Jumping Ginger

I have touched on this hear and there on this blog – Annie is an athletic little son of a gun. She is the definition of a pistol and she packs some punch. I have pretty much no doubt at this point that she will jump whatever I point her at. The issue is a) will I stay on b) will I pee my pants. While she has a lot of heart she also has quite a few opinions and doesn’t always appreciate being told that maybe jumping at Mach 5 isn’t the best idea we have ever had. When we get all the pieces just right and I manage not to poke the bear or turn her into a dragon things are perfect.img_2238.jpgShe’s definitely been happy in a “I’m about to start swinging” state lately at the hint of contact of any kind. Jumping her can go from standby to defcon 1 (go ahead and skip 2,3,4,5) in about half a second. She feels relatively certain that she knows best (admittedly previously if I just sat still normally she took care of it all) but lately she has gotten a bit too big for her shoes and gets quite offended by any suggestion to maybe not rocket launch over tiny fences which doesn’t instill a lot of confidence. img_3248She is a beast about cross country (evidenced above by the HUGE death trap trakehner she sailed over) but the pendulum is stuck over show jumping now.  I am going to walk you through the various states of jumping Annie pre what I am calling the “hackamore revolution” now.

Suggesting with a half halt before the fence:Landing after said fence:

Me half way through a course: Except I rarely brush my hair and make up is over rated: A summary:I am still reserving judgment as I want a few more rides in the wonder rig but it has been a good 3 months since I rode my horse and got a quiet smooth ride to and from the jumps. I will report back with more but until then you can find me burning sage and making sacrifices to the jump gods for them to keep up the good juju over fences. Any break throughs lately for you all?

9 comments

  1. Nicole says:

    Murray’s athleticism also recently exploded to the forefront, as I took him XC schooling for the first time in a year. Fun, but also hard to ride since I was NOT expecting it and definitely am not used to it.

    Holding him to a higher standard has really been working for us lately. Hopefully the success on that front continues!

  2. Carey says:

    …but I’m a littlestitious

    Girl’s gotta jump so just get out of her way, apparently. I am eager to hear about your hackamore revolution

  3. Nicku says:

    Fun! Hope the magic equipment works! Hawley Bennett taught us a lot in our clinics about great footwork exercises that get the zoomy horses thinking with out any rider interference. It’d be cool to ride with her if she ever comes your way!

  4. Olivia says:

    Nilla also has the opinion that she should be in charge of all jumping decisions and I should not interfere with her at all. Thankfully, she’s not charging through her bit, but just doesn’t listen. There’s an article in Practical Horseman about jumping with a war bridle. Maybe try that if the hackamore doesn’t help.

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