Magic and Ferriana School at Sunrise

This morning the great folks over at Sunrise let us go school on their cross country course.  Merri brought Magic, and I rode Ferriana.  Both horse are entered in the mini horse trial next weekend so this was a perfect opportunity to get them both out on the course.  Merri and Magic are really starting to gel over fences, Merri's balance has gotten good and as a result Magic is very steady and calm.

I had the Gopro on my helmet and got a few videos.  I was really sure I'd videoed the work in the water jump, but apparently it wasn't recorded because I cannot find it on the gopro.  After walking around in the water a little we practiced first going up the bank, staying in two point position and going with the horse as he make the effort to hop up the step.  Once that was going really smoothly, I talked to Merri about how to slip the reins and get them back so we could practice going down the bank.  

 

I teach this by having the rider try it at the halt first.  When going down a bank like this, the horse needs to be able to drop his head as he steps down into the water.  To make sure he can lower his head without getting bumped in the mouth with the bit, you gently let the reins slide through your hands until you're on the buckle (which you have tied in a knot, because it's the most fragile part of the reins and less likely to break if its been knotted).  To shorten the reins again once the horse has the full length of them, you hold the buckle in one hand and then slide the other hand along the reins from the buckle towards the horse's neck.  When you are at the length you want, you place the buckle hand in the correct place next to the had that slid. This is a very fast way to shorten the reins from full length to a working length.  

Occasionally there are questions on course set up in such a way that you don't have time to even recover the reins this way, so eventers eventually get good at jumping on very long reins, steering with both hands low and wide so as to still have contact with the bit on a very long rein.  But it is important to know how to quickly shorten the reins after you've slipped them so the horse can jump down.

Here is a bit of the warmup from today.  Merri is on Magic in front, and I've got the Gopro on my helmet as I ride Ferriana in back.

 This is the little course Magic did at the end of the schooling session.

This is a short video, but it's close up enough that you can really see what Magic and Merri are doing.

Here is Ferriana schooling the tires jumps

 

 

Here is Ferriana doing her small course at the end of the ride

Here is Ferriana ready to go ride.

This browband was made by Chameleon Browbands, and matches the yellow pad perfectly.  Go check out the designs and find your favorite color.  She also does custom bead strings (they are interchangeable and snap in/out of the leather channel) so you can get exactly the colors you want.

I cannot resist a good yellow outfit, so when this color became available in a saddle pad brand I really like (Lemieux - they wear like iron) I ordered the pad and the shirt.  It took a little bit of trying, but I eventually got the right angle for a selfie that showed the browband, my shirt, and the saddle pad.

Cross Country School at Sunrise

Jasi and I got up at O-Dark-Thirty this morning, loaded up Daisy and Ferriana, let the dogs hop in the truck so they didn't miss the field trip, and headed into Fort Collins to school cross country at Sunrise before it got too hot.  Yesterday was near 100 (I saw a friend post 103 in town), so getting to it early was the best plan for today.  

We schooled their lovely course for about an hour and then headed home before it got hot.  Neither of these horses is going to the show this weekend, but they both were due for a good XC school.

 Here is a 7 min video of Ferriana and Daisy going through the course pair pace style

This video is of both mares schooling the water bank.

 

Jasi and Daisy did a nice job with the corner on the course.

 

Here is Ferriana hopping down the bank into the water.

 This is a little three jump mini course Daisy did

 Then Ferriana did the same course as Daisy after watching her go

Because I was wearing the GoPro there aren't any photos of Ferriana, but I did manage to get this still from the video of her shadow, with tight knees and lovely jumping form over the coop.

 

Raven at the Pair Pace

Raven went with several other Bit of Honey horses to the pair pace at Sunrise Equine in Fort Collins today.  We got there early enough that I could school Raven on the course a little before other people arrived, one of the perks of having such a laid-back environment locally!  

Big thanks goes to Kimberly Hale Photography for capturing all of the Bit of Honey horses rounds today.

This was a chevron jump, so it was V shaped with narrow side on the bottom and wide portion on top.  Raven had to take a look at it, but then cleared it with typical winged Raven clearance.

I like this series because you can see just how large the rolltop is compared to the horse as Raven approaches, but then when she actually jumps she makes it look quite reasonable.

Raven is so compact and powerful.  She's 15.3h and totally a Ferrari of a sporthorse.

This fence was new to the course since we'd last been there.  It's a corner, so narrow on the right side and wide on the left side.  It was also of substantial size as is evident from the approach photo.

But Raven handles it like a pro.

 

 

There was of course some good galloping between fences, too.  I can't ask for a more scenic background for my run!

Such a fun day, with fun horses, fun friends, and a very fun course!

Daisy at the Pair Pace

 

Daisy went to the pair pace this weekend at Sunrise, too.  She did her typical irritated pawing in the trailer as she waited her turn (there were three Bit of Honey horses who did rounds today) but when her turn to ride came she was incredible.  I'm always stunned at how tight she is with her front end, and how a chestnut appaloosa pony mare can be such an incredible jumper.

Here are a few series shots

 I saved the approach photos so you can tell how large the fences were for short Daisy.

I had such fun with her!  She seems to enjoy it and wow what tucked knees!