Itty Bittys and Level 0 Show Jumping

11/20/2011: Today we showed at On Course Riding Academy--the barn Ozzy, Clue, and Duncan lived at previously. It was so nice to see our old friends!

Upon arriving in the show ring, Ozzy was beside himself. He spooked at every little noise and sight. I knew we were in for a long day. I hand-walked him through the entire ring, showed him every jump and timer, and then got on.

As you can see, our first round was--to use a euphemism--a disaster. However, it showed the true character of the show and the judge. This schooling show was kind enough to not only let me have a complementary jump after I had jumped two jumps off course, but they let me have two so I could get Ozzy over the horse-eating goose-jump. I was so appreciative. It completely helped his confidence, and he did not refuse that jump again. If you are in the Northern NJ area and are looking for a well-run, friendly show, you should check out On Course.

In our second Itty Bitty round, the light over the green and white oxer changed, and suddenly became frightening. We got over it on our second try and placed sixth in the class.

After our disaster Itty Bitty rounds, I decided to warm Ozzy up with the Level 0's. He tends to jump better with a slightly higher fence, so I figured I would gauge whether or not we would continue based on the warm-up. Wouldn't you know it? My horse's brain decided to show up! I was stoked and decided to do the Level 0 Speed Class to avoid having to do a jump-off. My only goal of the day was to have a refusal-free round.

In that final class, I got my wish. Though every jump wasn't pretty, he was brave and got through it all. I was so proud of him! We finished third. :)

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• show
• jumping
• jumpers
• jump
• horse
• horses
• irish
• sport
• warmblood
• riding
• ride
• horseback
• Equestrian
• Equestrianism

[screamingnightmares]

Just curious, what does level 0' mean, is it under the regular 3' size or is it like a practice round? I'm trying to get back into jumping but my usual trainer is getting more into Peruvians than her Jumpers so I just stopped asking her questions. xD

[xxxligeiaxxx]

@screamingnightmares Level 0 fences are up to 2’9” in height; level 1 fences are 3’0” in height; with at 3’0” to 3’6” spread. All the best getting started again! :)

[xxtwister07xx]

The jumps look a little close together dont you think??

[xxxligeiaxxx]

@xxtwister07xx Many indoors look small when filled with jumps. This ring is a whopping 80' x 184' and everything was spaced appropriately. My horse, however, can make even the biggest space look small. ;)

[HoRsEsPiRiT54]

Great riding! It's not easy to convince a horse that there really isn't a monster on the other side that's going to get them if they jump. Congrats on the third! Great job and gorgeous horse!

[xxxligeiaxxx]

@HoRsEsPiRiT54 Thank you. :)

[snowgirl1052]

That looks like fun! Iam a big chicken when it comes to jumping, but fences that big look safer and if I was a hunt seat rider, I would just only jump small jumps! That goose would have scared me too!

[xxxligeiaxxx]

@HorseyBeefs Thank so much! Ozzy isn't an easy ride--you have to ride every step. He is, however, such a good boy. The geese were strange, but I'm glad they were there so he had to get used to weird filler.

[HorseyBeefs]

Well done, Ozzy didn't look like an easy ride! Can't blame him for being afraid of the goose jump though, it looks really odd :L Lovely rounds though, especially the last one :) You rode so well to keep him going forward and jumping fluently, so congrats!

[Squaccy1]

@xxxligeiaxxx He's a brilliant moo horse :) Looking forward to more videos :)