Guess what I did today! OH YEAH!
I went to my first schooling (hence title)!!! It was SUPER SUPER fun! The best way to spend Columbus Day off of school EVER! Daisy was incredible....really, really great. We went in a group of 3 riders, Oliver (Jean's son) on Phoenix, another girl named Katie on her quarter horse, and I led by Karin (from 3 posts ago). Daisy refused 3 times total, in 1 1/2 hours...once, at the second jump, a stone jump with a piece of wood over the stones...it was big, and funky looking, so she tried to refuse, than at the last minute popped over it, anyway...she got a small cut on her hind left leg, but was otherwise unharmed...after that, she did actually jump the jump :P :). I learned that Daisy tries to shoot off to the left of jumps...so I had to use a lot of left leg and right rein... The other time she refused, it was pretty much my fault because I wasn't focused enough and I didn't set her up well, so I made it too easy for her to refuse, and she did...we tried it again and she was fine. The course had a series o f small jumps with a bigger jump next to it...we ended up doing the bigger jump almost each time because Karin thinks Daisy jumps better if the jump is bigger, otherwise she doesn't try as hard to get over and jumps flat...as promised, I got a TON of footage of the course! I think I have every jump on tape, and every refusal, and each time I re-did it...at the end of the course the schooling, we each jumped the course individually...it was CRAZY! Daisy was SO strong; I've watched Jean jump courses for a few years now; this time I was the one out there! :P Funny feeling...but SO FUN! Your adrenaline starts flowing and it's incredible to be out there following the course...I think it was 14 or 15 jumps. The video above is of the (I THINK) biggest jump...it was just over the top of a hill. When I did the course, Daisy got a ton of energy going up the hill because over it you were heading back toward the trailers, and she jumped fast, than took off, as she does frequently these days.
Karin tried to tell me later on that she took off because her hooves were sore and horses ran thinking it would help their hooves...whatever. Anywhooo...
I turned the corner after that jump at a gallop, tried turning, didn't really get anywhere, tried pulling back to stop, didn't help, and than Karin was calling out that I should raise my hands...I was like, "WHAT?!". I'm always told to keep my hands down; put them UP?! I did it, though, and Daisy slowed right down... :P
I turned back around to the jump I passed, and finished the course...it was incredible. I had no idea it was so stinkin' fun! AND Daisy was GOOD at it! You should see her; she tucks her legs right up and launches over...and those jumps were BIG for our standards!
I do have a lot more footage and Jean is going to send me pictures...sooo, hopefully (next weekend, maybe?) I can put together a video with pics and filming and music...
For now, you'll have to be happy with this... :)
First rider is Oliver, second is another girl we went with, third is me...and I have a video of the second time I jumped this jump, and Daisy didn't spook at all, so it was even better... :)
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