Seth and I spent the day at Fairhill International today. It was a gorgeous day and we saw the 2* and 3* XC. Overall the course rode well...deep footing caused lots of time 
penalties. It always gets me motivated when seeing the big boys ride...and now with Hobbs it doesn't seem unattainable. Since my last blog update, we've had a lot of positive outings. We completed Fairhill, Seneca and Morven prelim...no XC penalties besides time at Morven due to deep footing. Dressage has continued to get better and he seems to be more and more relaxed in the ring. I'm anxious for Virginia at the end of the month to see if I can get him more focused over 3 days. We are still working through the tension and getting him to use his back. Lately we have been very focused on transitions and keeping him connected and using his hind end. The visual of making his hind legs do the transition first has helped me to feel the uphill balance much better.
penalties. It always gets me motivated when seeing the big boys ride...and now with Hobbs it doesn't seem unattainable. Since my last blog update, we've had a lot of positive outings. We completed Fairhill, Seneca and Morven prelim...no XC penalties besides time at Morven due to deep footing. Dressage has continued to get better and he seems to be more and more relaxed in the ring. I'm anxious for Virginia at the end of the month to see if I can get him more focused over 3 days. We are still working through the tension and getting him to use his back. Lately we have been very focused on transitions and keeping him connected and using his hind end. The visual of making his hind legs do the transition first has helped me to feel the uphill balance much better. Hobby has been unbelievable on XC...he's such a beast. He ju
st loves his job and the prelim courses just seem easy for him. Stadium has been ok but not great. The courses just don't ride smooth and I teeter back and forth from not having enough power to pushing him to much and him jumping flat. He's so talented though that we've only had a few rails. I just need to have more confidence in him. I had a lesson with Danny this morning and felt like there was a lightbulb moment. I need to keep a feel of his mouth when jumping...I can't just throw the reins away and bail out when I get a tight spot. I also
need to keep my leg on him...I need to have the connection throughout the jump. Danny had me doing a bounce and a bending chevron line that was really tough. I still hate bending lines and I think too much, but we started getting it and it felt awesome. If I lean back, put my head on his tail and widen my hands to keep a feel he jumps great no matter what the spot is. Another issue I've been working through is keeping my elbows soft...it helps me if I turn the reins upside down and hold them like I'm driving a carriage. It takes my hands away and forces me to balance using my body. I think if I can be more consistent and remember that less is more we will go far. He's so willing and just has such a great mind...it's great to be part of this team!
st loves his job and the prelim courses just seem easy for him. Stadium has been ok but not great. The courses just don't ride smooth and I teeter back and forth from not having enough power to pushing him to much and him jumping flat. He's so talented though that we've only had a few rails. I just need to have more confidence in him. I had a lesson with Danny this morning and felt like there was a lightbulb moment. I need to keep a feel of his mouth when jumping...I can't just throw the reins away and bail out when I get a tight spot. I also need to keep my leg on him...I need to have the connection throughout the jump. Danny had me doing a bounce and a bending chevron line that was really tough. I still hate bending lines and I think too much, but we started getting it and it felt awesome. If I lean back, put my head on his tail and widen my hands to keep a feel he jumps great no matter what the spot is. Another issue I've been working through is keeping my elbows soft...it helps me if I turn the reins upside down and hold them like I'm driving a carriage. It takes my hands away and forces me to balance using my body. I think if I can be more consistent and remember that less is more we will go far. He's so willing and just has such a great mind...it's great to be part of this team!Legacy and Seth have also worked through some of their issues. Legacy was out for a month with lympangitis in his left hind. The infection blew out his fetlock and still looks disgusting, but he's been sound so I just keep saying it's the evil coming out ;). Seth and Legac
y had a positive outing at the FCDA show 2 weeks ago. Dressage was just ok, but he jumped great...no bad attitude at all. Then last weekend we took him to Bucks for a CT and XC schooling. He did so awesome in dressage...31.3!! He's really learning to feel the connection and get Legacy round. Legac
y played his stupid game and skirted out at jump #1 on stadium, but Seth sat back, opened his hands and kicked him through. After the first fence he was great...they actually let him do a second round as well. He was really good XC schooling as well, he was forward and willing and Seth rode him really well. So it was a huge step that Legacy didn't completely shut down. I think he's just finally figuring out that he has to do some of the work himself. I was actually hurting him by helping too much...he's been jumping better and I'm hopeful it will keep progressing.
y had a positive outing at the FCDA show 2 weeks ago. Dressage was just ok, but he jumped great...no bad attitude at all. Then last weekend we took him to Bucks for a CT and XC schooling. He did so awesome in dressage...31.3!! He's really learning to feel the connection and get Legacy round. Legac
y played his stupid game and skirted out at jump #1 on stadium, but Seth sat back, opened his hands and kicked him through. After the first fence he was great...they actually let him do a second round as well. He was really good XC schooling as well, he was forward and willing and Seth rode him really well. So it was a huge step that Legacy didn't completely shut down. I think he's just finally figuring out that he has to do some of the work himself. I was actually hurting him by helping too much...he's been jumping better and I'm hopeful it will keep progressing.
