So, on Friday, last minute I decided to take Oliver xc schooling to the Horse Park, mostly because Marissa wanted to take her pony, Goody, and she didn’t have a ride. I didn’t think about taking Ollie because Christan is at Rolex this weekend and you know how those fences grow in size when you haven’t seen them for a while…well, I didn’t want to school without her (when did I become such a pansy?), and I didn’t have a groundsperson, yadda yadda yadda. But when Marissa said she’d come, and we’d bring MaryBeth along for our groundsperson, I decided that what Oliver and I needed was to gallop around and jump some stuff. It was HOT – around 85, but there was a good breeze blowing so not too bad. I wonder why it’s become so hot so early this year? When I got to the barn, I noticed that I had a VERY flat tire. It seemed that the valve stem on the tire had dry rotted at the base, so was leaking air. Argh. I rigged it with some duct tape and we threw the air compressor into the tack room and hoped and prayed we would make it to the Park. Oliver loaded up like a champ and with Goody installed, we were on our way. We stopped at the end of the driveway to check and see if my redneck valve stem held (it did) and then we immediately encountered a huge crowd of bike racers – I had forgotten that the Tour de Moore was this weekend, and so we picked our way through the crowds. At this point, I was wondering if all odds were stacked against us, but we made it there safely.
On Thursday, I had tried out my Antares again because Christan said something about not being able to put her leg on Oliver riding in her new Devoucoux (she likes her Antares better), and I was wondering if there was a difference between my Antares and my Albion. First of all, that Antares does NOT fit him – it’s too wide, and almost presses down on his withers, and the panels scoop away from him back, which is sort of flat because of how uphill he’s built. Immediately I noticed that I felt very much closer to him, but that could be because the panels are so much thinner and it’s too wide. I also noticed that posting the trot seemed like WORK – I started to feel some leg strain almost immediately and got tuckered out more quickly than I have been. I thought that was due to me being in bed from Wednesday to Monday, but when I started cantering, I couldn’t get my leg on him. The weirdest thing was jumping – that was when the Antares really shined. The balance is effortless over jumps, but I can’t seem to get my leg on him to the fences without lifting my heel up and bringing my leg back – ugh. I also felt a lot of leg and hip strain. I was confused. Do I keep the saddle that seems to be better balanced over fences, knowing that it actually hurts me to ride? I could always replace the foam panels with wool for about $400. I took the Albion with me for xc schooling, since it’s never really been put to the test, and immediately I noticed that the balance for flatwork was much, much better and seemed a lot easier. It also fits Oliver so much better. I borrowed one of Christan’s Thinline Trifecta pads, to see if I could get a bit more close contact feel, and it seemed to work pretty well. It only works because the saddle is a pretty good fit, I think.
Anyway, we warmed up with him stretching for the bit almost immediately, which was a nice surprise as there were quite a few people warming up out there, and it was a great big open field, so I thought he’d be quite distracted. We popped over the crossrail a few time, then the vertical twice, and then the oxer once, and since everybody else had taken off without me (rude), I caught up and headed over to the start box. The first fence was the one you saw when we were there – a simple hanging log on a pedestal. Oliver hasn’t jumped xc since December, but he picked up the canter towards it and then, about 6 strides out, really SAW it and started to wiggle, first one shoulder, then the other, but I put my spurs into him lightly and he jumped it quite nicely, albeit a tad underpowered. We circled around and tried again, but two people cut me off and jumped the jump just as I was heading for it (even RUDER), so I had to circle twice and then come at it, and this time Oliver jumped it nicely. That was when I realized that my Albion lets me put my leg on him. If I had been riding in my Antares, I’m sure I would have to resort to some hand riding since I can’t seem to get my leg on, and it’s possible he would have run out – he wasn’t trying very hard to escape me, but if I didn’t have my legs on, I think he could have wiggled out of it. Since the second jump went well, we went down that hill to the pheasant feeder, next to those HUGE brush fences at the bottom of the hill. I trotted the feeder, but Oliver saw it, started cantering about four strides out, and neatly popped over it and cantered up the hill to join the others. We all hacked up the hill to the spooky feeders (for some reason, they’re spooky and they get people every single show – maybe it’s the way they are angled on the top of the hill), and cantered over them – Oliver looked, but he stayed nice and straight and we had a lovely jump. We took a left and cantered the Hobbit’s Hut. This is where I noticed the benefits of having an uphill horse – the approach to the Hobbit’s Hut is downhill, around a group of trees, so the approach is a bit obscured until about 6 strides out. Oliver was having none of this trotting thing, so we cantered down the hill, me keeping my leg on, softly bumping his sides with my calves, sitting back, with my hands raised but forward, and he saw the Hut and just bounced over it without a look, and then cantered down the hill. Down the hill I had to sit up and really put my leg on and ride him up into the bit, but after a few half-halts, he softened on his own and we stayed in balance pretty much the whole way. The group walked down the hill and up to the sunken road complex, where we had to wait a bit for the group before us (the one that cut me off) to finish. We decided to make it a line of fences - first, the cabins, and then down past the sunken road, over the ascending oxer, and then down by the ditch/Trakehner complex to what is now a red and black barn where the hanging log used to be. Oliver jumped each one out of stride, never missing a beat. He’s so easy to ride to a fence because he rises in front of you, shifting his balance back, and he’s got that Warmblood sense of rhythm where every stride is practically the same, so the spots just appear. The last one was the best – Michelle told me to focus on something at the top of the hill, and I did and he powered it out of stride. We then cantered up the hill, popped the little hanging log off a right turn, and then we were faced with the Novice bank/drop complex. Everybody did it (they were all on more experienced horses), and it looked like such fun that I thought I’d try it. I used to be scared of this when I had Miles, but then Sam did it and made it so easy that I haven’t been afraid of it ever since. So, I wandered down the hill a ways to get some momentum, picked up the canter, and then about 6 strides out, started to showjump the canter. Oliver was a bit confused so he lurched up the bank, but then he saw the “out” log, straightened himself out, and leapt out over the log – he didn’t touch ground until the ground leveled on the other side. It rode beautifully – I just clamped my lower leg on, slipped the reins, and I think I even yelled “yeehaw”, much to my embarrassment, in midair. Of course, he over jumped it, but it was such a bold move on his part and so much fun that we didn’t do it again. SUCH a brave, good pony!!! We cantered over the gray BN bench as a let up/ easy fence for him, and then we walked through the water complex. Oliver barely hesitated through the water, so we trotted though the next time, and then hopped over a tiny rolltop about two strides out. We cantered the rolltop back in, cantered through the water, and then we decided to do the Novice combo – blue and white overturned boat, three strides into the water, jump out of the water over a log pile, and then hard right turn over the Novice cabin. He was perfect over the boat, cantered through the water easily, hopped out over the logpile, but I had to sort of yank him around the turn because he wanted to go straight, but then he saw the cabin, straightened himself out, and had a gorgeous jump over the cabin. I was so proud of him – he’s really starting to think and assess the situation for himself. The group went to jump the big brown table in the field – I opted out of that because it wasn’t necessary to jump it – I’m not going Novice any time soon, and it was just a big brown table. We went into the second water complex – the Duck Pond. It was a splash in, and then you had several options – a largish rolltop out, set at the edge of the water (Novice), or jump in, one stride water, through the water, one stride up over a pimple jump (Training). We did the Training one, foot perfect. By now, Sam would have been huffing and puffing and getting a bit tired, but Oliver had only broken a sweat (not foaming) and wasn’t breathing hard at all. The joys of a purpose-bred horse! We finished by jumping up the bank (Ollie understood the question now), and then bending line over a brown rolltop, then finished by jumping a grey bench out in the first field. Perfect. I jumped off him to walk him back, but he had so much energy that he practically pulled me back to the trailers.
I cannot believe how good he was. He didn’t wiggle to anything except the first jump – everything else he took like a seasoned pro. I had no intentions of doing anything other than a few BN jumps and paddle through the water – I never planned on doing some complex Novice lines! Plus, he’s jumping really well, really pushing off his hind end, rather than just cantering over the fence, and I felt very safe and secure in my Albion, which tells me that the Antares is for sale. I think we’re ready for Lumber River now, but since I’ve never had luck at that show, we’re doing FenRidge instead. Yay for Ollie!
No comments:
Post a Comment