Where to begin? Well, the past couple of days have been pretty cool. I had the opportunity to watch David O'Connor teach more lessons to Sinead as well as the Canadian Team. I also got a chance to watch some of the training sessions with Mark Phillips which was even more amazing. Watching other riders really is a great tool of how to do something, as well as apply it to your own horse so those days were definitely beneficial.
Rori has been going really well...still. We've done a bit of cross country schooling and stadium schooling working on being more technical, having her let go of the bit, and really relax and allow her to find her own shape over the jump. We're jumping and flatting in a plain rubber loose ring and she has really taken a liking to it. Now that she has so many more buttons and she is so much more responsive we're able to take away a harsher bit and replace it with a basic snaffle which feels great.
Today we went to training show to jump around a bigger course so both she and I could get a better feel for everything. I jumped her around in the three foot class and she was super. Really honest, nice and adjustable, and really let go of the bit and didn't pick any fights. We stayed around to do the next class as well which was suppose to be a 3'3", but ended up being 3'3" - 3'6" and I really just did not feel ready for it so Sinead rode her for me instead. To say the least, Rori did awesome. She knocked one rail on the last jump which was definitely set at 3'6" and that is really just due to her greenness at the height. I thought about pushing myself to do the class myself but I had myself all worked up on messing up that I ended up bailing which in hindsight, I'm disappointed.
I put way too much pressure on myself in fear of making a mistake or looking badly that I actually panic. It's always been apart of me but I really feel it coming out while I'm down here which sucks. I want to do well and improve but I can't get past the fact that in order to do that, I can't be afraid of messing up. At the show there were so many big names, including the O'Connor's there, that I felt like if I went in and flubbed a jump or made a mistake I would look like an ass. Sinead talked to me after and told me I really need to get over it because it's not helping me but this is something that has always been apart of me and I know it's going to take awhile to fix.
All that aside, after Sinead rode her she was really happy with how she felt in the class and thinks she could definitely be my one star horse (if we ever get there) and that does make me happy considering she wasn't too impressed with her when we first started working together only a few months ago.
Oh, and Mike Baudistel was here for the past three days so that made me super happy. I miss him and everyone at home and even though I love being down here, I can't wait to get back home to "real life" with a job, my boyfriend, and a social life....
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