08/08/04
Herbie Schooling Cross Country
We've been having some great weather and this past weekend
was no exception. Skye got to whip in out roading, and Herbie
went to Greenwood for some schooling. We only had trouble at one
jump. He refused a couple of times, then went over a couple of times.
I think it was asking a bit much, because it was a couple of strides after
going through the water. I think he focused on the water, then came out
and said wait a minute, there's not enough time to think about the jump...
Otherwise, he jumped everything I asked him to. He went through the water
first try, and we got to play with banks, which we hadn't done before.
We had a fun time, and I think he developed a lot more confidence, because
by the last jump he was jumping out of stride and was very relaxed about it.
 Our first jump. It's been a few months since we've jumped, but he knew what to do.
 
 We tried to get him to be more scopey. He was getting in a bit closer to the jumps and then really rounding. I wanted it to be more like a large canter stride.
 I think he enjoyed cantering through the water. When I'd walk him through, he'd take big splashy steps.
 
 After a number of jumps, he started to smooth out his jumping. He should be ready for a BN event by next month.
 Finally he was seeing that he could take off a bit long and make it ok. I think a couple more schooling practices and we'll be ready.