Throwback Thursday: We Jumped The Jumps

... very, very tiny jumps.
Dear Past Self,
Your leg embarrasses me. So does your helmet. And your saddle placement. Horse is cute, tho.
Love,
Future Self
True Story. Before Guinness' body started sliding down the achy slope of old age and decrepitude, we actually did quite a bit of jumping!

When I brought Pig home, the goal was to transition him from a career as an excitable hunter into that of an event horse. I was a rusty IHSA hunter rider, with a childhood of questionable eventing jump instruction behind me. Pig had literally been cross country schooling once in his life. Despite this somewhat-iffy background, I leapt (heh) at my first chance to take Pig over some cross country jumps.


Little did I know, in the short time Guinness had left in his jumping career he would go on to teach me all sorts of things. Including: how to wait for the jump, how to fold at the hip, and how to bravely tackle large fences. He made me into a confident jumper, and allowed me to refine skills I'd never had the chance to truly develop.

While I wish I had photos or video of our more advanced jumping, I'm glad to have these little glimpses into our time jumping together. I can still remember the sticky humidity of that day, the sound of hooves on solid ground, and the smell of the honeysuckle mingling with horse sweat.

Do any of you have moments from the beginning of a journey that stick with you?

Comments

  1. I have tons of childhood memories like that and basically zero media to go with them. Poor Stinker has a very well documented life. I love the gif!

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    1. I'm so glad I've started saving all the documentation of Pig since we started dressage. I love having it around.

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  2. I have two+ years of blog about learning to jump the right way on an amazing old red horse. :-) Love baby pig! He's so weedy and un-hulk-like.

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  3. I love this!! You both were adorable. I wish I had more media of my teenage riding adventures, this is priceless!

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    1. I wish I had video of me doing some events as a kid!

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  4. This week four years ago, Mikey and I were competing in a BN3D. I can still remember the wind on my face in steeplechase and even strategy for some of the XC combinations. I'm so lucky to have a lot of media of Mikey.

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  5. Awwww! Pig jumping! I love his expression! I have some really great photos from the time I spent in NC as a working student when I was 15/16. That was the summer I finally got to ride horses (I was a super small child and only ever allowed to ride all the naughty small things) and I learned how to be very brave!

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    1. So awesome! Bravery is definitely one of the top things to learn!

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  6. sooo neat!!! Pig looks so happy :) I have TONS a moments that stick lol...and im sure many more!

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  7. <3 Pig! I will probably never forget my first time XC schooling. And just about all of Isabel's and my first eventing experiences are documented on the blog, which makes me happy. I only wish I had more from my time in Rochester!!

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    1. The Rochester horses were SO cute. I wish you had more of them too!

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  8. Replies
    1. He's basically George Morris in horse form.

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  9. I think this is why I blog - to make sure I preserve the good/bad/ugly. Everything will be looked back upon at some point, and it'll be cool to see where I've "come from".

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