There it is... that's what we needed!

 So.. while our lesson Sunday was helpful and educational and gave me good tools (which I put to use today)...it was not helpful for my confidence before the show. So.. for my lesson today I told Jacel I wanted to start in stadium and then move to XC if she was okay with it. She was running late but bless her... she never rushed me or made me feel like I wasn't worth her time/effort. We had a nice long good lesson. And even a pep talk. :) I'll say it again, I am forever grateful God put her into my life. 

I hacked out to join them on XC and hung out while they finished up. Lyric was a hair sassy but not bad. Then Jacel had to ride Cleo back because Courtney couldn't ride Romeo and hold Cleo at the same time so Lyric and I trotted up the hill and went back to stadium to warm up. She was the teeniest bit behind my leg in the arena so I lightly used the crop and then she was golden. We cantered and if i closed my leg, she moved out! Yay. Good girl! So then I told Jacel what had happened and where we were at and she came up with a plan. We jumped a course at starter height just to see where we were. Then she was going to set it up to BN height and we would jump it again. This way, at the starter level, if we ran into trouble, we'd be okay. And... we were fine. Maybe because she was in front of my leg.. maybe because she had less methocarbamol today, maybe because I was sitting and supporting?? She had one or two fences that she hesitated at. Jacel asked for my take and I told her that it felt like that was just her processing and reading the situation, but not backing off and being lazy. On Sunday, she would literally get to the decent spot and back off, fall behind my leg, and heave herself over with the chip. Today... she would sometimes get to a decent spot and second guess and add, but it wasn't a heaving herself over type add. Jacel agreed and was glad we were on the same page. When she raised the jumps, it was really quite okay. It was better, in fact, than our first round. We still had one or two fences that she didn't take the longer spots on, but that's okay. That's not her MO and she's allowed to chip, as long as she chips with impulsion. Which she did today. And I was able (mostly... except for once when I thought for SURE she would take the longer one) to keep my shoulders up and back and stay in the back seat. I was also trying to keep my weight in my heels, but after we got rolling it wasn't a high focus so I may have forgotten. 

 

So then we went out to XC. She was a little fiesty and throwing her shoulders around. We came to one or two fences rather sideways, but.. she went. It started out a hair tentative but still not bad. And it got better really quickly! Our fourth fence I think was the log stack that she always refuses... and she sailed right over it! She didn't even have to hesitate! Yay! We also did the up bank to the baby roll thing and then the hogsback. And then some bigger (for us) roll tops and cabins. And she jumped them all the first time! We even did the brush the first time! And then we went back to the big coop and she jumped it too! I'm so proud of her! And me too. I'm getting brave enough to keep my shoulders up and wait on her and trust her and she's getting brave enough to trust herself and me! YAY!

 
It was a good day. I'm feeling much better about the show now. Aside from the fact that it's supposed to be rainy all day. Doh!


 





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