Gia - session 249 - jumping!

 No lunging today.  Gia warmed up with some stretching at the walk, and she was super relaxed!  After a trot warm up that included a little bit of lateral work, we started over fences.

I set up a variety of fences around the ring - some crossrails, some verticals, some small, some tall.  We played around on those for a little bit.  She wanted to rush a little bit in the beginning, so I threw in a lot of circles before the jumps until she was quieter.  I also worked on getting her straighter before and after the jumps.  

After a lot of the jumps (but not all), I would give her a treat.  I don't want her to expect a treat after every jump, because then she will start to stop after every jump, but I do still want to reward her efforts over the fences.  

There were a couple that surprised her at first, especially the rather large X  I set up to help keep her straighter.  She was only surprised the first time though, and immediately on the next try, she knew what I wanted her to do.  

We finished with a small jump course.  The first couple times through the course, I had to throw in a circle here and there if she got too quick or crooked.  On our last trip through the course, she was much straighter and more rhythmic in her tempo!