Such great heights

Jump lesson success! You know how I was moaning about how boring I was finding flatwork yesterday? Well, I can tell you what the solution is: A good, solid jump lesson. It was not perfect- trust me my rides pretty much never are- but it felt so GOOD.

We first worked on a funny exercise, and I was kind of surprised at how hard I found it. My trainer had me knot the reins and lay them on Oats’ neck, and then, without using my reins or anything, I had to put my arms out to the side and work on folding and releasing- as if I was going over a jump. We trotted large around the arena on the track with no reins while I was working on this exercise.

It was tough! I felt like when I was releasing, I was going to eat mane. Land face-first on Oats’ neck haha. We then switched it to slightly easier- still no reins, but hands forward instead of to the side, as if I was giving an automatic release. And then finally the easiest–with reins, hands supported slightly on neck, giving an automatic release.

Oats was as good as gold! He was very content to just keep tooling around, happy as a clam.

Nicole said it was like Oats was one of those automatic ponies you put a quarter in. They keep going until the quarter runs out! hahaha. I said it was true–and the fact that Oats is so calm, steady and easy-going makes me very complacent… (this is not a good thing).

We then moved on to jumping, the small gymnastic exercise of last week: cross-rail to an oxer, and then on to a small course. With a twist- height instead of low-wide oxers!? We finished the gymnastic with the oxer at 2’6”- probably the highest oxer I have done for a little while, and a big X-rail, and the hay bales jump got to about 2’5” I think? And then the other jump was around 2’3” wtih a stretched- out groundrail to encourage Oats to take off a bit further–mimic the feeling of an oxer, without the angst of oxers, haha.

Some of it wasn’t pretty- a wicked right drift caught us out pretty much EVERY time on the haybales? I couldn’t figure out why we never got that one right on the first try. It was very subtle and kept catching me by surprise…But, when we looped back to it after the smaller 2’3” jump, Oats jumped it perfectly. So, there’s that.

But, overall I was very pleased with his jumping efforts, even though I accidentally spurred him pretty hard when we were getting started and boy, he wasn’t pleased with me, haha. Whoops, sorry OAty! He got his favourite treats – herbits- and they make his breath smell soooo good, like spearmint afterwards. A cutie!

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

mahpiohanzia

n. the disappointment of being unable to fly, unable to stretch out your arms and vault into the air, having finally shrugged off the ballast of your own weight and ignited the fuel tank of unfulfilled desires you’ve been storing up since before you were born.

I’m fascinated by this site, as a way to capture the inexpressible way I often feel.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

It is amazing, the way the writer creates these words and definitions to fit things, situations and instances I often find myself.

In them, I’m reminded of a dream I had the other day- two dreams actually, but one was basically that I was being kidnapped, which I chalk up to watching too many X-files episodes on the weekend.

The other dream? Maybe it meant something. I dreamed I was jumping Oats in the indoor arena, over impossibly high fences- like huge, 5ft fences. We were approaching, and I felt nervous, but we were jumping them!

But when I looked back over my shoulder, those huge impossible fences were now somehow smaller? And they had shrunk back to the heights I’m more used to doing.

What an interesting dream. My husband thinks that in my dream, I was facing huge obstacles that blocked my path, that made me anxious. In soaring over them, I was able to overcome the obstacle. And when I looked back, the obstacles were not as big as I had originally thought they were…They were manageable.

Very intriguing.