catembi
Well-Known Member
The story so far - I imported Summer unseen except for a sales video in July. She had undisclosed shiver, which I discovered on getting (probably - no memory of what happened) kicked in the face when doing feet, she arrived with a massive hole in the wall of one front foot & she also bit me extremely hard - I think it was an accident as she was going for Florence the Shetland, who to be fair IS quite annoying. But it made quite a mess of my arm even through a thick coat.
So after all the accidents, o/h was desperate for me to get rid. I was v v tempted as she was also bargey & anxious to handle & a total pain to hack out or school due to non stop neighing & being v v unsettled. But I also felt sorry for her as I'm not sure whether she's ever had much love, & while head said get rid (and o/h was offering me a budget of 3 x what I paid for her to get a replacement...) heart said not.
All I have done is stick to a routine with her & the littlies. (I got a NF to keep Florence company while I was hacking in the hope of reducing the neighing - to start with, it rather backfired as it doubled the neighing, but now it's totally fine.) In, fed, feet done, back out, either a schooling session in the field or a hack for Summer. I am handling her back feet by keeping them low to the ground & myself tucked under. To start with, neither schooling nor hacking was any fun at all & I still wasn't sure about keeping her. But now - she's chilled. , I've got her her own rugs rather than squishing her into Trev's, and her own dr & sj saddles, so I guess she's become a permanent fixture. I've experimented with bits & found one we get on with. We've hacked to Keysoe and done a jumping lesson.
I was out hacking this morning, we had some lovely canters, we also met a bin lorry & a speeding oil lorry (she doesn't care about things like that), at one point we were on the bridle path & I had one hand on the reins thinking, wow, I could just do this *forever*. Trev was an utter lunatic to hack, Adrian napped & planted & Catembi was very sharp so I was always v v grateful to get off after a hack & still be alive. I never really enjoyed hacking any of them, except brief snatches between the drama.
I am not really sure how this transformation has occurred as all I've done is keep at it. She is now fine to handle, fine to hack, fine to school, fine to do feet and is even getting affectionate. She hasn't bitten me again, or even threatened to, and has stopped being food aggressive.
I will see if I can work out how to upload a couple of small clips of our jumping lesson. My one concern now is that as a pure ID (i.e. quite solid) she might not be capable of jumping at a high enough level (I had ambitions to go to Fox) or be competitive at affil dr - I'd like to get to medium. But from the last time I rode her on a surface, which was before I moved her home...she has improved beyond all recognition. I have no school here as we're waiting for planning approval, so all I can do is slither around on a hilly bit of field no faster than walk (walk-halt transitions, a bit of sideways etc) & hack, but she has already transformed from a great lumbering lump into something half-decent. Again, not sure how! Anyway, we'll see..
Pointless post, but I was so surprised to find myself *enjoying* a hack instead of being desperate to get it over with & get home without drama!
So after all the accidents, o/h was desperate for me to get rid. I was v v tempted as she was also bargey & anxious to handle & a total pain to hack out or school due to non stop neighing & being v v unsettled. But I also felt sorry for her as I'm not sure whether she's ever had much love, & while head said get rid (and o/h was offering me a budget of 3 x what I paid for her to get a replacement...) heart said not.
All I have done is stick to a routine with her & the littlies. (I got a NF to keep Florence company while I was hacking in the hope of reducing the neighing - to start with, it rather backfired as it doubled the neighing, but now it's totally fine.) In, fed, feet done, back out, either a schooling session in the field or a hack for Summer. I am handling her back feet by keeping them low to the ground & myself tucked under. To start with, neither schooling nor hacking was any fun at all & I still wasn't sure about keeping her. But now - she's chilled. , I've got her her own rugs rather than squishing her into Trev's, and her own dr & sj saddles, so I guess she's become a permanent fixture. I've experimented with bits & found one we get on with. We've hacked to Keysoe and done a jumping lesson.
I was out hacking this morning, we had some lovely canters, we also met a bin lorry & a speeding oil lorry (she doesn't care about things like that), at one point we were on the bridle path & I had one hand on the reins thinking, wow, I could just do this *forever*. Trev was an utter lunatic to hack, Adrian napped & planted & Catembi was very sharp so I was always v v grateful to get off after a hack & still be alive. I never really enjoyed hacking any of them, except brief snatches between the drama.
I am not really sure how this transformation has occurred as all I've done is keep at it. She is now fine to handle, fine to hack, fine to school, fine to do feet and is even getting affectionate. She hasn't bitten me again, or even threatened to, and has stopped being food aggressive.
I will see if I can work out how to upload a couple of small clips of our jumping lesson. My one concern now is that as a pure ID (i.e. quite solid) she might not be capable of jumping at a high enough level (I had ambitions to go to Fox) or be competitive at affil dr - I'd like to get to medium. But from the last time I rode her on a surface, which was before I moved her home...she has improved beyond all recognition. I have no school here as we're waiting for planning approval, so all I can do is slither around on a hilly bit of field no faster than walk (walk-halt transitions, a bit of sideways etc) & hack, but she has already transformed from a great lumbering lump into something half-decent. Again, not sure how! Anyway, we'll see..
Pointless post, but I was so surprised to find myself *enjoying* a hack instead of being desperate to get it over with & get home without drama!
