Using my words

I do apologize about the post earlier this week with no words.  This week has been an absolute whirwind and I really wanted to get the media up because I was so proud of myself.

First, it was hot.  OMG, it was so hot.  Like the fiery depths of hell hot.  And of course if there is any kind of anxiety, then you have that and you have adrenaline.  So, yeah, very proud that I didn't throw up or faint.  Although I may have sounded like a freight train.  Until I started counting, which actually means breathing in a normal way.

Anyway, yes, I did successfully school cross country.

And by successful, I mean the above mentioned not throwing up, fainting or falling off.  And, much more importantly, it was fun!   Still nerve inducing, but fun!  We had pony club testing in the jump rings, so cross country it was.  And there were horses everywhere.  We went out to the field with Marcy and the boy leading in the golf cart and me trotting behind.  Quick warm up, since it was so hot, of trot and canter, and then we walked and trotted through the water and over a little tiny cut log pile.  From there we went to a tiny coop (elementary).

If you read this blog at all, you will have heard of the 18" coop of death.  This was not that one, but I still have nerves regarding coops, since V seemed to take exception to them.

I had to go into this whole endeavor acknowledging that this was not the same horse that I last schooled cross country with such difficulty.

That horse started counting from the first flub and held it against me.  You don't keep leg on all the way to the fence?  That's #1.  You drop her in front of the fence?  That's #2.  You get ahead of her?  That's #3 and she was done.  She wasn't sure what this cross country crap was about, but was pretty cure that since I wasn't sure, she shouldn't have to figure it out.

This horse, though?  She has figured out what it is and what it's about.  6 months of weekly cross country schooling sessions, and she has figured out how to let go after a boo-boo.  She has learned to forgive me in order to get to the next fence, so that's very cool.

So, back to the coop, we got over that with no problem, then moved to a couple of rolltops, one elementary, one BN.  The goal was to do right lead to and over the small one, pick up left and circle back to the bigger one.

First try was a bit of an oops.  The boy said after "Even I could see what Marcy was talking about.  You totally looked down at the fence."  So we tried it again, this time with me looking up and not down at the fence.

Much better that time.  

Then we did an elementary bench, and then came a log and the wishing well.  The wishing well was the one time I actually felt Violet ask "are you sure?"  I simply used a little leg to say yes and she replied with a "yes ma'am" and hopped right over.

Then we went to the little bendy log to the half rolltop.  At the rolltop, I got left behind.  We went around and did the log again to restore confidence and then did the rolltop again, and this time it was perfect.  Marcy let out a whoop, which I could listen to over and over.  

Because it was such a great effort, we stopped at that.  We are trying to break this down into workable pieces for me to get my brain around it.

In looking at the video, and thinking about how it all went, it was obvious the ones I had issues with were the ones that I personally was intimidated by.  I have to ride those ones better.  Instead of getting nervous and hoping the pony will go over them, I have to ride her to and over them.  I was proud of the wishing well, because it's the first time I've ever been over it, and I rode it well.  Well enough that we only did it once.  

So I ended the whole experience with a smile on my face.  Big thanks to Marcy and the boy, for being my cheering crew and biggest supporters, and understanding how big of a thing it is for me to jump these little fences.