And we actually JUMPED!

Today was a short day. Yay! And not raining. Double yay! And since it is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, I went ahead and rode Lyric again today. I had left all the jumps in the arena in case Jean wanted to jump today but planned to pull them out so I could drag before the rains, so... I thought I might as well take advantage. :) I kept them all cross rails but made one a 16" vertical. 

 

I caught Lyric and tacked her up at the trailer. The neighbors dog was out again but she was only curious today instead of alarmed and panicky. Yay! Smart girl. I ended up getting on her at the round pen and rode her up to the arena. It was funny because we hugged the fence line in the beginning and I looked behind me and all three of the others were in line, right behind us... on the fence line. It was like a game of Follow the Leader. Hee hee. Then they went a little rogue and then suddenly they all came cantering up behind us! Luckily Lyric didn't react. Phew! 

 

I did get off to get into the arena because I figured they might all try to bum rush and come in. Plus I had to set up the fences again because she had knocked them down yesterday. So then I got back on and we did our walk. And our halts. And man, today she was NOT soft into the halts. I had to use a lot more rein pressure than previously. Oh well. It got a little better. Then we trotted. She's getting better at staying straight down the far long side, but it does help when I switch my whip to the left hand and hold it at her shoulder. We had a pretty good trot today. She's still not "in the bridle" and certainly not relaxed, but... her neck is more straight and out today and more consistently. And, she's staying straigher and she's not inverted. She's not yet soft and lifting her back yet, but... we're no longer inverted, so baby steps. 


We tried trotting the cross rail again and again she trotted through it, so... scrap that. So then we cantered. And... my trick is working! We managed to get the left lead both times today on the first attempt. It's still sticky getting into it, but we've got it. Man, she is so unbalanced though! I really need to go back to the groundwork before we keep cantering. But the right lead transitions were actually pretty decent! So then.. I thought... let's canter over the ground pole. And it went fine. So then I thought, well... let's canter this cross rail. And she did! She did manage to knock half of it down though. So then we tried to get to another cross rail but unfortunately the way they were set in the arena made it almost impossible to get to (with my limited steering) on the right lead canter. So we just decided to do the vertical. And she actually jumped it! And it stayed up! And it was fine. :) We did it twice and were successful both times! Yay! Good girl. So then we got a nice easy trot again and then a nice walk and decided to be done. I did get her to open and go through the gate and let me slam it shut without having to get off! yay!

 

Then we hacked back down to the barn. Good girl!

Still lots more work to be done but today was a good day.

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