Bit of jumping. :)

So, I trotted Bonnie up again today and she seemed to have improved again with regard to her 'hip swinging'. But she did have more random chunks out of her and scabby mud fever-y bits. Hmm. :)

But anyway, I figured I would get on and have another go at getting her to do some decent 'bending' and altering her paces, seeing as Tuesday turned out to be more of a battle than I would have liked! She seemed much more willing to be co-operative today, although she definitely does find flexion much harder to the left. I'm finding that being more aware of my own position is really helping to encourage her though, and after a brief argument when I put my inside leg on to stop her falling in a little to hard for her liking, she was very good.

So after all that she seemed pretty chilled and to have loosened up nicely, so I figured I would do a little grid. :) We started it just as a few trotting poles to a cross pole, then changed it to a placing pole to a bounce, then added a little ascending oxer onto the back of it. We had a brief argument due to the fact that Bonnie seems to have it in her little head that as soon as we turn up to a jump, regardless of the time we may have spent establishing a nice, rhythmical, unrushed canter, she feels she just MUST zoom off. I just don't know how to make her understand that she jumps so much more nicely when she just takes it all a bit slower! But we did manage to finish on a good note, we found a happy balance between what we both wanted to do by me allowing her to have a bit more pace as long as she stayed in the same rhythm and didn't to the head up/falling through left shoulder thing she is so very talented at. :)

Well, after all that fun she can have a nice day off tomorrow. I guess we'll probably have a pretty leisurely weekend after this pretty intensive schooling we've done the last few times I've ridden. I might try and take her for a hack on Saturday to give her brain a break, then a bit of lunging on Sunday to finish off before the vet comes on Tuesday.