Davis Derby Part 2

Jumping

With our disastrous, and then respectable do-over dressage test behind us, it was on to jumping.

This was the first time I had jumped her on grass since she came back from her lease last fall. (Our cross country course at the jumping trainers was not yet open for the season). So I was surprised how much "ambition" to tackle this course! She was on a mission!

Round 1- Elementary height

Fence 1

Fence 2

Fence 3

Fence 4

 Fence 5















Fence 6

 Fence 7 was a cool skinny with a branch as the rail, so I'm sad we didn't get a picture.

Fence 8 


Fence 9 must have been missed too, but i love these canter shots.

 Fence 10

Round 2 BN height

Following the "its just a schooling show" logic, it makes perfect sense that if one course went great, the other would crash and burn!!!

Fence 1 was fine

Fence 2: this where it all went wrong

This spook/freak-out/refusal starting happening WELL before the fence. And then went backwards!

But we got over it second try.

Think this was jump 4, so we must have successfully jumped # 3 in between, but this rolltop was also insanely scary (not really, and certainly nothing she hadn't jumped before) however this lovely shot is our second approach.

Fence 5

Fence 6

Now for 7A&B: A was the ditch seen here.

B was the picket fence that she has clearly launched herself over! This was actually our courtesy fence, because we were officially excused from the class when she launched herself over 7a (ditch) and then panicked and ran out once she saw 7b was right there. Third refusal, thank you, please leave the arena before you run out of luck and fall off! Of course I begged one last try at the jump we just missed. I took it without A, and told her that it was now MY idea that the course was over.

She didn't need to know there was another 3 jumps. And I really was ok leaving it at that. You've got to pick your battles. She is a whole new horse after being gone, and I had accustomed myself to riding Bear (a whole different attitude and jumping approach), AND neither of us were really fit for the task yet. And based on her insane leaps over the jumps in an effort to tell me just how much she resented me making her jump them, I wasn't positive that she wouldn't eventually jump me out of the tack. Oh well. We have work, what's new? If it were easy, we'd be bored, right?

I chose to remember the fun of her going through the elementary course and after every fence she really felt like she was asking, "Ok, what next? That one? Oh, heck ya! I'm gonna jump it!!!" I had such buy-in from her, it was great.