Gia - session 272 - jumping!

 Gia and I started out with some stretching at the walk.  She was fairly good with that, although she was a little "snorty", in a tense way.  I expected her to be tense and quick when we started trotting, but she actually wasn't.  I asked her for good quality transitions, and she gave them to me right from the beginning.  I tried to stay very disciplined on remembering to ask for correct transitions every time.  It's easy to overlook those things when you are focused on bigger things.  

We continued our trot warm up with 10-15 meter circles, a little bit of shoulder-fore, and a little bit of lengthening.  She was fairly responsive to everything.

I had a small course of gymnastic lines set up for Gia and I to play over today.  There was an X, several verticals at around 2'6", and a couple of oxers at around 2'3".  We played with each element separately, and then put everything together in a course at the end.  She was a bit quick in the beginning, but I focused on getting her to relax and go slower before and after the jumps, and she responded well to the work.  

She did hit the crossrail a couple of times and knocked it over.  She wasn't always paying attention when we turned to the jump, and it caught her off guard.  When we went back over it, after knocking it down, she was a bit more tense, and overjumped it quite high.  It took a few tries to get her jumping it quietly again.  

Overall though, she was pretty good!  She never balked at any of the jumps I presented to her, even the ones that had barrels under them.  I definitely feel like she is understanding her job, and maybe even enjoying it!

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