Hanging out with Jimmy W. & the Big Kids

I wish I could get time to post about things closer to when they happen...but I'm usually too busy working or riding :P

Last week Surf and I had our first lesson of the season with THE Jimmy Wofford. For those of you who may not be total eventing nerds like me (or read his column in PH) Jimmy is to eventing what George Morris is to Hunters...right down to writing one of the bibles of eventing (Training the Three-day horse and Rider) that is the eventing counterpart to Morris's Hunter Seat Equitation. I could go on and on about Jimmy's accomplishments...but I think a few old photos speak for themselves :)







I still find it weird that I'm on a first-name basis with Jimmy...but kind-of cool :) I rode with him for the first time in NC - took Sprite down to SoPines for a 2-day clinic. When I came up to Maryland, I found out he comes down to teach at my barn every 4-6 weeks in the "off season"...so I jumped at the chance to become a "regular". He teaches group lessons since he's so popular...and I did 5-6 lessons with him last fall while riding Huey. It was so cool the first time I rode Huey with Jimmy...he walked into the ring, where there were 6 horses waiting, smiles, walks over to Huey, pats him on the head and says "Ladies, this old gentleman co-wrote my book on gymnastics."

Well, when I was arranging my lesson this time, I must have momentarily lost mind, as I said I'd join the "Big Kids" group -- the 3'6" group -- which is always composed of my trainer on her latest UL horse, a local MFH, and a couple of steeplechase jockeys. I was starting to have some second thoughts when Surf and I headed up to the ring for our lesson and saw fences set up that were definitely 3'6"...with cups set on the standards to make them even bigger :0 The lesson, as often is the case, was focused on gymnastics...Jimmy is a big believer in using gymnastics because the horses can figure out the exercise on their own, and it becomes a good chance to focus on the rider. The first exercise was x-rail, 1 stride to a vertical, 1 stride to an oxer, 2 strides to an oxer. He started with just the x, then gradually added 1 element at a time, getting it raised to 3'6" or higher, then lowering it a bit to add the next element before raising all the fences. Trotting into that line just looks like a sea of polls...with a GREAT BIG oxer looming at the end. Jimmy always gets on me about the fact that I lean at my fences when I get tense and stop breathing. Those are things that I've really been working on with Julia and he could see some improvement. He laughed at the fact that I've gone back to something he made me do with Sprite -- count the strides on my approach to every fence from the time that I turn onto my line and start to even begin to get nervous or tense (even if that means I'm counting frmo 5-8-10-12 strides out). He also picked up on the fact that Surf is an excellent teacher to correct my tenseness and leaning habits, since he will not reward me with a nice jump (or any jump sometimes) if I'm not sitting up, relaxed and flexible in my contact while supporting with my leg on the way in. The second exercise involved trotting a fence on a circle to the left, then cantering around to the same fence, landing, coming back to a trot, rolling back to jump a single trot fence, canter away, trot, canter back on the other lead to canter the same single fence. The first fence in this exercise (on the circle) was placed among the other gymnastic fences so that you had to stay out on the circle and jump the fence at an angle to get the best approach. Next we had to trot a fence on a circle to the right, canter around to the same fence, then land cantering right off the centerline of the ring, down the long side, then making a 90-degree Right hand turn, 2-strides to jump a single vertical parallel to the long side. Surf and I have worked on jumping on a circle with Julia, so he was definitely the superstar of this exercise. The third exercise started off as a single bounce, 1 stride to an oxer, then 1 stride to another single bounce...and was then increased to double bounce, 1 stride, oxer, 1 stride, double bounce -- YIKES! Let's just say that when your horse has a 16' stride, this gets pretty dicey...but gave surf a chance to show off that he can jump a 3'6" oxer from the walk :O The last exercise was 2 x-rails set at the far end of the ring, at 45-degree angles to the short side, maybe 2 strides from the end of the ring. You started out cantering to the left-hand x-rail (from the middle of the ring, towards the short side), jump, land on left lead, roll back around to the Right-hand x-rail, land on the right lead, roll back to the left-hand fence, and keep repeating on a figure-8. Very very tough for my very big, very one-sided TB. Left to his own devices, Surf would canter everything on the right lead...and I mean EVERYTHING! I swear this horse is more balanced counter-cantering on the R-lead going Left than most horses are on their left lead going left!

I think the biggest thing that I took away from this lesson was that I could survive a lesson with BIG FENCES...without totally freaking out. Usually when things hit 3'3" I start to get a little tense and start throwing myself at the fences. However, having someone like Jimmy, who had no qualms about having you hold your reins backwards like driving reins, carry your whip under your thumbs, flip the reins over the horse's head and have you hold them like driving reins, or threaten to tie your stirrups to your girth is pretty good incentive to be spot-on in your riding!

Jimmy's teaching again on the 30th, but I have to work...but I'm set to do an xc lesson with him in october, so that should be great fun! My goal is to jump the BIG trakhaner out in our back field...so maybe we can do that with Jimmy :)