3/24/07
Mo Cross Country Schooling
at Willow Draw.


Back in a Boucher snaffle. I had him in a full cheek for the dressage show, but I wanted to see how he did in this bit.
 

Some trot warm up.
Mo's been out enough that he can get off the trailer in a strange place and go straight to work.
 
We kept the jumps low to help him figure out why he was there.
He was wiggly to the jumps, but honest when he got to them.
 
He didn't think the x's were worth a jumping effort. 
He likes a soft ride.
 
 Faced with a real jump he locked on and took it nicely.
Moving on to some logs.
 
 He cantered most of his fences. At the trot, if they were small, he'd just take them with a bigger trot stride.
A small combination meant he had to think harder.
 
Cantering to another fence.
 He wasn't intimidated by the brush and didn't over jump it.
 
After cantering and jumping, he'd calmly stand while Thuy went around.
A nice post and rail.
 
On to the rustic. There was some wiggle up to this fence. It was across the field and he realized he was leaving the group. Still, once they got there, he was honest about the fence.
Chrissie enjoyed her ride on Mo.
His trot was nice and forward and relaxed after a bit of jumping.
We were supposed to be working on the rider as much as the horse. Of course sometimes we'd get sloppy.
Then Meg would have us do it again more neatly (notice no stirrup over this jump).
He was comfortable picking up a canter whenever Chrissie asked.
Down the hill (he's had a lot of practice for this out hunting).
Through the water.
Up the bank.
And down.
Heading out on the galloping path.
Letting him out. Chrissie said he was very ratable. She could ask for more or less and he never tried to take the bit from her.