Gia - session 215 - some flatwork, some jumping

 I warmed Gia up with some stretching down at the walk.  She wasn't as good for that today as she was on Wednesday, but it wasn't too bad.  Then we worked on stretching down at the trot, as well as flexing and staying straight between my hand and leg.  

Once we were warmed up, I trotted over several small jumps in each direction.  She was very game to jump today!  She had really good approaches and take-offs to almost all her fences.  When she landed to the left, we spent a little time cantering around, as long as she would keep it.  She didn't keep it as long today as she did last week.  She did have a little trouble landing on the right lead, so I had to work on that a little with her.  We did eventually get one good one though.  

Finally, I videoed her working through the pole exercise #1 that I had mentioned in a previous blog post.  The first time, we did it at the walk.  Today, I did it at the trot.  The main focus is the same - the horse has to stay straight and centered through the poles at the walk and trot.  Really, the only difference between today and last time, is that we were trotting.  The only thing to add, is that when you are trotting, you also have to be on the correct diagonal.  Whenever you change direction, like when you are coming through the poles to go the other way, you also have to change your diagonal.  In the video, there are times when Gia is not as centered as she could be, but the more important thing is for her to be straight. 

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