Gia - session 225 - Gymnastics, and ... my first fall off of her ...

Well, today started out good.  Suzin came over to offer quite a bit of insight into gymnastic exercises that I could do with Gia.  I warmed her up with some stretching down at the walk and trot.  When she was a bit looser, I walked and trotted over several single poles around the arena.  Then Suzin had us come down centerline over three trot poles while she adjusted them to fit Gia's stride.  I had done this exercise with her a while ago, but her stride has definitely increased since then!  Sometimes Gia came through the poles too quick, sometimes too slow, sometimes she hesitated, sometimes she stumbled.  

Eventually, she was coming through them more confidently, so that's when Suzin added a crossrail.  I had to work on sitting down in the saddle at the correct moment and Gia had to work on going forward to the jump.  If I felt her hesitate or back off or just come in too slow, I would send her forward with a squeeze of my leg.  If she didn't respond, then I popped her with my whip.  The only correct answer is to go forward to a jump, which is something Gia has to learn.  Typically, after having to send her forward, she would come around the next time and try to go too fast, often cantering through the trot poles.  So, I had to remind her to wait a little bit more the next time.  

Eventually, she came through correctly, and then Suzin made the crossrail into an oxer by adding a back rail.  Gia backed off that a little at first, and was quickly corrected, but then came through more confidently.  Then Suzin added another pole on the ground, one stride after the first jump.  We played with that a few times to find the correct distance, and then Suzin turned it into a vertical jump. 

I felt Gia start to back off as soon as she saw the second jump, but I didn't sit down deep enough in the saddle and push her hard enough through.  We jumped the first jump, but Gia stopped hard in front of the second jump.  I tried to stay on, but just couldn't quite keep from falling off.  My act of falling scared Gia, and I tried to hold on to my reins upon landing, but didn't manage to do that either.  Luckily, she didn't really try to get away.  I think she was more scared of what happened than anything else.  It definitely didn't feel like she tried to do anything on purpose, and amazingly, although I fell from quite a height, I didn't fall hard, and got right back on with no more than a slight bruise to my shoulder.  Of course, we went right back through the gymnastic, but Suzin had lowered the second jump a bit.  Gia stopped again, but this time in front of the first jump, so Suzin lowered the first jump a bit.  I got Gia over it the third time, and we went back over it several times until it was easier and Suzin was able to raise both jumps back up.

Finally, she added a back rail to the second vertical, creating a good sized oxer.  Gia barely glanced at it the first time, and by the last time, she felt very confident and ready to go!  I may feel the soreness tomorrow, but the first fall of my giant horse wasn't as bad as I thought it would be ☺.