Still got it!!!
I'm so proud of Lyric!!! And I think she had a blast today!
We had Nancy come out this morning and check saddles. And I'm even more confused now. Sigh... But, basically... she said that the brown baroque seemed like it would work if I either had it flocked up or shimmed the front of it. She said that the black baroque was a better fit because it was "overstuffed". So.. at least I can maybe try riding in those again. And then she looked at the other jump saddle and said it needed to be deflocked a bit but it would work to try it on her as the tree and size were correct. But she also had a polyflex tree she left me to try. But, she also mentioned that the used custom fleur de lis she had left me was the same as the other jump saddle in the tree but had a different seat and that it was meant to keep a rider in the back seat. Oh.....!!! I need that!! So.. I'm still not sure how I feel about the dressage saddles, but.. I figured I'd ride in the fleur for my lesson and she what Jacel said. So that's what we did!
We rode with Laura and Smarty and they were cool with doing XC, which was great because I also wanted to see what level to enter Lyric at the show. (the big cheese show next weekend). I got to Ashland early and got tacked up. Then we went to the arena for our in hand warm up. She was not thrilled. I know girl, I know. We did our pillar work and then our turn on the forehand and haunches and then our trotting in hand. I'm so out of shape! So then I got on and walked straight out of the arena.
We hacked up through the woods past stadium and back to where the deer "attacked" me and Funny and Kelli and Marvin the other day. I was singing just in case. But no deer today. Then we trotted in the water complex. It was deep and she wanted to keep leaning in. I was trying to keep her over her back and stretching so we made smaller circles, which... as deep as it was, was a lot harder work. But whatever girl. So then we hacked through racoon loop to the lake. Then we walked back up along the edge of the woods in the XC field and met Jacel and Laura as they both entered the field too. Perfect timing.
We warmed up and Lyric was fresh! She behaved but she was very happy to canter! Jacel said that so far she liked my leg position. They had some jumps on a hill which was nice because... they usually don't! So we warmed up jumping up and downhill. Ugh.. jumping downhill is not as much fun! We started small and trotted up and trotted down. I felt very loose and sloppy and like I couldn't quite get where I wanted to be. Which... makes sense... it's been awhile since I've jumped her much less on terrain. And she was a bit excited too. I was reverting to the habit of lifting my hands in the air, which is no good for their biomechanics. So after I was reminded to keep my hands low... she totally ran out hard! So Jacel pointed out that I abandoned her instead of just keeping my hands low. Keep my hands low, but still keep a connection. Hold her hand! And then she was fine. And then I had to remember to not jump ahead. I knew it... I remembered it. BUT... she felt so game today! That I was really expecting her to take the flyers. Plus, after jumping Funny only recently... I got used to the flyers again. However, Jacel did point out that even when I dropped/threw my shoulders at her.. my leg position was still better in this saddle. So yay for that. I did manage to get some decent and correct jumps up and down the hill and we even did the bigger one. (Not that big.. ha ha.. but like.. starter and maybe... maybe baby beginner novice). Yay. And we cantered them too! Not just trotting.
The we moved on and did some stuff near the water. Lyric was brave and went right into the water. Yay! She even trotted the jump at the edge of the water out! And then cantered the hanging log! Then Jacel told me to jump the coop, go through the water and then over the triple log stack. THE triple log stack. The one Lyric never wants to jump. Ever! And we did! She did the tiniest of little peeks but she didn't suck back and she didn't try to stop or hesitate or even jump it from an almost stop. AND... I sort of thought she was going and jumped up her neck and she still jumped it! Whooo hoo! So we came around and did it a second time and I waited with my shoulders and she jumped it out of stride! Whooo hooo!
Then we walked over the ditch and headed to the back area. Jacel had me jump the hanging log and then the ramp jump. Ugh. I hate ramps. But she just jumped it fine. She added but a nice powerful out of stride add. Which... it's a ramp.. they all add. (except maybe Funny ha ha!). Good girl. Jacel made the comment about how I was weird and didn't like the easy stuff, like tables and ramps, but liked the hard airy technical stuff. hee hee. So then we were going to quit with that and I opened my mouth and said "maybe I should jump a table too". Except... it dawned on us.. there really aren't that many tables at Ashland... the dog houses... the roll tops... and the one novicey table... So... she did find that coop with the flat top that I don't like. It's kind of wide because of the flat top. Although to be honest, today it didn't look bad at all. Yay me!! She told me to jump that, then go up the bank, and then jump the starter cabin. I think it was starter. Probably. And I sort of thought about asking to jump the actual BN one but I didn't. So we picked up the canter and she jumped the coop just fine.. went up the bank and then the coop with the log on top was right there so I just pointed her at it and she jumped it well too! Wheee. Then we cantered on to the cabin and she jumped that great too. She landed in a big canter (she has been all day) and I let her canter on for a bit as a reward! GOOD PONY!I really think she was having fun and glad to be back out there. And she certainly didn't feel like she was hurting. Oooooh, I've missed her! She really is fun now that we're getting all the pieces in place and she's comfortable. Thank you God for putting me on the path to obtain the tools to fix her. Thank you!!So.. we'll run starter at the show. Jacel said she thought both of us would be fine at Beginner Novice but since it's been awhile... just take the pressure off and keep me from getting high hopes and putting too much pressure on. I think she knows that if we do starter, it'll go well and I'll be excited and wanting more. But if we get greedy and do BN and have a bobble or so.. it'll get in my head. And she's not wrong. And... she was not ridden from early January to mid April or so... I was lunging her but... only at the trot. And then I've popped her over a few fences but she hasn't had that many rides back. So... all in all, starter is the better choice, even if I'm slightly sad about it. ha ha. And.. the saddle was given the thumbs up.
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