This is a picture of one of my students, Victoria, jumping her horse Aladdin. They jumped 4 feet today! That is a big jump, and they have worked very hard to accomplish such a goal. Victoria has been riding several years, but Aladdin is a green horse. Green means that he does not have a lot of training, and he is new to the world of hunter/jumpers. Victoria usually takes three to four lessons a week on him, and they have become quite the team. Most of our lessons include teaching Aladdin how to listen to Vicotoria's aids. Aids are the use of a rider's leg, seat, voice, or body movements in order to effectively communicate with the horse. Aladdin has learned to understand what certain aids mean, and this knowledge is what assisted him and Victoria over this big jump! Our goals for the future are to jump an entire course of big jumps. A course is a series of jumps, usually eight to twelve, jumped consecutively without stopping. Courses are much more challenging than single jumps because the rider must remember where to go next, and the horse has to keep his pace and momentum consistent the whole time.
