Learning Lots (including how to fly!)

29 September 2015

Yes, that is a picture of Zipper jumping so big that my head didn't fit in the photo. Yep. Ridiculous- but exciting, at the same time; you could photoshop a Badminton fence in there. It bodes well!

So we have taken Zipper up to Novice this month, which has been mostly a positive step (leap!). Our first stop was Gatcombe, where he did a sweet test (36- 'sideways steps, mum?!'), had one down SJ ('you wanted me to concentrate & not look at the crowd?') and a mostly positive experience XC; technically we were eliminated (although I made the mistake of completing, because I thought you were eliminated after 4 refusals..not 3), but he jumped so positively. He simply had some green moments, where he lacked concentration & was surprised by a huge/gappy trakehner off of a dodgy line. However, he came away positively- despite what it said on the board. I'm approaching the situation with a 'Growth Mindset' (Carol Dweck- genius), which makes me see Zipper's progress and learning in a much more positive way. We didn't want to step down to BE100 again after this, because he's been going clear & isn't challenged by the courses. However, South of England Novice was a much more positive experience! A 38 dressage (still plenty to improve on, but I'll settle for that for now!), 2 down in very deep going & then a 20 XC; we paused for too long at a drop, which counted as a refusal. I'm gutted not to have come away with a clear, because he jumped so well; I was just coming in far too slowly to the drop combination- he normally leaps in to space, so I made the decision to come in really cautiously... so I stayed on... but alas, I needed to kick on a bit more! 

We're off to Calmsden & Aldon Novices next month, so the exciting learning curve continues!