Redemption

So last week Bud and I had a bad lesson.  We started out pretty well, but there was a 4 stride line that killed us.  It was long 4, and it rode slightly downhill, so Jen suggested making him wait and balance for 5.  It was a vertical to a 2'6"oxer.  We kept getting 4.5 strides and I would freeze.  I kept pulling him out of the line, but we did manage to make it over the oxer a couple times. This used to happen a lot with Phoenix and I, but not so much with Buddy.

It got to me, and I had some major second thoughts about doing the Kevin Freeman clinic this coming Sunday.  I jumped Bud again on Sunday, on my own, and we did the oxer without too much freak out on my part.  The vertical had been taken down, and I was to lazy to put it back up, so we worked on having a nice forward flow to the oxer.

I had another lesson tonight, and Buddy was awesome!  The line was back and I committed to it.  We did the 4, and it was bit long, but as long as I kept my upper body back and my leg on, it worked.  Buddy was actually pretty motivated  and wanted to move up in the line.  We put a course together with some pretty nice jumper rollbacks, again working on keeping him forward.  Except for one whoops moment where we somehow ended up almost jumping a standard, Buddy and I had a nice rhythm and groove. It feels great to know I can come back from such a bad ride and fix our mistakes.  Once again I'm reminded how much I love my pony!