Jazz was so sweet today on the farm ride. He was having a lovely time in the sunshine and down where the wind is not so strong. We walked a lot and talked a lot (me and friend, not me and Jazz :-) but we also had some lovely canters and trots whenever we felt like one during the six miles.
When he had settled in and warmed up I asked him if he wanted to pop a few fences, and as long as they were plain and straightforward and not more than 2ft 6 he was really pleased to do them. I would say he even took me into a few of them. But anything bigger, or fancier, or trickier, ooooh, thanks but no, we won't do that one if you don't mind. I didn't even put him at anything unless he was already looking at it with interest, so no refusals or nasty moments. I don't want to sour our relationship by asking him to do stuff that scares him, now that he is doing so well with the dressage.
He may have grown up mentally this year, but it was blindingly clear that jumping-wise, nothing much has changed, and that never in a month of Sundays was Jazz ever going to make an eventer. I doubt he would even have made a showjumper, he just does not believe in his own ability. Which is a shame, because there is also no doubt that he does have great jumping ability, my friend was remarking on his scope and technique in real surprise. But thankfully, he appears to have just as much talent for dressage, and a lot more interest in doing it.
He was magnificent in the sun - I had in front of me a huge, rippling muscled neck, with all the muscle at the top and thickest in front of the saddle where it should be if he's been working properly. He was shining with deep red highlights on his neck and dark and blond ones in his mane as if he was made of metal. Even on a long and exciting hack in company, he keeps a super outline on a long rein. He felt balanced and hugely powerful and VERY happy!
C
I consider the day a resounding success! I suppose you had no choice but to accept his limitations but still I admire you valuing him for his talent in dressage and accepting his mind for what it is. He really has come a long way. What a incredibly fun day you had! Horses are so beautiful! Tetley is all shiny now too- his summer colors are brighter.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweetie. How nice to hear Jazz actually headed for a few jumps on his own.
ReplyDeleteBut it's pretty apparent he has found his place in the dressage arena....and so have you. Now, the cross country rides like this one are just pure fun with all the pressure off.
Uhm....from your description of him, you are completely besotted!! Not quite what I would have heard from you about a year and a half ago.*G*
Delightful.
Sounds like a lovely day. Jazz has found his place in life, so that is good, although I thought he was quite good as a hunter?
ReplyDeleteHave you had more rain than us, as our ground is like concrete, with some point to points being cancelled due to low entries. Even the local farm rides would be too hard to gallop,a lthough I did a ride at the beginning of April and the riverside fields were quite soft still.
Sounds like a lovely day, glad you & Jazz enjoyed yourselves
ReplyDelete:-)
ML he has an oddly endearing character, you can't help but love him. If he was a child he would have a statement of special needs :-)
ReplyDeleteJean I love horses when they reach this stage of development. The power of the muscle bulk right underneath the skin takes my breath away a bit. Tetley was the same at ten, Jazz is a year younger reaching this level of maturity. Maybe I'm odd :-)
"Good" being a relative term Judith. He was fun, and better than I had expected, and far better at that than anything else he was doing at the time. But he only jumped one hedge all season and that was under a metre high. It is debatable whether he broke more fences than he refused at or the other way round.
My favourite memory of him hunting is being half way across a field, around a dressage arena away from a nice solid tiger trap. The horse in front of us ran out to the left. And so did Jazz, still a full 40 metres or so away from it! And then he refused to go any closer until another horse had passed us and safely jumped the fence. Typical of his sense of self preservation and not really what you want in a hunter :-)
We have had not a drop of rain for 29 days. Another month of this and I will be driving to a friend with a borehole to pick up water in our bowser :-(
Luckily the farm ride is lined with sand most of the way, so we had some lovely canters. We did have a great time Sarah.
C