Versatility

In the last week Cupid and I went on a trail ride, had a great jumping session, and are back to work preparing for an upcoming dressage show!  He seems to enjoy this variety, and tends to be a little more energetic in the arena the day after a trail ride. 

These cute little butterflies recently appeared in our arena, and I've been looking forward to jumping them!  I was almost tempted to try it in my dressage saddle, but managed to resist the urge. :p  So yesterday I put on my jumping saddle.  After a nice warm up on the flat we picked up a canter and headed towards a small cross rail with some Christmas decorations.  Even though we haven't jumped in over a month Cupid stayed steady and hit it perfect.  We did the crossrail once more, then headed for the butterflies.  I wasn't sure if Cupid would get distracted, not only by the butterflies but I had draped his blanket (to cover him for the walk to the arena since it was raining) over one of the standards but he didn't waver or hesitate.  Which is a good thing because I don't think I was fully committed to keeping him straight and going forward.  But I felt a lot more confident afterwards, and we did a little course with the Christmas jump, to the coop, to the butterflies, and ending with a small square oxer.  We had decent lead changes through the trot, and hit all the jumps from a good distance, I was very happy with how it went!

Butterflies

Oxer and coop

Blurry shot of the Christmas jump

The trail ride was in the park we most frequently ride, Huddart.  The trail was a little slippery in a few spots, but overall it was less muddier then I expected and the creek was barely flowing.  But the trees were covered with a very vibrant green moss which did make the woods feel a bit magical.

Creek crossing

Our first few training rides were a bit rusty, but now we are back working almost where we were in November.  We've been doing a lot of transitions focusing on trying to stay round.