Lucas

[maria]

Nice goin'! Lately Connor has been getting a little excited when we canter to lol! And I know what you mean about the rythem thing except with Connor it's the trot!

p.s. LOVE your new sig

[Jasmine]

Thanks Yeah I think all the ponies are getting spring fever lol.

I went out and lunged Lucas today. My side reins don't have enough holes punched in them and Lucas can get his head up in the air to avoid the contact. So Liz lent me hers until I can fix mine. Those few extra holes made quite the difference! Lucas was stretching down a lot more and would actually stay round at all three gaits;with my side reins his head would come right up at the canter. On the lunge I had Lucas do lots of transitions.

When I was done lunging I hopped on for a few minutes and practiced getting Lucas to round at the walk and trot. My ride ended up being cut short because it was getting really stormy out and my mom wanted me to come home. I had another really good ride

[Jasmine]

I had a jumping lesson on Saturday. One of my better jumping lesson yet actually. Lucas was excellent and I really liked the exercise we did in my lesson, I had a lot of fun!

Liz set up a lot of jumps on the diagonal and we made a little course out them. I pretty much zig zagged across the arena. Lucas was really attentive, he was a lot easier to balance than he normally is and he didn't take a look at any of the fences haha. When we switched directions Lucas switched would usually switch his lead (with the help of a little open rein of course .) Even if he landed on the wrong lead we have our simple changes down to an art form now lol.

Here's a video of my lesson:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6gmru3DMkY

[Erin ♥]

You look great and so does Lucass! You two are so good together! I had a really good lesson Saturday too

[Jasmine]

Thank You
Glad to hear you had a good lesson. Good lessons are always... well good lol.

[Jasmine]

I started practicing for the dressage schooling show today. After warming up at walk I trotted around and tried to get Lucas to round a bit. Lucas wasn't perfectly round by no means but he was stretching down and flexing so I was happy with that. Then I schooled some figures in the training tests. I had no one to call out my test so I couldn't practice the full test. Other than not being able to do my full test I had a really good ride

[happilyeverafter]

Guess you'll just have to start memorizing, Jasmine

haha just kidding.
Lucas is a babe. Make sure to get lots of pictures at the schooling show! If you're showing dressage this summer, I'll call for you... if you want!

[Jasmine]

Ha ha I really do though. I think my parent's are going to video tape my tests so I'll probably post them. Thanks for the offer, if I show I'll definitely take you up on it!

I went out to the barn and practiced my tests again. Today was my first run through of the complete tests. The first couple run through were a bit rough (as expected) but by the end of my ride the tests were a bit easier. It was a little tricky at first to figure out where to go. Currently there are no letters on the walls of the arena. Shannyn is in the process of re-painting the arena and the letters won't be done for another day or so.

Lucas and I are out of our element doing this. We look like a hunter horse and rider trying to do dressage.. which is the truth lol. The show will be fun though, I'm looking forward to it.

[Jasmine]

Lucas and I went in the NADA schooling show today. Lucas was a very good boy and once I got over my show nerves I had a great time. Here's how we did in our classes:

Training Test #2: I got a score of 67.8% and came in 2nd place
Training Test #3: I got a score of 67.6% and came in 1st place
Training test #4: I got a score of 66.8% and came in 1st place

Lucas and I ended up getting Training Level highpoint. I was pleasantly surprised how well we did. Especially the score of our first test considering I didn't get to warm-up (the warm-up ring was apparently a death trap for horses... at least that's what Lucas thought.) I'm really really happy about how today went . Not too shabby for a hunter rider and horse lol.

[stacey]

wow!! Good job Jasmine !!

[happilyeverafter]

Well done Jasmine. Those are good scores Congrats on the high point!

[Jasmine]

Thanks Guys
Yeah I was really surprised with my scores. I was aiming to get low 60's so I was really happy when I got my actual scores back!

[Jasmine]

I went out for a ride this evening. Lucas must have been having a good day because he was excellent, the best he's been in a while! When I got on he was very relaxed. He was pushing from his hind end and taking nice long steps instead of fast choppy ones. It only took me a couple of minutes to get him to round and go in a frame.

My dad had set up a couple of jumps going across different diagonals. I looped back and fourth jumping those jumps. I cantering at an even pace and practiced getting Lucas to switch his lead over the fence. He was pretty good with switching his leads. We started with the jumps at only 2' but gradually raised them to 2'9. Lucas was great and I had a really good ride

[Jasmine]

I had a really good lesson this evening. I worked on getting Lucas to round and go in a frame. For the first little bit Liz had me bend Lucas to the outside for a few strides, straighten his neck, then bend him to the inside for a few strides. This exercise got Lucas to relax his jaw. I didn't do this exercise by seeing sawing his mouth, I'd actually switch the bend. So when Lucas was bent to the outside I used my actual inside rein as my "outside rein" (so I kept a steady contact on that rein), I used my outside rein as my "inside" rein (so I used that rein to ask for flexion) and I used my outside leg as my "inside" leg. This exercise really loosened Lucas up.

So after 15 minutes of "discussing" and figuring out what buttons to press to get Lucas to round I finally figure it out. I had Lucas rounding and in a frame in walk and trot both directions. I was so happy when I figured it out. 3 months of hard work and I finally got it!!! Then I tried it at the canter. It was a lot harder but I did get a couple of good strides of canter so I was happy with that. I was really, really tired after my lesson but it was worth it.

[Jasmine]

Haven't updated this in a few days. I went out and rode Lucas today. It was beautiful out and our outdoor arena is clear of snow now so I rode outdoors. The first 30 minutes of my ride was a little rough. Lucas wasn't really focused, he was too occupied spooking at all the horse eating things in the outdoor

Once he relaxed a bit he was much better. It took a little bit of discussing, counter flexing and stretching but Lucas finally gave in his jaw. Once he did that things just went from there. He stayed round and in a frame w/t/c both directions and was pretty easy to keep round all three gates. The last 30 minutes of my ride were excellent, I was really pleased with my pony