Eek, new horse?

JenJ

JenJ

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Another ride report that may well deserve its own thread, rather than being stuck in the Diary thread.

So last weekend, L mentioned a new chestnut had come in for selling. He said it'd be perfect for me as he was a big saint. I didn't think much of it, as I'm still hankering after Tom, and after having such a fabulous hack on Tom that day I was happy to wait until they felt I was ready to share Tom.

But today I arrived (after for cycling an hour in the pouring rain) to be told I was riding Rowan. Rowan? Who he? Never heard of him. I wandered outside, and went down to the end box to say hello to Tom, and noticed there was a gorgeous big chestnut next door to him, with a really handsome head. He was tacked up. It then dawned on me that this was Rowan, and was also the 'saint' that L had mentioned.

I had a lesson with C for the first time, and it was really quite good. She didn't really know what I'd done in previous lessons, but I mentioned I wanted to learn how to ride a horse into an outline, but felt it was way beyond me. So she decided to prove that I could do it. And I could. On the beautiful Rowan anyway. Sometimes. Really using my legs and seat as well, rather than sawing at his mouth. And I actually felt the difference in his back. Wow.

We walked and trotted a lot, as the arena was a bit waterlogged and I was still nervous of cantering in there. But we did then have a canter on each rein, and he's lovely. He has an odd stride when cantering, and feels really wonky and very up and down, but kept the canter really well, and was very responsive - when I started tipping forward, he stopped. And more to the point - I wasn't nervous at all. I even asked for canter in my 'bogey' corner.

He also spooked once when the dogs ran over, but rather than running off, just spooked and stood still. I love him. So much so that I asked how much he'd go for, as a ball park, but C then phoned the dealer and owner to find out. And I got a price. And could keep him there on working livery.

I'm going to try and hack him out on Sunday, to see how he goes, and have another couple of lessons on him, before I take the plunge. But...I may buy him...

:eek:
 
Well the weekend may be debatable, as I'm supposed to be doing a big race all weekend, but I'm under-prepared and if it rains I'll want to quit. So I may just not start it. In which case I have a free weekend. So have booked a hack on him. But I don't think anyone has hacked him out yet. So they probably won't let me. And I may still do the race anyway. So I couldn't ride even if they let me take him out.

I'm confused. :confused:
 
Thanks MrsM. My initial confusion is what to do about this weekend - I haven't even got as far as working out whether to buy him or not!

I think overnight I've decided not to race, so at least that's one weight off my mind.

Now to start worrying about whether to buy...!

(hope you managed to get some sleep x)
 
Ooh, er a big ginger ned? I love those :) Any pics of Rowan? His character sounds alot like Sleepy's... and yes he fell into my lap when i least expected it too.

Fingers crossed for you and hope everything works out either way ;)
 
Yep, a bright orange horse :)

We're still on for maybe buying him. Had a group lesson booked for this evening, and thinking it was going to be a big group, I'd specifically requested Patchwork, as he is the easiest ride there.

When I arrived I saw Rowan was tacked up, and knew they'd put me on him instead. But with only two of us in the lesson, I wasn't nervous about holding everyone back, and was quite happy to be on Rowan again.

He seemed harder work today, and not to go as nicely, but then I wasn't particularly trying to make him go in an outline, whereas yesterday it was the focus. With just the two of us we worked in open order and took it in turns to canter circles in the middle of the school.

Rowan was going quite nicely, but our circles weren't especially circle shaped, and the canter broke a couple of times but I'll take the blame for that. We went over some trotting poles, and he was good, then went over a couple of cross poles and straight poles about 2ft high. Not knowing what he was like over jumps, I was a bit apprehensive, but he (lazily) popped over the cross poles, then went we approached the straight for the first time, he dithered to one side then the other. My steering went out the window and we went around the jump instead of over. I'd just expected him to go for it! The next couple of times I was ready and we went over ok.

I also watched L ride him around a few times, so see how well he *could* go. He's not the easiest in that he seems to be quite lazy, and needs a lot of leg, but he is responsive, not dead to the leg.

I wasn't as wowed today as yesterday, but then yesterday we were working on going in an outline, which I've not done before, so that gave me an additional boost. Plus yesterday was a private lesson so I only rode for 30 minutes, but today was for an hour, so it took more effort!

I think he's a perfect first horse, my only concern was that I wasn't really looking for a first horse, given that I'd shared before. But as I lost my confidence so easily two weeks ago, I probably need to under-horse myself a bit. And it would be my first time as a horse owner, even if it's kind of 'owner-lite' by being on working livery. If in a year or two I was desperate for something more advanced, I could buy another as well, or even instead of. Whilst I like the idea of a horse for life, it's not always practical.

Anyway, thinking of the here and now, he's ideal for what I need currently, and is available at a suitable price, and I already have a home for him, in fact the very stable he's in now. And I think he's adorable.

Surely that's a good enough reason to buy?

I'll hack him out on Sunday and Monday, but then it may be time to make a move...
 
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JenJ said:
Yep, a bright orange horse :)
Click to expand...

Yup, woss wrong widdat?

JenJ said:
I think he's a perfect first horse, my only concern was that I wasn't really looking for a first horse, given that I'd shared before. But as I lost my confidence so easily two weeks ago, I probably need to under-horse myself a bit. And it would be my first time as a horse owner, even if it's kind of 'owner-lite' by being on working livery. If in a year or two I was desperate for something more advanced, I could buy another as well, or even instead of. Whilst I like the idea of a horse for life, it's not always practical.
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Neither was I and I am absolutely a horse for life guy. How do you know you're under-horsed? give this guy time to settle and you may be surprised. Or has the dealer/owner given you the run-down?

JenJ said:
Anyway, thinking of the here and now, he's ideal for what I need currently, and is available at a suitable price, and I already have a home for him, in fact the very stable he's in now. And I think he's adorable.

Surely that's a good enough reason to buy?

I'll hack him out on Sunday and Monday, but then it may be time to make a move...
Click to expand...

I think you've answered your own question :). I hope you two have a fantastic future together.

BTW, we still haven't seen any pics and he's not orange. I like to think russet red :D
 
Lol, if I thought there was something wrong with orange horses, I wouldn't be thinking of buying one :D

No pics - I took a couple last night on my iPhone but they came out predictably awful so I deleted them!

And I probably wouldn't be under-horsed currently, but I'd hope to progress a lot over the next year. But that's not to say he wouldn't still be suitable, and I'd still have lessons/hack out on the other horses, so I get the best of both worlds.

Subject to hacking and vetting, I think I'm sold...
 
Fantastic news! Any photos of the big ginger gent?

I think you are right to go for a horse that you feel safe on, especially if you've had a scary experience. Better to have a horse that is a bit lazy than one that is a bit keen!
 
Well, full report to follow on the rusty rider thread, but I've not decided to buy him - yet.

Had a lovely day. He wasn't ploddy as I'd expected, he was very forward going, had a nice active walk, and we stayed near the front of the ride all day.

We rode for a couple of hours, then stopped by a pub for a sandwich. After we got back on, he felt quite wound up and gradually got more and more excitable. Most of it I didn't mind - he was joggy, cantering on the spot and going sideways a bit, but when we had a group canter on a grassy track (not the first time) he did a few big (exuberant, not malicious) bucks and tried to take off. We tried to canter again after that, and he did another big buck as did the horse next to us (copycat!), so we just walk and trotted back. He'd calmed down long before we got back.

I still really like him, and the excitable-ness didn't bother me, but after he'd bucked, I did lose my trust in him a bit. Although bizarrely it boosted my confidence as a rider, as I've never really been bucked with properly, and the other riders said I'd sat it well and looked calm and in control.

I do want something I can enjoy out hacking, without worrying about them freaking out, but in mitigation, a couple of weeks ago he was in Ireland, he arrived at the yard 10 days ago, and has spent the last 3 days away at PC pentathlon, then today he was on a long day ride in a new area, with 10 other horses.

I'll hack him out again next Sunday and see how he is then - for the first few hours today, he was fab. Lesson on him again on Wednesday in the meantime.

Pics :D

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Oh wow Jen now my turn to be envious - he looks gorgeous! Think you're right to try him out a bit more before making a decision but he sounds well worth seriously considering. So pleased for you, just check him out thoroughly in all conditions and if you do go ahead at least you have help at hand for any problems. Good luck :-) x
 
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