I've been trying to do a few little jumps every week or two, so it's not a big deal to either Cupid or myself. Most of the time these jumps are small enough to step over, with the focus being riding between the jumps - pace, straightness, etc. Even though I don't actually feel nervous, I realized today that subconsciously it does affect me. Often it just feels sloppy: I let Cupid cut the corners, or canter instead of trot or vice versa approaching a jump.
After one such round today I stopped to think about it, and I don't let Cupid get away with that when we're having a dressage or flat work day. Adding a few little jumps shouldn't change that! So I made a determined effort over a few more jumps and ended with some flat work, asking for some leg yields and shoulder ins. Cupid (usually!) does listen if I ask, I just need to remember that I'm the one in the driver's seat. And in fact Cupid would probably prefer not having to make decisions but I need to give him confidence that one of us (me) is in charge.
Just a quick thought I wanted to get down from today's ride!
ha it's kinda funny bc in some ways i'm the opposite with jumping, tho oddly also bc jumping can affect me like that too. like somehow i get more serious about riding more accurately bc that jump is *right there* and isn't gonna move, whereas if i'm just cantering a 20m circle, nothing really truly bad will come if it's more like a 20m egg..... so i often end up riding less accurately than i am capable of on the flat. funny how it all affects us differently!
ReplyDeleteHopefully now that I'm aware of the problem I can work on fixing it!
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