Took Oliver to Denny's for some xc schooling with Christan yesterday. Being the wimp that I am, I tried to weasle out of it because the skies were dark and grey and it was starting to rain - yuck. Now, I'm not normally this wimp-ish when it comes to rain, but I'm not as motivated when there's nothing in particular that I'm working towards. No shows in the immediate horizon, so wah - don't feel like riding in the rain and getting my adored Antares all spotty. But C was excited to bring Coda to Denny's, and I was her ride, so she told me to stop being a baby and that "eventers ride in the rain". As it turns out, I'm glad I did.
It was warm, so it wasn't too bad that it was misty and drizzling, and it also made me realize that I need to clip more of Ollie's coat (which I accomplished today). Margaret was there on little Fisher, who was a wild child, Michelle on her lovely grey (I'm such a sucker for a dark dappled grey), and this woman Suzanne whom I've never met before, on a nice jumping, but hot, Appendix mare. So, we had a bunch of babies, and Oliver and Fisher were a bit wired, for some reason. Christan thought Oliver looked fine, but he didn't want to stand still, wasn't happy about the misting on his face (kept shaking his head and groaning - how funny) and I could feel some tension when I was sitting on him. This boy needs to go to a LOT more places so he learns to chill like Sam does. We also had a sticky moment getting him into the trailer - apparently he hasn't quite gone through the whole good-bad-good-really bad - good cycle. It didn't take long to get him loaded, though. I wonder if there's something about the trailer that bothers him - I'm going to get some ear plugs and see if that helps him at all. He's never been one to munch hay in the trailer - Sam will suck the hay bag dry, but Oliver hardly touches it. Of course, he hasn't exactly been a lot of places, either, so I'm sure that will change with time. He's such a laid-back boy in every other aspect of life.
Anyway, we all warmed up and trotted around. I didn't want to canter, although Oliver did, because I know his balance is still suspect cantering downhill, and Denny's place is all up and down hill. I also had his Nathe loose-ring in, which he does fine in for flat, but probably wasn't the best choice for a horse that enjoys xc as much as he seems to (more on this later).
Since we all had babies, we started by trotting the timber "x" - Ollie cantered two strides out and popped it with gusto, charging up the hill. Since he did that so well, I cantered the x, then cantered on over to the "spooky" red rails (for some reason, those rails spook a lot of horses) which Oliver could care less about and just had the most perfect jump. For the first half of our jumping, he acted like a pro. He jumped everything I pointed him at, from a canter, with the best spot, and just acted like he was having a great time. I was having a great time - Margaret told me that the look on my face as I was jumping said that Oliver was my Big Boy now. She's right - I get such a kick out of riding him, especially xc - he and I just click, and he fits me so well. She was also surprised that he hasn't been doing this long - really started training in March - as she said that he looked like a seasoned campaigner. Nope - it just clicked early with him and he seems to enjoy it, and he's pretty bold and brave, too. Funny - when I bought him, I wouldn't have used those two adjectives to describe him.
About halfway through, Oliver discovered that he really had nothing in his mouth and proceeded to ignore the "whoa" cue, which led me to pulling on him and not releasing before the jump, which led to icky jumps because I didn't have his canter round and balanced beforehand. I had no brakes. Christan told me that she would have had me jump much bigger fences (we were doing a mixture of BN and Maiden stuff), but I didn't have any brakes and I thought that was wise as I was really riding his mouth more than I like to. Next time, I'm going to put his full-cheek/D-ring back in, and ride him the way the first half of the session went. He did do something that made me incredibly happy, though. We cantered over the log, which is my bugaboo fence, and Oliver did fulfill my expectations by spooking at it in mid-stride, but when I clamped my leg on (instant reaction), he accelerated the last few strides and jumped it neatly. Yay! I love the fact that that was his reaction to my leg on - go FORWARD. Lovely. I'm trusting him more and more every day.
We ended the day by trotting the ditch, which he needs to do a lot, as he is still a tad looky about them, and then had the most perfect leap off the bank - nice and easy, not like a greenie at all. He also did not hesitate going through Denny's water, which is very deep at the moment. I'm so proud of him! While we were untacking, Christan told me that although she knows that I like the Oskar babies, she thinks Oliver may be exceptional even then. I think he's pretty darn fantastic. He's got everything going for him - looks, temperment, movement, size, and most of all, he's the sweetest thing I've ever owned.
So, I'm feeling much better about my decision to sell Sam.
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