Jumping canter

Today I start off Crownie's work by lunging her first. Over trot poles, then over jumps.

I am really pleased with her work over trot poles now. It's rythmic and steady, and she's lifting her legs. Nice.

The jumping isn't so good yet. She manages to knock the pole off a few times. This will profit you not. The pole goes back on, and she jumps it. The idea of jumping her on the lunge, is so that she has a chance to work on her own balance, without any interference from me. I like to think that these days I am sufficiently balanced that I help more than interfere, but even experiencing that difference for herself is good.

Then I start riding and just do dressage. That's right. The jumping was good enough, she jumped all her final jumps, end of lesson. At least on the jumping front.

In the dressage we work on getting those hind legs underneath. Walk, halt, trot and canter. Jumping canter. The time has come to work on fitness, and that of course means canter. Lots of it. Good, quality, jumping canter. She does well, and I can see that when we are done she is genuinely tired.