Morrigan_Lady
Well-Known Member
Thought Id post in here, as more of you will prob remember Archies story!!.
For those of you who dont know, basically he was written off xmas before last and was due to be PTS, so its amazing that he's even being ridden again let alone going to parties!!!
Its been just over two years since Arch has been to any sort of competition, so I decided to take him to MKEC to do the two walk and trot tests. I thought it would be a good starting point for him, as its less hectic than show jumping and knowing how mental he can be I didnt want to blow his brains (or kill myself) on his first outing.
Our first time was 9.56am, so I got there just before 9am to allow him plenty of time to have a look at things and calm himself. Tracy walked him for me while I got dressed, then we put the tack on and Tracy walked him again so help get his back down before I got on. Que silence as I went to mount!!! Those of you that know Arch will know how cold backed and sensitive he can be, so if your still on after the first 5 minutes youll be fine!!! He did feel a little tense when I was fist on, so I didnt put any leg on and just kept him on a nice long rein and tried to keep him nice a relaxed.
He warmed up really well, only jumping the once at a pigeon!! He felt nice a relaxed when it was our turn to go in. Ive not been to the event centre for ages and had forgotten how dark and uninviting that indoor area was! I was half expecting Arch to refuse to go through the doors and Id have to get a lead in, but he was fine. Ive been working on confidence building with him all week and I think it paid off, as he walked through the doors into the darkness quite happily!
I wondered about in the arena while waiting for the bell to go and theres some new mirrors down one end that Arch pood himself at!! He would NOT go into that corner!!!
We started the test and Arch was very tense and nervous, spooking at pretty much everything, although I have to say he did cope exceptionally well with the white marker boards on the floor!! We managed to get to the end of the test and boy was I relieved!
We ended on 51.30% which I didnt actually thing was THAT bad, all things considered!! AND believe it or not, it wasnt the worst score!
We then had about an hour till our next class, so we put Arch back on the box and got a cuppu. I watched a few others do tests and pretty much everything had a bit of a spook. That indoor school is not great for young or nervous horses, the sun light comes through onto the floor and there are gaps along the long side which made a lot of horses spook, so I was really quite pleased Arch didnt through me off!
I warmed him up for the next class and he felt fine, very relaxed and going nice and forward. So off we went for our test. Again, I walked him round the arena and made a point of taking him to corner is crapped himself at last time!! He was fine this time, MUCH more confident and didnt spook at a thing.
The bell went and off we went, he went MUCH better (I never thought Id hear myself say this, but I actually really enjoyed it!!) I came out of the ring with a big smile on my face and a big cuddle for the Archmister!!
We got our sheets and had a score of 60.87%, YAY. Big improvement on the previous test and some really nice comments from the judge. We only just missed being in 6th place!!
So all in all a very successful day, Arch didnt freak out too much, I didnt fall off and Abby managed to call both my tests perfectly despite still being drunk for the night before!!
Big cuppa and cookies if you got to the end!!
For those of you who dont know, basically he was written off xmas before last and was due to be PTS, so its amazing that he's even being ridden again let alone going to parties!!!
Its been just over two years since Arch has been to any sort of competition, so I decided to take him to MKEC to do the two walk and trot tests. I thought it would be a good starting point for him, as its less hectic than show jumping and knowing how mental he can be I didnt want to blow his brains (or kill myself) on his first outing.
Our first time was 9.56am, so I got there just before 9am to allow him plenty of time to have a look at things and calm himself. Tracy walked him for me while I got dressed, then we put the tack on and Tracy walked him again so help get his back down before I got on. Que silence as I went to mount!!! Those of you that know Arch will know how cold backed and sensitive he can be, so if your still on after the first 5 minutes youll be fine!!! He did feel a little tense when I was fist on, so I didnt put any leg on and just kept him on a nice long rein and tried to keep him nice a relaxed.
He warmed up really well, only jumping the once at a pigeon!! He felt nice a relaxed when it was our turn to go in. Ive not been to the event centre for ages and had forgotten how dark and uninviting that indoor area was! I was half expecting Arch to refuse to go through the doors and Id have to get a lead in, but he was fine. Ive been working on confidence building with him all week and I think it paid off, as he walked through the doors into the darkness quite happily!
I wondered about in the arena while waiting for the bell to go and theres some new mirrors down one end that Arch pood himself at!! He would NOT go into that corner!!!
We started the test and Arch was very tense and nervous, spooking at pretty much everything, although I have to say he did cope exceptionally well with the white marker boards on the floor!! We managed to get to the end of the test and boy was I relieved!
We ended on 51.30% which I didnt actually thing was THAT bad, all things considered!! AND believe it or not, it wasnt the worst score!
We then had about an hour till our next class, so we put Arch back on the box and got a cuppu. I watched a few others do tests and pretty much everything had a bit of a spook. That indoor school is not great for young or nervous horses, the sun light comes through onto the floor and there are gaps along the long side which made a lot of horses spook, so I was really quite pleased Arch didnt through me off!
I warmed him up for the next class and he felt fine, very relaxed and going nice and forward. So off we went for our test. Again, I walked him round the arena and made a point of taking him to corner is crapped himself at last time!! He was fine this time, MUCH more confident and didnt spook at a thing.
The bell went and off we went, he went MUCH better (I never thought Id hear myself say this, but I actually really enjoyed it!!) I came out of the ring with a big smile on my face and a big cuddle for the Archmister!!
We got our sheets and had a score of 60.87%, YAY. Big improvement on the previous test and some really nice comments from the judge. We only just missed being in 6th place!!
So all in all a very successful day, Arch didnt freak out too much, I didnt fall off and Abby managed to call both my tests perfectly despite still being drunk for the night before!!
Big cuppa and cookies if you got to the end!!
I have one that the vets nearly gave up on a year ago and he has spent the last 11 months in the field enjoying himself - if I can ever ride him again, let along take him to a show I know how happy I would be! 
