Christie and Jay

Finally, an update! I am sorry I haven't posted lately and that this one is long as a result. I hope it isn't too long! :) The good news is that I have been taking lessons regularly since the end of December, and have been having some really good rides on Jay.

December 27th I started taking lessons with a friend of mine. We met outside of any horse setting, but she is also a very good horsewoman and instructor. I had ridden with her only once before getting Jay, but we knew each other pretty well and I thought that would be a good thing since I have been having confidence issues, because there was already a level of trust between us. She rode Jay first that day so she would know more about him from a riding standpoint, and she absolutely loved him.

We have been focusing on working on me and my confidence. We only did walk/trot during that first lesson, but she pushed me hard. She also utilized trot poles, and even removed the jumps and had me trot the poles down the grid. She is a hunter/jumper person, and I definitely thought I would never be taking any lessons at a hunter/jumper barn! (Well, except for my PE course while at NCSU!)

I went back for another lesson December 30th. This time, towards the end of the lesson, she put up a little cross rail. When I got Jay, I had already decided that if I ever got to jump again that it would just be icing on the cake. Well, I guess I got the icing, too. Now it was very small, mind you, but it was a jump, and it did make me nervous. Jay is a superstar, though, and is taking good care of me. The first time through, Jay did land in a canter, but came right back to a trot for me. The next time through when he landed in a canter, I asked if I could keep cantering on purpose. I still had some nervousness, but the actual canter depart was worrying me more at that moment, and since we were already cantering it was very nice!

The lesson January 4th we actually started working on picking up the canter. Jay has been absolutely wonderful. I did get nervous a few times when Jay got tense and threw his head up, but he was doing that in response to MY mistake of getting stiff and bracing with my hands. My instructor talked me through the rough spots, and we have been steadily improving. At the end of that lesson we trotted a little flower box.

At my lesson on January 26th we worked again on trot to canter transitions, and at the end she threw in the first stage of building a course. I did a jump at the end of the grid, did a circle at the end of the ring, and then rode around the trot poles back to another small vertical. I am still trotting all of the jumps at this point, and feel very far from the time I was cantering and galloping around BN and N stadium and cross country courses, but at the same time I feel good that I am able to start doing some jumping again. She also mentioned the hunter show at TTC on February 7th, and suggested I go and take Jay just to ride around at the show and start getting out.

My lesson on February 1st had to be scrapped because the power steering went out on my truck as soon as I pulled out from the barn, but the pasture was dry enough for me to ride there. I didn't realize what a significant mental milestone that was going to be, but I did walk/trot/canter in the pasture there. Jay and I are making progress!

Jay and I did go to the show at TTC on February 7th. The dressage show was canceled, but it was such a nice day that there was a good turn out for the hunters. I could tell as soon as I pulled Jay off the trailer that this was going to be no problem for him, but my instructor got on him to ride him around some first anyway. Then I got on and rode him some in the warm up field. He did great, and I even chose to push myself and cantered some. I swear his ears perked up when he saw the cross country jump in the fence line, though!

Before I got Jay I was told that he is uncomfortable riding with other horses, and that he hates crowded warm-ups. During the lunch break I got to experience this for the first time. I was instructed to just walk Jay around the rail both directions. There was one potential class for us that afternoon, the adult hunter walk/trot. That ring was insane with people schooling! Jay did well for me, but was VERY unhappy about the other horses flying at us. At one point another rider came very close to hitting us (we were still on the rail!), and I felt like Jay was going to take off, but he came right back for me. I think my instructor was more alarmed than I was, so my confidence is definitely improving a lot! She then had me trot Jay some around the ring both directions. It was the same in that he was so very good for me while at the same time making faces and making it clear that he was not comfortable with the whole crowded situation. She wanted me to make one change of direction through the ring, and that was a little dicey! We made it, though, and got ourselves out of there!

We entered the adult hunter walk/trot, and were judged along with 6 others. Again Jay did wonderfully, and we had no issues. It was much nicer with everyone going the same direction and speed, and I was able to situate Jay and myself in an uncrowded spot. We came away with a nice yellow third place ribbon for our first outing!


I definitely want to continue doing dressage, and hopefully some combined training/eventing eventually, but this has been a good experience and is helping my confidence a LOT, so I will probably continue to ride with this person, too.

The next day Jay and I went on our first trail ride with a NCHN friend and her mother-in-law. Over all Jay did excellent again, especially since there was some road riding. Traffic, dogs, and families, with children, fishing didn't bother him. He did jig some, even when we were first heading out of the driveway, and that made me pretty nervous because a couple of times I did think he was going to take off. That is what happened in my one fall off of Jay. My riding partners took it slow for us, though, and stopped a couple of times when I got nervous about Jay's jigging. The jigging and prancing occurred sporadically during the ride, and I am not entirely sure what was causing it. There did not seem to be a direct relationship to our distance from the other horses, for example. For most of the ride, though, he was relaxed and even stretching and using himself well. We did do some trotting along the way, and we rode into the edge of Belews Lake, too. Two and a half hours later we were safely back at my friend's house. I know I still have some more work to do, because it was not as enjoyable as it should be. I need to feel more confident that I can handle whatever situation arises while riding out, and not have to count on my riding partners to stop in order to help me out!

Since this is so long, I won't post a lot of pictures here, but I do have more to share! http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u58/ChristieNCritters/Jay/