Jumping Journey

I’ve started to dabble in jumping. It’s actually the discipline I started with when I first started riding lessons in the seventh grade. But it has been a long while since I would say my focus is jumping. Yes, I would pull out the standards now and again or set up a makeshift crossbar and “pop over” but usually because it’s a good exercise for something else I’d been working on or because I’d been trapped in the indoor arena for ages due to footing and weather and the thought of one more 20 meter circle made me want to cry. But recently jumping has become, at least once a week, a current focus of mine. It’s been fun to figure out which saddle in the barn works best, to practice two point with real intention, and to think more closely about length and number of strides. 

Jack is still my “new horse”. Last month was the three year anniversary of my purchase of him. He is a big boy at 17 hands and “looks” like jumping may be his “thing”, but in actuality, he has no training in it. When I first bought him and I would lunge him over jumps, the thought of being on his back during one of those crazed leaps scared me. When I jump with Daisy, she does all the work. I pick the pace and point her at the jump and she counts her strides, she doesn’t rush, she just pops over and we canter off. I wish I could take credit for this, but alas, she does it herself. When I started jumping with her, she also had no formal training. She just took to jumping and literally just figured it out on her own. I have been lucky and spoiled, but Jack has not “naturally” figured jumping out. It is our new project together. What I am truly enjoying about our progression is the deepening of our bond. When we started, jumping with Jack was scary. My friends and I joke now, but when we went toward a jump, he basically decided it was every man for himself and charged. He seemed to think that if I was still on his back great, if not, no biggie, he had cleared the jump and was back on the ground. 

And so, I am starting slow. A few weeks with tiny crossbars and a lot of two point practice. I had to relearn how to bend, how to balance, how to bring him up to me, and how to release. As I said, I got used to Daisy figuring out all that. But Jack needs me to count to the strides, to count ahead, to half halt and to lengthen him out. In all honesty, Daisy probably needs that too, but I have been lazy, and she has compensated. With each lesson on Jack, and with each new exercise, I am growing less afraid than I thought I would be. In fact, I’m having so much fun. Jack and I are connecting. He is listening to me and taking care of me. He is trusting me as I ask new things of him and I am trusting him to keep me safe. The jumps are low, but we are building something strong.

This connection was made apparent to me the other day when we pulled out an oxer. I think it was 2 feet high, if that. I trotted him up to the jump; he slowed, and then…stepped in between the poles. Ughhh. He stopped. My trainer and I laughed. “Has he done these?” she said. “I guess not. I can’t remember. I think he thinks they are cavalette,” I replied. We laughed again. I came at the jump a second time and I knew what he was going to do. This time he jumped like he had been asked to leap the Grand Canyon and go as high as deer netting. We flew. But we landed softly. I stayed on and I never felt I was going to come off. I laughed and praised him for his effort. My trainer said, “He really took care of you”. And he had. Even in that silly over exaggerated jump, we were connected. He wanted me to be with him on the other side of the “canyon” I had just asked him to span. We continued the lesson, assisting Jack to learn what jumping depth actually requires (a lot less air time).

We finished the lesson by popping over a few crossbars to build confidence. I reflected on our growth as a team. The goal of our new jumping focus has nothing to do with ribbons or points. While heading to a show or two could be fun, it’s the journey that I am loving. I am growing as a rider, Jack is learning new skills, and most importantly, we are building a closer bond, becoming a stronger team.

Thanks for reading and sharing. What is your focus right now? Are you prepping for a big show season, healing an abscessed hoof, trying to just squeeze in whatever horse time you can? 

On a side note, I decided Jack needed to experience more different looking jumps. See my post on DIY brick wall jumps coming out soon to see what I came up with.