Cross Country with Jimmy W. - or how we started schooling Prelim

Radnor was, eh. Stadium was not so hot. Trainer and I got the big E's. Oh well...always next time.

We've been doing our homework big time for the last 2 weeks -- culminating with a cross-country lesson with Jimmy Wofford yesterday! It was incredibly windy...and our xc course is up on a BIG hill...so the horses were more than a little bit wound up! It was a beautiful sunny day though - a perfect day to be out on XC! Here's the view you get when you climb up the hill to our XC course

Now, I'd signed Surfie up for the training group lesson...and we've completed exactly 1 Training HT...but little did I know there were 2 training group lessons. Just moved up to Training, but still really Novice...and been-there, done-that, definitely ready to move up to Prelim (3'7"!!!!!) and already jumping that height. Guess which group we ended up in...yep, that would be group #2. We didn't know that until we'd finished warmup and Jimmy pointed out the first set of jumps. After having a good gallop around XC, we lined up to warm up over a vertical -- trotting and cantering both directions, and jumping up and down hills, then jumping the little vertical to a post and rail fence. Next jimmy said -- "ok, see that little palisade, jump that, track right, prelim table, novice table, prelim bench -- good set to get us thinking forward." 

What?!?! Prelim table? Prelim bench? ACK! I turn to Julia (who's also surprised, as the horse she's riding in this group is still new to the level) who says that Jimmy knows me, knows the horse, and wouldn't let us do it if he didn't think we could -- and that I knew what I needed to do to get the job done...so just get it done. So off we went...to the palisade

The prelim table! Yikes

The novice table (the white fence to the right) and back around to the prelim bench (in the foreground) -- and yes, that is a full size round bale for size comparison!

Surfie had a little trouble getting his engine going away from the group, and bonked his hind hoof on the edge of the table, but jumped the last 2 fences beautifully. Then it was off to play with jumping on hills. We walked over to a small log on a steep hill and practiced galloping it uphill -- where you need to be right over the middle of the horse, very in synch, and jump with the horse over the fence. Galloping downhill, we worked on staying back, a bit behind the motion, and letting the horse jump forward, out from underneath us, so that we'd land over the horse on the downhill landing rather than jumping with the horse and landing with our weight leaning forward, pushing them onto the forehand. This uphill/downhill log was our prep work for the sunken road (downhill jump = drop bank, uphill jump = up bank) -- which for anyone who's never seen one is a bank complex set into the ground, so you're galloping along, drop down into the sunken road, take some strides (in this case 2 strides), then jump a bank out back onto level ground. First we cantered at an angle into the sunken road from the side (so you didn't drop in) and jumped one bank out, then reversed to jump the other bank out, then put the 2 together in both directions. Apparently my bank exposure therapy is working, as it wasn't as bad as banks usually are for me :) Next we put the sunken road together with a few other fences -- we jumped the sunken road, did a roll-back to the right to a roll-top, a training bench, and skinny prelim table all on a bending line. I'd found Surfie's "engine" by then - Piece of cake!

Next we did a combination of fences that I'd jump-judged at a horse trial earlier this year (the MCTA HT borrows our xc jumps, so these exact fences had been set up for the prelim division). The question was 2 coops, 2 strides apart, offset so that you have to jump through at an angle, jumping both fences on an angle. 

Our instructions were to trot down the hill, find our line, jump through, pick up "a real gallop, Prelim pace" across the field to jump the "flyer-fence" -- a timber racing fence. Now I have no idea how fast prelim pace should feel (it's 550 meters per minue...about 20mph), so I watched the first horse go and Jimmy said it was a tick too slow, then the second horse was a tick too fast...so we jumped through the coops and gave it our best guess. I boxed Surf with both legs on landing, and he took off like a rocket. Surf has the most amazing half-halt cross-country -- all you have to do is put your but in the tack and sit up and he balances himself (I wish it was that easy in Dressage!), and took the fence like it was nothing

We went back up the hill to wait with Julia, and the first thing she said, with a big grin, was "I want that one back. Maybe he can go Intermediate after all." She said she watched us haul butt across the field and was wondering if we were going to rebalance, then said she was very proud when she saw me sit up and ride the fence. I have to admit that I had a huge goofy grin on my face. Next we moved onto the trakhaners. Now, my goal since I came to the farm was to someday jump the BIG trakhanker...and today was the day :) First we jumped the open ditch

then came back around to the small trakhaner, jumping it to the left side so that you could put a forward 2 strides in to the angled stone wall

Surf jumped it in 2 with no problems (though previously we've jumped it by jumping the trakhaner right of center, with 3 strides on a bending line to the wall). Then it was time for the BIG one. 

We jumped the open ditch going away then circled around and found our line for the approach. About 4 strides out I was getting a little nervous and surf started to shorten his stride -- the last thing I'd want going into this fence is a little chippy stride...so I went to my stick and he jumped it beautifully :) Goal accomplished! From the trakhaners, we went on to jump 2 angled lines of logs -- a 2 stride to a skinny bounce and a bounce to a one stride

Then we moved on to the water. I need to get pictures of the crazy water jump! We started just cantering through to get everyone's feet wet. Next we cantered through the water and jumped a log out. Next we cantered a small log, 1 stride, then through the water to jump a log in the water off a tight bending turn. Surfie put on the breaks here, not sure why as we've done it a dozen times before. Jumped in fine the second time and went neatly over the out. The final exercise was a downhill run to a drop bank, 2 strides to a rolltop on the edge of a drop into water. Our first try down the hill Surfie wiggled out as I wasn't steering...very embarrasing. The second time was textbook perfect :) We held our own with the big kids today!

He get's today off, we'll do flat work tomorrow, stadium lesson friday, then show at Waredaca on Saturday :)