been waiting for - we got to put up a crossrail.
To build the small gymnastic, I simply take the last two trot poles and put them together in an "X". I always start with a small X, so as not to intimidate the horse. I really debated where to start with her, since she is so large. I ended up going with hole 5, which is maybe slightly taller than I would have started any other horse, putting the center of the "X" at about 12" off the ground.
As we approached the trot poles, I moved into half seat so that I could stay out of her way, not knowing what to expect. Her first time through was pretty typical of a young horse - she approached the poles as normal, but sucked back a little and got a little wiggly when she saw the X. I think we kind of trotted over it, but definitely not in a good rhythm, and definitely not straight. I did make sure to praise her for getting over it each time though.
The next few times through went a little better. She felt more confident about what she was doing, but she barely picked up her feet to get over the small obstacle.
I decided that we needed to raise the X to a more respectable height, 2 more holes up, to give her something she could really jump.
That went better, but she was still quite wiggly.
So, I added a couple of poles, on the ground after the jump, parallel to, and on either side of, the path she needed to take.
She was definitely a little worried about those poles the next couple of times through, but once she realized they weren't going to eat her, she relaxed and had a really good, straight, forward jump! I made sure to praise her a lot after that one!
Then she got a little cocky.
The next few times through she was very excited and tried pulling me to the jump a little faster, and/or tried adding some sass afterwards with a very tiny buck here and there.
It took a few more tries, but I was finally able to get a second and third time through the gymnastic that were what I was looking for.
It took her a little bit to understand what was expected of her, and to get over her emotions. And even though we only went through the gymnastic a few times, she was thoroughly exhausted, but very proud of herself, by the end. In fact, she gave me her best walk/halt transition on the very first try, at the end of our ride today!
I was a little worried that I was getting too excited about it in my head, and it would totally end up flopping.
It did not flop. 😊
Gia was tacked up, for her first time, in the jumping saddle. Yay!!
Of course, nothing felt different to her.
I started our ride just like any other - stretching circles at the walk, shoulder-in at the walk, diagonal lines and centerlines at the trot.
She started out a little quick today, so I had to do a lot of half halting in the beginning until she relaxed into the work. She did need a few circles in the corners today at the trot before her lines, but nothing was bad.
Then we went over the 6 trot poles.
They were so EASY!
She just floated over them like they weren't even there. Not too slow, but not too fast either.
Finally, the moment I have been waiting for - we got to put up a crossrail.
To build the small gymnastic, I simply take the last two trot poles and put them together in an "X". I always start with a small X, so as not to intimidate the horse. I really debated where to start with her, since she is so large. I ended up going with hole 5, which is maybe slightly taller than I would have started any other horse, putting the center of the "X" at about 12" off the ground.
As we approached the trot poles, I moved into half seat so that I could stay out of her way, not knowing what to expect. Her first time through was pretty typical of a young horse - she approached the poles as normal, but sucked back a little and got a little wiggly when she saw the X. I think we kind of trotted over it, but definitely not in a good rhythm, and definitely not straight. I did make sure to praise her for getting over it each time though.
The next few times through went a little better. She felt more confident about what she was doing, but she barely picked up her feet to get over the small obstacle.
I decided that we needed to raise the X to a more respectable height, 2 more holes up, to give her something she could really jump.
That went better, but she was still quite wiggly.
So, I added a couple of poles, on the ground after the jump, parallel to, and on either side of, the path she needed to take.
She was definitely a little worried about those poles the next couple of times through, but once she realized they weren't going to eat her, she relaxed and had a really good, straight, forward jump! I made sure to praise her a lot after that one!
Then she got a little cocky.
The next few times through she was very excited and tried pulling me to the jump a little faster, and/or tried adding some sass afterwards with a very tiny buck here and there.
It took a few more tries, but I was finally able to get a second and third time through the gymnastic that were what I was looking for.
It took her a little bit to understand what was expected of her, and to get over her emotions. And even though we only went through the gymnastic a few times, she was thoroughly exhausted, but very proud of herself, by the end. In fact, she gave me her best walk/halt transition on the very first try, at the end of our ride today!
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