Cross Country Training

I meet Jen and Kris at Drouin pony club, we saddle up and do a quiet warm up.

"I want you to shorten your stirrups", says Jen.
"I've already shortened them 3 holes", I respond.
"I want you to shorten them another 4", says Jen.
"4?!", I gasp.
"Ok, try 2 for size", Jen smiles, "But long term, honestly, aim for 4."

Kris is in the background nodding her head in encouragement, making it sound like it's a really good idea. I do as told, and go for a test walk, trot and canter. Wow! Feels great!

Then we do the first jump, a little log. Gally's approach is good, but then he ends up 4 metres right of log, having made no jump in the process.

"Take him right back to the log, make him do it, and next time, don't let him run out", says Jen.

The shying seems to be a common theme as both horses shy, and stop. There is a good excuse, if you're looking for one. The grass has been mowed, but tufts of it still grow freely at the base of all the jumps. This does look scary and confusing. Both. But as a rider, you've got to stop making excuses for your horse, show some strong leadership, and get him to jump.

This is actually quite hard as 1000 scenarios race through your mind. Horse might stop, cat leap, take it long, short or high. And the only answer is confidence and leadership. Imagine you were the alpha horse, and you were trying to drive another horse over the jump. What would you do? You would bite his backside until he did what you wanted. Enough said.

There's no water in the water jump, yet Gally has a problem with it. It takes a fair bit of driving to get him into it, but once he's done it once he is just fine with it.

We test out the bank. It's made of tyres, well filled with soil, but nevertheless a bit soft at the edges, and not my favourite. The drop causes Gally some consternation, and when he finally drops down I jab him in the mouth. Not good. And then it dawns upon me. Unlike Princess, when Gally does a jump, he won't take off at a hundred miles an hour afterwards.

Next time down the bank I allow him a loose rein. He hesitates, then drops down with ease. The loose rein means my upper body has nothing to lean on, and out of necessity, my lower body kicks in, and flows perfectly with the horse. This is it, the "aha" moment I've been waiting for. I've had the feeling of balancing with my lower body before, but I've never quite understood what makes it tick. It's been a bit like rummaging for a torch in the dark.

From now on I ride totally differently, and the next couple of logs flow nicely. Onto a little enclosure, tall grass in the middle. The tall grass makes the horses stop right in their tracks. Great practice for that lower body balancing act. Then onto some black tyre jumps. They flow, and we tackle the grade 3 jump as well. I am actually very tempted to try the grade 2 jump, but I keep that to myself.

Then onto some pink and yellow tyres. They spook Gally, and I am supposed to be growling at him as an aid to go forwards. "I can't hear you!", comes from behind. It makes me laugh. Gally goes forwards and over the jump.

Finally we finish up, hose the horses, and lie down in the grass swatting the odd fly, muscles throbbing gently. I call Pete and tell him to the casserole in the oven. Dinner is as good as ready.