Last week fell by the wayside, but we just had a theory lesson discussing jumping technique, with focus on the horses. This week we got to experience some of it from the saddle, and next theory we may get to see a young horse jump on its own to study “raw” technique.
I’ve only been jumping Murphy for quite some time now, since there’s a lack of other horses for me to ride, but this time I got the chance to jump Heddvig. Wow. Who’d think the little black tank could jump like that. She was so good that to start with I was making it more complicated than it had to be because I kept expecting her to have issues with a) getting any sort of canter and b) getting the right leading leg.
I was quite wrong.
Sure, the first time she didn’t get a canter right after the first jump, but a light tap on her shoulder was all it took. And sure, she needed rather wider circles than the rest to manage at a canter. But once we had jumped a couple of times, she had it figured out. She had no problem jumping on a curved line and getting the correct leading leg after each jump, and she was so easy to place right. In fact, jumping actually improved how she cantered; normally she rushes along, since she doesn’t have the strength to carry herself more slowly, but now she had jumps to think about (and think she clearly did) and that helped settle her down.
What a clever, clever girl. Of course, she also wanted to kill any horse that moved in her direction, but that’s just a minor issue. ;)