Post by hunterjumper on Aug 4, 2005 16:20:23 GMT -5
I led Prince to the mounting block and got on. I was sure to be gentle, not to hurt his back. He started to walk off before I was on. When I had balance and control, I made him halt and back up, hopefully teaching him not to do that. He put his ears back at that. I guess he didnt like that. Brushing that aside, I gave him a nudge to walk on. He did so. He was sensetive, to i wasn't going to have problems. As we walked by, I looked at the jumps, seeing if any were low enough to warm up over. I saw a little cross-rail about 18 inches. That was low enough. We went around once and I asked him for the trot. It was nice and smooth, not like Fly's bouncy "thoroughbred" trot. We made a couple circles at each end. I brought him back to the walk then quickly into the canter. He didnt take even one trot step. Oh, I LOVE this horse!!! His canter was smooth and flowing, fit for a dressage rider! I couldn't wait to jump him. I brought him back to the walk again and let him catch his breath. Then we trotted and went for the jump. At the base, he hesitated a little then popped it. I didn't catch him in the mouth, but I was pretty d*** close. Prince cantered after the jump and I made him stop in a straight line. I walked on and quickly picked up the trot and went for the fence agian. This time, he didn't hesitate and he didn't pop it. I let him canter on around the turn. I brought him back to the walk and gave him a big pat on the neck. Next to the cross-rail was a 2 foot vertical. I thought he was ready for that. I cantered to the fence and jumped it. He reached with his neck a rounded his body, like a true jumper. I let him canter on again and gave him a big pat again. I was very pleased and feeling confident about the show tomorrw. The last fence was a oxer. The back rail looked about 2.6. I went for that next. I asked for a fast paced canter, circled and went for the fence. As we approached it, Prince put his ears fowards. He tucked his legs neatly under him and rounded his neck and body again. We cantered around the turn and down the longside. As we walked around, I gave Prince a big hug. "Good boy!!!" I walked him out around the ring. I didn't want to do too much with his since I was going on the CC trail with Allie and Lightning. Speaking of, Allie and Lightning were coming out of the barn just then. She mounted him and we headed for the trail...