Slow mo

On Sunday we continued in the theme of me staying with my horse except Jonna made it a whole heap more challenging. Jonna explained that he wants Henry to be more responsible for his own feet and to learn he can jump from a really deep distance. Jonna wants to know that the horse really understands his job and that if the rider fucks it up the horse can think for itself and get out of trouble. Jonna called it jump proofing.

Jonna explained he wanted us to trot in as slow as possible, preferably at walk speed and jump the jump. We would then progress to cantering at trot speed, and the ultimate aim was to be able to walk into a jump and have the horse jump. This exercise improves jumping form too, encouraging the horse to rock back and push off from its hindquarters.  Jonna said this exercise would also expose all my flaws, as while the approach and get away from the jump would be slow, the horse would naturally speed up in the air.

We warmed up from a normal trot and canter then Jonna had me slow everything down as much as possible. He encouraged me to challenge myself and slow almost to a walk without breaking. We turned to the jump and I could feel Henry questioning me, really asking me what was expected of him. It was like he was saying ‘come on mum, we usually do this a bit faster!’. I supported him with my leg and he hopped over, giving the pole a clobbering. Jonna was very pleased with this effort and had us go even slower on subsequent attempts.

When Henry would knock a pole, he would only make the mistake once, and improve the next time over. He was very game, tackling the jumps even when he really wasn’t convinced. I struggled with my position though, trying to stay with him and not yank him in the face. It was hard and I really had to work to get it right.

When we progressed to canter Henry was really unsure about jumping from a slow canter on the left rein. The first few times he defaulted back to trot. Jonna asked which lead he was better on, which is normally the right. When we went to the right Henry felt much more confident maintaining a slow canter all the way to the jump.

On the right rein we added in a 2 stride double. Jonna had me trot in, halt int he middle between 2 lines he drew in the sand, then trot and jump the second fence. We nailed it on the second repetition and did the same thing in canter, but half halted instead of halting all together. The aid was so light, but Henry took a long spot the first time. It was an important lesson for me in staying with my horse more, and really riding to the base of the fence, not just seeing a deep spot and assuming Henry will leave the ground there. I didn't make the same mistake twice, and even from a longer distance the second time through I stayed with Henry much better. We really got it on the third approach, and went back to a single fence on the left rein.

This time Henry was feeling much more confident approaching the jump from a slow canter. The first time over was good, and my half halt after the jump was well executed and produced an immediate response. The second time over was perfect, I knew it, Jonna knew it, Henry knew it and we were done.

That last time over was magic, my horse was truly in self carriage, we were harmonious as a team and it felt like we were one being. It's the most incredible feeling and Jonna was so thrilled we got it. He said some people go their whole lives without that feeling.

It was another great 2 lessons with Jonna, and I felt like we really honed in on the little details, like my position and Henry's form. Jonna Said that Henry is at a place that we can start to drill down into these things because he has shown us he understands the job, and that Jonna himself had been very pedantic in what he wanted from us in our lessons. He explained that if we had had any issues with jumping we wouldn't have been able to do what we did.

Our homework is to practice that little canter more at home, and get it really good. I also have to watch my left hand as it has a tendency to turn in. I need to make sure I stay with Henry more, and lift his shoulders after we land from a jump in 2 stages. I also need to get our walk to canter better.

Henry is now at the stage that he is better than Coolie. It feels so weird that at 5 my green horse is more established than the older been there done that horse, but working with a blank slate means that I can just build the training, not rebuild on formed habits. Coolie still has plenty going for him though, and definitely is still better than Henry at plenty of stuff. Henry though is an over all much easier horse to ride.

So happy that our hard work means that this is starting to be easy

All in all a very successful weekend. I enjoy every second of my lessons and feel so privileged to work with Jonna and see the progress we make. Jonna is an incredible horse man, and is always learning how to train horses better. There is always an interesting conversation to be had, an observation to be made and a theory to discuss. I love that Bec can help me in between the time Jonna visits and just how much progress we have made. Only 5 weeks to go until Jonna comes back!