XC schooling = so much fun

Last Saturday, I got a couple boarders to go with me to a little XC schooling about 7 miles from our barn. It's a big open field with tele poles and logs, a small bank, a water feature (teeny weeny puddle) and they added in some stadiums.

The original idea was to jump 2' since I'm not really prepared to do a full course of 2'6", nor with the kind of spread that goes with that height on course.

But, when we got there, we saw that the organizers were ULTRA conservative in their measure and the 2' course was more like 12-18". The rounds were going in blocks of two hours each and we were there for the 2' timeframe. The good news was:

1. There was hardly anyone there.
2. There was no timing or judging.
3. They didn't care what course we did, or even if we made up our own. 

So, I decided to do the Beg Novice course which included two already set 18" stadiums and one already set for BN 2'3"ish oxer. All the XC fences were 2'-2'3" I would guess. 

I did a tiny warmup in the indoor. Trot one lap left, one lap right. Canter two laps left, two laps right. Jump 2'3" vertical, turn left, again, turn right. Done. 

Did I mention is was SUPER hot and virtually zero breeze? Yeah.

So, then we went on course. I had a barnmate video us.

Video stills:

Jump #3 was the highest/widest with a nice ramp.
I got a little left behind when Sam left long and it's slightly downhill.
He he got strong after, but I got him back after a little zig-zag path to #4. 

The last jump!

We are SUPER tiny as we move away from the camera, but if you are DYING to watch the whole thing, I suggest going directly to the YouTube page, put it on HD if you can and watch full-size. Here's the baby version.

I can't believe we made it all the way around! Keep in mind we typically jump 2-4 jumps in a row at home with an 8 jump course being a big deal. In a regular size arena. We are both conditioned to sprint.

I don't recall hearing Sam having to breathe heavily. Nor did he get heavy in my hands at all, which usually is the first thing that happens at home in the arena when we do a lot of jumps in a row. My legs started screaming after the 10th jump, but I knew there were two left and even my video girl heard me tell Sam after the water, "Only two more jumps, only two more jumps. We can do it, Sam!" HAHA! And we did.

You can tell we come from hunter-land with all our long approaches, haha.

He was really good and except for the long takeoff at #3 - mostly because I don't think he wanted to get near the wooden ramp it had - he had great distances to every other jump.

It was a blast! I felt so great about our ride. I can totally see why XC riders are synonymous with adrenaline junkies. I could see how people could get hooked. For me, it was super fun and I'd go do it again. But it's unlikely I'll become a convert. 

Great summer fun so far and more surprises coming soon ;)