Jump lesson on 2/24/07

I started with my leftover questions from last week. I confirmed the counterintuitive idea that you half halt on the outside, constant rein to get the horse to turn his head to the inside (away from the hand that is half halting). Mercury wouldn't turn his head, but Bob said yes, that's how it works.
A turn on the forehand has the head turned to the right if you're going left.
The moving sideways that's not a half pass that I am totally blanking on the name, head goes opposite the way you're going so that the horse can counter balance (like a baby horse who turns his head to the outside of the lead he's cantering on). So if I'm going right, his head bends left. (Half-pass is more advanced because the head goes the same direction as the body.)
Hips. To shift hips when asking for canter, for the right lead, you shift down into your right hip (so you free up your left hip) because he is pushing forward with his left hind leg. For the not-quite-a-half-pass thing, it is shifted to the outside - not the way you are going. So if you're moving left, it's your right hip that is pushing down and your left hip that is light, so he can step left. It is like pushing your leg straight, not bending over. This feels weird, so I need to practice it.
So I set up the jumps for a jump lesson today. It was a big test to see if I could go Beginner Novice at the upcoming derby (end of April), or if I needed to ride Hopeful again. I don't want to be all egotistical and arrogant, but I don't want to ride Hopeful again because I think it's for riders who are more beginner than me and for horses who are not as eager about jumping as Mercury. We certainly have tons to work on, but I think it's a special entry level category. We might have to stay in Beginner Novice a long time, but I don't think we should stay in Hopeful.
So Beginner Novice is 2'7" at this show, and that is a big change from 2'0" that we were doing last summer. So I set up two big jumps (3'2"), three medium jumps (2'3"), and one small. We ended up not using my line of 3 (24', 48'), and just using the 2 (48') for a line. There was also one oxer that was not that broad or high.
Mercury was good again. The immediate problems were the same as last year - I launch forward, pinching with my knees and letting my legs swing way up, OR I flop over and don't give him any release and then punish him with my hands by jerking on his mouth. I also tend to slam back into the saddle on his poor back. More often I launch forward, but since he doesn't really know where to take off, I sometimes get left behind.
So we did jumps at the trot, then little combinations, then jumps at the canter. What really helped was if I do a 2-point for several steps, then sit before the jump. That makes my legs stay heavy (no heels lifted which means no leg swinging up behind me). The difference is amazing, I feel totally solid and comfortable, it allows me to bend over properly (not flop forward and flop back into the saddle), and it lets me do a normal release.
My homework this week, which is unfortunately a low riding week and a missed lesson because I have to travel for work, is to practice my 2 point and pushing my heels down. If on the flat my leg is swinging, put rubber bands between the stirrups and girth (something frowned upon for legal reasons) to help hold the stirrups in place so my legs feel the proper place to be. Next lesson will mostly be dressage/flat, but Bob said we'll do a couple jumps at the end.
Unlike last week, which was apparently just my brain not working because what seemed impossible on Saturday during the lesson was doable on Sunday, I did much better with riding dressage between the jumps. I talk or count (1-2-3-4 or head-hands-heels) on the way to the jump, think: "deep, half halt, half halt, half halt, GO", and keep my head up and looking ahead. I have a very bad habit of looking down at the jump as we go over it - I don't realize I'm looking down even, but I can feel the difference in Mercury and me if I concentrate on looking at the wall on the other end of the arena.
So it wasn't perfect, but was a reassuring lesson, and then Bob raised the jump, and I was talking about the show, and saying "What if I can't jump 2'7" and I fall off?" and Bob said "If you fall off over 2'7", you don't deserve to be jumping yet anyway." He switched one of the jumps to be bigger, said Mercury would probably be nervous about it so to talk to him and ride him strongly to it (he had tried to canter a couple times and I had pulled him off the jump which Bob said to just let him canter over it because it looks big to him), and I fell off. Bob said Mercury jumped like 5', but that I was falling off while we were over the jump. I had his neck with my arms, but I couldn't get my legs around him, so I rolled off, and he just stopped and looked at me, confused becuase I was on the ground. Bob lowered the jump just a little, we did it again (really big and afterwards he put his head in the air and ran), and then stopped for the day. He said it was actually a 3'2" jump, to make up for me just asking about 2'7".
Mercury has a good heart. He is kind of lazy, but he tries hard, he doesn't refuse, and once he figures something out, he will do it again without you have to repeat every single little detail.