Charlie with the long sought after cooler

Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Charlie: Leg gets a thumbs up, back gets a thumbs down

Until you watch the video and freeze the frame, then I have a flat back in the moment in the air, but bad lower leg and seat (swinging behind, jumping ahead). Sigh.


I had my first outside jump lesson in a while, and my third jump lesson on Charlie in the gorgeous spring weather we had yesterday.
I had a really fun time during the lesson, but (not that this was ever a real worry) there is still plenty to work on.
Charlie actually enjoys jumping, so he needed to be ridden in two ways majorly different than Willig: light seat but steady him (1-2-1-2) so he didn't speed up the last couple strides to the fence.
Not surprisingly, I'm also (still) not very fast on my reflexes, so this video with two bends was pretty difficult for me to do.
That being said, after we did it a few times I started to catch on, and I ended the day on top of the world and looking forward to more.
Same old from before applies: legs in front, even rhythm, stay in the center of the fence, look for the next fence as I do the final line up for the current fence.
Also, because Charlie is trained and reliable, I can also ride a bit closer to my jumping position (seat light) and also hands up his neck with reins shorter.
We also checked speed, and telling myself a slow, steady 1-2-1-2 we were exactly 350 m/m so for x-c we'll need to go just a bit faster.

2 comments:

Miranda said...

I think you two look great. I have to count out loud a lot when jumping for my rhythm, till I lose my breath anyways.

Donna said...

Great video, I enjoy reading your blog. I have re-entered the equestrian world now as an adult with with purpose of eventing as well and enjoy reading your stories.