While waiting for Dexter to recover from his abscess, I recently had a chance to borrow a wonderful horse for a lesson. Basil is an Oldenburg/Thoroughbred cross who competed in a long-format CCI* last year at the age of only 7. This particular one-star is a Preliminary-level event with steeplechase and roads & tracks before the cross-country course begins. According to his rider, he finished with tons of gas left in the tank!
At the end of the lesson, I asked my trainer how big the jump was – I just had to know! She measured and said it was 3’10”, which topped my old record (set many years ago in high school) of 3’9″. We were out at the barn the next day doing a photo shoot, so Lesley took this picture of me next to the jump, which was still up from the night before.
I would encourage any of you who have ever wanted to jump to give it a try. But always stick to the small stuff until you have a secure and independent position. Nothing will shake your confidence like over-facing yourself too soon, and having a bad stop and/or fall. A fall I took early on in my riding career took at least two years to recover from in terms of confidence – and it was entirely my fault, as I was jumping with a friend without my trainer present, and tried a jump it was probably obvious I shouldn’t have.
Do you like to jump? What are you working on now? Click “submit a comment” below and let us know!
Back to The Near Side
I havent jumped before, but this summer I’m going to try it out on my friend’s horse Tally Ho. Tally is a gorgeous White thoroughbred, and I cant wait to jump even the smallest of cross rails on her! My arabian is too old to competativly jump, so i’m hoping I can take tally to a show. :] Congratz on 3’10”!!!
I’m writing now after reading about Holly’s statement about waiting for Dexter’s abscess to heal. There is a PA company that developed a natural compound of minerals that is embedded into materials and used as a topical solution that accelerates the natural healing process as well as reduce or inhibit pain, swelling and inflammation. I know some trainers who’ve used it as well as many people. One horse in Northern Virginia had a nasty abscess that healed in hardly any time after the material was placed over it. I understand poisons inside the wound wicked out as well.
That is but one case of many. The products have also been used on thousands of people and after considerable epidemiological studies are now available on line. However, the products for large and small animals can be seen at eyeonequinecare.com. I believe some vets are working with these products but many more should give them a try.
Those are my thoughts.
Thank you
i set my recored 1 1/2 months ago at 3 foot 3 even though i could be jumping way higher than 3 foot 3 but 2 years ago i chose to train a green horse know im doing 3 foot 3 with him