Rose’s first time over a jump!

Yep, that is right, I took my girl over a little 18” cross rail yesterday. Last week I managed to pick up a girth for my jumping saddle that fits her. She has a much larger girth area than my old TB and a 48" just doesn't cut it anymore. Girth in hand, I decided to ride her in my jumping saddle and see what she thought of it. Understandably, she was a bit confused by the change in location of my weight, so I did my best to keep my weight centered and off her shoulder. She quickly got adjusted to in and settled in, although she remained a little bit rushed, with the exception of the canter. She was thrilled by cantering with me in 2-point!

After she warmed up I cantered her through our canter poles once again and then I put two of them up into a small ex. Before getting back on, I trotted her over the ex jumping it along side her on the ground. Double checking that my video camera was still on, and with my blood pressure rising and heart in my throat, I sang myself a little song and trotted her straight down the line. As you can see in the video below, she went straight over it without a hesitation. The video shows our first three times over the jump...then my battery died :(. The lump in my throat immediately disappeared and I took her over it a couple more times. At that point, we were both having fun! I was so very happy with her, and I could not wait to get home to see what she did with her knees over the fence. When I pulled a still frame, I was very happy to see two perfectly square knees! Even thought it was just a tiny ex, she put in enough effort to clear it and jump correctly. Rose is definitely doing her grandpa, Gonzo I, proud…and me too!

Happy trails and swooshing tails!