Raven Schools Cross Country at Archer

 

This morning the smoke looked less thick in Cheyenne than at home, so I took Raven to Archer to school cross country.  Kimberly Hale Photography came and documented for me, and Sara got came and took videos.

In this photo you can see just how much overstride Raven has, and how much she really reaches underneath herself.  Another good reason to wear bell boots!  Even though she's barefoot, she could still hit her front hoof with her hind, so I'd rather be safe than sorry especially with that kind of overstride.

During our warmup there was a little bit of playing around - all in good fun.

Once she had warmed up we started over some of the larger jumps with more difficult questions (like landing then cantering downhill). 

 

I love this photo of Raven "loading her springs" to jump up and over the rock wall.

 

Once we'd gone down the hill we worked over some of the training and preliminary level jumps.

After we got home and I was going through photos, I was impressed at Raven's ability to jump this blue table, considering it's pretty much as long as she is!

I love the water splashing in this shot.

I don't think Raven has jumped down into water before, but she certainly has done all kinds of work in water while trail riding.  She wasn't phased at all by this jump into the water, and she even did the combination of the hanging logs, a few strides, and then hopping into the water.

 

 

  

 

 

We finished up by jumping over the red ramped fence (at shows these are decorated to be super cute red mushrooms), cantered down the hill, over the ditch, and then up the hill and over the corner.  Raven is so handy and adjustable both when she's jumping and when she's galloping.  We had a great time hopping around the course!  My favorite thing about Raven is how much she loves her job.  She has a happy, eager, look on her face in just about every one of these photos.  It's such fun to have a horse who enjoys her purpose!