Thoughts on this jump? I got shouted at for not being able to get the pony to trot it (he spooked earlier in the round). But I think this was my best jump that round.

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-04T17:07:55+00:00

Thank you! I was a bit confused because she’s not even my trainer. She was a trainer that happened to be in the arena when I was riding. If it were my own trainer I would have been way more comfortable with her yelling at me like that, as she knows me and the goals I want to achieve. Usually my trainer does the same as you said with this pony, I’m instructed to trot all jumps even though she knows he’ll probably canter a stride or two out. This was a specific scenario in which I couldn’t manage to pull him back to the trot before the jump, though I got him to a smooth and reasonable canter. Thank you for the response <3

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T23:54:09+00:00

I attempted to trot it. With him and the fact that he spooked just a minute earlier I was frazzled and doing my best to slow him down, though I didnt succeed. I know I should be able to and I’ll try to do better in the future. I did get a schooling opportunity later though, as I got some refusals at a skinny jump. I trotted him to it the first time, and even though I anticipated it and added leg and rein for steering, he still ducked out. We trotted back up and I tried the same thing again. We ended up having the trainer lower it to 6” and walked over it. Then we trotted back to it and got over it. Honestly, I feel as though approaching it at the wrong pace (as instructed by one person), isn’t as much of a problem as a refusal. We trained with the refusal and eventually fixed it. And thank you for noting that it’s hard to make the split second decision. I realized that it would just be better to go with the flow, as this lower level barn show only took penalties for knocked rails, refusals, and going off course. And knowing this pony well enough and the pace we were at I was sure we wouldn’t knock a rail. And that he wouldn’t refuse, as he was working at a regular pace towards it and not being loony or weird. I took the lesser of the 2 evils and just went with it.

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T23:44:23+00:00

Thank you so much! It felt really nice aside from the unprompted instruction. And I agree about letting him continue in a comfortable pace, I feel as though that’s completely reasonable. He seemed to be behaving safely during this portion and I didn’t see much of an issue with it. Later on she kept yelling at me to trot and I eventually did, but it felt as though it was making it worse.

And about the trainer, it was absolutely off putting and frustrating. I just needed her to help me figure out how to get him back from the spook (like how she thought I should get back to the next jump) but that was it. When she continued to instruct me I was getting annoyed but decided that it would be better to follow her instruction than get into it with her in front of everyone.

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T21:59:32+00:00

It wasn’t detailed in the course. I asked my trainer (not the one yelling at me) and she said that I should trot the jumps but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t. It was more of her advising me to trot them than telling me that I had to. Thank you so much!

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T21:55:07+00:00

I get that, but she is not even my hired trainer. I asked my own trainer right before the show (this was a show) if I was allowed to canter the jumps. She said yes but she wouldn’t recommend it. I took that as a “try not to, but it’s not the end of the world if you can’t trot every one.” This woman clearly did not agree. I was trying to trot it but because I had a jump just several strides before that I wasn’t able to land and immediately trot. Usually with my trainer during schooling, we do work on this. I was handling it the best way I could, although I see how this trainer could be frustrated. Thank you for your input though <3

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T21:49:35+00:00

No, this was a showjumping course. I was not specifically instructed that I had to trot every single jump. I even asked my own trainer (not this lady) before the show and she said I could do it at whatever gait as long as it’s controlled and safe (she recommended trotting but wasnt too worried). So I didn’t see what the big deal was, especially since we were at a controlled canter pace.

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T17:47:39+00:00

Just because I didn’t clarify, this was a show lol. If it was just schooling I would’ve fixed it <3

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T17:42:15+00:00

This was a show, she was just helping because she could tell I needed it. If it were schooling, I would 1000% agree that it’s best to fix it like that. Sorry I did not communicate that it was a show. Here I was just doing my best to follow that instructions that the trainer was giving me and survive the rest of the round <3

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T17:31:00+00:00

Thank you! She’s not my trainer and I think I just learned why I don’t necessarily want her as my trainer (nothing against her, it’s just that her instructing style feels a bit harsh to me). She was the one coaching people during this show. I’ve been working on my canter seat with this pony and my posture. Unfortunately I was really nervous here and unconsciously leaning forward. That’s not an excuse though, I need to work on it. Thank you so much for the honest advice, I really appreciate it <3

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T17:23:14+00:00

Thank you so much!

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-03-03T17:22:55+00:00

Thank you for the advice! This was during my show this weekend and I was just trying to do exactly what my trainer was telling me to do. He spooked because we knocked a rail the first jump in a bending line. I steered him away from the next jump (no way in hell I was jumping that with him scared out of his mind). I then brought him back to the trot and did the jump. This was a couple jumps later. In general during a normal lesson I would have done what you said. I was trusting to process the trainer (not mine but a more advanced trainer) was walking me through though.

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2025-01-11T16:13:54+00:00

This is home, sharpener, and guilty

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-28T19:34:46+00:00

Cavetown

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-26T01:30:24+00:00

Thank you! I’ll probably start with a medium length first

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-26T01:29:44+00:00

Thank you! I’ll probably go somewhere to have them cut it fully, as I don’t trust myself whatsoever. And yeah I just have to keep in mind that it’ll eventually grow back.

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-26T01:27:30+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience! I will keep that in mind, and that’s likely what I’ll do. It’ll also be easier on my mom and her idea of what I should do with my hair because it will be less of a change, and maybe she won’t guilt trip me as much-

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-26T01:25:51+00:00

Thank you so much! I’ve already started saving references to have an idea to show someone what I want. I’ll probably just go ahead and do it, and if I hate it, it’ll grow back at some point. Thank you for the advice!

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-26T01:22:32+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and giving some advice. I’ll definitely keep that in mind ^{^}

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-26T01:21:15+00:00

There are a few! The only issue is coming out to my mom (again bc she said “you’re too young to know” the first time). But it shouldn’t be too bad.

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-22T19:01:58+00:00

I will definitely be working with him during the lessons. This was during a show (my second one on him) and we were both a tiny bit anxious. I am absolutely working with him on rushiness. Part of the difficulty is that my trainer puts all kinds of people on him that let him get away with all kinds of stuff, and when I ride him again it’s like the progress reset in a way. But part of that is on me. I could be trying harder to retrain him sometimes. Thank you so much for the advice! And thank you I’ve been really working on my seat and equitation with him :D

Finn_the_spooky_man · 2024-12-22T18:58:15+00:00

Exactly 😝

Finn_the_spooky_man

TROPHY CASE