Back on track - chooo woooo!!

I girded my loins, put spurs on my feet, changed the stick for a dressage whip and we tried again. Showjump training of course!

Superhubby left a white filler propped by the side of our warm up cross pole. Eeejitbrain was dumb enough to pretend that he was scared of it, plus another fence with a white filler up the other end of the arena. Now we have jumped white fillers for the last year, so he was trying to get one over on me and was stupid enough to have let me know by picking the wrong fence to cop a wobbler at!

He backed off the filler while warming up, still only in trot. I cracked him with the whip, and he went forward. When I say I cracked him, I never took my hand off the reins once, this is just a flick, though sometimes a hard one depending on what was warranted at the time by his behaviour.

Having established that forward meant forward, we jumped the cross pole. He was very sticky, to the point of faults for disobedience, but not once today did he actually refuse a fence. THAT'S A FIRST!!! Ever. 15 whole months and finally we get a lesson with no refusals, I feel like breaking open a bottle of champagne! When he backed off, I just sat and flicked and flicked and did not let up until he moved forwards, when he reward was that the whip stopped. He got the message. Maybe a minute?

Then we did the warm-up upright. He was not focussed and was getting too close and knocking it down. But previously he would have refused and now he is just misjudging and jumping anyway. A BIG IMPROVEMENT.

Then the warm up spread. This was only a short distance off the wall and he also had to come past the filler, which he was still spooking at. I could feel that his mind was back towards the filler and had to flick him with the whip to make it clear that the only option acceptable was forwards over the fence. He did the fence, quite well too. THIS IS REAL PROGRESS.

Superhubby rebuilt the cross pole fence with the filler in it, and while he was actually in the process of doing that I brought Jazz round again to do the spread, now at a proper height for the first time. That was huge provocation, but he did it.

We picked five fences and did them as a course. I was busy making it clear what I wanted, and had to engage the spurs now and then to get proper forward motion, but he did the course, and nicely too. I went for a different four fences with the double at the end. The biggest double we have ever tried. In spite of a difficult bend coming out of a corner, he did it brilliantly first time.

With a huge grin on all our faces, we took a break. Superhubby put five fences down to 2ft 6 or less, and when we started again I jumped them all. Then he took Jazz's travel rug and put it on one of them. I jumped one fence first and turned to it without letting him look at it beforehand. HERE WE GO! He went bananas backing off it, so I just sat there and flicked him and flicked him until he went forward and jumped it. It must have taken about a minute, no more.

I came round again. He balked seriously several strides away. I flicked him and used the spurs and he hopped it. Third time round he made the decision for himself to ignore it and came in and popped it nicely.

SH moved the rug while Jazz's back was turned. We came in and jumped the fence that had it on but now didn't, fine, and round the corner to a spread that now had it on. One tiny hesitation and he decided that making a fuss wouldn't be worth the effort, and jumped.

The rug mysteriously moved again. This time, he couldn't be bothered even to register the fact that it was there. Now THAT's progress. Next week we will do the same again, but use a flourescent exercise sheet.

I'm smiling today. Jazz is still the most difficult horse that I have ever trained. It's taking all our ingenuity and skill to work out what he is doing, how he has (or has not) progressed, and what the appropriate action now is. For example, a month ago the whip flicking would have made him more obstinate, but now it is appropriate.

But we are really getting places now. Part of the key, I am sure, will be to continue to challenge him with "frightening" things at home, to get it through to him that he can, and must, rely on me to tell him what is and is not dangerous. Roll on some cross country practice to see if we can get the same improvement outdoors.

C