Lesson with H

To finish off our Memorial Day weekend, I hauled 1.5 hours way for a cross country lesson with H.  It is at the facility of my next show so I figured it would be a great way to practice to ensure we are 100% for our next Novice Horse Trial!

SO and I got there 30 minutes before the lesson and got tacked up, we saw H wayyyyy out in a field giving a lesson so we meandered over to one of the fields to warm up.

Gallop!

After going over some small logs, we went over some Novice fences and still we waited.

 And waited.

Eventually H came over, 30 mins after our lesson start time.  She also brought some other riders and added 3 people to my lesson.  Uhhh, okay?  They are all going novice this upcoming weekend and so she was squeezing them in.

Cremello's don't care about no water

 We went over everything she pointed us to, the only real issue we had was over the 3rd fence she had us go over.  It was an airy square oxer and despite applying leg, he kept sucking back at the jump.  He jumped it each time, despite coming to almost a standstill the first time, and it took 4 tries to get him to jump it correctly.

Novice ditch baby!

We were almost done when we pointed towards a log pile that may have been a training level jump, the bigger issue was there was literally a tractor about 15 feet behind us "chasing" us down on the road (a fence separated the field from the road).  We got to the jump and TWH had a runout :-(  I gave him several tugs and kicks but wasn't super mean about it like I have been in the past, I probably should have circled and let the tractor go by instead of just going for it.

At our next attempt, TWH didn't even think of running out and jumped it like it was no big deal.

 We finished up the lesson in a little under an hour and walked back to the trailer.  H said she would be at the show, she really wanted to see how we were doing as she had heard about our last show already.  I told her I probably didn't need a lesson but would appreciate any feedback she had about the show at our next lesson.

I got TWH all rinsed off, put some liniment on, wrapped him up and headed home.  I am again torn about how to proceed with H.  I really like her and her lessons with App were very beneficial.  The problem I am running into now is that I get absolutely nothing out of my lessons on TWH.  I tried really hard and can't think of anything that was helpful in this lesson.  Nothing!  She didn't comment/fix/nit pick my position (and I have these pics to prove I wasn't perfect!!!!) which is something I am always asking her to do.  I have been able to prove through pictures that I am no longer yanking on his face over fences (win!) but I still tend to look AT his ears instead of through them, I want her to remind me to quit that crap!  I am torn.  I am considering trying a new instructor for xc just to see if I get anything more out of it.  I can't possibly be doing well enough that I don't need lessons right?

Our next show is this upcoming Sunday, I haven't ridden as much dressage as I would have preferred BUT I am now solidly in the 5 minute mark for 2 point so I am MUCH more confident that I will be a better rider over fences.  Today and tomorrow is dressage work, Friday is stadium and Saturday is dressage, course walk, bathe, pack and get ready to go.  Wish us luck!