While my background is completely hunter jumper (from ages 6 – 23), somehow, show jumping is the only phase that wants to give me pause. However, this time I was armed with some new rider psychology tips via the Brain Training for Riders. (Big thanks to Amanda for the recommendation)
I did have one advantage on Show Jump day though. We walked the course when it was set for Prelim. In case you are wondering, walking a course when it is set for Prelim makes Starter look REALLY small. Still though, it was a complicated course with 0 straight lines in it… I wish I was kidding.
However, I had a plan. I was going to ride May forward enough that I wanted to pull… and then not pull… Other than that, I was going to get her body straight and square to ever fence. I wasn’t going to worry about distances but concentrate on my pace, line, and balance.
I also got the whole thing on video! (Sorry for Youtube killing the quality.)
All photo credit goes to Vic’s Pics. They had an AMAZING deal at the show to get ALL your pics for $50 on a USB. And honestly, they got so many great pics, especially in SJ, that I put in my order before I even ran XC (and when I was questioning if XC was even going to happen). Oh and that cambox you see? I forgot to turn it on for SJ. >.<
Jump 1 was the best jump 1 I think I have ever ridden in my life, and May jumped it so well. (It’s the top pic of this post). Then, we bent around to get a great jump at 2…. and again to jump 3. It felt AWESOME. Usually, my first three jumps on course are me getting into a rhythm and don’t flow great. This time, I HAD the rhythm, balance, and line, and they jumped GREAT.
So here I am. So super excited about how things are going. I made a great turn to Jump 4… I got her square… and she suddenly decided to RUN at it. It’s really hard to see in the video, but she wanted to get flat on me. I halt halted, but it threw us off enough to tap 4 pretty hard (I am shocked it didn’t come down). That also meant that we didn’t land as balanced as we needed to in order to get a good turn to 5. I didn’t put my leg on as soon as I should have, and the distance came up ugly. She jumped that one awkwardly but kept it up.
The turn to 6 was seriously what jumping dreams are made of, and she jumped it out of stride. Then an easy bending line to 7. Despite our cross cantering, the rhythm and line were good, so she popped over it easily. Then… we made kind of an awkward turn to 8, so she jumped it kind of funky. Oh well, it was still easy for her.
Jump 9 just came up out of stride, and we made a sweeping turn to jump 10. I had to put my leg on for the big spot, and she jumped it great.
Obviously, I was super happy to have a double clear round. I think that it, honestly, would have rode BETTER if the jumps had been a little bigger. May was super unconcerned with distances to the point where it actually made things more difficult. She was also very unconcerned with what any of the jumps looked like. There was no peaking or over jumping. Just happily cantering around.
However, I am VERY VERY happy that I managed to execute my plan. I am also happy that, in the pics, when the distances got ugly, I kept my shoulder back and my body over her center of gravity… instead of throwing my whole body up her neck.
As a result, we maintained our 29.3 score and 2nd place standing going into cross country on Sunday!
Great round! You did an awesome job of keeping the balance and the rhythm throughout.
Thank you! Progress, not perfection, right? 🙂
You guys look great. Again way to knock it out of the park considering you weren’t planning on entering this like a month ago:) ha
What an awesome round! Yeah May looks SUPER EXCITED LEMME AT EM for that whole round lol You guys looked so good tho, and I LOVE when the photographers get REALLY good photos and those of you two are beautiful! Congrats on a double clear!
Thank you! She wanted to take over in a few spots hahaha, but you have to love her enthusiasm for the job.
<3 <3 <3 I love you guys.
We <3 you too!
So great! It’s just the best when you accomplish your goals like going forward and keeping your balance back, and it all comes together as a clear round, too!
Exactly! It was a great feeling. 🙂
Congrats!!! You look great and May looks like she is really enjoying her job. Way to keep thinking throughout the round and making it happen.
Thank you! She was totally happy to be out there and doing the thing. 🙂
Awesome job! You both look completely focused on the plan. Sometimes distances don’t work out perfectly, but as long as you ride well, it works out ok. Congratulations!
Thank you! I was proud of myself for not just pulling every time I saw that a distance wasn’t going to work out perfectly because… I really really really wanted to 😛
Super round! May looks likes she’s really enjoying herself too? good job keeping forward. It’s easier said than done!!
Thank you! May was totally on her game
What a great round !
Thank you! She was ON IT
Sure looks like she was !
LOVE your pace throughout the course!! So bold and I think it helped make the distances work, even if one or two were a bit short. You should be SUPER happy with that round!!!
Thank you! She was SUPER good. One of the first times I have gone in the SJ ring and immediately just had her in front of my leg.
I love when the course just flows like several of your fences did and you think like “damn look at us go!” Great job going double clear!
May and I got so excited about the first 3 fences… that she really did kind of go “WEEEEEEE!” and took over a bit hahaha. All’s well that ends well though, right?