Jump!

The ladies in pink enjoying our day with our boys

Yet another lovely warm October day, so Cody & Kristi and Rhio & I decided to play around a little in the arena.  Amid the many distractions of the day (the driveway is being dug up to lay new electrical wiring to the indoor arena), we worked on some trot poles, then decided to try our hand at a little jumping.  I did some jumping in lessons as a kid, but it's been many years and it was always with a horse that already knew what it was doing.  As far as I know, Rhio has never been pointed at a jump in his life!

We started with a very low cross rail and he was able to pretty much just trot right over it.

Our first attempt - just taking it in stride. 

We raised it a few notches total, in increments, and he had to actually jump it by the end.  He seemed willing enough and I thought it was fun, so I'm excited to try it again next week.  I'm sure my jumping form was awful, and I didn't shorten my stirrups so couldn't really do a true 2-point, but we got our feet wet, so to speak, and hopefully will add some small jumps to our repertoire for cross-training.  

I love how balanced he is in this picture.

Ok, yes, he knocked the rails and they're falling down here, but, look - we're jumping!