Crosshill Pacers
Well-Known Member
Just another gushy post about Star (aka Big Ears). We've been hacking out regularly for the last couple of weeks. She's been an absolute dream and helped my confidence infinitely. Her walk is to die for, she marches on with purpose, which is what I like! I can't stand dawdlers, whether they're human or equine!
I've taken her hunting twice and used the open commons/fields to let her loose to see how she tackles cantering. It's been a bit 'flat' but I have a friend who has given me a few ideas to try out to engage her rear end a bit more and once we've mastered our trot I'll be moving on to that.
Her trot is coming on leaps and bounds. Since August I've been trotting her uphill and on the flat as the minute she becomes even slightly unbalanced (i.e. turning or downhill) she reverts to pacing. We've got a really strong trot established now and her transitions are fab, she can go from halt to walk, walk to trot, trot to walk and walk to halt without dipping out of the correct gait. I've been doing most of this work on our lane, which is just under half a mile long and is flat, slightly downhill, flat, more downhill, then flat again (and uphill when I turn around to go back to the yard!). Obviously, all of our trot work thus far has been heading back to the yard.
This week I decided that we would have a crack at trotting on the first slightly downhill bit of the lane, to see how she managed it. She started on the flat perfectly, but as soon as the gradient changed I could feel her stiffening up and she slipped into pacing. On the second attempt, I slowed down her trot going into the downhill, and we managed to remain in trot until the gradient levelled off. I couldn't have been more pleased with her! I must admit, her back felt quite rigid but she kept her balance and we had another couple of attempts before calling it a day. Last night I rushed home from work to catch the last half hour of 'light' and we gave the downhill trot another go. She never put a foot wrong, and she felt less stiff doing it too, which for me indicates that she's loosening up and we're heading in the right direction
I was nearly in tears when I put her in and untacked her, I kept launching myself at her for cuddles (so she now thinks I'm unhinged and an emotional wreck). No matter what I ask her to do, she has a go at it. It might be scary or different or difficult, but she does as she's asked. And for me, it's teaching me that I'm capable of reschooling her. I can ride. I'm not as hopeless as I've convinced myself I am.
Sorry for rambling on, I'm just having a really good time riding right now. We're going hunting again on Saturday and I can't wait, I get to show off how fast we can pace free-legged (it looks impressive and it's ridiculously comfy to sit to). Star loves it as well because she's made friends with a black cob mare called Holly and she likes to follow her around like a lost puppy!
Thanks for reading, I'm sure I'll feel compelled to update you all again in the near future, and declare my undying love for Big Ears! What a horse
Over and out,
Sarah & Star
I've taken her hunting twice and used the open commons/fields to let her loose to see how she tackles cantering. It's been a bit 'flat' but I have a friend who has given me a few ideas to try out to engage her rear end a bit more and once we've mastered our trot I'll be moving on to that.
Her trot is coming on leaps and bounds. Since August I've been trotting her uphill and on the flat as the minute she becomes even slightly unbalanced (i.e. turning or downhill) she reverts to pacing. We've got a really strong trot established now and her transitions are fab, she can go from halt to walk, walk to trot, trot to walk and walk to halt without dipping out of the correct gait. I've been doing most of this work on our lane, which is just under half a mile long and is flat, slightly downhill, flat, more downhill, then flat again (and uphill when I turn around to go back to the yard!). Obviously, all of our trot work thus far has been heading back to the yard.
This week I decided that we would have a crack at trotting on the first slightly downhill bit of the lane, to see how she managed it. She started on the flat perfectly, but as soon as the gradient changed I could feel her stiffening up and she slipped into pacing. On the second attempt, I slowed down her trot going into the downhill, and we managed to remain in trot until the gradient levelled off. I couldn't have been more pleased with her! I must admit, her back felt quite rigid but she kept her balance and we had another couple of attempts before calling it a day. Last night I rushed home from work to catch the last half hour of 'light' and we gave the downhill trot another go. She never put a foot wrong, and she felt less stiff doing it too, which for me indicates that she's loosening up and we're heading in the right direction
I was nearly in tears when I put her in and untacked her, I kept launching myself at her for cuddles (so she now thinks I'm unhinged and an emotional wreck). No matter what I ask her to do, she has a go at it. It might be scary or different or difficult, but she does as she's asked. And for me, it's teaching me that I'm capable of reschooling her. I can ride. I'm not as hopeless as I've convinced myself I am.
Sorry for rambling on, I'm just having a really good time riding right now. We're going hunting again on Saturday and I can't wait, I get to show off how fast we can pace free-legged (it looks impressive and it's ridiculously comfy to sit to). Star loves it as well because she's made friends with a black cob mare called Holly and she likes to follow her around like a lost puppy!
Thanks for reading, I'm sure I'll feel compelled to update you all again in the near future, and declare my undying love for Big Ears! What a horse
Over and out,
Sarah & Star
we're starting to think Standies are taking over, of the 41 horses that were hunting on the weekend, 6 of them were Standardbreds. We're starting our own clique!
