3Beasties
Well-Known Member
I plucked up the courage to take Charlie on a fun ride today. I was going to go alone but when I got to the yard the 2 children I looked after were able to come, so we tacked of and off we went. Lara decided to ride Millie as she hadn't done a fun ride before so it was good experience for her!
We hacked down to the start which was about 2 1/2 miles from the yard. Charlie got bit lit up, had a couple of tantrums but I did manage to get him over a couple of tiny jumps at the beginning. Once we got going I was really please as he settled right down and it felt like we were on a normal hack.
Millie behaved like a pro, didn't get silly or excited at all! She didn't mind being over taken, others cantering off a head and was ridden in a snaffle with brakes! She did refuse a couple of jumps at the start but she had never jumped XC fences before, once she had jumped a few she was really good! Lara the INVINCIBLE jockey fell off though
Towards the end Charlie's 'homing instinct' kicked in and he got quite strong, did a lot of jogging and generally I had very little control
we made it to the finish without any major problems though (at least I didn't fall off!
)
He was very fidgety at the end when we got back to the car park (despite doing 10 miles) and made a rapid exit stage left, heading for the gate and no amount of persuading was going to get him back to the others, I had to try and stop him going out onto the road whilst waiting for the girls to finish collecting rosettes, eating burgers, looking at photos etc. Once we were on our way again though he was fine, I think he had more energy heading for home
but we managed to get back in one piece.
It might not seem like much to some but to me it was quite a big thing as he is just so difficult doing 'new stuff'. I really enjoyed myself though and am looking forward to the next one in a couple of months!
Oh and as for my little ginger ponies behaviour, all I can say is
Beverages and Choccies for those who made it to the end!
We hacked down to the start which was about 2 1/2 miles from the yard. Charlie got bit lit up, had a couple of tantrums but I did manage to get him over a couple of tiny jumps at the beginning. Once we got going I was really please as he settled right down and it felt like we were on a normal hack.
Millie behaved like a pro, didn't get silly or excited at all! She didn't mind being over taken, others cantering off a head and was ridden in a snaffle with brakes! She did refuse a couple of jumps at the start but she had never jumped XC fences before, once she had jumped a few she was really good! Lara the INVINCIBLE jockey fell off though
Towards the end Charlie's 'homing instinct' kicked in and he got quite strong, did a lot of jogging and generally I had very little control
He was very fidgety at the end when we got back to the car park (despite doing 10 miles) and made a rapid exit stage left, heading for the gate and no amount of persuading was going to get him back to the others, I had to try and stop him going out onto the road whilst waiting for the girls to finish collecting rosettes, eating burgers, looking at photos etc. Once we were on our way again though he was fine, I think he had more energy heading for home
It might not seem like much to some but to me it was quite a big thing as he is just so difficult doing 'new stuff'. I really enjoyed myself though and am looking forward to the next one in a couple of months!
Oh and as for my little ginger ponies behaviour, all I can say is
Beverages and Choccies for those who made it to the end!
