It Gets Better

Maggie and I made a lot of progress during the mid-late spring. Daylight's Savings made it a lot easier to get out and ride more frequently during the week. Being able to ride more often helped me to understand more what Maggie needed. I wouldn't have expected to ride my young horse with a strong rein contact, but I found that a) it was necessary to be able to react quickly and effectively to her spins and attempts to leave the ring and b) she feels more secure with a stronger contact. Maggie initially found the trot difficult and would have preferred to walk or canter most of the time, but she started to get stronger at the trot so I got less resistance.

In March I took Maggie off the farm for the first time, to a XC schooling in Southern Pines (just to introduce her to the outside world - she wasn't jumping yet) I had no idea of what to expect from her, so to prepare myself, I imagined from the worst case scenario (she's so difficult that I don't even want to get on her) to the best case scenario (she's very well-behaved and maybe I can trot her around a little and if she's being really really good, try taking her through the water) She was alert, but calm when we got there so I got up on her. My trainer had a group of about 7 of us there for the schooling. Maggie boldly took the lead on our walk through the fields and woods to get to the XC course. The rest of the group hung out while Maggie and I went to work. We found a relatively flat spot and did some trot and canter work. She handled it beautifully.

                                             Trotting at XC schooling (March 2013)

Maggie goes up a step on her first try.      Baby's first XC obstacle!

We followed along with the rest of the group while they jump-schooled. I was able to get Maggie to go up a baby step a few times, but she wouldn't go down it (even following behind other horses). She also bravely stepped over a little ditch. The last thing for us to do was to try to get into the water. I knew from my experience with puddles in the ring that Maggie's not a big water fan. We set it up to have all the other horses continuously circling through the water, and to stick Maggie in behind them and hopefully have her follow them in. Maggie's too smart for that;) She stood at the edge of the water for quite awhile, with my trainer on the ground trying to walk her into the water. For a second her whole body shook and then she took a giant leap into the water - my best guess is that she was trying to jump over the water! She walked through the rest of the water, and cantered away once she got to the other side. Water is something we'll need to revisit.

Overall, Maggie went beyond my expectations for her first XC trip. She was very well-behaved and courageous - what more could you ask of a future eventing star??!!