Some serious Jumping fun!!

I love jumping and I've only recently realised it. I bet nobody saw that coming! Ever since I was little I had this image in my head of being able to get on and jump without having a care in the world and now I feel like I can do that! 

Today was the last day of the summer holiday, it seems like this whole holiday has gone so fast and soon I'm going to be at Uni and back to being at the Stables less but I will still be there come rain, snow and sunshine! This morning we mucked out the stables and I put Gatsby some new bedding down I love the pelleted bedding that we use and being able to watch it expand. The morning seemed to fly by so fast, I did Gatsby and Fussy's stables, I was so proud of my bedding in Fussy's stable, I know that sounds silly but it was the best I'd ever got it, the banks looked good and it made me want to lie in it myself! When it got to lunch time Fiona told us that we were all going to have half an hour lesson on our own! My mind instantly jumped to the idea of jumping (no pun intended) and Fiona saw the look on my face and knew what I wanted to do. After we had had lunch I Was the first one to ride so we went to fetch Gatsby and Rascal in from the field and I was surprised to learn that everyone was going to be watching my lesson! Maisie helped me to groom and tack Gatsby up and then she helped me to put bandages on Gatsby's front legs, I was surprised that I could remember how to do them. While I started to warm Gatsby up the other girls bought jump wings and poles in to the school. I started off with what I thought was quite short stirrups (they felt it), but when I went to put them up another hole I realised they were actually on the hole that I put them on for flat work but they felt so short! I quickly moved in to trot and I was pleased to find that he was forward moving and as Fiona put it 'pingy', he listened to my leg aids and was so responsive. When we had got going I went over the trot poles a couple of times, on the left rein when we went over the poles Gatsby and I were drifting towards the right. When we changed to the right rein he was perfect we were in the middle and straight!!! Fiona to start with put up a cross rail jump up with trotting poles leading up to it! We went over that a couple of times and it felt great! Every time that we landed Gatsby went straight in to canter, so Fiona asked if I was happy and I said that I was feeling confident so we put it up to a vertical (I think Fiona said that it was 2 foot), this was the biggest height that I have ever jumped and Fiona told me to trust Gatsby so I did! I trust this horse with my life and he rewarded me with such a nice jump, we repeated it a couple of times and it felt GREAT! When I got off the other girls had their lessons and while they were doing that I filled up hay nets, finished putting Gatsby's bed down and then Maisie and I spent some time with Corrie giving her some TLC, but there's more to come about Corrie later. 

Until Next Time 

A Girl With A Dream!