Swan River Jump Club

 In a bid to boost our show jumping confidence, Henry and I have several outings planned. Today was the first, and we skipped an event to go show jumping. It was a tough decision, but I know the event has an extra spooky jumping arena and I figured it would be better to be prepared and  confident show jumping than event. 

We headed off to a local venue that we have trained xc at before but not ridden in the arena. We got there quite early and chilled out while Henry ate breakfast/dragged me around finding clover. 

Even though we got there with plenty of time to spare, I still had to rush to warm up. It worked out quite well as I didn’t overthink anything and got right to work, so Henry stayed on task rather than getting distracted. Our warm up wasn’t perfect, he was a bit resistant but we worked through it and went straight into the ring for our first round.

I was super nervous, which felt ridiculous, but I wanted to do a good job and ride like I know I can. My main aim for my rounds was to ride forward and support with my leg. I set a good pace before we came round to jump 1 which set us up well for the course.

We kept a fairly consistent rhythm throughout, I rode really well, using my legs to support Henry and correct any drift. I gave him a great ride and he responded by clearing everything calmly, either landing on the correct lead or changing himself and adjusting as required. I still needed to ride a bit more forward down the related lines, but I did ride confidently to the double and it showed.

The bending line on the course was a bit messy, Henry was resistant through the turn but it was really the only messy part of the course. He got deep a few times and we got long a few times, but since I was right there with him he jumped confidently over everything.

I stayed in the ring while another ride went then I started my second round. I really wanted to smooth out the bending line and keep the same forward pace, and we did! I still didn’t ride quite forward enough through the first related line, but I corrected it and while the second line was still a touch slow I made a decision and landed with my leg on from the first jump and rode the line with a forward pace to get the right number of strides.

In both my rounds I stayed in the moment, rode the horse I had on the day and I supported him. I made decisions, rode forward and kicked to jump. Everything I did gave Hen the best possible chance to do his job, so he jumped super, sorted his own legs out and gave everything plenty of air.

The rounds felt so confident and easy, everything happened just as it should, and I was super proud of us both. There was still some resistance, especially through the changes, but I felt that he was using his neck and back better to have a nicer bascule.

It was a perfect outing to get more experience and gain confidence, plus we were home by 10! Henry is getting better all the time, and I think he is more comfortable with the saddle. Still some tweaking to do but I am happy we are heading in the right direction.