Berry Has Jumped

This is directed to everyone who said she just had to learn to jump in my last post. Because apparently you were all right. Kudos to you all.

On Tuesday I went to my regularly scheduled riding lesson with my usual instructor. I’d just like to put out there that is was incredibly hot. Swelteringly, disgustingly hot. Ugh. It was so hot that Berry was lathered in sweat and breathing hard after a few laps of cantering. By the time we were done, her face was in a sweaty lather. Poor, poor horse.

Life is so rough for poor Berry.

My instructor was messing around with some gates but I assumed she was just playing with the jumps for her next lesson. But then she informed me that I would be jumping them. They were probably only 18 inches, they were very solid looking. AND there were two of them.

But I suppose all my lessons have (finally) been paying off, because I wasn’t scared. I was excited, in a good way. But I played it cool.

I showed Berry the jump, but she was mostly uninterested. It’s possible that since she is so green, looking at a gate jump has no significance to her.

My instruction was to trot the jump, and then halt, staying straight. I put her in a slow trot, and moseyed on up. And it was the moment, she actually jumped it! I was so excited I forgot to stop, which of course was what my instructor focused on. That and since I didn’t stop I had to swerve to avoid several jumps. Can’t she see how excited I am about my mare jumping?!

She had me turn around and jump it the other way. No big deal, I thought. Except this time Berry decided it was a big deal, and she leapt over it like a deer, sending me flying upward. My leg went way up on her back, and really, its good she has a gentle heart because for a few canter strides I was perched on her back like I was doing some kind of vaulting move.

It was nearly like this, except I had none of the grace and poise. I was just kind of flopping.

As fun as that was, I needed to get my act together, because my poor mare was trying so hard to do what I wanted and I was flopping around like a fish. I turned around and jumped again, and while I didn’t pop out of the saddle, I was staring down at the jump, and ended up off to the left again.

My instructor had to have a little talk with me. She explained, Berry was being nice enough to do exactly what she was asked, so it was time to work on me. She’s jumping, as asked, and then cantered off to the left because I keep telling her to do that. I need to focus on straight and bring her together after the jump.

My take away from this: My green horse has learned how to jump faster than I have. How humiliating.

She is wise beyond her years.

To give myself credit (I will now pat my own back), I put on my super serious face, and did the exercise well after that. Not perfect, but it was good. Then we did the line. One gate, bring her together, next gate. I was so excited, I felt like the music from the opening of Jurassic Park* should swell around me, while the camera pans up above the arena.

We did the exercise a few times, and then, sadly, it was time to end it because poor Berry was clearly not liking the hot weather. I wasn’t either, but I was having so much fun it was hard to want to stop.

She did so good!! I’m very excited about pretty much everything, more lessons, more showing (I’ll be going with my barn to a show soon!), and my August hunter derby was approved, although the class still were not explained to me, so I guess maybe I can enter both thoroughbred classes and green horse classes? There’s also several other divisions that could possibly apply?? do people just enter every one of them?!? Why can’t this make more sense?!?!

*I have Jurassic Park on the brain because I saw Jurassic World and it was so amazing. Chris Pratt is soooo dreamy! Why can’t my husband train and lead a herd of velociraptors?!