Good stuff!

So -- some really cool developments in the past week or so. :)

Rev and I started jumping grids and bounces, for one. Lots and lots of fun! When I ride into the grid correctly, with my leg on and Rev moving forward and having made a decent turn, Rev just jumps rhythmically and enthusiastically. She's SO fun to ride over fences with some height!! I love her jump. It's balanced and feels just completely capable. I had some rough rides in the bounce at first, getting in front of her, quitting riding three steps before the fence, et cetera. However, there was one ride when I suddenly felt my hips bend correctly. I was with her motion, and it made up for a lot. Ah-HA!

On Wednesday evening, we had another lesson, this time over a one-stride grid. We moved from one cross-rail and one vertical at about 2'3 (more on this in a sec) on Saturday and Sunday to one cross-rail and three verticals at about 2'3 on Wednesday. Wheeeee! That was really, really fun. I think something clicked in my brain, muscle memory or something, about how to ride over jumps. Whatever the source, I'm glad of it, and I'm going to try not to jinx it. :) I even got several "Good job!"s from MT. And those aren't handed out with that kind of enthusiasm (and even a little surprise, haha) often, so I'm super-pleased. Again, trying to not-jinx it.

And the other cool thing is the jumping up to 2'3! Heh. We'd only been doing cross-rails and little logs out in the field up until last Saturday. :D It is SO much easier to jump over something a little bigger, for sure. And fun to get some air time, even just a teeny bit. And like I said, I love Rev's jump!! Can't wait for tomorrow ...

Tomorrow is the monthly cross-country clinic at the barn! I am excited to see what Gary asks us to do. Maybe jump a few bigger jumps? We'll see. Even if we don't jump any bigger, I won't be upset, because we need whatever practice we can get.

We especially need the practice outside, and especially given that I've been a little tentative when it comes to riding Rev through her spooky or squirrely moments lately. I've asked MT to hop on her almost every time I've gone to ride lately, and I feel pretty wimpy for doing that. I can't decide if I should be easier on myself (tell myself that it's okay, that I don't want to get hurt again or hurt my shoulder worse, that MT is okay with getting on Rev for me) or if I should be much tougher on myself (tell myself that I need to learn to deal with this crap and not rely on MT so much, learn to cope myself -- basically, "toughen up, cupcake"). I'm not at all sure. We'll see how Rev goes tomorrow morning.

I think we're going to give Golden Spike a miss this year, because of the EHV-1 outbreak having started there. MT and TW aren't confident in the venue yet, so we'll skip it. No problem there -- it's way too much of a risk to take for us if the disease is still going around. Too much for me, with only one horse that I can't afford to replace, and too much for MT/TW/TD, with a whole barn full of horses that they can't replace. We'll see if there's an event in Montana or something that Rev can go to with MT later in the year.

Oh. And. I am really beginning to understand how fit I need to be in order to complete a full event successfully. As a corollary, I'm realizing how fit I'm not. So I'm more committed to my workout schedule than I had been. It's working really well so far, but I need to keep at it. Lots. Gym tonight, for a workout on the elliptical and the weight machines. *nodnod*