I'm fit and I'm five - and you can ........
Jazz was not impressed by being asked to school for a second day in a row. There were a number of occasions when he simply froze halfway up the long side and then turned to go back to the stables. I couldn't put him back on the right rein, he was simply either rearing or threatening to go straight through the fence again. Thankfully, being a little slow witted, I could turn a full circle left and get him back on the track on a right rein, so that's what I did rather than have any potential battles.
He was full of energy and felt as if he was bursting with fitness and all he wanted was a gallop around a cross country. He trotted when I wanted walk and cantered when I wanted trot. When I got trot it was strung out and rushing everywhere, or "tied up" in a fizzy orange ball. I worked on walk/trot transitions and it took a long time but we got some good reactions in the end. Then I made him do some halts with his back up and under me before he finished. Right then, he gave me a completely free and swinging walk which was absolutely fabulous. When you feel that, you know that you are right in working to try and free off the walk and trot, because although it looks lovely as it is, it is capable of being quite spectacular when he loosens off.
I would have loved to ride Zip today but I felt that he had done a lot yesterday with the hills on our hack and I turned him out. He's a sweetie - he is beginning to come in when he is called in the morning and leave Jazz to follow on.
Tomorrow we are cross country schooling with Jazz at a new place to give him something to think about.
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 3:26 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Uhm...was that Jazz who is slow witted, or you? *JK* He is a bit slow on the uptake. Zip would have never fallen for such a trick.
Jazz is the perfect event horse, if you consider the average mindset of the event riders I know around here. "Dressage and flat work are bo-o-o-o-oring!!" He does need to get over that a bit since the dressage score does count, after all. *G*
My old event trainer from years ago--was shortlisted for the Olympics until her horse broke his foot--used to insist we do nothing but dressage the week before and event. The idea was to keep the horse from becoming too keen for the dressage phase by jumping before it.
hope he stops the rearing soon though, this is not clever....
I don't like the rearing either, but one of the reasons I don't like rearers is because there is almost nothing that you can do to stop them. Thankfully, it is still possible to "divert" him, like a toddler in a tantrum :-)
I agree with your trainer Jean. Once Jazz is fully trained I will not jump school before an event. Apart from anything, I worry about the wear and tear of constant schooling in between competitions. Friends of mine do it (one used to have a full showjumping lesson the day before!) and I have always thought it was a bad idea.
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