Post by kitcat on Aug 22, 2009 7:30:10 GMT
Yesterday was the jumping day at the stables. There were 4 of us there, an 8 yr old boy, 2 teenagers and ancient me. So, off we wnt to catch the horses, of course JS had to be at the furthest corner of the furthest field and wouldn't come when called. Never mind, it's good for the fitness regime. We brought them in and then set to with grooming them. JS is such a grumpy bu@@er that he tries to bite you when your back is turned but we managed without injury to either of us. We then had an hours lesson with some flat work and a few jumps. The instructor had us doing 4 laps of the large school in trot in the jumping position at one point. Ouchy legs!!
We then went for a short hack as the teenagers had said this was what they wanted to do. A (the 8 yr old) was a bit of a liability as he wouldn't keep his pony at the edge of the road but he did behave once told off. Whilst we were out the heavens opened with rain coming down like hail for about 15 mins. None of us had coats as the sun had been shining before that so we got a little wet
After lunch it was time for a little competition. The instructors split us into 2 groups (of 2 each) as E and I had jumped before and A and H hadn't. E was riding a really sparky pony. I think it was one of the YO daughter's show jumpers when she was in the pony classes (bear in mind she was in the England team) so you can guess how this pony went. We had a couple of heart in mouth moments when E didn't keep her leg on and Speckles skidded to a stop and ploughed straight through the jump. Luckily she was fine and sat on the floor laughing.
For our round the jumps must have been about 2 foot 6 and to me looked absolutely massive (especially when there was a tripple and a scary wall) but we got round fine. The only problem was I forgot where the next jump was as I was so pleased to have got over the triple
JS is a great jumper even if he doesn't want to go forwards at times. I got my first rosettes - first and a special one (ha ha) for the only clear round (in the jump off we did).
We then went for a short hack as the teenagers had said this was what they wanted to do. A (the 8 yr old) was a bit of a liability as he wouldn't keep his pony at the edge of the road but he did behave once told off. Whilst we were out the heavens opened with rain coming down like hail for about 15 mins. None of us had coats as the sun had been shining before that so we got a little wet
After lunch it was time for a little competition. The instructors split us into 2 groups (of 2 each) as E and I had jumped before and A and H hadn't. E was riding a really sparky pony. I think it was one of the YO daughter's show jumpers when she was in the pony classes (bear in mind she was in the England team) so you can guess how this pony went. We had a couple of heart in mouth moments when E didn't keep her leg on and Speckles skidded to a stop and ploughed straight through the jump. Luckily she was fine and sat on the floor laughing.
For our round the jumps must have been about 2 foot 6 and to me looked absolutely massive (especially when there was a tripple and a scary wall) but we got round fine. The only problem was I forgot where the next jump was as I was so pleased to have got over the triple
JS is a great jumper even if he doesn't want to go forwards at times. I got my first rosettes - first and a special one (ha ha) for the only clear round (in the jump off we did). 
Well done for doing the scary jumps too. piccys piccys piccys...