I don't know why I did it. Maybe it was because the indoor was filled with round bales and I couldn't ride dressage. Or maybe it was because I talked on the phone with my friend in Texas who is preparing for a big jumper show. Or maybe I just needed to know if we could possibly jump around a "Big Girl" Hunter Trial course in 6 weeks.
Something unknown compelled me to walk out to the outdoor and set up some fences, dragging standard after standard into place to build... what?
A triple bar.
A 3 foot, 3 inch triple bar, to be exact.
Don't worry, I had the camera with me as well.
Brego warmed up slow. I thought he was tired from foxhunting. It turns out, he was just bored. He barely lumbered over the 2'6" warm up verticals. But the first time I brought him down the line to the triple bar, he locked on. I could tell he was thinking about it. Something new, something different. He jumped it but knocked the back rail with his fronts. The second time he made the same mistake.
But the third... he figured it out. He launched over that fence and I felt the free fall on the backside of the jump. I felt loose and unfit and barely able to crouch over that tremendous jump. But man, that horse can fly.
Percheron Jumping a Triple Bar from Eventing Percheron on Vimeo.
Watching the video, the expression on his face, that boy was eating it up. His had a spring in his canter and just banged off the ground. He cleared it by at least a foot and a half and he was very tight with his knees and his hind end. Average rider. Extraordinary horse.
So we have much to do, but Brego is technically ready for a move up. I, however, am not. Watching my riding made me cringe a bit. More no stirrup work and more grid work should get that leg back under control. I really felt I had figured it out about a month ago, but I haven't been able to recapture the tightness. I need to talk with my jumper trainer about the back side of the fence. It all comes unravelled there and I think it's because I am not strong in my position. If anyone has some good articles/video on how to ride the backside of a big fence, I would love to read up on it!
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