Roscoe's Intro to Cross Country

In October Roscoe and I went to a Stephen Bradley cross country clinic at Loch Moy. It was a windy day full of stops, hops, success and ended with a bang.

"Who put this jump in a field???"

"Fine I will go over"

Tail Monster makes an appearance

I really had to keep Roscoe straight and in front of my leg. We stayed with the smallest jumps to keep Roscoe in a comfortable range. Surprisingly we kept up with the other three in our group.

"Nope, they are pony eating monsters in there"

 The only thing Roscoe refused to do was the water. Which since he has been hydrophobic since birth was not surprising.

"Uh there is a big hole over there and a big head right there"

Keeping an eye on that big head

My favorite jump

We did the up bank which was really fun. Roscoe was the little one in the group so he jumped up sooner than the others.

Stopping to smell the flowers

Roscoe started to get tired. I could tell because he would run out rather than just stop. The session was 1.5 hours and with the hilly terrain it made for a tough balancing work out.

"No way, not happening"

"Okay fine"

He ran out of this one too. Uphill is hard

Lazy downhill jump

Towards the end we got to do a course. All the jumps were ones we had worked over except the last one, but it was friendly. Roscoe and I had to go the long way around the water since he still refused to cross. We trotted the first jump which was one of my favorites and then I let him canter the next.

We had a choice between the bank and a jump with greenery. I chose the bank because Roscoe liked it better than the other jump. Well this is where we went out with a bang. He jumped up and then he bucked.

And just like the other times I have come off him, my slightly loose girth was my downfall. Literally. I hit hard on the down bank, cracked my helmet and dirtied up my vest. Roscoe took off to explore. I just laughed, not even shaken. Stephen told Peggy he did not see that coming. Stephen came and picked me up and we followed Roscoe on a parallel track. He ended up over by the trailers and came right to me. I got back on and made our way back to the group. Roscoe was so tired after his jaunt. Stephen just had me do a little jump up and downhill before we let him be done.

Overall he was a star and I was so happy back on a cross country course. I really don't care if he never gets very far as long as we both have fun. I was so glad that we did not get the "why are you here" look from anyone.
And here is the video, not edited, so enjoy Mom's commentary and occasional shots of grass.
Oh and the commentary about my saddle pad, we did fix it and that is why my girth was loose.