Gia - session 183 - Our first jumping lesson!!

 I took Gia to CDP Stables today for another lesson.  I tacked up in my jumping saddle ... just in case. ☺

We started out, in the dressage arena, working on getting her to move off my leg, especially when she wanted to spook, at the walk and trot, on circles in each direction.  Then we moved into the jumping arena when the previous rider finished up.  Mostly, we moved into the jump ring because Gia is typically more comfortable there, but one can hope!

We continued our work on the same things.  In the dressage arena, Gia was spooking at the gazebo and at the golf cart.  In the jump ring, she was nervous about the dogs, the farrier, the big gazebo, and a couple of the colorful jumps.  Each time she spooked, I pushed her away from my leg and circled.  We repeated the exercise until she could trot quietly past whatever it was.  Then we added some leg yields down the long sides.  She was very responsive to those!

We were on a walk break after things had much improved, so I just mentioned that we were prepared to jump today ... if Charlie thought we were ready ... He said yes!

So, we trotted to a ground pole with an X behind it.  On our way to the jump, she spooked at the gazebo again, so we had to do a few circles before we could actually approach the jump.  Once she was straighter and more focused, we continued on to the jump ... and then she slammed on the brakes!

Charlie's poles and jumps look a little different from mine, so there you go.

I was expecting this, so when she stopped, I kept my leg on, stayed very still, and waited for her to take a step forward over the pole.  As soon as she did, I relaxed my leg and patted her.  Then she checked out the jump (it was a very small X).  And once she decided it wasn't deadly, she stepped over it. 

We came back around to try it again.  After a few more spooky circles, we approached the jump ... and this time, she went right over it!

We repeated the jump several times in each direction.  Charlie also added a ground pole somewhere else in the ring for her to go over and think about.  A couple of the jumps were awkward, a couple were too fast.  Sometimes she just trotted over it, and sometimes she cantered quickly afterwards.  Before and after each jump, we focused on the flatwork (just like we were talking about in one of the lessons I taught tonight ☺).  When the flatwork was good, the jump was great!

Gia definitely has a lot to work on, but it was a great start!