I Trusted You!
Sunday, August 27
Today was my first
ever cross-country schooling. It was Em’s and Loki’s (her horse) first outing
since he had foot problems back in May. Needless to say, we were both pretty
excited. I hadn’t thought to ask Erika who would be joining us but much
to my relief the first thing we saw as we approached was a red, cotton topped
lady and her cute painted steed! Val! What a relief. I can fall off in front
of her and not be too embarrassed! Erika and Jess, another adult
amateur student, joined us and in record time we were headed out to the field
to warm up. After a bit of walking, I asked Romeo for a trot. That’s not
right. What’s wrong? Is he bucking? Trantering? Is he broken? Oh God! He’s
broken! The dream is over already! I got him stopped and quickly look to
Erika for an explanation. Laughter between her and Val ensues. What the
heck??? I look toward Em who coolly says, “You might want to take those
hind boots off. I don’t think he likes them.” Seriously? I quickly
dismount and remove the hind boots. Magically, he finds the ability to trot on. Later, I learned that Em had saved the jumping boots for Loki and she had
put Romes in some ill fitted dressage boots. Note to self: Learn to
tell the difference between jumping and dressage boots, and don’t forget to
come back and get the boots once we’re done here.
Our warm up
continued with me cantering in circles, squeezing and trotting. No problem. I
watched as the more advanced riders popped over jumps, Loki looked like a fire
breathing dragon, excited to be back at it again. See, Romeo, we don’t have to
do any of this. No need to get excited. My turn. With instruction from
Erika, we started jumping the things. There was no screaming but lots of
laughter. Ok, there might have been a bit of screaming when Romeo latched on to
and headed straight for a jump that was not only much larger but backwards! It
was a laughable moment. We were having fun. I felt good about it. My eyes
were up and my heels were down. I’m not too sure about the kicking part but we
were going over so it must have been right. Em encouraged me to try a
beginner novice combination. The first jump was spot on, the second jump…I
don’t know. We went over it but I felt my back crack as we did. No need to
call the chiropractor now.
We were almost
done. There was one more jump to go. It was a barn thingy. I knew
this jump. Years ago, Em was schooling Romeo and I was on my horse, Loki.
Em asked if we could switch mounts so she could pop Loki over it. I
remember the look on her face. I remember Erika’s eyebrows lift as she said,
”Do it again.” It was the beginning of the end of my partnership with Loki.
Anyway, today, I didn’t like that jump. It didn’t look friendly. Emily sensed
my hesitation. “You want to follow me over it?” I nod. Em and Loki went
over. As I approached, my foot slid too far through my stirrup. ABORT!
ABORT! I pulled up on the reins and veered away from the jump at the
last second. I heard Erika yell her disapproval! She explained that now Romeo
would refuse it. For those of you who don’t know, Romes is kind-of known for
refusing. Erika says he’s insecure. He has been accused of not being a team
player. I don’t know what his problem is but for some reason, I thought he and
I would not have an issue with this. It’s green as grass for Pete’s sake!
I approached the jump again, feeling more insecure than before.
Romeo felt the question in my confidence and he took advantage. He stopped. I
went from fear to anger with American Pharoah speed. Thankfully, I had a
crop (which I had tried to convince Erika I didn’t need). Romeo felt my
wrath. How dare you??? I trusted you!!! We circled back around and
managed to get the job done.
Before we headed
home, Erika flexed Romeo and we decided to hold off on injections. He looked
pretty darned sound.
It was determined
that Erika needed to dust off her megaphone (Val and I can’t hear you!) and I
needed to carry a crop…always. My first cross-country schooling was over. I
lived, although my pride and confidence were a bit shaken. I breathed a
sigh of relief as we drove away leaving a bit disappointed and without those
damn hind boots!
Heels down, eyes
up, leg on.
35 days to Jump
Start
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