First real bareback ride on Oliver....

...and both the boys get a jump schooling for the first time in three weeks! Yes, it's been a while due to Christan moving in, and Dillon and Kelly making the darn things, and all the other things associated with moving to a new barn. But they're finally HERE, and they're gorgeous. Kelly did a fantastic job on them, as always.

Sam was the first to be ridden, as I had a lesson with Christan on Friday. Margaret was supposed to be sharing my lesson with me, but she didn't come in until a bit later, as she was on Fisher right before. Marrisa was riding Brady, and Brady was (apparently) being a bit of an idiot. Brady was jumping up and down... made me realize how lucky I am to have Oliver and Sam, who both have impeccable temperments. So, I warmed up Sam, and right away Christan was after me to shorten my reins and get him truly bending. As usual, I tried to comply but was a bit frustrated as at the show, she wanted me to get him long and low because he was cranking his neck in. I really didn't understand how to get him long and low, and yet not throw him away or let my reins get too long. Argh. I had a light bulb moment when Christan mentioned that I would jsut about get it, and then let me reins too long. So, I asked her to clarify and it turns out that when I ask him for the bend, I give it away too quickly, let him fall out of bend, and then just let him noodle around, going a bit too quickly, on the forehand, and not truly coming from behind and lifting at the wither. So, I played around with opening my outside hand, lifting my inside hand and keeping my inside leg on, and holding it there until I really felt him soften into the inside hand and leg, and then instead of just throwing it away and letting my reins get long, keeping a bit more contact and allowing my hands forward for the give, rather than letting the reins slip. Once he was truly through the back and lifting, AND keeping the bend consisten, I could let the reins slip a little and allow him to go longer and lower, as long as he didn't lose the bend. I understand now!

We progressed to some canter work. His canter is getting so much better, and his departs are much more consistent. I still have to work on keeping the bend through the body, especially to the left, but it's coming along by leaps and bounds every day. C wanted us to trot over the crossrail, and the first time I sort of leaned at it, so the next time I really concentrated on sitting away from the jump and keeping the bend before and after. C asked us to canter it, but Emma and Austin were standing right in front of it, but they wouldn't move out of the way so I jumped them and the crossrail. Sam grabbed the bit before, but I think it was because of the dogs. We circled, came around again, and Sam jumped it beautifully the next time. We progressed on to a little course, concentrating on keeping the bend, and sitting away from the jump. I realized (another lightbulb moment) that I really have to half-halt away from the jump, and then soften the last stride, as Sam doesn't jump well when he's held to the last minute - he needs the freedom of adding some leg and allowing with the hand. Interesting, that - if I hold to the base, he jumps over his chest. He was jumping so well and through that day, and was very rideable, so all that hard work over the past few months has really paid off.

I grabbed Oliver out of the field, and decided to put him to the test - I led him over to the white arena in the field and then jumped on him bareback and rode him over to the gate. He really didn't mind at all, so I was thrilled about that. I also decided to clip him as much as I could. The last time I tried to clip him, he jumped away from the clippers and pulled them out of the wall, so I was a bit more careful this time. He couldn't care less about my new cordless clippers - he didn't even jump when I turned them on, so I was able to clip a bib before I decided to ride instead. Such a good boy. Anyway, I used an Easyboot on him because he had thrown his left front shoe on Wednesday, the last time I rode, and it fit perfectly, and he didn't seem to mind it at all. In fact, he was so good that I decided to jump him. He was really starting to get the hang of stretching at the walk. I found out that when I think they're stretching, they're really not as low as I think, so I concentrated on making his head disappear from view, all the while pushing him forward into the stretch. He was starting to get this at the trot, too, which is such a neat feeling. His canter work is much, much better. He's starting to sit behind, and not pop the outside shoulder (especially on the right rein), and the departs are much more consistet as well. I jumped him over the vertical a few times as a warmup, then cantered it, and then trotted over the orange traffic barrels that are out there (he looked at it briefly when we walked by, but didn't hesistate when jumping it), and then cantered the barrels, and then I decided to canter the oxer. I didn't realize that Oliver hasn't jumped anything that big, possibly ever (same height M and I were jumping on Sam and Echo), because he gave me a great big ridiculous leap over it the first time. I brought him back around, cantered over it again, and for some reason I wasn't getting a good jump over it. The third time he actually landed and shook his head and made this frustrated sound, which made me laugh out loud. He was obviously frustrated with the jump as well, so I brought him back around, cantered to it, making sure I had a very straight approach, and sitting away from it but keeping myself riding the rhythm of the canter, and we had a lovely final jump. I ended the ride with some stretching, and I got some LOVELY stretch at the trot, with him swinging his back, and we called it a day.

I LOVE this horse. I know I say it all the time, but he's truly amazing. He just seems to get better and better every time I ride him. As soon as I can, I'm going to take him for a nice trail ride, because I know he enjoys that.

Back after a long lapse

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything, mostly due to school (work) and everything else getting in the way. Really, I have no excuse, other than I hate sitting at the computer when there are other things to do.

News on the show front - Sam went to The Ark, Frostbite, and won his division (BN) on a 31. I was thrilled, considering that my score would probably have been two points lower if I hadn't made two stupid mistakes - turning back onto the centerline too soon for the final halt, and cutting a corner in the walk. We actually scored four 8s (!), and would have gotten an 8 for gaits as well if Sam wasn't so darn lazy in the walk. He's such a slow walker. He was a bit backed off my hand xc, because I made the mistake of riding him in the two ring Pessoa (even though it's a french link), but I moved the rein up to the top - snaffle - ring for stadium, and Christan said that we had the "prettiest" stadium round she's ever seen me do - yay! Stadium is usually my nemesis, so that was great news.

Oliver is a superstar. He went to his first show, ever, and only third time off the farm, to FenRidge HT. It was a COLD day, and Christan rode him for me, as I'm a nervous mom and didn't want to wreck things by attempting to ride him at his first show. Dressage was beautiful - he got behind the bit a few times, which wasn't a surprise to either of us, but he scored a 29.5. Judge wrote that he was a beautiful horse. Stadium was clean. Christan cantered the whole course. He fell asleep in the start box, so he had a wiggly first fence xc, but he went clean for the rest and they ended up winning on their dressage score. Yay!

I also took him xc schooling at The Ark (where Sam won) and he was incredible. We had to "walk the gauntlet" down the driveway, past the mini pigs, geese, peacocks, llamas, you name it, and he was walking with Kelly on Pudge, and Christan on Connor, and he was the bravest one there. I could feel him just take a huge breath when I told him it was okay, and he just sucked it up and marched on with hardly a flinch, leading the way. He was equally good xc. Ollie didn't stop at a thing. He wobbled to only one fence - a black bench with flowers in front - but we cantered at it and I managed to stuff him over it anyway, and after that, he jumped things out of stride. He even calmly went over the spooky BN/Maiden half ditch, and led the way into both waters. He is so much fun.

I had a lesson with Christan with him this past Saturday, and we flatted, and Christan said that he is ready to really start to sit into his canter work, and she commented on how lovely he is looking. I can't say this enougn - I am so happy with him. I would buy another Oskar baby if I could afford it, and when I can, I'm going to look for one! He is most likely going to go with me Maiden to the Frostbite in December.

We are at the new farm now - the Wylie's. It's lovely, but the pasture is so damn big that I have to trek back and forth to get the ponies, as they seem to want to live by the water hazard out there. I don't know why that particular area of the pasture appeals to them so much. I've actually seen them standing in it, playing around, and this past week I drove by and saw Oliver standing on the bridge, with Sam right behind him. Funny boys. I can't wait until we get the jumps up. I'm getting very tired of flatwork. If I ever thought I could be a dressage queen, these past two weeks have proven to me that I simply cannot live without jumping. I also need the dressage arena, but the jumps are probably a bit more important.

Moving the shoulder and forward

It's been a while since I last posted, mostly due to the start of school, Joe's deploying, and all the craziness associated with it. Blech. Meanwhile, a TON of good stuff has been happening horse-wise with regards to training, so I'm going to try and be brief and condense it all into one post.

I've been to many, many trainers, who all preach "inside leg to outside rein", and have shown me various ways of actually riding this. Christan has added a new spin to it. She got on Ollie during one of our first lessons at Denny's, and immediately noticed that although Oliver moves away from the leg, he doesn't truly bend. I didn't know that, mostly because he tends to be a bit rubber-necked and a bit hot off the leg (gooses forward easily), so I think I've been concentrating on keeping him straight, not popping the outside shoulder, and keeping his tempo steady. Christan told me to open the outside rein, lift the inside rein a tad, and then use my inside leg to push the shoulder up and over until he bends and I connect with that outside rein. It took a few tries to really FEEL that shoulder lifting and moving over, but once we got it, he started to become more connected and the shoulder opened up, became freer, and his gaits got better and he felt more "in my hands". I also have to remember to keep my hands higher than I usually carry them, to maintain the connection, and NOT fiddle. Although I don't really move my hands/fingers all that much on Oliver, I DO tend to fiddle on Sam - mostly, it's a sponging the inside rein thing, but Christan pointed out that if I use my reins in this manner, I'm interrupting the connection and not truly riding him into my hands.

Sam - much of the same thing, although with him I can really feel the connection better, due to his not hiding behind the bit the way Ollie does. I've got to lift my hands, keep the outside rein slightly opened and connected, and most importantly on Sam - keep my pelvis slightly rotated down and back so that my lower back hollows and I'm not driving him. I didn't realize how much I tend to sit "on my pockets" and rotate my pelvis under - i.e. tuck my butt - and how much that was actually hollowing Sam out and driving him forward, so that he just curled his neck behind the bit instead of truly moving forward into my hands. Once I hollowed my back slightly, the connection became much steadier, he didn't drop the poll, and he seemed more through. I've had a bit of a time working with his canter departs, as I've been holding his head into them and not riding "up" into the canter. Keeping my hands up, instead of brace down (like Holly and Denise wanted me to do), allowed Sam to hollow and throw himself into the canter, which was incredibly frustrating. I've had to experiment with different ways of keeping the connection in the transition, and I've discovered that if I keep that outside rein connected, he doesn't hollow into the depart - at least, it's getting better. He still wants to hollow in the downward transition - gotta work on that.

For Oliver, today we had a jumping lesson. Christan rode him last week for me and told me that he didn't stop at a thing, and that he was cantering little BN courses for her. I have always thought he was spooky and nervous, so this was a revelation for me. I watched her ride him today before I got on, and sure enough, he doesn't look concerned about anything - his eye stays nice and quiet and he has a very good jump. The key to it was keeping him forward - over the first crossrail, Christan booted him in the ribs on takeoff, as he sucked behind her leg. She did canter him a few times over it, and then cantered onto a vertical, which he ran out on (he was surprised and wasn't focusing, so he thought he didn't have to do it). She quickly halted him, booted him in the ribs again, and cantered him over and I was surprised to see that he didn't get upset by the correction. She had quite a forward canter going around the arena, but after that initial naughtiness, he was an angel. She jumped a lot of stuff that I would have thought would occasion a gawk at the very least, but every time he started waving his head back and forth like he was looking for a way out, she legged him forward and he took the jump nicely. He doesn't know how to rock back and push yet, so he's taking a slightly long spot, but I am thrilled that he's jumping calmly and bravely. So, I got on, and immediately christan had me riding on a slightly loopy rein and booting him forward, especially when he started wavering on the approach (it was a crossrail that he had jumped before, so we knew he wasn't worried about it), and then jumped everything beautifully for me, too. It was really enlightening to see how calm he was about everything. Christan told me that he's really ready for a lot more stuff, and that my homework was to canter him around in a nice, forward frame in a two-point and really get him in front of my leg, and that when I jump him, just canter around over everything without stopping and keep the sessions short - she said he needs a lot of this.

Connection and balance

Had my first lesson with Christan on Sam, and we focused 1/2 on flat and 1/2 on jumping. Sam is still a bit out of shape due to his extended time off (since Lumber River), so we took it easy. The first thing Christan did was fix my hands. I have a tendency to carry them too low, with palms down - an apparently unfortunate legacy from many, many trainers along the way. Part of that legacy included fiddling with the reins, too, which Christan also nailed me for. I didn't realize just how much I fiddle with the inside rein until it was pointed out to me. So, I had to keep my elbows bent, my wrists straight, thumbs up, and the reins short enough so that I could carry them out in front of me. Leg stays on, and pushes him up into the contact. It was terribly hard not to give into the temptation of a fiddle when Sam hollowed when I put my leg on, and just sit and wait it out, keeping the leg there until he softened. Christan also warned me not to soften too much, or I'd be dropping him and inadvertently "punishing" him for taking the contact. I noticed that when I rode this way, Sam lifted through the wither, bringing his shoulders up, and reached out to the contact, instead of bending his neck right behind the poll and getting too low. I also, apparently, run him off his feet, because Christan said that when he slows his tempo down, he overtracks by quite a bit. She also said he was pretty fancy when he's put together, and that if I rode like that at a show, I'd be getting scores in the mid to high 20s. Hopefully, we'll get the chance to see if that's true!

For the canter transitions, I had to keep my hands up (resisting the urge to bury them into his withers), open up the outside rein and push him into it with my inside leg, and maintain the bend and ask for the transition. Sam's number one problem is that he isn't instantly obedient to the leg - he takes too long in responding to the canter cue. Obviously, we need to fix that problem first, but then Christan said that too many people try to ride "down" into the canter transition, by dropping their hands and tipping their upper bodies forward, instead of riding forward and "up" into the canter transition. This was very hard for me, as both Denise and Holly wanted me to sort of hold his head down into the transition. Argh. Christan's explanation made so much more sense to me, as it follows the classic principles of riding and training. Once in the canter, I have to remember to keep my hands up and ride him up in each stride, so he doesn't pull me forward and onto the forehand.

For the jumping, I realized that I have no idea how to jump a crossrail. Sam hasn't jumped in a bit, so his reaction was to charge at the crossrail and get flat. Christan's observation was that Sam doesn't "pop" off the ground and jump around the fence - he sort of drops on his forehand, and then heaves himself up over the jump. I allow him to do this, because I drop my hands on takeoff and lean at the fence and don't maintain that "up" quality of the trot or canter. Christan told me to pretend the fence wasn't there - easier said than done, even when it's a tiny crossrail - and keep the bend and the balance all the way to the jump. When we started cantering the little vertical, she put a placing pole out front so I knew when to soften and keep my leg on. She also wanted me to give him a little pop with my leg to encourage him to jump UP and around - next time I'm going to jump with a whip so that I don't have to take my leg off to pop him. The first few times it didn't work, probably because I didn't really get him with my leg, but the third time he pinged off the ground and it felt great. Christan said that it was a good start, which means that there is more to work on.

After this humbling realization that I've been running Sam at his fences and not really knowing how to bring him in balance to a jump, I decided that I cannot go Novice at any of the September shows until I can make this new feeling a habit, so I've decided to drop him back to BN for Five Points, since I have that coupon. I wanted to do the show at our place, but there isn't much time until the show, and Sam really isn't fit, and all this is new for us still. I don't want to encourage the "old" way at a show, because it isn't muscle memory yet.

In love with the new barn

I just wanted to say that I LOVE my new barn. Yesterday, I worked Sam in the arena a little and then went for a hack – we trotted up the hills on the back 40, and then wandered down to the Foundation and rode around there for a while. I didn’t go far, as I was petrified about getting lost (you know my sense of direction!), but it was really good for Sam – he had to pick his way around the roots, figure out how to balance himself up and down the hills, etc. I can’t believe that I went for so long at a place where I couldn’t do that kind of work. Now, I really feel that I can get somewhere with my riding, as I have the “tools” to do it with. Yay! Oh, and Oliver was wonderful today. He’s actually been better behaved than Sam. When I take Sam out, Oliver yells a few times, and then gets buddy-buddy with Czar. When he’s the one being ridden, he’s great, too. When I take Sam out to be ridden, he yells all the time, refuses to focus (unless we’re jumping – then he pays attention to me), and is basically a pain in the ass. Sam hates it when I take Oliver out – he yells and gallops around the pasture like a fruitcake and ignores Czar. I had no idea he would do this. He normally doesn’t mind being left behind, and he certainly doesn’t care if he gets taken away. The only time he has done something like this was when I brought Ellie and Sam together to a Denny lesson. Sam and Ellie both were royal pain the necks, which is why I swore I wouldn’t take both of them anywhere together again.

Anyway, I flatted Oliver, and he was an angel – he seems more relaxed at Denny’s, and even picked up his leads the first time without bucking or rushing into it. I decided to take him for a hack, and since he’s never been out in the wild on his own before, I was prepared for anything, but damned if that little horse didn’t just march around, looking curiously at everything. He didn’t spook at any of the xc jumps, not even the ones he hadn’t seen before, and marched up and down the hills. I remember how Karen told me that some horses are natural descenders, where others have to learn how to go downhill. Oliver is a natural. He just sits right down on his butt and shimmies his way down the hill. He's truly a joy to ride. There was a dressage trainer who’s been flatting some of Christan’s horses and the first thing she said when she saw Oliver appearing out of the woods was “What a gorgeous horse he is.”

Oh, and Oliver had his first REAL xc lesson on Saturday, with Margaret. I was a little daunted as her little Fisher (that she got from Margaret Webber, at Mapleshade Farm, same place she got Echo) was pretty bold, and jumping everything with hardly a look. Oliver didn’t look at anything in the arena, either, but it was still a little humbling seeing how bold Fisher was. Anyway, we went out to the xc field and started jumping every little thing out there. Oliver only looked a couple of times, but then Fisher looked at the same jumps, so I didn’t feel badly at all. I have got to remember to ride Ollie with a loose rein to the jump – “trust him”, as Christan says – and stay a little behind the motion. I had to slip the reins a couple of times, which still impresses the heck out of me that I’m able to do that, since I remember Diane agonizing over the fact that I had trouble slipping my reins.

So, we're off to a great start! Can't wait for the weather to cool down...

Lifting hands and shifting weight

Kelly's lesson with Czar and Christan proved to be very enlightening for me. Most importantly, Christan had Kelly lift her hands when approaching a jump, and cantering, as that helped to shift Czar's weight back over his hocks instead of letting him dump himself on his forehand. I wondered about that, since when Kelly lifts her hands, Czar lifts his head, but I think that now Czar is shod behind, he is more willing to shift his weight back instead of just hollowing and pulling back on her. The transformation with Kelly's jumping was remarkable, though. As she approached the jump, C reminded her to keep her hands up and her elbows connected to her hips (something Holly is always reminding me about), and instead of getting left behind and jerking Czar in the mouth, which Kelly was worried she would do, he just jumped up and closed her angles, which helped with her issues of jumping ahead and leaning at the fence. I have been having problems with Kelly leaning at the fence, and then on the landing side, getting herself popped out of the saddle. C said it was because K locked her elbows on the approach, so that when Czar landed, he would yank her forward. When she kept her hands raised, it resulted in him jumping "up" to meet her, and then taking her elbows forward on the landing side so she didn't get popped. Wonderful. When Kelly cantered in the dressage arena, as a close to the lesson, the same result happened - Czar shifted his weight backwards, and like magic, Kelly suddenly started to follow the motion of the canter through her hips, eliminating her tendency to "post" in the canter.

So, the last ride I had with Oliver, he was hot and rushing around. I lately have been wrapping his bit with Sealtex, and he's been easier to bridle, so I think he likes the softer bit (Christan's idea). He's also being ridden back in the Isabel, as I got the suspicion that he prefers me being a bit more stable in the saddle - I have a tendency to get a little wobbly at times in the Fhoenix, due to HIS tendency to abruptly change direction or speed at a moment's notice. Thinking of that picture I have of Karen O'Connor riding The Optimist (he's pulling like a train in the picture), I really hollowed my back, pushed my shoulders back, sunk into my heels, kept my leg on and raised my hands a little to help regulate speed. He was doing much the same today - being a total dingbat in the crossties, for some reason, which resulted in a trip to the roundpen to work out some respect and trust issues. After we worked out personal space in the roundpen, I got on, and thought to myself the way I used to get Ben into his "happy space" - by keeping him very round and very deep, which helped to slow down his rhythm until he was ready to relax. At the walk, I stretched Oliver down as much as he would go, and he's starting to get it and enjoy the stretch. In the transition to trot, I rounded him a little more than I normally would, and then picked up the trot, and kept him very round and slow. This seemed to help, as he didn't race off in the trot, and then when he started to slow his tempo down, I gave him a little rein and asked for a downwards stretch, being very careful to not let my shoulders tip forward and encourage him to fall flat on his face and race around. This seemed to work pretty well. Oliver was more willing to stretch in the trot today, and kept his rhythm in a reasonable pace. Once he was giving me a nice stretch in the trot, I started to shorten and lengthen his stride in the trot - he wanted to hollow in the shortened strides, but I kept him extra round and deep when he wanted to brace and push, and the difference in the lengthened trot was amazing - he started to swing, and I could feel the suspension start to come through. When he started to feel quick, I brought him back to a shortened stride, and then when he balanced himself, I allowed him to stretch it out and elongate the stride, the whole time keeping my hands a little higher, but forward to allow the stretch. That was a lot of fun.

The big test was the canter. I've been dreading the canter work, as he likes to buck into the transition, and then prop on his forehand and jack me out of the saddle, making for a very uncomfortable experience for both of us. Again, going back to an old Practical Horseman article, I sat the trot into the transition. WHen I felt my right knee drop, I squeezed my inside leg and inside rein and thought "En-large" (as in enlarging the circle by increasing the bend and pushing off the inside leg), twice, and then I thought, "Half-halt" with outside rein to shift his weight back onto his haunches, twice again, and then thought "can-ter" with the outside leg back and the inside leg on, being sure to use both legs to ask for the depart. It worked wonders with Sam, but then he was getting pretty good about staying round through his transitions anyway, but it worked beautifully with Oliver - not only did he pick up the left lead on the first try, but he didn't buck into it, and he stayed pretty round and balanced, albeit a bit forward, through the entire canter. I made sure to keep my hands raised instead of dropping them down, and just keeping my leg on and letting him figure out the balance for himself. What a lovely canter. I haven't had a canter that nice in a while. I can't wait for my next lesson with Christan, to make sure that I am not raising my hands TOO much, and that she confirms what I'm feeling.

XC schooling at Tamarack with Oliver and Czar

Kelly and I took Czar and Oliver to Christan’s/Denny’s for a lesson – Kelly’s/Czar’s first time, Oliver’s second time. This time, I mounted him down by the trailer parking and walked him all the way up the hill and then down again to the arena. The plan was to tuck him behind Czar, as Czar is a seasoned trail horse and Oliver has yet to do an official trail ride, but Oliver refused to go behind Czar and truckled down on front. I was tickled at how he wanted to be first, even though he was nervous and sidled around. We got down to the arena and he warmed up well, even offering a stretch at the trot, and Christan had us trot over a placing pole to a crossrail. Of course, I was expecting a stop, but I guess the work that we did at Holly’s really sat with Oliver, as he trotted right up over the placing pole and hopped the crossrail like it wasn’t there. He did canter on landing and buck a little, pretty chuffed with himself. It’s annoying, but I’m not going to punish him for being pleased with himself. Christan had me really think about softening my hands to the jump, almost to the point of looping them, and Oliver jumped EVERYTHING we pointed him at without stopping or running out. Well, he did look hard at a green and white plank jump, but I kept my leg on, kept the reins loose and just sat tight and he popped on over and cantered quietly away. We progressed to trotting little courses, and I was surprised at how little contact I needed with him to the jump, and I was even more surprised at how much he enjoyed being given full rein, and how confident he grew from that. Early on I asked Christan if I was holding him too much in the air over the fence, or worse yet, catching him in the mouth, and she said absolutely not – he had this tendency to curl his neck in over the fence, but it wasn’t because of me, and she felt that we could teach him to get over that by keeping the rein very, very light and making sure to just sit still and push him across the fence. He’s just that type of horse when it comes to his mouth, but she said we can easily teach him to get over that.

We progressed to the ditch, which Oliver (predictably) spooked hard at – he’s never jumped a ditch before, just the natural one at NSE. Christan told me to not let him turn away, but keep him facing it and just sit still with a loopy rein and quietly encourage him. Kelly trotted by quite a few times on Czar to show Ollie that it was okay, and Oliver, when he went, just hopped over it – he did buck on landing (he tends to do that when he’s feeling good about himself), but I was very careful not to tighten the rein or lean at him, and we came over it again and he did it so quietly. We then did it the other way, and he didn’t even hesitate – just popped on over. Christan had us do the bank next – walk up the ramp and pop off the other side. I was nervous, as he’s never, ever done a bank and I expected him to stop, prop, and then LAUNCH off the bank. The walk up the bank (the ramp) was more spooky for him than the drop off – he wobbled up the ramp, walked across the bank, and then just looked and hopped right off, like he’d been doing drops all his life. I must admit that I was shocked. I was all prepared to grab the front of my saddle in case he Supermanned off the top – I swore to myself that I wouldn’t grab at the reins no matter what he did. We turned around, trotted up the bank, which he did without hesitating. We finished with a small log jump – his first xc jump. There was scary brush on either side, and there were a ton of deer romping around in the meadow below, but Oliver just trotted up on a very loose rein and popped over the hanging log. Wow. I mean, WOW. It’s amazing how much their confidence grows when you just sit chilly, don’t peck at them, and let them figure it out for themselves. It was also a valuable lesson for me in how little I need the reins to jump. I was riding with an extremely loopy rein over jumps he’d never seen before, and my position must be getting a ton more secure because it was so easy for both of us. Kelly and I walked down through the xc field, down the path (again, Oliver’s never been trail riding before), and Ollie took the lead, and you could feel him swaggering down the lane to the water jump – he was so proud of himself. Once at the water jump – his first time – he stopped, sniffed, walked right in, and started to paw. All on a loose rein. I really think that this horse is going to be incredible. Christan said that she thinks that he’s going to be one of those very bold, quiet horses xc. She’s not concerned about his spookiness at all – she said that some of the spookiest horses she’s ridden (Teddy, her mare Morchant who’s unbelieveable) turned out to be the boldest xc horses she’s ever ridden, and the safest, as they don’t want to touch a jump. I definitely think I’ve picked the right trainer for Ollie and me. Her quiet, gentle approach is just what he needs, and it gives me a ton of confidence as well. I just adore him!