Post by Rose Hoff on Nov 14, 2013 17:27:58 GMT -8
Rose carefully fed the bit into Eleanor's mouth, careful not to startle the mare with any fast movements. They were nearing late fall, which was her favorite time for jumping, since she didn't get too hot from exerting herself, and the ground wasn't too cold and hard yet, so she didn't have to be too concerned about jumping higher. She had been jumping Eleanor more and more, and she was extremely pleased with her progress, and was tempted to stop calling the mare a jumper prospect.
Once Eleanor was completely tacked up in Rose's dark jumping saddle, a light blue pad, fleece half pad, open front jumping boots, and her bridle, Rose looped the reins over her head and led her out to one of the jumping rings where a tricky show jumping course was already set up. There were a few jumps that could be used for warming up, but the rest were of higher heights, all above 3'6". In the past, Rose had always been very cautious schooling Eleanor, as the mare was very young, and she wanted to build her up. Lately, the mare had been jumping 3'6" with tons of scope, and Rose was interested in how much potential her mare had.
Mounting once inside, Rose began to warm Eleanor up. A year ago the mare would have been skittish at the colorful jumps in the ring, but now the mare knew the ring well, and there were no other horses for her to be wary of. After cantering her in both directions, Rose warmed the mare up over the smaller fences that she had designated for warming up, and brought Eleanor to them a couple of times, smiling at the mare's energy.
Happy with the warm-up, Rose brought Eleanor back to the rail and cantered her around once before bringing her to a line of two jumps: one a 3'6" vertical and the next a 3'9" oxer. They would start fairly modestly and work their way up. Rose would always play it safe and would let Eleanor stop if the mare became overexerted or was having trouble with fences, but she wanted to see how much unleashed potential her mare had. Taking the first fence, Rose had to settle her tailbone into the saddle, sitting back and wiggling her ring finger to keep Eleanor under her. The mare flew over the oxer with room to spare and lashed her tail afterwards with her head in the air and ears pricked, clearly very happy.
clothes
Once Eleanor was completely tacked up in Rose's dark jumping saddle, a light blue pad, fleece half pad, open front jumping boots, and her bridle, Rose looped the reins over her head and led her out to one of the jumping rings where a tricky show jumping course was already set up. There were a few jumps that could be used for warming up, but the rest were of higher heights, all above 3'6". In the past, Rose had always been very cautious schooling Eleanor, as the mare was very young, and she wanted to build her up. Lately, the mare had been jumping 3'6" with tons of scope, and Rose was interested in how much potential her mare had.
Mounting once inside, Rose began to warm Eleanor up. A year ago the mare would have been skittish at the colorful jumps in the ring, but now the mare knew the ring well, and there were no other horses for her to be wary of. After cantering her in both directions, Rose warmed the mare up over the smaller fences that she had designated for warming up, and brought Eleanor to them a couple of times, smiling at the mare's energy.
Happy with the warm-up, Rose brought Eleanor back to the rail and cantered her around once before bringing her to a line of two jumps: one a 3'6" vertical and the next a 3'9" oxer. They would start fairly modestly and work their way up. Rose would always play it safe and would let Eleanor stop if the mare became overexerted or was having trouble with fences, but she wanted to see how much unleashed potential her mare had. Taking the first fence, Rose had to settle her tailbone into the saddle, sitting back and wiggling her ring finger to keep Eleanor under her. The mare flew over the oxer with room to spare and lashed her tail afterwards with her head in the air and ears pricked, clearly very happy.
clothes
