I already mentioned 2017 has started a bit slow for me, and only just this past Saturday did I get around to jumping Eli. Since I had been a bit sick and Eli hadn’t been ridden as consistently as usual we decided to keep it simple and just trot in and canter out of a 4 stride line (so 5 strides if trotting in). The first 3 or 4 times through, Eli plaaaayyyyyed through the line and I had to even add a sixth step to get him refocused on the second jump. As I totally expected, that’s just the horse he is.
But once he got his brain in gear and I reasonably had my riding sorted, we got through the line with some really nice jumping efforts on his part. It seemed like a good start to build on.

Thankfully, some newly returned barn alums were around to catch me on video, so thank you JenJen for that! I can see from the video I need to lift my chest a good bit, among other things. There’s following a jump, and then there’s laying on the neck.
100114.3 from patentlybay on Vimeo.
I had hoped to jump again on Monday, but it rained so I wound up taking him on a walk in the fields with just a little bit of (squishy) trotting. He felt quite boisterous as there is no turnout in mud, and it’s going to rain more. I think the week will be a bunch of grooming and hand-walking and grazing, and maybe a roll or two in the round pen if I can get enough light out there after work.
Woohoo! You guys look great!
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Thank you! ๐
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Love his playfulness! Reminds me of Libby when she thinks she’s jumped good.
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Yeah, he does show off a bit after a fence ๐
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Nicely done! Lookin’ good for 2017
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thank you!
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Looks like a blast! It’s crazy how easy he makes it look lol
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The hard part is keeping his enthusiasm in check lol
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You two look really nice!
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Thank you! ๐
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Yay! You got a good one in before the rain. We’re in the same soggy boat here. He does look great in the video ๐
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Thank you! It’s super soggy now so that jump school might be it for this week.
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