I hadn’t schooled Lily with my trainer recently, so we made tentative arrangements to do so yesterday. Although Lily seemed a little more alert than usual when I tacked her up, I was surprised when I mounted her and she felt as though she was going to explode. She rarely acts like what she is: a young half-Thoroughbred. I quickly dismounted and put her on a longe line and waited for her to turn back into a horse I wanted to ride. She would apparently settle down for a bit, and then explode into a fit of galloping or bucking.
I consulted with my trainer, and she agreed that Lily didn’t look like a horse she would want to ride either. I didn’t want to longe Lily any longer because she had a slightly runny nose. Although she obviously felt fine, if she was getting sick I didn’t want to stress her. As I talked to my trainer, Lily spooked and nearly went over her. Lily is usually very meticulous about the personal space of human beings, so I put her away and got Major. There was no point in wasting schooling on a horse who had temporarily lost her mind.
Major is a black Percheron cross. His owner is recovering from surgery right now, so we have been trying to keep him working because he is a horse that loses fitness very easily. Major is about the same height as Lily, but twice as broad. He is a blast to ride, and especially to jump, even though he is very different than the horses that I normally ride.
We practiced jumping small jumps while I worked on keeping him straight. When he jumps from a left hand turn, he likes to drift right. He had been drifting badly with the girl who rode him this weekend, which is why my trainer wanted me to work him.
I didn’t have any trouble keeping him straight, but I did have trouble figuring out where to turn to get him over the middle of the jump. It took six trials, but we finally figured it out and called it a day. I always feel as though I have worked harder than Major when I ride him, though I am sure he would disagree.