Riding Lesson: Share the enthusiasm!
Isis was *great*. I mean GREAT. We were relaxed and rode the dressage test twice. She did very well. She’s learned where to stop and could probably ride the pattern by herself (even though we have only ridden it like five times). She stopped square and stood quietly. Only pulled on me once. Big improvement.
The second part of the lesson focused on jumping. Isis gets excited and tends to rush when we jump. I told my instructor when we first started jumping. First time over, Isis was okay, second time we approached she really started pushing to go-go-go. Tish had me trot Isis up to 20 feet from the jump, walk for a few feet, and then trot again. Solved Isis’ rushing problem. Yay!
A few times over jumps, Isis landed on the right lead after both the first and second jumps. After the second jump, we turned to the left. She switched her front lead to the left but her rear kept on the right lead. Feels really funny when she does that. Tish had me go over the jumps again to watch what Isis would do. The second time, Isis picked up the right lead over the first jump and then the left lead after the second jump in anticipation turning to the left. Smart horse.
She said Isis looked great over the jumps. She saw absolutely no problem with us over fences. (Excellent news!) My instructor gets this glint in her eye when we talk about what Isis might be able to do. It’s exciting when your instructor gets as excited about your horse as you are.
I’m going out tonight to ride again. What fun! I’m actually looking forward to riding on Saturday. I have a good feeling about the show. I’m so glad I took two lessons this week.