Sarah started taking Kai over some jumps, and we soon realized he knew way more about this than either of us! He's also quite convinced that anything under three feet is very boring, and he either won't jump it, or will jump it like a five foot oxer!
We also went to our first show on the 25th, and it went pretty well overall. Our warmup was the first time I had ridden Kai outside, and it was also the best he had ever been for me. He was right with me, consistently. Unfortunately, this all fell apart once we went to the indoor for the actual show! It was a very strange arena with lots of light bouncing around, and I didn't like it much more than Kai. Sarah and I both rode Kai in hunt seat classes, and took three sixth places and one fifth place between us. I also did both intro tests, and came very close to scratching after the first one. 
The judge convinced me to ride the second test, and we improved from a 39.5% to a 50%. And Kai's headtossing was so bad the poor girls handing out ribbons were scared to go near him!
The show really solidified in my mind how much help Kai and I needed, so I asked to take a lesson with Shelby Blades. She helped me out at the show, and we also went to see her barn after we started thinking about moving. The lesson was FABULOUS. She nailed every problem we had, and even better - nailed a solution. By the end of only one lesson, we had almost zero headtossing. That, followed by the barn owner overstepping some bounds later that week, prompted us finally move Kai and Jazzy to a new place (Shelby's) on the 31st.
Video!
Trotting poles
Jumping
Jumping
Jumping
Jumping
Jumping
Jumping 3'
Jumping 3'
Sarah started taking Kai over some jumps, and we soon realized he knew way more about this than either of us! He's also quite convinced that anything under three feet is very boring, and he either won't jump it, or will jump it like a five foot oxer!
The judge convinced me to ride the second test, and we improved from a 39.5% to a 50%. And Kai's headtossing was so bad the poor girls handing out ribbons were scared to go near him!
Video!