The Refusal

I've been doing jumps made up of poles (with tyres on the side as jump wings) with Princess for a while now, and it has been going well. No refusals, and generally clear. Today I set up two barrells on their side. Bit narrow, but I really can't be bothered dragging out another barrel.

I start off with dressage, then go on to jumping, starting off with trot poles, cross rail and then an upright, as per normal. Once the upright is going well, I head for the barrels. Three strides out, I feel the horse gazing at the barrels, and already deciding whether to dart left or right. In fear of a catleap I do too little, and she succeeds in darting right. A refusal.

I feel the fear. The little voice speaks up saying that maybe this jump is just too risky, we might fall off, blah blah blah. I do a circle, letting the little voice have his say. This is important. The little voice must finish speaking. Then I allow the competition voice to speak up. "You need to do this jump in order to compete. Period. How are you going to do it?" I strengthen the leg and my resolve and give it another go. Another refusal.

I get angry (but not vicious). This time we're going over. I do a circle. The little voice is quiet. We're right at the jump, the horse gets no choice but to go straight, so strong is my leg and seat. My hands support. A moment of hesitation, then cat leap. Cat leaps are never nice, and I jab Princess in the mouth on take off. Finally she does what I want, and she effectively gets punished for it. Great. This will cost me.

The little voice speaks up again "See, dangerous. You could have fallen off." I glare at the little voice, and come again at the jump. Refusal. The price you pay for jabbing your horse in the mouth. Another circle, and this time a flowing jump, I fold with the horse and release the reins. Beautiful. I feel the horse breathe a sigh of relief. I snort with her in agreement. Prrr. Prrr.

We do two more jumps. Both brilliant. Mission complete.