The hour with Yogi was brilliant. He started off with Harry and positioned a line of barrels for him to jump and then a spread fence which he gradually made bigger and wider. The strides between the barrel and the fence were made deliberately difficult so that Harry had to really think for himself - very nearly resulting in a crashing fall with Will doing really well to stay on board. Although Harry made some howling mistakes it was exciting to see him working it out and learning how to think for himself. Will was told to try and keep his weight behind the action, because as soon as he got in front of him at the fence Harry would put down (take another stride) because of the weight over his shoulders. He was also told to try to resist organising him a long way before the fence as it would distract Harry and he would then completely rely on the jockey rather than think for himself - Yogi was really impressed with Harry's jumping skills and thought that if we put what Will had learnt into practice and trusted Harry more (not easy!) then they would get around safely and win more races.
He then went on to Frog, who was a totally different character, she found the little poles rather a waste of time when she could just kick them out of the way and was rather disdainful about the whole thing. She ended up having a bit more respect after she landed with her back legs between the spread and it clearly hurt - she then threw her toys out of the pram and refused to go near them, dispatching Will in the process. At this point Yogi was absolutely brilliant at not getting into a battle with her but tricking her into jumping them again by taking them away, making Will ride up and down where they were and then quickly putting them back again before she realised. Before she knew it, she was jumping again, this time with a lot more respect for the fences.
It was great to watch a 'master at work' and he seemed to really enjoy the session and made us promise to contact him as soon as they had run to let him know how they had got on. Will was really excited about what he had learnt and now has more confidence in Harry. Hopefully a good investment...
