Rush Against Time

It seems like on the only thing I do is try to beat the clock. If there were only a way to not sleep I would be good. I always have a few more things to do. Today was no exception. I looked at my watch and it was already noon. I hustled to get the jumps set up so I could ride before having to go pick up the kids from school. At this new house I have nowhere to put them. I asked the neighbor to use his excess land, but he was afraid my divots would ruin his lawn mower. I guees if I was 90 yrs old and riding a lawn mower I might have to consider that too. A few of the neighbors have huge "yards" so I will just have to keep working my wy down the lane until I get someone complient. For now, they are in my backyard, literally.



In our backyard we have this "area" that was used for a swimming pool by the owners (we rent). I made sure there wasn't anything that was harmful and decided to use it for a bank. It is filled with sand and holds water really well, too. One more thing to add to the Olly-will-jump list. As usual when I got on Olly today he was just as nutty. Since I have no arena to warm him up, we went on a trail ride to get the kinks out. This time he only wanted to canter, I thought the more you ride the more calm? Well, the beans and corn are down TONS of room for circles! It was really hard to get him to move out at a trot considering all he wanted to do was canter. He was totally on edge, spooking at almost everything. I just can't figure this horse out sometimes. First it was a 12"x12" flag on someones lanai, standard protocol: stop, stand as if you are really still and it won't see you and then dance around like a two year old on candy. Then it was a huge gravel truck, that was more like "oh shit! Where did that come from?" And last, but not least, 7 turkey vultures drinking from a puddle, which is not my favorite: while mom is not paying attention stop quickly (we were trotting), roll back and try to take off leaving mom to land on her ass not inches from the asphalt. Don't worry I had a helmet on! So, after finding out that I actually landed pretty softly and was not in pain, we made sure the vultures weren't plotting to attack us and I got back on and resumed trotting and fighting the will to canter, nay, gallop back to the little Chincoteague waiting back at the house. Even after a few miles of trotting he was still ready to go. Normally we will ride 5-6 miles. Today I didn't want him to be hacked out totally, remember, I have jumps set up back home. He wasn't giving in. Last chance....the nice grassy, hilly trail by the house. Much safer than the road, I let him canter it out there. It is about a 1.5 miles long and it looks like an FM wave. Up, down, up, down....after that, he walked. We used the 1/3 mile back to the house to recover and begin the jumping.
We started out with one of my own creations, but based on Jim's gymnastic lines. I incorperated the "bank" to make it interesting, a crossrail 24ft out. I found that with the bank he needs more room for two strides than with a regular set. Olly's regular two strides runs about 18ft-20ft. With the jump up from the wall I gave him an extra 4ft and it worked out great. From the crossrail I set an angled verticle (??) I came up with this idea after watching some of Lucinda Green's xc clinics. It was really different and that is what Olly needs. It also made him jump in the center. I am totally clueless if there are any other benefits from that kind of jump so if you know feel free to inform me. The first time through the line he wasn't thrilled at the last jump. But after the third try, that's right, the third try, he was jumping it like he had done it a million times. Verdict: I have to jump every single jump in the world so we can be prepared for the show season. lol!!!



Please note the Carhart. It was effing freezing out (44*!!!)

After his great round I gave him some sugar cubes and a good long brushing. He totally needs a bath, but we aren't in Hawaii any more, so, no more baths in December. A through brushing will have to do.