coreteam1
Well-Known Member
I travelled the distance to the Area Festival at Sheepgate on Saturday and was really looking forward to it.
Arrived, warmed up and Otto felt lovely. He was a tiny bit spooky to start with in the indoor school but soon relaxed. Mirrors one end and the constant traffic of people coming in and out at the other end didn't bother him as much as I thought it might have. Oh yeh, there was the initial shock of him seeing himself in the mirrors and realizing again that he's a horse
It was then 10 minutes before our test so we ventured to the outdoor arena where he continued to be responsive, in front of the leg and most importantly behaving himself although he seemed to be getting a little bit stressed as there were a few flies around! So out came the ears.
We were called to the Arena and that's where it all went pear shaped!!!!! Otto saw the line of conifers that surround the large outdoor arena, with a third arena the other side of the trees. HOWEVER it wasn't the conifers he was looking it, it was the legs of the horse in the other arena which could be seen clearly below the neatly pruned tree line!!!! Otto couldn't quite get his head around the fact that these legs had no body attached to them! He spooked, span, and did a fast leg yield from one end to the other all before the bell rang. He almost bolted down the centre line and stopped dead, raised his head and stood like a statue whilst I tried to coax him into some sort of walk.
As my daughter continued to read the test and I could be heard muttering words like
'Jesus' and oh my goodness!! (my daughter laughed as she told me later!
We couldn't even do a simple working trot around a 20 meter circle so I raised my hand is disgust at being the worlds MOST humiliated dressage rider and hung my head in shame, only to hear the judge say ''carry on dear, it will be for the best''
So I struggled through the last parts whilst riding a scared 17.2 wilder beast with an ever growing audience!!!
The Pet Plan test was 'ever so' slightly better in the fact that we actually did all the necessary moves, however crude and awful they might have been.
'Relax Me' powders I bought last week....As useful as a Chocolate Teapot!!!!!!
What am I going to do with this spooky boy??? Any help gratefully received and taken note of. Surely I can't be the only one who rides such a spooky ''I've never seen the world before, lets run for it'' horse?? so what can I do to help him???
Arrived, warmed up and Otto felt lovely. He was a tiny bit spooky to start with in the indoor school but soon relaxed. Mirrors one end and the constant traffic of people coming in and out at the other end didn't bother him as much as I thought it might have. Oh yeh, there was the initial shock of him seeing himself in the mirrors and realizing again that he's a horse
It was then 10 minutes before our test so we ventured to the outdoor arena where he continued to be responsive, in front of the leg and most importantly behaving himself although he seemed to be getting a little bit stressed as there were a few flies around! So out came the ears.
We were called to the Arena and that's where it all went pear shaped!!!!! Otto saw the line of conifers that surround the large outdoor arena, with a third arena the other side of the trees. HOWEVER it wasn't the conifers he was looking it, it was the legs of the horse in the other arena which could be seen clearly below the neatly pruned tree line!!!! Otto couldn't quite get his head around the fact that these legs had no body attached to them! He spooked, span, and did a fast leg yield from one end to the other all before the bell rang. He almost bolted down the centre line and stopped dead, raised his head and stood like a statue whilst I tried to coax him into some sort of walk.
As my daughter continued to read the test and I could be heard muttering words like
'Jesus' and oh my goodness!! (my daughter laughed as she told me later!
We couldn't even do a simple working trot around a 20 meter circle so I raised my hand is disgust at being the worlds MOST humiliated dressage rider and hung my head in shame, only to hear the judge say ''carry on dear, it will be for the best''
So I struggled through the last parts whilst riding a scared 17.2 wilder beast with an ever growing audience!!!
The Pet Plan test was 'ever so' slightly better in the fact that we actually did all the necessary moves, however crude and awful they might have been.
'Relax Me' powders I bought last week....As useful as a Chocolate Teapot!!!!!!
What am I going to do with this spooky boy??? Any help gratefully received and taken note of. Surely I can't be the only one who rides such a spooky ''I've never seen the world before, lets run for it'' horse?? so what can I do to help him???
)! Sorry, I'm no help am I 
