MOUNTAIN ROCK! What an incredible venue!
Honestly cannot compliment the owners of this venue enough, as well as Megan who put together such an incredible course for horses and riders of every level.
Loading Max onto the box with Jubilate first thing in the morning took some time and bribery but we did it! Very grateful to be able to take Max on his first outing with one of his buddies – Jubes.
He was an absolute superstar! Max did duck out at a couple jumps, especially in the warm up but with patience we made it over every jump. We were only doing the 40cm but big enough for my little man’s first jumping outing.
When I walked the course with Megan and Belinda, there were definitely a few jumps that I wasn’t sure about (unfortunately I don’t have any photos from the day), one of them was an upright with a couple of hay bales under it. I was convinced that we weren’t going to be doing that jump – we’d had a not so brilliant experience the week before where Max REFUSED to go over a jump which had fillers. But, when the time came, Max didn’t bat an eyelid at the haybales and flew right over them and then over the next and the next!
Overall, an absolute amazing day!
MISTY MORN! Some cross country practice!
Perfect weather … for those of you who don’t know me – I am very much a fair weather rider and will always choose a cooler day over the blazing sun. I would actually choose a light rain over the heat any day!
Anyway, I joined Brendan and Megan at Misty Morn to take our ‘ponies’ over some x-country jumps. This was Max’s second outing and once again he was incredible, he takes everything in his stride. When we arrived that morning, there was a donkey – which I wasn’t sure would go down well and we just walked right past it. I don’t have to worry about him being spooky and stupid at different venues – which I am forever grateful for!
Back to the jumping! With Megan and Viber as our lead, we went over some of our first logs. We tried a couple other scarier fences – which did not happen, but because Max is still so young, we weren’t going to push him.
Overall it was an incredible confidence building morning.
Until next time xx
Erin & Max
From right to left; Brendan on Shrimpy, Max and I & Megan on Viber.
Walking around the course, having a look at all the terrifying jumps.
Riders should always wear a body protector when doing x-country jumps, even when practicing. They are awfully uncomfortable but very necessary.
Flying over our first log.
A little less dramatic over the second log.
Making extra sure that we do not touch the log!
Ending on a good note!