:)

Wow. Yesterday went AWESOME. Better than I could have hoped. Rode my boy at the end, after Mick and Audrey, and by the time I had him tacked and ready to go, C and Joyce were at the barn. That was a good thing because I DO prefer to have people around when I'm attempting something new.

Began by warming him up on the buckle, wtc. He was positively lovely; showing C how he will actually stretch his nose to the ground while I warm him up. Pulled him together at the trot and canter, pulled out a right to left lead change, then trotted over a cavelletti to warm up. I had a square 3' oxer set on one long side, my scary jump complete with his blanket draped over the pole and a pitchfork underneath on the other long side, and a 2 stride combination across the diagonal that was a single cav to the cav stack jump.

Jumped the 2 stride, and even though I set it short, it ended up long for him because he was a little crooked. I popped up a little, but did slip him the reins so I didn't hit him in the face. Came through again with a better canter, a straighter line, and more leg, and he jumped through flawlessly.

Next I approached the scary jump, used my crop behind my leg on approach, he bucked out a little bit, but didn't back off the jump at ALL. Yay! I came back on it the other way, no crop, and again ... perfect.:)

Finally, it was the 3' oxer. Haven't done one of those in ... 12 years or so. Cantered in on the left lead, saw it a tiny bit long, but closed my leg and sat up. Nailed it! He flew over, landed beautifully, and I whooped with happiness. He felt GREAT! Came again on the left lead and got a much better distance, and it was positively exhilirating. Did it one time off the right lead, got just a *hair* deep but it was still great. C was very complimentary, and it made me happy because it has been a while since she's seen him.

So excited; that was way fun. C worked on his muscles a little bit after untacking, and he is just so funny. He's a good boy. My little twit. Stopped by today and spent about 5 minutes just feeding him carrots. He liked it:) I'll flat a little bit Monday before hopefully shipping him out Tuesday to take a lesson with Janet.