A time when you have been pleasantly suprised by your horse?

[xXGemblesXx]

As title really!

Would love to hear your stories about a time when you have expected everything to go wrong and its turned out fine!

 

[Lobelia_Overhill]

Not with Don (current horse) but with my old ponio, I rode her in a Dressage comp at the riding school - ordinarily she'd just do her own thing and ignore me - gawd knows what possessed me to put her in for the Dressage! To my utter astonishment (and I heard at least one person watching comment!) she walked up the centre line, halted bang on X stood while I saluted, walked on, and did everything bang on the marker, didn't cut the corners, or go sideways down the long sides! I can still remember it to this day and it was over 25 years ago!

Unfortunately the riding instructor who thought I was a moron who couldn't ride was judging and she was horribly harsh

 

[Ezme]

We did a play of Lorna Doone at work, involved all the staff and was a totaly shambles but fun to do, and we borrowed the bemish carriage from the collection as it was in working order and looks like a stagecoach. Anyway, we put out best pair in it, drove around, went up to the mill which is on a steep hill and turned around, not massivly tight and the pole snapped there and then hitting barney, who was a bit on his toes in those days, hard. Anyway you'd expect them to charge down the hill over the steep drop of 15ft into the midden yard but they didn't. (those who don't know, no pole = no stearing at all) They stopped without a word and sat on thier breeching holding back over a tonne of coach untill we could chock it and get them out. Absolute legends!

 

[scotsmare]

I'm always pleasantly surprised if I get to the end of a day without being flattened by them

 

[dwi]

D worked beautifully in the school tonight despite the helpful YO lighting a bonfire at C and taking his mini tractor to cut the hedge. No doubt she'll still have a good old gawp at the judges car in the dressage on Saturday but for one night at least it was nice to have a non-spooky horse.

 

[ladybones]

I was pleasently surprised just the other day, we took our little home bred 2yr old for her first outing, not to compete but just to let her see things and get used to the atmosphere in prep for her first in hand comp on wednesday, i was very worried about each step of the outing.. would she load? would she go bananas at the sight of all the other horse (she is very spooky)?
To my total amazment, she loaded like an old pro.. if a little confused about standing sideways, and apart from some calling for her mates she was very calm and collected all day, we were even aloud to trot around the ring inbetween classes! i was a very proud mummy indeed!

 

[Ziggy_]

I was pleasantly surprised by my horse two years ago; well she wasn't even my horse then - I'd put a deposit on her and it was actually this little incident that sealed the deal and made me positive I was having her!

I'd decided to ride her in the school while a few others went out for a hack and one of the girls, who was about 12, (a livery at the yard) was pestering me to have a little go on her. As one of the less trustworthy dealer horses no one but the staff were allowed to ride her, but given that she was half mine I caved in and let the girl have a little ride. In hindsight, not a great idea, but never mind.

Anyway, one of the horses out hacking unfortunately did a runner and ditched its rider. The other two took off aswell and all three came galloping up the drive with one of the riders screaming her head off. All the horses in the fields went nuts, and the newest arrival, a 17.2hh warmblood went ballistic in the stable and ended up with both her front legs over the door

And what did my horse, with a (by this point panicking) twelve year old on her back do?

Stopped, of her own accord, and stood there on a loose rein, calm as anything, surveying the carnage. Anyone who knows my horse knows that a) she doesn't do standing still and b) she uses any excuse to have a good hooley!

Was very pleasantly surprised, and slightly gutted that she'd probably never do the same thing and look after me the way she did that kid!

 

[charliesarmy]

When I went to do foal check at 3:45 on sunday morning only to find stealth horse had been born cleaned up and was drinking....yep I'd only been on foal watch for 16 days only to miss it

 

[emma69]

Horses constantly surprised me when I taught riding - we had ponies who shifted their unbalanced riders back into the saddle with a little jerk, horses who after they lost their rider xc, stopped dead and turned around as if to say 'er, where did you go' instead of escaping off over the horizon, horses who trotted calmly back from dumping their riders in the woods - on one occassion they stopped and waited at the road (one of our liveries was in their car and saw it!) but my biggest surprise was when I was SJ schooling outside on my nutter, who thought wheelie bins were evil monsters, who heard them shooting pheasants and figured they had caught him somewhere around his bum, and should my mobile ring in his vicinity you would think it was attached to electrodes on his willy, and a couple of fighter jets flew what seemed like no more than 50 feet straight over our heads, you could see the pilots, and he didn't bat an eyelid. 15 mintues later, the shark's teeth filler on the other hand....