Silver Schools in the Back Forty

Today we donned our cross country gear and headed out to the back forty for a cross country riding lesson.  Gillian rode Silver and I schooled Raven a little bit.  Silver has been out riding in this back field a million times, but this was his first time jumping the logs with Gillian.  They did incredibly well, Silver was really calm and Gillian was an excellent guide to get him around the small courses we put together. 

We started out with a regular warmup just outside the round pen in the front field, using the small logs there for warming up at the walk, trot, and canter.  Once both horses were ready to do something more, we cruised around the back of the barn and went west.  I like setting up the ride this way.  It gives the horses a chance to warm up on uneven terrain, hop over the small logs to get the idea that we're going cross country today, and then we go for a long walk to the back field before we jump anything else.  It lets them settle mentally and take a breather before we start any course work. 

Once in the field we walked around the small logs to give Silver the idea that he will go over them not just past them as we usually do in our walks out back.  He seemed eager and game to try it, so we stepped over the little ones at the walk, and then put together some small courses of seven jumps or so. 

Once the horses were comfortable doing this first little course we moved around the field and created some different questions, including a serpentine type bending line to help create some flow to the canter between fences.  Raven got the idea pretty easily, and once she found her rhythm she just kind of hopped over the logs in a slightly larger canter stride. 

Here is Raven doing part of it - the camera missed the first couple jumps due to Silver wiggling while Gillian was trying to get video.  I took Raven over several logs, then galloped back towards the beginning.  My galloping seat is very low to her neck, as I try to really move with her so she can go faster.  When I was about eight strides out from the log jump I sat up and asked her to come back to a canter which was more balanced on her haunches.  This rebalancing allows her to find a better takeoff distance to the jump and teaches her to lengthen and shorten her stride based on my own body position. 

 This video is of Silver doing the last course before we headed back to the barn.

I'm really pleased with the still photos I was able to capture from the videos of Silver!