Charlie with the long sought after cooler

Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice

Sunday, June 03, 2012

I need a mnemonic

I had, what is now a "duh, of course" great jump lesson on Charlie today. I have a list of the things that I "get" but just need to keep working on to make them habits - here's the top 8: 1. In warm up, ride him rounder and more forward. 2. Don't bend forward to suck up the reins (after they've been loose). 3. Sit in my two point, light two point, seat down, and then WAIT for the fence - no more launchers!! 4. Keep it even - 1-2-1-2 (a corollary to this is not to get faster, looser, flatter, more strung out (get the picture?) as the course goes on) 5. Turn inside leg to outside hand - not with outside rein 6. Chest open (squished together shoulder blades - chest out, like I'm proud) 7. Commit to the fence and don't wiggle around those last couple strides 8. Make any corrections fast - no dawdling around for 5-10 (ok, sometimes 15) strides before I get it back together again What was nice today was Shannon made things a little twisty, and at the end, just a hair big, and I felt like we did it pretty smoothly. I am having a little more trouble with the combination - I don't correct quickly enough, so that will continue to need some work. Charlie is such a delight to ride. I seriously can't say that enough. I look forward to every ride on him, I'm smiling while I ride, and I'm smiling when I get off.

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