Woodside Schooling

A few weeks ago I took Kat and Tango to Woodside to school cross country with Dumbledore coaching.

Always wonderful to see him and I love his coaching - but I am strongly looking forward to getting back into a schedule where I can see him one on one more often because he excels in a private setting.

I rode Tango first. In our warm-up around the field he was a bit strong and forward but still listening to me, I could let him out into a canter and breathe him back to a trot. It wasn't as adjustable or soft as I would have liked but he wasn't being squirrely or spooky.

It's hard to write about because he was generally so good - the need to encourage deeper softness continues to pervade our jumping, but it's coming along. 

My equitation leaves some things to be desired (leading me to think on Emma's post today!) but I reached out to Trainer N who was doing such a great job helping me with my equitation AND the softness over fences thing. 

Tango unfortunately pulled up a little bit 'off' after a fence so he didn't get to do the whole session, but he felt 100% unbelievable while we were out. I loved how he brought me to the fences and I felt very secure with him. I trust him to carry me over the fences which is such an exciting thing. 

Kat was, well, perfect. Except for having a slightly-larger-than-necessary meltdown regarding wet back boots (suck it up butter cup, but don't kill me in the process) and we need to continue to work on selecting appropriate take-off distances.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

THIS IS OUR FIRST JUMP OUT OF 'WATER' EVER

Thanks to E for the photos - and thanks to Dumbledore for the continued faith in my horses.