Whew, this lesson was one of the more intense ones, but not in a bad way.  Just a 'learning something new and having to figure it out' way.  

My trainer had me fetch and tack up Mariah for a lesson.  James and Vivie were there as well, with James on Cordell and Vivie on Riggs.  My trainer actually tacked up Cordell for James because James was busy working on her wheelbarrow, which has been broken for awhile now and which my trainer would really like to get back.  

Anyhow, we all went to the outdoor arena for the lesson.  My trainer rode Romeo, and this week I really noticed how he's been shedding the pounds.  He look so much nicer now, and I do think he has a sweet nature.  I wonder if I'll get the chance to ride him.

Vivie worked with Riggs on this lesson with trotting over raised poles.  I believe this is the first time she'd done something like that.  I think she did better with it than I did when trotting over poles the first time with Bia.  And James got to canter Cordell at the end of the lesson, which was amazing.

When I mounted, my trainer didn't tell me what to do for a walk warm up.  Honestly, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for one either.  I knew we were probably going to be jumping...  Anyhow, I went to the old stand-by of circles in the corners and halts.  

I only did like, two circles going one direction before my trainer told me to pick up a rising trot.  And that's pretty much all she told me to do next, just pick up a rising trot. She also added that we were going to start jumping Mariah early on in the lesson.

I thought about maybe adding some circles in while trotting, but then decided not to and just enjoy a nice trot around on Mariah. 

We kept a pretty steady trot going around the arena. I went a little over a lap going on way, and then changed directions to go the other.  My trainer didn't see me change directions, and after I'd gone a little ways she said something along the lines of "Looks good Abby, go ahead and change directions." 

Now, there have been times where I've gone ahead and changed directions.  But this time I called back "I just did."  And she was like "Oh okay, carry on then!"  and then she said to go ahead  and ask for canter in one of the corners coming up.  

Now, the past two lessons I've been working on sitting her canter.  To be honest, the gait I've practiced the least is canter, because Shorty and I have mainly stuck to walk / trot throughout the time we've been together.  Our arena is small enough that maintaining his canter was always hard on both him and me, and there was always something else to work on.

I got a good canter when I asked for it.  For some reason, I seemed to find a different way of sitting it.  I can't quite describe it.  It seemed like I was flexing more through the front of my body to follow the motion?  Anyhow, it was a new sensation, but one that seemed to work.

At one point,  I was able to look at my shadow and see how I was sitting.  I was bouncing a little bit, but pretty much my seat was staying with the saddle, though I did try to sit a bit better than that.

I cantered one lap going that direction, and then brought her to a very speedy trot to change directions.  My trainer said something along the lines of 'looks good' while I was doing this, though it most certainly didn't feel good at the time because Mariah's trot was terrible and I was starting to feel a bit tense.  I think it was more my trainer letting me know that I was on the right track and had sat her canter well.

We changed directions and I asked for canter.  I think the transition here was better than the last transition to canter that we did, either way, it didn't take as long.

The canter went good going this way too, and I once again employed the same different sitting technique.  Again, it seemed to work pretty well.  

After completing another lap, I came to walk and let her have a long rein, not sure what my trainer would want me to do next.  We walked for a little bit before my trainer called me over to her to explain the jumping we would be doing. 

There were two jumps, but they were not lined up straight to one another.  It created a 'bending line' as they call it. Now, you could have jumped these two jumps on a straight line, but you would have had to jump the second jump at a diagonal, and my trainer said that if I did that, Mariah would flat out tell me no.  So, instead, she wanted me to jump the first jump on a straight line, keep going straight for a little ways, then turn to face the second jump head on on a straight line. Here, a rough diagram.  The red line is the first jump, the blue line the second.

I've never done anything like this before, and to be honest, I was nervous / unsure about how I was going to do it.  (I think one thing that would've helped me is if I hadn't 'overthought' it too much, just not thought about it but gone and done it.) 

As it was, my line to the first jump wasn't that great, and I wasn't committed to it. Mariah could feel this, and so, yes, we missed the first jump.  I knew it was mostly my fault when it came to that. So we backed up, walked over it, and then went to the second jump which went fine, although Mariah did take a huge, flying leap over it.  (By the way, these jumps were just one foot verticals.) 

The second try went better, if I remember right. I was more committed to my line, so while Mariah did get a little squirmy, we still got over it. About as soon as we landed, I was like, "Okay, gotta get to the second jump."  Because she would take a huge leap and land in canter, and I was afraid we'd overshoot our line to the second jump.  But we did get to the second jump and took a huge flying leap over that.

My trainer complimented me on the fact that I'd done what I needed to do to correct Mariah on the way to the first jump, despite what Mariah did.  I thought she was referring to the first time we missed the first jump, and perhaps she was.  So I said, "Yeah, that was my fault." But my trainer didn't seem to think that it was all my fault, so that's part of the reason I think it was the second time we went to the first jump she was referring to. 

The third time, I believe it was, was when we had our biggest mess up.  To start with, we went into the first jump too agitated and excited, both her and I.  I should have made a circle before going to it.

As a result, we went in really fast, and Mariah took a huge leap which unseated me. But still, when we landed, I was like, "Got to get to the second jump."  But we were going too fast, and we missed it by going to the side of it, and then stopped beside it...  

To be honest, those moments are a bit of a blur, but I do know that I stayed on and that I should not have steered to the second jump but allowed Mariah to continue on a straight line.  My trainer told me that, but she wasn't real mad about it.  She also told me that I shouldn't have gone to the jump like that, that she could see how Mariah was more agitated, and that a better choice would have been to make a circle to get things calmed down.

I took her advice on the next round, and made some circles, but I think we missed the first jump again.  My trainer told me I was giving her a terrible line to the first jump.  So then, after we'd gone through the line and came back around to do it again, Trainer told me to stay next to the fence line longer before turning to the first jump.

Sure enough, by waiting longer before I turned, I got a much better, longer line.  After that, I don't think I struggled so much with that first jump, and pretty much, it was the first jump that gave us the most problems.  Once we were 'in' the jump line, we did pretty good.

I don't think it was very long after that we got our best jump yet, and my trainer was pleased and had me let Mariah come to walk as a reward.

So we had a little walk break, and then my trainer told me to go back and do it again, still sticking with turning to the right.  Going to the right is Mariah's better side, so we just stuck with it for all the time we jumped.

One thing my trainer really wanted me to focus on was keeping myself up and back while in two point.  I need work on that nasty habit of throwing myself forward and leaning on the horse's neck, which is basically asking for a fall.

Having more confidence now that I'd gone through the line several times, I was like, "Come on Mariah, let's do this."  And we went and we did it.  We went through that line four more times, and didn't miss either jump once.

I focused on keeping my shoulders back and my upper body tall, and my trainer said she could notice a difference from before.  Plus, she said that in doing so I gave myself more time to get to the second jump.  Mariah didn't feel she had to hurry.  So, it felt better to me, and both of us were relaxed a little more by the end of it.

So, that was the intense jumping we did.  I kinda had to fumble my way through it to figure out how to get my lines right, and what I had to do to get Mariah to and from both jumps. 

I walked Mariah out to cool her off, and that was it for the lesson.  If I remember something else, such as events happening in a different order, I'll probably be updating this entry.

Actual lesson 10/11/2022