So it was an absolutely stunning and mild day for the showjumping which is good. I was a bit unprofessional in that I was out late and up out of bed late, which I would never do when I have a client, but the first class took over an hr so I still spent ages cooling my heels. Charlie was up first in the 60cm class and the warm-up was something of a whirling dervish. He started out like he was going to be a bit naughty but I had had a bit to much wine the night before hand and I wasn't in the mood. I haven't really gotten up him before but he rolled over and was a really good boy. He really is a very brave pony, he doesn't look at any fillers. He rolls along like a good pony, jumped out of his rhythm though he is a bit of a minimalist when it comes to effort in the air so its hard to know how scopey he is. He does pull left in the air a little bit but he is improving. He does seem to quite enjoy it, because he trucks around.
I have to say I need to get my canter organised a little sooner and I'm a bit tentative starting out which isn't that strange on the lack of ring time and the fact I haven't jumped either of the horses over proper courses for a long time. Still the eye for a take off still works, and I am picking up my issues and correcting them myself so I'm not so bad as I thought. Charlie then cruised around the 70cm really nicely. As a small horse I gave him a good shot into the four stride line and he made the four strides pretty easily which is very good. To be honest it was unbelievable how good he was.
Pictures of Tsar for those that are interested are numbers 2447-2452 near the bottom of the page on this link
Tsar was in the eighty and he warmed up a little behind the leg because he is a bit lazy and to the practice fence I had a couple of shockers, and then he got into the ring and he was pretty wild. But that was mostly my fault. He gets into the ring and he turns into a very forward version of himself. I didn't really trust him either and definitely overrode and wasn't smooth about things. Hes a bit of a sports car, you really want to go easy on the accelerator and not jam it on. What is quite nice is that last year he was a bit short striding and this year he is getting down his lines more easily so the flatwork has paid off but he was so frantic. That was in the 80cm class and then I was entered in the 90cm but the headache was catching up on me and I really wanted to get home so I just redid the 80cm and focused on sitting really quietly, just softening the hand to make up distance and not using the leg, except to support and at the base of the fence. He wanted to take me there so I just needed to let him. He was pretty brave because he is traditionally pretty spooky and he seems to have stopped that some, I didn't need to poke with the leg, just add a cluck.
With the softer ride he was much smoother, though still very enthusiastic and having the best time. And he got into the air really nicely, in fact the only place he was a little hesitant was into the combination so need to practice those. To the blogger who commented and asked what the best way to get used to her bigger horse I have one piece of advice, just ride as much as you can.
