2yrs & 3months on, my dreams have ended

_daisy_

_daisy_

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Well it was 2yrs & 3months ago since Ebi was retired due to lameness issues. Since then she has been put in foal and produced the best foal ever (I know im biased
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). I decided that the lameness issues were a huge problem so gave my all to natural barefoot trimming on the 18th March this year. Surprisingly Ebi came sound after 4weeks, sound enough to start her riding career again
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. Well with one thing and another I havent got back on her but after Becki's post the other day about getting back on Hannah I really decided to make a push and get back on her. Tonight was<font color="red"> THE </font>night.

Well it didnt go as planned
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. She stood like an angel to be tacked up, let me get on, then jogged off - fine can accept that after such a long time. Then I asked her to come back and see if she would work in a kind of outline (yes I know its a long time since she was ridden but thought id see if she remembered anything) Well she did
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but then she lost it good and proper stylie! The old horse I used to ride was back. Very stuffy, excited and really like a spring coiled too tightly. All she wanted to do was gallop around the field. When I let her trot she would go all of a dozen strides forward then start rodeoing around. She bucked everytime I asked her to go forward, then would behave as though nothing had happened until 5 mins later she kicked off again.
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She has made me realise that I shouldnt bother trying to get her back into work and that I have much more quality in Chantin than I knew. I now realise why I had so many problems getting on with Chantin after I backed her.

The difference between the 2 of them is amazing - yes I know one is a IDxTB and the other is a WB but there is no comparison when it comes to Chantin - she has it all. Ebi is more like a teenagers dream horse - do anything with her where as I want Chantin to become a competition horse. She has the brain of a competition horse, the breeding, the paces, the attitude and most of all she has the looks to go along with it.
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So this is the end of the road for Ebi. No more thoughts of her going back into work. I have done what I always wanted to do, which was getting back on her again after all the heartache she has put me through. So she can rest assured she will be a retired lady who will hopefully start a new life as a broodmare - hoping next year she will be put back into foal to Primitive Star again.

Dont know if mum managed to get her on video rodeoing and messing around but the camera batteries died and she couldnt get the camcorder to work
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Im sorry hun, its sad that it has ended like this. But she sounds like she is a fantastic broodmare; &amp; even though it's not the same as being able to ride them, she sounds like she is a pretty special mare &amp; the fun you will have out of her &amp; her offspring from her performing this job, will over-rule any regretful feelings you have about not being able to ride her.

Best of luck with the foalies xxxx

(NB, sorry about any bad grammar I've lost a contact lens, so my world is a blur!)
 
QR, I've given up trying to reply properly!
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A shame, but at least there's no 'what ifs' now.
You can draw a line under it and know that she's best off retired. Put all your energy and dreams into Chantin.
Good luck with her. X
 
J - she is a very special mare and since coming sound I really thought I could re start where I had to end abruptly - but never mind. At least I know now that it isnt right to bring her back into work. She would be a lot of hard work if I did decide to want to compete her again and really there is no point when everything is stacked against her. I now have Chantin that I have to spend the time on, shes only a baby and I think that maybe it is time to say goodbye to the thoughts of me riding Ebi again and seriously get stuck into Chant
 
totally agree with you Bounty. At least ive got back on her and found out that that is it. Ther is no what ifs which is what I was always going to be wondering. At least her and Sasha can be ladies who do luxury living and do nothing! Next lesson on Chantin is tomorrow so hopefully mum will remember to record the lesson!
Just found some spare batteries - mum did manage to get part of one of her paddies on camera!
 
it is sad when you know your horses 'career' has finished, but always look on the brightside, you'll have lots of beautiful foals
 
Give the poor horse a chance she has not been ridden for over two years- are you honestly expecting her to be all perfect and just how you want her to be the very first time you ride her?
It will take about 6 months of long slow and steady work to build her up properly. She will have no muscle at all,and will be hopelessly unsupple and unfit like ANY horse would be after 2 years in the field so you cant honestly expect her to be perfect the first day you ride her and already asking for an outline as well she wont be strong enough to do that yet- no wonder she threw a paddy plus she was prob just so excited to be ridden again and was having a play !
Sorry if I sound patronising but it seems a shame to write her off so quickly give her a good 3 months walking in straight lines dont ask anything like engagement or contact etc yet for another 6 weeks or so at least.
 
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Give the poor horse a chance she has not been ridden for over two years- are you honestly expecting her to be all perfect and just how you want her to be the very first time you ride her?
It will take about 6 months of long slow and steady work to build her up properly. She will have no muscle at all,and will be hopelessly unsupple and unfit like ANY horse would be after 2 years in the field so you cant honestly expect her to be perfect the first day you ride her and already asking for an outline as well she wont be strong enough to do that yet- no wonder she threw a paddy plus she was prob just so excited to be ridden again and was having a play !
Sorry if I sound patronising but it seems a shame to write her off so quickly give her a good 3 months walking in straight lines dont ask anything like engagement or contact etc yet for another 6 weeks or so at least.

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TBH IMHO id give her more time could she be ridden by someone else who is experienced if you do not have the time? If I asked any of mine to work correctly after such a long break of corse they will object, she hasnt got the muscle to support that work! If she was still like it in 3 months when her muscles begin to devolpe rethink!

IMHO

Haz
 
Forrest,
I didnt expect her to be foot perfect - I expected her to be unfit and stiff etc. I never said that I thought she would go like a dream and that she has turned into the perfect dressage horse over the 2 years that she hasnt been ridden. I also understand that she has gone through quite a lot since being retired, then going through a pregnancy and foaling, so I understand things werent the same as when I last rode her.
To say she is unfit I dont agree with. Ebi has never been a lazy horse and even right up to the last week of her pregnanacy she was galloping around the field as fit as a fiddle. She has mad sessions of maybe 15 minutes when she will just go galloping around the field for no apparent reason. Yes I know that she isnt carrying the extra weight of a rider and tack but what im trying to say is that she doesnt just walk around the field.
Also no muscle - that horse has a neck that is solid muscle. She has never had a neck like it. Her back has muscle tone to it - yes not correct muscle through working but certainly not flabby.
I honestly dont think she was playing. Yes she wouldve loved to go galloping around the field but I thought it was certainly not a good idea.
Maybe I was very nieve in thinking she would be easier to bring back into work than she was but I dont think I have the time to bring her back into work as well as concentrate on my youngster on. I am never going to get where I want to be with Ebi. She is everything a teenager would want as a fun horse but lacks the bit that a competition horse needs. I have said that I wont rush my youngster as I believe maybe this is where Ebi went wrong.
She has numerous issues that are against her. Her main problem is that she was broken, tied down and ridden away in side reins - subsequently she doesnt come through from behind. We bought her as the step up from my old pony and I wasnt interested at the time to concentrate on her flatwork. Looking back I shouldve done but after a few years of getting on with her I started dressage training. Over the years we have had a few instructors/ttrainers that have failed to help Ebi come through and work from behind. Then there is the ringbone problem.
I dont honestly think I can bring my younsgter onto do the dressage I want and start her from fresh too.
I dont know how I can put it down in words but as soon as she started moving I knew from the start that it wasnt meant to be.

There is no way she will be put out on loan due to serious problems we had when we loaned out pony out. I would prefer her never to work again than loan her out.

Maybe this hasnt come over right at all...
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I wasnt asking her to work in a constant outline at all - just seeing if she remembered anything from her past training.
Of course I could get someone experienced to come and work her for me but honestly I might as well put that money into bringing on my youngster. How many people are going to ride for free? apart from kids who dont have their own horses? She isnt a novice ride but I know her too well - I dont think I could trust her with anyone else
 
Fair enough, you have clearly thought it through, id still give her 1 more ride but obviosly that IMO.

Good Luck

Haz
 
You know your horse, remember that!

I got on Hannah after nine months of not being ridden and she stood completely still while I mounted and was a star to ride. I knew I had made the right decision to start riding her again, but I have to admit she felt so stiff compared to Grace!

Any new pics of Willow or Chantin?
 
Well I'm glad Forrest wrote it first but it is what I was going to say I must admit!
It seemed very harsh to expect her to work at all after what she's been through, and especially right from the start. I would have thought it would have been better to have lunged her beforehand in tack for a few days before getting straight on; that to me was utter madness, but you know your horse. Even if a hunter has only been off work for the summer I would still always lunge first; I know someone who didn't and they ended up on life support for months - and this was what you would have called a 'patent safety ride'. No horse is infallible and it doesn't surprise me one bit that she behaved as she did today.
However, I also notice that you say you knew as soon as she moved off so I take that to mean that her action has changed in some way and not for the better. If that is the case, then I can understand completely your reluctance to give her another chance but if it was only that she pratted about with you, then I would suggest you try her again a few times, just for 10 minutes or so in a very relaxed way and see how she goes before you write her off completely; it's far too early to draw conclusions from just today IMHO.
 
I agree with Forrest &amp; MFH, but if you no longer want to ride her it's your decision, I do think you should give her more time to settle back into ridden work, if she usually enjoys being ridden I suggest you find a sharer for her rather than turning her into a field ornament because you want to concentrate on your other horse.
 
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