Oliver's second jumping lesson with Holly

Once again, he was a Very Good Boy despite all the commotion going on in her arena - she was super-busy with lessons and her working students riding, so there was a lot going on. I warmed him up by myself while Holly taught another lesson, and he offered to stretch down onto the bit at the walk and the trot, and is starting to take more contact, which is a huge improvement over hovering behind the bit.

Holly set up a crossrail, and we trotted up to it and he immediately started looking, so of course I tipped forward a little and he slammed on the brakes and wheeled to the right. Holly made me turn him left and then I stuffed him over the jump, and we trotted that a few times but he was pretty looky, for some reason, for a few more passes. We then spent the rest of the lesson trotting over little jumps, sometimes stuffing him over them from a walk (like the newly painted candy cane pole). Holly stressed that I need to keep them small, as it's not about height, it's about trust, and she mentioned that Oliver, right now, was mentally "fragile" in that he didn't quite trust me. She said that he needs to get into his mind that even though it's scary, he needs to find his way between the standards and not look for a way out right or left. We also halted straight after the jumps, to reinforce the fact that running away afterwards was NOT a good idea. By the end of the session, he was trotting over every jump quietly, and halting straight afterwards. I had to remember to lift my shoulders, keep them still, keep my hands forward and turn my toes out slightly so that my lower leg kept contact, and keep my seat light (whew!). I think that I'm worried about getting left behind, so I either a) tip forward too soon and burden his forehand or b) worry about getting ahead of him so I sit back too much and then get left. If I keep my seat light, my shoulders back and my leg on, I am able to "go with" the motion so much better. So, the homework is to jump him every other ride or so, and keep changing around the jumps in the arena so that they're different, and not let him stop at anything, no matter what - he MUST find his way between the standards somehow without turning left or right.