This was supposed to be a really fun post with all kinds of GIFs of Connor's first time jumping in maybe a year, but the video camera stopped recording 2 minutes and 55 seconds into my ride. (Pixio kept going, the Sony HandyCam stopped). So all I have is free walk warmup shots for media:
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| Look, there are jumps, in the ring! |
The main takeaways were:
- We're still not cut out for jumping. He's always going to go over, but he still wants to put his nose down and check everything out before takeoff the first time he jumps it.
- But that doesn't mean we don't have fun doing it over safe heights where the sticks fall down.
- Dressage is giving us a lot more tools to improve the jumping.
- Jump saddles feel like a foreign country to me now. And my leg has gotten SO much longer since the days when I rode 24/7 in my jump saddle. Even my old "Dressage length" feels short.
Honestly, it went better than I was expecting. He was ho-hum about it and not crazy like I was expecting. Also, he was I think a bit sore from a really good Dressage ride the day before, so we took that into consideration and kept it easy and short. We got him warmed up and supple and then did singles and a couple of courses, all really small stuff. It definitely took some time to get our sea legs back as far as angles, approaches and eradicating some wicked drift go, but it was fun.
It's definitely something I should incorporate more into our schedule.
aw yay tho! i love that even tho it isn't necessarily the best choice of sport for him, he's still so fun and safe about it! cross training is such a useful tool esp when all parties enjoy it ;)
ReplyDeleteYes for sure! As long as it's safe and enjoyable, who cares?
DeleteI really want pics of you jumping with the butt cape on.
ReplyDeleteI take the butt cape off after my warmup, sorry to disappoint!
DeleteJumping is good cross training!
ReplyDeleteYes it is!
DeleteI've been sort of throwing jumps at TC every few months and same thing- he's really not cut out for it but it's fun to do something different every now and then. Sounds like it was a fun ride even if it didn't inspire a discipline change. Dressage is more fun anyway ;)
ReplyDeleteHaha, Dressage IS more fun! I like jumping for keeping his brain thinking and developing proprioception, but yeah, he's definitely officially flunked out of eventing.
DeleteI'm still kicking around the idea of doing some little eventing stuff in the next couple years, but I kinda feel the same way. I just don't have the time to put in to be "good" (aka passable) at more than one discipline, so I dunno if it's going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI bet Zoe is going to be so non-chalant about jumping that you're going to try it and enjoy it again and get bit by the bug again. Just a guess. :) But yeah, my life is a lot simpler since I started focusing on one sport (and I clean a lot less tack!)
DeleteI'd really like to add some occasional jumps to our routine but unfortunately we only have one set of standards and I'm typically too lazy to pull them out and set up a jump haha
ReplyDeleteLol! Man up and do it, woman!
DeleteYay for fun!
ReplyDelete