I'll start with some old history on me.
Back before I ever met Symbah, I used to school 3'3" and showed at the 2'9" height (hunters, of course). I was a gutsy kid and heights didn't faze me. I used to help work greenies and horses with "issues" and never once worried I'd eat dirt. It was fun and I loved it.
But eventually I had crap horses thrown at me constantly, ones whose intentions always seemed to make me want to crash and slowly, ride by ride, my confidence slipped away.
After that, I just didn't have the nerve to pop a horse over 2'3 without tensing up and clinging to the saddle for dear life. So for a while, I just did minimal jumping because I lacked such confidence. And then in came Symbah.
Ignorance really is bliss. Because I hadn't known he wasn't quite halter broke, he apparently had a 'mean' streak in him and was unpredictable with a capital P. We just 'connected' I guess. And thanks to him my confidence has grown and the progress we've made together is fantastic.
I always got a little squeamish with fences over 2'3, and 2'6 made me a bit nervous. But Symbah sure loves to jump, would never stop at a fence and helps me over them. Without him, I think I'd still be a mess!
Well last night I tried something I hadn't done before. I set up a course of a line (first fence was 2'3, second was 2'6), a single fence of just a cross rail to warm up over and then a 2'9 vertical on a diagonal. We went over the fences fantastically, no hesitation, no rushing.. nothing. Then I decided it was time to try that 2'9 fence. So I took a deep breath and cantered him over it.
No problem whatsoever! He was still learning his distances so he did come up fairly close, but popped over it no problem. Another boarder was in there with me, helping me with a neat trick to keeping a steady but forward canter. What I loved most was after the fence, Symbah was doing a flying lead change to swap to the correct lead - no aids asked!
The last time we attempted the fence, we had a nice steady canter and he adjusted his striding himself, and popped over the fence. I had ended it on that - why push for more?
I'm very proud of him, and thankful he's given me most of my confidence back.
And I also have a show this weekend - I'll hopefully post updates on that afterwards! =]
Back before I ever met Symbah, I used to school 3'3" and showed at the 2'9" height (hunters, of course). I was a gutsy kid and heights didn't faze me. I used to help work greenies and horses with "issues" and never once worried I'd eat dirt. It was fun and I loved it.
But eventually I had crap horses thrown at me constantly, ones whose intentions always seemed to make me want to crash and slowly, ride by ride, my confidence slipped away.
After that, I just didn't have the nerve to pop a horse over 2'3 without tensing up and clinging to the saddle for dear life. So for a while, I just did minimal jumping because I lacked such confidence. And then in came Symbah.
Ignorance really is bliss. Because I hadn't known he wasn't quite halter broke, he apparently had a 'mean' streak in him and was unpredictable with a capital P. We just 'connected' I guess. And thanks to him my confidence has grown and the progress we've made together is fantastic.
I always got a little squeamish with fences over 2'3, and 2'6 made me a bit nervous. But Symbah sure loves to jump, would never stop at a fence and helps me over them. Without him, I think I'd still be a mess!
Well last night I tried something I hadn't done before. I set up a course of a line (first fence was 2'3, second was 2'6), a single fence of just a cross rail to warm up over and then a 2'9 vertical on a diagonal. We went over the fences fantastically, no hesitation, no rushing.. nothing. Then I decided it was time to try that 2'9 fence. So I took a deep breath and cantered him over it.
No problem whatsoever! He was still learning his distances so he did come up fairly close, but popped over it no problem. Another boarder was in there with me, helping me with a neat trick to keeping a steady but forward canter. What I loved most was after the fence, Symbah was doing a flying lead change to swap to the correct lead - no aids asked!
The last time we attempted the fence, we had a nice steady canter and he adjusted his striding himself, and popped over the fence. I had ended it on that - why push for more?
I'm very proud of him, and thankful he's given me most of my confidence back.
And I also have a show this weekend - I'll hopefully post updates on that afterwards! =]
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