Jasi rode Beauty and had a great jump school. Because Beauty was jumping so quietly and confidently over the gymnastic grids, towards the end of the ride Jasi took her through a bounce with pretty large crossrails, and then topped off the good ride with a good sized orange oxer.
While Jasi was on Beauty I rode Silver. He went well, but he's really ready for some larger fences and some gymnastic footwork. To improve his form and technique he needs to jump up and push off with his hind end a bit more, rather than taking the long, lope-y strides over these small fences. I do need to balance his training progression however, because I want to make sure adding power doesn't overwhelm his rhythm and steadiness. It's a balancing act, especially with a client horse. I have good fun when I can ride them and they get progressively more athletic, but I want to make sure that he's still very steady and confident for his owner since the main goal is that she is able enjoy riding him herself.
I include this last photo of Silver to show how sensitive he is to his rider. Notice how he and I have exactly the same expression on our faces and are doing the same things with our mouths. This is why I'm so careful with how I use my body, because the horse will do whatever I'm doing. If my jaw and tongue are tense, so are his. To get him to soften and relax his mouth, I must do just that with mine.
Jimmy also came out to ride today. He wasn't quite as supple and loose as he's been in previous rides, and it was more noticeable when tracking right. He's not sore or lame, just not moving as nicely as I know he can. We still had a decent ride and added in a couple crossrails. I have to remember he's only been here seven weeks, and while he looks well muscled and is at a nice weight, it takes a long time to gently strengthen all the soft tissue structures we've been addressing.
It makes sense he's just not yet at a point where he can do more intense workouts at faster gaits. I think we'll spend the coming week returning to some long walks in the back to see if we can get him to loosen up and stretch out. He has the idea now of cantering quietly on each lead and hopping over crossrails, so there's no need to drill the exercises. Cruising around on a loose rein up and down hills will be just the thing for him to relax and continue to strengthen the appropriate muscles.
Ferriana had a blast today as well. She was one of the many horses who had dental work done a week or so ago, and it is incredible how big a difference balanced teeth make. Prior to her dental she wasn't misbehaving, she just was really struggling with picking up her left lead, and holding her right lead at the canter. I also had noticed a very mild head tilt when she was tracking left, and hesitancy to stretch forward and down into the bridle.
The dental made all the difference. Today she had absolutely no problem picking up the left lead, she held her right lead consistently, there was no head tilt at all, and we were able to work over a crossrail on a twenty meter circle at the canter both directions with no difficulty. Cantering on a circle that size wasn't possible for her prior to the dental, but now she can do it with ease and even add in a jump. Hooray for good dental work and thank you to Dr. Landes with Equine Medical Services for the attention to detail and helping our horses be their absolute athletic best!
This next strip of photos shows one of Ferriana's green horse moments. Most of the time she looks totally in control and balanced, but every once in a while we have an "oh dear" fence. This occurred when we were jumping down a diagonal line, and she wasn't sure which fence came next. I kept on looking where we were supposed to go, and she got it sorted out, but it was pretty comical.
After that was ironed out I let her pop over the orange oxer. She jumped it too big - notice she cleared the 4' standards, but learning to jump the fence at the accurate height will come with more experience. At least we know she's got the upper level talent, and she doesn't hesitate to remind us.
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