Woody's had a lovely party. He loaded well, he travelled quietly and was cool when we got there. He stood quietly on the lorry while we all had a coffee, and then again calmly while tied to the lorry to be tacked up. He tootled along sharing the lead, in the middle of my two friends, or at the back, wherever I put him. He was happy, perky and utterly sane.
We jumped half a dozen things, limited due to the frozen ground. He's a showjumper all right! I find it quite disconcerting when a horse has a "proper" bascule - his head just disappeared down between his knees! He did it every single time. I do prefer Radar's style of jumping where he has his whole head and neck up in front of me, but Woody is much more "correct" as you might expect of a horse bred from a Grand Prix showjumper. I think he will feel safer when I jump some bigger stuff on him that he has to actually pick his shoulders up to get over.
So here's a short clip. These are the first two jumps that Woody has done for well over a year. The first ever with me, and also the first with no shoes on his front feet. And I think you can see how happy he was to do it in spite of the hard landing. I had no choice but to use that fence (or not jump on camera), it was the only one in the right place for SH to reach us.
http://youtu.be/4XO_2_U-qDM
If Woody is sound tomorrow and on Wednesday, then we have a date for the C&B meet on December 22nd if the weather is good.
I spent most of yesterday in bed and I'm back off there now!
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Wish you were feeling better, but Woody's exceptional behavior and soundness must have done wonders to boost your spirit. He looks absolutely happy to jump and go in the video. I've ready to bet he'll be sound tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteRest up and keep sweet dreams of his wonderful attitude in your slumber.
I did feel good about him Jean, very satisfied ! :-)
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