From re-backed to hunter trial in 5 weeks...

[Lammy]

So my lovely, if ever so slightly keen friend, has booked us both in for a baby pairs hunter trial on the 2nd of June. I laughed when she told me and said that’s fine because, well, June is ages away.

It’s not. June 2nd is 5 weeks away! 5 weeks! We can’t even canter 😂 Its only a 60cm very kind course, no ditches, no water and I’ve warned friend we aren’t being competitive. Plus there’s a spare waiting in the wings if I need to swap out. But it’ll be an exciting challenge so thought I’d keep a little diary of our progress here.

So after our long, exciting hack on Sunday I decided to sod the heavy gale that was blowing and ride him in the lovely grass paddock on his own for the first time. Angel horse had vanished. I have always known if he comes in in a bad mood he’ll be a pain in the arse and he proved me right again tonight.

So in an attempt to keep him busy we did some pole work, trying to get him to focus more on those than on bucking me off! He got over the wind quite quickly, I think my beautiful singing must have helped! And even though he was a tantrumy teenager tonight he still managed to look like butter wouldn’t melt...



We’ve got a long way to go...

 

[Lammy]

He was back to angel behaviour today. We worked on balance today and did lots of large, 2-looped serpentines, also incorporating some straightness work by walking and trotting up the center line between poles. In the end we put it all together in trot and he was amazing! The turn up the centre line in trot was more akin to turning a cruise ship but we’ll get there

Got talking to a new instructor and she’s happy to come and do some half an hour long baby sessions which will be perfect, she teaches a couple of other girls at the yard and they really like her. If anyone has any straightness exercises that would be great, I always like to try new things and the more interesting the better. He gets bored easily so I like to keep him thinking.

A picture of the chunk as always. (Hopefully the weight will start shifting soon)

 

[Cornish]

What a lovely looking chap - he's got a really kind eye.

 

[Lammy]

What a lovely looking chap - he's got a really kind eye.

Thank you I know I’m biased but he is a poppet...when he’s not being a devil child 😈

 

[Lammy]

It was a game of two halves tonight.

Pros are:
- Got on from the gate for the first time
- Did the raised trot poles beautifully (nearly, see next).
- Absolutely clattered the first one and didn’t panic.
- Did the teeniest baby jump at the end with 1 stride of canter.

Cons
- Had an absolute spooky tantrum at the hedge we’d just passed and went into backwards thinking mode so much so I thought he was going up!

Pros (again)
- After I’d disembarked and walked him past offensive scary twig he got on with it like a grown up and we had no more issues.

Sometimes I feel he likes to leave his halo in the field!

“Mum made me work in the rain while my friends had fun in the field” poor lamb.

 

[Lammy]

A lots happened this past bank holiday and I haven’t even had chance to update it apart from now...sat in the tack room awaiting a lift home as my car broke down 🙈

Anyway he had his first canter on Sunday and he was such a good boy, I was beaming! Next day he went out again and did 2 whole canters on grass! He struggled a bit on the first in the long grass but by the second he was a pro, he has a very good voice cue as all I had to do was say “canter” and we were there. He’s slow at the moment but has a very comfortable and long striding canter which is great news.

He then had a day off Tuesday and then my car broke down, so managed to lunge him gently tonight but hopefully car will be sorted tomorrow and he’ll have no more days off this week. Though I do hope the weather brightens up, I know we wanted rain but that’s enough now thanks!

Here he is hacking the tracks with his old pal who he hasn’t seen since he was 3...there was a lot of excitement and touching, they definitely remembered each other!

 

[HighFive]

He looks super sweet, I love a chunky chestnut! Best of luck, keep the updates coming

 

[SpringArising]

What a gorgeous horse. In terms of the hunter trial - go for it! I think we (the UK as a whole) are often far too precious and worry far too much (I am definitely guilty of this!) when really our horses could be doing double the amount we're asking and still be absolutely fine! We never progress if we never go outside our comfort zone, and the same rings true for our horses

 

[Leo Walker]

your hacking looks loads better than mine!

 

[Lammy]

He looks super sweet, I love a chunky chestnut! Best of luck, keep the updates coming

Thank you! He has turned into quite the chunk, not entirely sure where his half thoroughbred side is apart from his brain!

What a gorgeous horse. In terms of the hunter trial - go for it! I think we (the UK as a whole) are often far too precious and worry far too much (I am definitely guilty of this!) when really our horses could be doing double the amount we're asking and still be absolutely fine! We never progress if we never go outside our comfort zone, and the same rings true for our horses

I’m totally ready to not go and extend our timeline if needed but so far so good. I know him inside out which helps, I can gauge when he’s had enough before he outright tells me so we can finish on a positive. Plus he really enjoys work! I could spend forever worrying about what could go wrong on the day but riding a young horse has made me almost fake confidence and that fake confidence quickly turns to the real thing. Thank you for the boost!

your hacking looks loads better than mine!

I used to keep my mare on a private yard near to where you are now so I totally sympathise with you! Now I’ve got about 30 bridleways on the doorstep, you wouldn’t think they were 15 minutes drive time apart!

 

[Ambers Echo]

He was back to angel behaviour today. We worked on balance today and did lots of large, 2-looped serpentines, also incorporating some straightness work by walking and trotting up the center line between poles. In the end we put it all together in trot and he was amazing! The turn up the centre line in trot was more akin to turning a cruise ship but we’ll get there

Got talking to a new instructor and she’s happy to come and do some half an hour long baby sessions which will be perfect, she teaches a couple of other girls at the yard and they really like her. If anyone has any straightness exercises that would be great, I always like to try new things and the more interesting the better. He gets bored easily so I like to keep him thinking.

A picture of the chunk as always. (Hopefully the weight will start shifting soon)


View attachment 32009

Super shiny!! You are making great progress. X

 

[Lammy]

Lots has happened recently! He had shoes on Friday morning and then jumped for the first time. He was awesome and really loved it. Then just an easy walk, trot in the school on Saturday and then on Sunday we went to MK eventing centre.

Oh my god he was awesome. I kept having to remind myself this was his second time jumping and we were in a big open space with 2 other horses. It wasn’t just the jumping that was new for him it was my friends on their horses cantering and jumping behind him which he got used to quite quickly although the first time my friend jumped into the water almost gave him a heart attack 😂

I also had my first fall off him! I’ve never been so happy to fall off I haven’t fallen off in about 3 years and I knew it was coming and I had prepared myself to fall off xc but it was for the most ridiculous reason. I had already survived his mini rodeo performance after he successfully jumped his first log (it was very exciting and fun!) I really thought he’d have me! We were nearly done my friends were just doing a few more jumps and I’d already decided we wouldn’t do much more if anything so thought I’d survived the day! We walked up a bank to take a nice group picture and as we stepped down (he’d been doing them so calmly) he leapt off it properly! I was laughing so hard that when he spooked at a blade of grass I toppled off the side No harm done and he didn’t bog off either, back on and we did the step again without ditching mummy and followed our friends to the end of the course.

I’m so proud of him he’s so easy.