I've had so much to write about Oliver and breakthroughs that I've been rather neglecting the Bellasaurus (as Joe calls her). Friday I was reminded of why I didn't want another greenie; today, I'm reminded of why I bought her in the first place.
On Friday, we warmed up in the arena and she was going along very well. She has this new thing where she charges around in the trot on her forehand, going as fast as she can go, and I just have to sit it out and wait patiently for her to come back to me and rebalance herself, because if I try and put her together right away, she tends to screech to a walk - she's got some GOOD brakes on her. So, I am just thrilled with how forward she is off my leg and allow her to truck on forward until she feels like settling down, which usually doesn't take long at all. She is starting to get so much steadier in the contact and carry herself. I can feel glimmers of this light, uphill canter, and I'm very excited when I do because it's going to be LOVELY, just like her daddy's. We jumped a few fences in the arena to warm up, and she stayed nice and light and forward to them, so I headed out for the xc field. The first thing we attempted was the little baby up bank - the larger one (so it was about 1 foot high, as opposed to 6 inches). She sort of noodled towards it, popping her left shoulder, so I tapped her up it and she was fine. Don't know why she was gawping at it. Then, I picked up the canter, and headed straight for the BN hanging log. About four or five strides out, she started to look, pop that left shoulder, and then we piddled to a stop in front of the jump. I probably shouldn't have cantered her towards it, but I guess I took her for granted and forgot how green and young she actually is. I brought her around again, with the same result, so we trotted it and managed to get a silly heap of a jump over it. THen, I took her around to the little red dog house, with a similar result - pop that left shoulder, and then piddle to a stop. I was getting very irritated with myself and with her - she wasn't scared, just testing me. So, I smacked her hard, once, and brought her back around to the trot and we had a lovely jump, landed in canter, and then turned for the BN hanging log again, which we jumped both ways, twice, and the second time was much straighter than the first. I took her over the ditch, which she gawped at, and smack - she went over it. I went back to the barn feeling a bit discouraged and of course, blowing things out of proportion to reality. I mean, really - this is a four year old that I just tried to stuff over a BN fence, in the shadow, at a canter. I would never have dreamed of doing such a thing with Oliver so early on, but then, he was rather spooky. Bella has such a level minded brain that I just forgot that she hasn't been jumping all that long.
So, today, I took her out with Marissa and Goody. We did a quick warmup in the arena, with a beautiful uphill canter towards the jumps, where I could half-halt, sit back, and float the rein at her three strides out and she jumped right out of stride. We even cantered over the rolltop - I thought there was an extra stride there (and Marissa agreed with me), but Bella didn't think so, so we left a tad long, but it was a nice, round, gorgeous jump. Yay! Off to the field. We stepped up over the little bank without a hesitation (good girl), and then trotted the red dog house downhill. Bella started to wiggle on the approach and pop that left shoulder, so we had another stop and a smack on that left shoulder, and then I took her a little ways back, not giving her enough time to wobble, and trotted the dog house - she jumped it well, and then trotted back over it, this time uphill, which she did beautifully, even cantering the last few strides. I think it was the downhill approach that gave her time to wiggle out of it. We went back towards the Hitchcock pen, where they had the Maiden/BN and Novice bike racks. I went down the hill towards the woods, picked up the trot, and then Bella sighted the bike rack, cantered the last few stride, and popped it like a pro. Yay! that was enough for us, so the four of us wandered out towards the field in the back.
I had noticed that Denny had taken down the Weldon's Wall option over by the fenceline, so I decided to take her over the ditch. Since the grass is a bit overgrown, I didn't realize how wide and deep the ditch really was (wide for a greenie, and quite deep), since I had only seen it with the Weldon's Wall behind it. Of course, it was too late to turn back, since Bella was practically on top of it. She predictably spooked at it, planted her feet, and stared, but after a little encouraging, she pitched a mini-fit, which was good because I knew she was going to go. She planted her front feet as close to the edge as she could get, and then leaned as far as she could (it was hilarious), and then jumped it quietly. Such a good girl. We repeated this on the other side (sans mini-fit, but with much leaning), and she popped it again. That was enough; Marissa and I finished our trail ride without incident. I was so happy. She really is quite brave, and I remember now why I bought her. She can be such a fun ride, and it's only going to get better and better the more "broke" she gets.
Oh, and I've decided to call her Bel Canto, which means "beautiful song". it's also the name of my favorite book by Ann Patchett, so it's totally appropriate. I just can't seem to call her Bella Sera -it doesn't mean anything to me. Luckily, I have lots of time before I register her with the USEA so I can change my mind any time I want until then.
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