Jump Day!

 Today was a crazy day! Ha ha. Poor Lyric. Good thing she's sane. I planned to meet Laura at Ashland for a ride. She wanted to jump, so I decided to take Lyric so I wasn't too tempted with Dan. And guess what?! Lyric literally walked herself onto the trailer this morning! I was still trying to get her lead draped over her neck and didn't have my crop. I was going to get her lined up and ask, but... she just waltzed right in and stood. Okay! Yay! Good girl! So... anyways, we got tacked up and then met Laura at the trailers and headed up to the jump arena. For some reason both ponies were spooky, jumpy, and snorty! Lyric spooked at the caveletti on the way to the jump arena.. and then Kid spooked at the dressage rail at the top of the hill by the arenas. Goobers! But luckily once we got in the arena they both settled down and were good. Lyric walked and trotted and was so chill and relaxed. I was telling Laura that I don't know if it's the way the arena is sized... like the big wider turns and not a dressage rectangle... or if it's because she has someone else in the arena with her.. or because she likes to jump, but she's soooo much calmer there than at home even. She was literally trotting around like a hunter on the buckle. I mean, yes, she wasn't using her back yet, but she wasn't braced or inverted or nervous. Even after we cantered she went right back to a hunter trot. Laura told me I should make her a hunter. Ha! But no. But maybe. Hee hee. Nooooo!!

Anyways... we sat and watched Laura jump and she did the most beautiful course ever! It was practically perfect! So then we went. Ha ha. She barely trotted over the first one and knocked the second one down. And then she got all upset and nervous and fast. Poor girl. We took a breath and got a nicer trot and tried again and then she was good. We even did the two stride line - a little drunk, but we did it. And we did the gate again. And then... she jumped her first oxer! And she jumped it well. Yay!

 

So then we headed down to the trailer to get my XC vest because Laura wanted to jump Kid over some XC fences since he was being so good. And I figured I would want to play too. I was curious to see what would happen if I strung a fence or two together. So we hacked out there and Donna was doing fitness sets with one of her guys and Lyric was all distracted. She practically turned herself inside out trying to watch Donna's horse and then was all crooked and wonky. And the flies were bugging her (I guess there were flies) because she kept shaking her head and then her body. She wasn't being naughty or anything just... severely distracted. So Laura went off to do some courses. I tried to video but between Lyric twisting to see Donna's horse and me trying to keep her from twisting and video, I finally just gave up. And then Donna was done and then Lyric took a breath and could focus again. She wasn't nervous about them cantering though and wasn't upset about Kid leaving her to go do his thing. Yay! Good girl. 

So then it was our turn. And poor girl. I just kind of flung her at stuff and she was so confused. It didn't help that for some dumb reason I was throwing my shoulders at her two strides out and then landing on my face for the next few strides. We had multiple refusals but then she would come back to it and jump it awkwardly or nicely depending on the jump. I didn't do anything big or anything, but... I didn't stick to the logs only. We jumped the little tadpole coop and bench. And then maybe a BN hanging log but it was pretty tiny. And we were able to canter in the field and even jump two or three fences in a row. (Or attempt... we may have actually achieved two in a row when I picked ones she had figured out). And she wasn't silly or stupid. Yes, she got a little quick and squirrely but not bad. And she even went into the water with Kid without any hesitation from the walk. Then when we tried it at the trot by ourselves she went a little bit sideways at first but it wouldn't count as a refusal. We even walked up out of the water via the bank following Kid. And she walked over the ditch and then trotted it without a lead. She's crazy smart! I just have to be smart and let her figure things out rather than just throwing them at her! And she wasn't bad about leaving Kid to go do her job either! We finished with the small hanging log and then trotted into the water. Good girl. Despite my awful introduction to stuff and throwing my shoulders at you.. good girl! 

We headed to the lake and on the way there, we went to walk up the up bank. There were 3 geese hanging out and they were starting to walk away. Well, the one goose literally went up the up bank a few strides before us and then proceeded to flap his wings and fly off! And then two came flying low behind and over us! And Lyric just walked up to the bank and up it. She didn't even really flinch at the flying geese! GOOD girl!! Kid was good too! So we headed to the lake and Lyric managed to put her front feet at the edge and sniff the water but didn't really get in, even with Kid trying to bribe her in. Oh well. She wasn't as nervous as last time, so... baby steps. So then we hacked back to the barn with Laura and did the butt crunch hill. :) Gotta strengthen those stifles that keep falling out. We left Laura at the gray barn and headed home by ourselves. Lyric wasn't thrilled but other than a few sticky half stalls and calling out once, she made her way. By the time we got towards the little dam she was pretty forward so we decided to go the long way and head back to XC and walk up that hill again. We got there and Donna was on her second pony doing fitness laps but Lyric was good with it. So we walked to the bottom and then up to the top. And then we went up the hill behind stadium and did the wooded hills. At one point Lyric stepped in a deep hole but she just picked her foot out and kept walking. She's really so smart! We got back to the trailer and untacked. She's still a little wiggly at the trailer but she's not pulling back or freaking out, so... some nervous poops are okay. She got rinsed off and then she loaded up super nicely to go home! No whip needed again. And I left the right side of the trailer back open and didn't tie her today. And she did great!

 

Good pony!!! Brave pony!!! Laura kept saying how nice she was and how much she liked her. Yep! I agree. She is a smart girl and fun and sane. Laura said she was fun to watch and see how she processed things. She said that by the time RRP rolled around she would be a cross country pro! ha ha. Maybe! She also said she was going to be very pretty when she finished filling out. :) I agree. My "handsome" mare is turning out to be quite a lovely girl!