I jumped a thing!

On Sunday, my name was beside Skylar's for my lesson, so I got his tack and set to work making the brown horse palomino again. 

As I was heading to the restroom, I ran into T in the barn aisle. She asked if I wanted to ride outside and try jumping Skylar a little bit, because who knows if there will be any jumping happening over the winter (she only jumps in the outdoor arena, so being able to do it year-round is strictly based on weather). I was surprised, but I said sure!

I sat with her for a bit while she taught the lesson before me, warming my bit up as I waited. When she told me it was ok to bridle, I headed off and then brought Skylar to the indoor to mount up and do my 2-point warm-up before heading down to the outdoor.

Definitely not actual footage

We had a great warm-up, although I had trouble getting off my right seat bone (oh, hello, can't make the horse bend left to save my life)! Skylar was really listening and I remembered (mostly) not to take my leg off of him so he would keep going.

Toward the end of the class, T told me we were going to do a loop left to the blue wave crossrail, and then loop right and do it again toward home, so it would basically be the center point of a figure 8. Sounded easy enough. So, Skylar and I trotted off. 

Now, you have to remember, I haven't jumped more than 2 fences in almost a year. I am pretty sure my last jumping lesson at the old place was about a year ago this week. And the last time I jumped 2 fences was during my evaluation ride with T in February of this year. So, I'm really rusty. Plus I was recovering from a head cold. My last excuse is that I wasn't sure what to expect of Skylar. Since he requires keeping your leg on to keep moving on the flat, I assumed he would require the same thing jumping. Apparently he's pretty much a point and shoot jumper. At least over the little stuff. 

We ended up focusing a lot on maintaining tempo and keeping my eyes up, which also led to reminding me that it isn't my job to jump the fence. It's my job to get there and support. These are things I have always struggled with when jumping. At least  I am consistent!

Guys, I made a lot of mistakes. A.lot. It wasn't pretty. Going away from home was way easier than going toward home. I have no idea why. I would drop my eye or try to jump for him. I'd get him in too deep and then not support -- which, over a tiny crossrail isn't a huge deal and he was just like, ok, whatever, I got you. But, obviously I know if i do that over a bigger fence he is probably eventually going to nope if I do that. Because most horses would and who can blame them?

Anyway. We got a couple of good fences where I kept my eye up, kept my leg on, didn't jump for him, etc and we ended on that note. But you know the most amazing thing? I made all these mistakes but I didn't feel nervous. I didn't feel worried. And more importantly, I felt secure on my horse and I never once felt off balance. You know what that means? All of this is working!