Jump for Joy

Fox Hills Pony Club's  annual  benefit Jump for Joy Jumper Schooling show is this weekend. Its a huge fund raiser for the club and a very busy weekend for all its members since they are responsible for putting on the entire show. (from hauling in all the jumps and setting courses Friday morning to all the work to cleaning up and putting away all the jumps on Sunday night).  Saturday morning, I took some time out of the show work schedule to compete in a few jumper classes. A January show gives us something to work towards  to get the season going and is good practice for getting my nerves in check. 

I had signed up for two different classes on courses 3'3" in height since those are the heights at which we are currently competing. However, one of my dear horsemaster (Pony Club) pals who also happened to be the show secretary encouraged me to switch one of my classes to the Micro Prix (the 3' to 3'3" class) since there was prize money involved and only 2 entries in the class. So I did.

Deuce is familiar with the venue and this particular show . Friday night, we had the opportunity to school the courses. The minute we walked into the arena and before even seeing the jumps on the other side of the wall, he knew where we were and what we were doing.  He picked up his step and locked his ears forward looking for the jumps. 

He makes me laugh. The exuberance and joy he has for jumping is tangible. I can feel him asking to jump things. 

After a good warm up and reminding each other of half halts and paying attention, we felt pretty confident and ready for Saturday morning's classes. 

Deuce spent Friday night quietly at the fair grounds and was ready for work bright and early Saturday morning. The barns we quiet when I went in at o'dark thirty to feed and get him out and walking around. The big spotted horse had a quiet, focused presence. He knew what was coming and he was feeling good about it. 

Warm up went well. I had some assistance and pointers from both Anne and Brooke (since they were there and knew us well). Then it was time to go. 

Deuce and I shot into the arena, nice and forward made our big circle, waited for the whistle then we were off to the first fence. Our course was pretty tricky, it started with an oxer and then a hard roll back left to a vertical.  My task was to keep him forward through the turn and not let him dive down. Then it was on to the wall, bend line 5 strides to a one stride, right hand turn to a skinny 6 strides to a oxer, then a left turn to the long side triple combination (1 stride then 2) then around to a vertical and another right hand turn roll back to a straight up and down solid panel vertical.  Deuce was such a good boy; he looked for the fences and moved off my led when I asked him to. Fussed with him a bit too much in the corner from the one stride to the skinny and did not give him enough leg to the base so he took charge and stiffened and ran to the barrel oxer and took off long (he is quite clever and likes to take long spots, so not pretty, but we were clear). His early departure left me a little unbalanced so I had to quickly get myself back together and balance him up through the corner and in time for the 3 stride. He clunked the first rail, but it did not fall and I kept my leg on  so we went through the rest of the combination in better form and he was more assured that he had a rider that was supporting him and not a monkey on his back.  

The last 2 fences were long trip sweeping left turn to a vertical, then and right turn roll back to another vertical. After his reminder to get myself together and ride, I was kept my leg on to the base and had better rides to both fences. We finished fast and clear. The we had the quick jump off which gave me the opportunity for redemption on riding the line from the skinny to the barrel oxer (which I did) and again, no rails. 

We both left the arena grinning because we have so much fun together. We ended up winning the class and taking home some prize money. (prize money is a first for me!) 

Our second class was a 3'3 course that with more lines and less turns. It was not nearly as a challenging course in terms of turns, but it was still fun because we were together and jumping stuff. I road a bit better in the corners and overall had a better ride. Again we went clear and won the class. 

Then it was cool out and lots of pets and praises for Deuce, snack time and back to working the show for me. 

Snowing!

SW WA got hit with snow in a major way Tuesday night and Wednesday morning!  We woke up to 8.5 inches and it kept falling until about noon Wed!   Needless to say, I did not get out to the barn to do any riding  yesterday. errg. This year has not started off well for consistent riding.

While temps are still below freezing, the roads improved somewhat, although still with layers of ice on the surface streets,  and  my dear sweet Russ said he would take me to the barn to ride this afternoon  and I that meant I could keep my jump lesson, with Anne, too!

Had a great lesson with Anne (as usual).  During our warm up after observing a few lazy canter transitions, Anne got after me for staying consistent with expectations from my horse and the rules of riding. (Meaning expect correctness all the time). She had me trot on a circle and leg yeild out and asking for a canter depart to get the hind end moving better.

We did course work starting with a 5 stride line that developed into a triple with 2 strides between and oxer as the middle fence. She made the oxer gradually wider to encourage Deuce to sit down and get balanced and push instead of gallop through to make the distances. To help him, I have to sit tall to the fences.

The course grew to include bending lines across the diagonals and the take home message is to have a a plan. Ride one element to the next with a clear plan. They all relate. Keep him light through the corners (up in front of my leg) and counter bend in right corners (since he like to pitch his shoulder and fall in).  If he gets "basey" to a fence, kick on - go forward!

Cold night walk in the snow with a full moon

The big spotted horse was still pretty sweaty after I got him untacked in the barn, so I threw on his cooler and took him for a walk in the snowy night. The full moon was brilliant in the clear sky. It was a crisp, and quiet night that only a snow covered landscape can create. The steam of Deuce swirled up to the stars as we strolled down the snow covered driveway in the full moon light. The snow glimmered and sparkled around us. It was a peaceful and slightly magical evening.

Its a good night for a warm soupy bran mash!