In Which We Are Not Awesome at Jumping

After schooling jumping the other night, I’m thinking about dropping the crossrails classes I entered at the schooling show this weekend. I have a suspicion I will be competing against 8 year old kids. There’s really no way that can go well. If I win, I beat out little kids. If I lose, I lost to little kids. This is a no-win situation. Also, I am pretty sure we are incapable of beating anyone regardless of age. Unless they’ve never ridden before. Ever. And even then, they could probably beat us if they have a nice push-button hunter pony.

Where have I seen this pose before? Oh right, it’s Dentzel, the carousel mule:

And this was actually one of the better jumps. Nilla has decided that small jumps aren’t worth picking her feet up for. She even trotted over the oxer.

Yes, it’s tiny, but still. A little effort would be appreciated. I am pretty sure trotting over the jumps as if they are cavaletti and not actually jumping them will net us 0 points with a hunter judge.

I haven’t participated in the equitation transformation post going around because I have no pictures of me jumping as a teenager. I rode at an A show barn and did 4′ jumpers, but I never showed because I was poor and my parents never came to lessons when I was a teenager so no one took pictures of me riding. So I have no proof of my ability. I would guess my eq wasn’t great as I was always on training project horses that may or may not chose to dump me at any moment, so I rode very defensively. But I was one of the few students trusted to school the big money horses so I doubt I was that bad. My trainer did try to get me to show and at one point offered me a horse for the day, arranged for me to borrow show clothes, and basically did everything she could to get me to show, but my parents wouldn’t drive me.

I have one picture from college when I was jumping a camp horse over the summer. It’s a mixed bag: leg is pretty good, nice release, butt should be further back, chest should not be so low, looking forward nicely. Like I said, a mixed bag.

This was a lengthy tangent, but the point of this story is that, while everyone else is posting about their eq improving over the years, mine has gotten worse. My back injury makes it nearly impossible to bend at the hip and push my hips back. It’s not physically impossible, but there’s a metal disconnect where I tell myself I should do it, but then as I go over the jump, I defensively stay straight. It’s not pretty.

On the other hand, it’s not like the two class division is going to be difficult for us. And it’s a good schooling opportunity for Nilla. I’d like to do a Horse Trial in September, so any show experience in advance is good. I’m just not sure if it’s worth the $ and the whole showing against small children potential embarrassment to school something I know we can’t win.

We did have one nice jump:

I love her ears in this picture. My form needs work, obviously, but she looks good.