So Lilly is very difficult to get to really keep going after a jump that is over 18 inches. And when ever you keep her going, she drags you to the out side a little bit - or a lot.
So that had really been getting on my nerves lately, so, I lowered my jump to about 20 inches. I trotted it first, and made her keep going at a steady pace, and not drag me, just to show her what she was supposed to be doing. After that, I cantered it, and all I did once she has landed was drive, drive drive, to make sure she had a canter, that was very nice, maybe even a little faster than normal, but I let her drag me. At this point, I just wanted to make her go.
Then, after that, I went over it again, and this time all I did was make sure she didn't drag; by crossing my outside reign over her neck, while keeping a nice tight inside reign, and occasionally tugging on it a bit. She did slow down, but she never actually broke into the trot, so that was nice.
After that I did both, and hey, what do you know, she actually did it perfectly! Not to say she will tomorrow, or even for another month possibly, and it will probably be a long time before we get it when we go over a big jump, but the fact that we did it, even just this once, really makes me feel like I've accomplished something.
I can't tell you how frustrating it is sometimes having to train a horse, and be a young rider who still as a lot to learn myself, but I also can't tell you how good it feels when you get something good done. On bad days it is really hard to remember good days, but today really gave me hope, even though it wasn't that big a deal, those little things can really make your day.
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