Cob Jockey

With two horses in our barn, with Eva and with Pyro, I have been fascinated to watch the process of them learning to jump. Because, I have learned, even if they have talent for jumping, it's still a process to discover that and nurture it.

One of Eva's first tries over a vertical in September

The first time both of them went through a jump chute, they lacked confidence and didn't really want to do it. 

The first time Eva came around and saw a crossrail, she was like "NO THANK YOU I'M OUT"

Both of those sessions, although we ended them on a good note, I came away from it like well, that horse doesn't look like a jumper. They don't even look like they want to jump.

But that was my inexperience starting horses over fences talking. Because as it turns out:

They are both actually quite good at jumping. And the change in Eva's attitude from session 1 to session 3 was remarkable. 

Once again, I have Mary to thank for holding my feet to the fire on keeping things slow and predictable for them. We did the same grid the entire time, although it wasn't until the third session we put the back rail of the oxer up.

I swear if you were able to peek inside Mary's head while she's sleeping, this is what it would look like.

We did one session with Eva in early September, then another session one week later, and then the third wasn't until five weeks after that. The first session, she was just confused. The second session, there was a lot of "Okay, I understand what you want, but I'm really unsure of myself."

The third session, last night?

The moment she came into the ring and saw the grid she got excited. And I mean, EXCITED. She actually cantered on the lunge line, something I haven't been able to get her to do up to this point even if I jump up and down and scream and wave my arms.

And when we let her off the line, she made a beeline for it. We didn't even have to encourage her, and in fact, throughout the entire session, it never took more than a suggestion, a raise of my arms, a single cluck, to send her off into the chute. You could so clearly see that she understood the game and enjoyed it, even though she was still making the occasional green horse mistake.

A bit of fifth leg development as she hit the ground pole in a wonky stride and had to figure her feet out quickly before the crossrail

By the end of the third session, which will be the last time we free jump her while I have her, Mary was thrilled. She said she'll never make a hunter - she has too much fun with it and is too reactive - but that she would make an outstanding pony jumper, quick and catty and able to turn on a dime. Sadly, there's not much of a pony jumper market in the US, so that's not likely to be her calling, but it's still so cool to see what's in there.

It also did absolutely nothing to quell Mary's desperate desire to see this mare bred to a small Warmblood stallion.

I had two major takeaways from this. The first is that I learned that it does take even the naturally talented ones time to learn how to jump and to decide whether or not they enjoy it. And the second is that Eva is starting to develop a work ethic, much to my unending relief, because up until the last couple of weeks her approach to work has been that of an unemployed 25 year old man living in his mom's basement and bristling every time she asks if he's applied for any jobs today. 

 The fact that a horse can be innately talented for work and for jumping but still take time to develop and show that is something I'm going to carry with me as I work with other horses.