Crosshill Pacers
Well-Known Member
Well we've survived the first week together, not for want of trying otherwise on Star's part.
First things first, J wanted to strip everything back to basics - no hopples, no overcheck, no poles, just bog standard harness (saddle, breastplate, bridle and reins), so that we could see what we were working with. What we were working with was a horse that was so used to having her head too high with a short overcheck that she automatically held it up somewhere in the clouds, in both walk and trot. We started her at two laps of walking to get her to relax, then did 10 minutes of trotting. By the time she had finished her first day she was carrying her head at her own natural level, after having tested to see whether there was an overcheck there by tentatively lowering her head a few times until she had her nose between her knees.
I took her out in the saddle around the track and trotted her for 10 minutes last weekend, which was harder for me than it was for her but she settled into her a rhythm a lot quicker in the saddle as I think she prefers being ridden. J then stepped her up to 15 minutes of jogging after that, and has spent the week encouraging her to trot at the correct speed which is something she's picking up very quickly. I did tell him that she was a quick learner and she needs a lot of praise when she gets things right because she looks to people for instruction and when she is told she's doing the right thing she seems to stick with it.
On Wednesday evening after work I was due to meet a friend to take her on her first hack since moving her up to Scotland, however my friend had to take a raincheck. I was desperate to ride and didn't fancy doing a few laps of the track so I bit the bullet and took her on our first solo mission together. Her eyes were out on stalks the full way through the village, shying at people, cars, salt grit bins, things she's seen a hundred times before and never batted an eyelid at. We headed up behind the village into a wooded area which has several looped tracks running through it of varying distances. She was keen, let's put it that way, which isn't a surprise when you consider that she's never been on that ride before, she's never been out alone hacking and she's on a rather substantial diet at the moment with not a huge amount of exercise.
We had a couple of nice uphill stretches in trot; then when we got to the pond at the top of the hill I stopped to take some photos. Whilst circling the perimeter of the pond I decided to have another little trot, which became a slow pace and simply because I LOVE riding pacers, I let her carry on instead of bringing her back to trot. We jumped a large puddle for a bit of fun and then BAM. Head down, backside up, head back up and charging off in canter. Star doesn't buck. She can't buck, not even in the field. Her previous attempts that I have witnessed have been pathetic. So how on earth she managed it with me sat on her I'll never know. Even as recent as last summer that would have been enough for me to dismount and lead a horse home, on the verge of tears. Bucking is my biggest fear, because my first horse was a monster for it. Whilst I learnt that Star can buck, she learnt that I don't carry a stick as an accessory. We walked the rest of the way home, faster than any horse may have walked before. A hack that usually takes 1 hour 30 minutes on my friend's, admittedly old and slightly stiff, horse took Star and me less than an hour.
Rather than be put off by her attempt to part company with me, I felt like I simply needed to crack on and persevere so we went for another hack on Saturday, this time with my friend. We met by the main road and went on a quiet ride to a neighbouring village and back home. All was fine until a lorry overtook us on a narrow stretch of road and Star, for no reason at all, decided to spin to face it (she has been ridden on busy roads in heavy traffic on numerous occasions out hunting, has raced for three seasons and been tied to a lorry while other horse lorries drove past shes fine with buses, caravans, lorries, bicycles etc. Well, at least she was ). When we joined the main road in the village for the short stretch back to the yard she again played the same trick as a lorry slowly overtook us, by which point I was starting to lose my patience with her. Had Missile behaved that way last year I might have expected it because he had never been ridden in traffic, but Star is an old pro at this. It was totally unnecessary.
Then, to make matters worse, a man was strimming his garden right by the side of the road. I could feel her under me tensing up, her head came up and next thing were on the wrong side of the road, legs going in all directions whilst our hacking companion, Coffee, looked on in mild confusion. It wasnt only embarrassing that she behaved like that, but it was borderline dangerous. Thankfully there was no traffic around. She was ridden back to the stables alone as my friend went her way and I went mine, and we nearly took the postman out because by this point Star was beside herself. Again, twelve months ago I would have been in pieces because my confidence was shattered but I know this horse isnt dangerous. Shes unsure of her surroundings, shes pumped full of feed and shes being asked to do things that she hasnt done for a wee while.
After the mild trauma of that hack, I jogged Stevie for J and he decided he would bomb off around the track at every opportunity and I just thought to myself Why me? Why today?, but it is testament to the confidence that I have gained that I carried on jogging him out of sheer stubbornness. Star and I are pencilled in for another hack tomorrow evening with our friend, this time Ill be keeping her strictly off the roads until shes in harder work and has settled down a bit. I have to remain calm at all times so until she is a bit more confident in her surroundings well restrict our hacks to the woods behind the village.
Im telling myself she isnt deliberately trying to put me off riding because she hates work/me. Hopefully next weeks update will be a little less up and down.
Over and out,
Sarah & Star-tled
First things first, J wanted to strip everything back to basics - no hopples, no overcheck, no poles, just bog standard harness (saddle, breastplate, bridle and reins), so that we could see what we were working with. What we were working with was a horse that was so used to having her head too high with a short overcheck that she automatically held it up somewhere in the clouds, in both walk and trot. We started her at two laps of walking to get her to relax, then did 10 minutes of trotting. By the time she had finished her first day she was carrying her head at her own natural level, after having tested to see whether there was an overcheck there by tentatively lowering her head a few times until she had her nose between her knees.
I took her out in the saddle around the track and trotted her for 10 minutes last weekend, which was harder for me than it was for her but she settled into her a rhythm a lot quicker in the saddle as I think she prefers being ridden. J then stepped her up to 15 minutes of jogging after that, and has spent the week encouraging her to trot at the correct speed which is something she's picking up very quickly. I did tell him that she was a quick learner and she needs a lot of praise when she gets things right because she looks to people for instruction and when she is told she's doing the right thing she seems to stick with it.
On Wednesday evening after work I was due to meet a friend to take her on her first hack since moving her up to Scotland, however my friend had to take a raincheck. I was desperate to ride and didn't fancy doing a few laps of the track so I bit the bullet and took her on our first solo mission together. Her eyes were out on stalks the full way through the village, shying at people, cars, salt grit bins, things she's seen a hundred times before and never batted an eyelid at. We headed up behind the village into a wooded area which has several looped tracks running through it of varying distances. She was keen, let's put it that way, which isn't a surprise when you consider that she's never been on that ride before, she's never been out alone hacking and she's on a rather substantial diet at the moment with not a huge amount of exercise.
We had a couple of nice uphill stretches in trot; then when we got to the pond at the top of the hill I stopped to take some photos. Whilst circling the perimeter of the pond I decided to have another little trot, which became a slow pace and simply because I LOVE riding pacers, I let her carry on instead of bringing her back to trot. We jumped a large puddle for a bit of fun and then BAM. Head down, backside up, head back up and charging off in canter. Star doesn't buck. She can't buck, not even in the field. Her previous attempts that I have witnessed have been pathetic. So how on earth she managed it with me sat on her I'll never know. Even as recent as last summer that would have been enough for me to dismount and lead a horse home, on the verge of tears. Bucking is my biggest fear, because my first horse was a monster for it. Whilst I learnt that Star can buck, she learnt that I don't carry a stick as an accessory. We walked the rest of the way home, faster than any horse may have walked before. A hack that usually takes 1 hour 30 minutes on my friend's, admittedly old and slightly stiff, horse took Star and me less than an hour.
Rather than be put off by her attempt to part company with me, I felt like I simply needed to crack on and persevere so we went for another hack on Saturday, this time with my friend. We met by the main road and went on a quiet ride to a neighbouring village and back home. All was fine until a lorry overtook us on a narrow stretch of road and Star, for no reason at all, decided to spin to face it (she has been ridden on busy roads in heavy traffic on numerous occasions out hunting, has raced for three seasons and been tied to a lorry while other horse lorries drove past shes fine with buses, caravans, lorries, bicycles etc. Well, at least she was ). When we joined the main road in the village for the short stretch back to the yard she again played the same trick as a lorry slowly overtook us, by which point I was starting to lose my patience with her. Had Missile behaved that way last year I might have expected it because he had never been ridden in traffic, but Star is an old pro at this. It was totally unnecessary.
Then, to make matters worse, a man was strimming his garden right by the side of the road. I could feel her under me tensing up, her head came up and next thing were on the wrong side of the road, legs going in all directions whilst our hacking companion, Coffee, looked on in mild confusion. It wasnt only embarrassing that she behaved like that, but it was borderline dangerous. Thankfully there was no traffic around. She was ridden back to the stables alone as my friend went her way and I went mine, and we nearly took the postman out because by this point Star was beside herself. Again, twelve months ago I would have been in pieces because my confidence was shattered but I know this horse isnt dangerous. Shes unsure of her surroundings, shes pumped full of feed and shes being asked to do things that she hasnt done for a wee while.
After the mild trauma of that hack, I jogged Stevie for J and he decided he would bomb off around the track at every opportunity and I just thought to myself Why me? Why today?, but it is testament to the confidence that I have gained that I carried on jogging him out of sheer stubbornness. Star and I are pencilled in for another hack tomorrow evening with our friend, this time Ill be keeping her strictly off the roads until shes in harder work and has settled down a bit. I have to remain calm at all times so until she is a bit more confident in her surroundings well restrict our hacks to the woods behind the village.
Im telling myself she isnt deliberately trying to put me off riding because she hates work/me. Hopefully next weeks update will be a little less up and down.
Over and out,
Sarah & Star-tled
