Gia - session 309 - jumping at CDP

 I took Gia down to CDP today for a lesson with Charlie.  Based on her last adventure off the property, I decided to start taking her down there each time in my larger trailer.  She had a bit of a fit about her hind shipping boots - she was kicking out a lot.  Once I got her through that, I loaded her on the trailer.  She was definitely agitated about getting on it, and started to throw a bit of a fit once I got her on.  Once we got on the road, she quieted down for the entire trip.  She was also still quiet when I got to CDP, and continued to stand on the trailer quietly.

Once it was her turn, I lunged her in the rope halter for a bit to help her relax and focus.  She was actually  good and quiet on the lunge line.  When I hopped on, she was a bit tense, and I could feel her thinking about kicking out when I would ask her to move off my leg, especially for bending and leg yields.  It didn't take too long for her to get through that part of things, and then she was working around the arena very well, not too scared of anything.

Next, we started over a few small jumps.  She was really good over the jumps, jumping very well, not too fast, not too slow, and even landing on the correct lead the majority of the time.  She also cantered off most of the jumps quite nicely, so we worked on staying straight and connected at the canter.  She also kept her canter for a lot longer than she usually does.

When I loaded her up to go home, she did try to kick out at the shipping boots once or twice, but definitely not as bad as when we left home.  She also loaded much more quietly.  The rest of her adventure today was very uneventful.  Hopefully, riding on the big trailer more often will help!

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