I did another jump school with His Poeness last night. We revisited the bounce idea, setting a little cross-rail to a pole, then bumping the pole up to a little vertical, then adding another vertical a stride out. We’re trying to make sure he’s seen the kinds of things he’ll encounter at the clinic in a couple weeks: poles propped at the sides of a jump as wings, flower boxes, bounces in general. Every time we got a smooth run through we’d increase the height somewhere or add a little element. We did get in really ugly to the bounce once, on a half stride, but he gamely clobbered on through. I felt bad about it but he’s packing around my ammy butt so he needs to learn how to get out of sticky situations! He ran out of the one-stride once after that, but a bit more aggressive ride got him through the next time around. Lots for him to think about and bounces are hard work!

After we’d built the last jump to an oxer and gotten through smoothly, Lennie pulled out the second element of the bounce and we reversed directions, coming over our previously last jump, then two strides to the former first element of the bounce. He was getting tired by this point, but still jumping gamely and well, and Lennie built the second element up into an oxer and whacked it up a couple times. The last time she raised it I thought briefly about asking if we shouldn’t end on our previous run through. But Lennie’s a lot wiser than I am, and I see some value in asking him to work once more when he’s a little tired (he wasn’t exhausted by any means), and so I just shut up and did it. It rode beautifully; he felt great and relaxed and smooth. After I threw him his little You’re such a good boy! party, Lennie says casually, “You do realize you just jumped 3 foot 3, right?”

I had not in fact realized anything of the sort. It certainly didn’t feel like 3’3″ — it felt like very little effort for Poe at all, and I try not to examine the heights of jumps too closely because I freak out a little if I start thinking they look too big. (Which is a bit funny because as the fences get taller I think my riding in general improves — it’s way, way harder for me to release properly over little stuff.) So I demanded Lennie grab a picture with her phone (I always leave mine in the car) for photographic proof.

It’s blurry so you can’t tell, but I am wearing an absolutely enormous grin, and I’m pretty sure Poe is too. He was quite pleased with himself.

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