Swan River XC

After a lunch and a rest for a couple of hours  I headed out from cross country. It  was getting warm by this point and Henry was a lot quieter which was nice. He was actually relaxed in the XC warm up for the first time! He even stood around while I chatted, amazing.

Jump 1!

He woke up when we got to the start box and saw the horse before him  go. That rattled him a bit and we lost the stand but I just quietly reminded him he can park and he kept his head. I made him trot out of the start box before picking up a good canter and coming to the first jump, a roll top. He jumped over and kept the nice rhythm to the second fence. The third jump was a spooky blue box and he wasn't sure about it. I probably held where I should have kicked on, and he spooked and kinda stopped and ran sideways at the  same time, and I got him going forward immediately. He jumped over it when I told him to GO and we galloped onto 4AB, two logs.

Scary jump 3

5AB was  an up bank then a bending line to a log  and I trotted him in. He  was confident and was perfect through the  combination. 6 was a coop, landing down hill and into a drainage line. He spooked at some bunting flapping next to the jump but jumped it the first time. I let him bowl on to 7, a log stack, but trotted him into 8, a log before the water. I knew he would look at the water so I sat  up and kept my leg on and he trotted  right through and out over 9.

Jump 8 and the first water

There was a faux  trakhener at 10, 11 was a brush and 12 a roll top that he galloped out of stride. 13AB was an up bank and a drom which I trotted but he didn't even look, he was really settled into the job by then. 14 was a bright crayon and then we had the second water. I trotted him again but I think he would have cantered if I had allowed it, he was a lot more confident by this point. 15 was a littl upright, 16 an oxer in the trees, 17 a hay rack and 19 was the train jump. He just cruised over all of them and then galloped over the last log to come home home a few seconds over time but clear of jumping penalties.

A crayon

It was a really good confidence building run and the jumps all felt quite easy. Next time I will ride more confidently into the spookier things rather than worrying he will  find them spooky. Our clear jumping phases moved us from last (21st) to 7th, just out of the placings. Once we get the warm up and dressage more relaxed we will be golden.

Scary jump 3 needs lot of air. It's not very big!