Still contemplating.

I really didn't think that I should ride Jazz today. One, I might punish him if he did anything wrong because I am still so annoyed/upset that he isn't getting the hang of this jumping lark. Two, he did an awful lot late yesterday afternoon and I think he probably needs the break.

So I rode Zip, who has not been ridden for three whole days. I felt no sense of trepidation getting on him - I stood on the block and asked him to come to me and he did, with only a tiny bit of fiddling about. He stood rock still while I sat down, waited for me to ask him to move off, and moved off quietly and calmly. As if he's been broken a year. What a star he has turned out to be after a very worrying start. Did I ever really write that I was afraid that he was going to be too sharp for me to ride???

We did some walk and trot on the outdoor surface, a bit of leg yield and then we stopped. He seemed to be very proud of his new Samuel Sharp bridle that I bought him off eBay recently. It's a comfort bridle of brilliant quality and it only cost me £37 including the postage. It's extra large and I thought that it would be too big (his head is a fair bit smaller than Jazz's) but it's just right and still has some room for him to grow a bit more.

I'm still scratching for more ideas on what else to try with Jazz's jump training. He did seem to really enjoy grids, but he also finds them terribly easy, so I can't see quite what doing more of them will achieve. All suggestions on a postcard please.

C.