In at the deep end... Lottie goes to camp!

Ample Prosecco

Ample Prosecco

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I'd have preferred a few more weeks to get to know Lottie before expecting her to cope with a Somerford camp, and expecting me to cope with her coping with camp! I had no ambitions other than to pootle about the 80 acres, splash through the water, pop a few little jumps and basically have a nice time together.

She was an absolute star all camp. Chilled, willing, happy, rideable. She has the best attitude and such a great trainable brain. She was described as 'uneducated' on the flat but when she engaged more she had lovely movement. She was clearly green on the XC but very brave and willing. And with SJ she was in her element. She was like 'yep I've got this, I know what this is all about. Leave it to me!'.

AND, because I was organising camp, at the end I had to load her and leave her on the trailer while everyone else left, while waiting for Somerford to carry out the inspections before I could go. She as completely relaxed about that too. I am so happy with her and super excited about our future.

A clip of our adventures:



Dolly was also mega. The final round in the show jumping was up at 1:10 and they made it look easy. Love that pony! A clip pf her adventures too:


 
Ample Prosecco

Ample Prosecco

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Bernster, she’s done loads of show jumping but not much else. But she learns really really quickly. All the instructors loved her. I actually fell off on the XC ?. She was coming up to the brush for the first time and hesitated. I over-rode and she launched into the air like a stag- all 4 feet off the ground. Poor thing. I socked her in the mouth, landed on her neck and then at her feet. She stood still to wait for me. Was fine to remount and then popped it really sweetly even though she had a pretty horrible response from me for doing what I wanted first time of asking! Note to self: she does NOT need booting to jump. Gentle encouragement is fine!! But so, so honest. I really do feel as though I’ve fallen on my feet with this one. She’s ace.

Also camp was a bit of a horsey reunion for me. I always keep in touch with my old horses and camp was for friends so I invited local ones along. Toby, Jenny and Deedee all came! Toby is loving life, hacking out for miles every week. He looked great. Jenny was as nippy and enthusiastic as ever. And Deedee was in my jumping lesson and looked really good too.
 
Bernster

Bernster

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Ambers Echo said:
Bernster, she’s done loads of show jumping but not much else. But she learns really really quickly. All the instructors loved her. I actually fell off on the XC ?. She was coming up to the brush for the first time and hesitated. I over-rode and she launched into the air like a stag- all 4 feet off the ground. Poor thing. I socked her in the mouth, landed on her neck and then at her feet. She stood still to wait for me. Was fine to remount and then popped it really sweetly even though she had a pretty horrible response from me for doing what I wanted first time of asking! Note to self: she does NOT need booting to jump. Gentle encouragement is fine!! But so, so honest. I really do feel as though I’ve fallen on my feet with this one. She’s ace.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Good to hear she wasn’t put off by the fall. Hope you’re ok and that it was a soft landing! I suspect her sj will give you a good sense of how she’ll be with the others elements once she’s settled and progressing.

I’m trying to do lots of what Bertie is good at (hacking, field work, bit of jumping) whilst we work on his flatwork, as it keeps him feeling happy and it helps build trust. I also need to avoid my signature pony club kick as I’ll be launched in the air as well. He can jump a bit fast and flat, all 4 feet in the air, with quite a ping, so that could be, ahem, entertaining…!
 
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Ambers Echo said:
I'd have preferred a few more weeks to get to know Lottie before expecting her to cope with a Somerford camp, and expecting me to cope with her coping with camp! I had no ambitions other than to pootle about the 80 acres, splash through the water, pop a few little jumps and basically have a nice time together.

She was an absolute star all camp. Chilled, willing, happy, rideable. She has the best attitude and such a great trainable brain. She was described as 'uneducated' on the flat but when she engaged more she had lovely movement. She was clearly green on the XC but very brave and willing. And with SJ she was in her element. She was like 'yep I've got this, I know what this is all about. Leave it to me!'.

AND, because I was organising camp, at the end I had to load her and leave her on the trailer while everyone else left, while waiting for Somerford to carry out the inspections before I could go. She as completely relaxed about that too. I am so happy with her and super excited about our future.

A clip of our adventures:



Dolly was also mega. The final round in the show jumping was up at 1:10 and they made it look easy. Love that pony! A clip pf her adventures too:


Click to expand...

Fantastic post - it's is brilliant that you are already have such a good time together! :)
 
Ample Prosecco

Ample Prosecco

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Well I'm not sure all stories have such a happy ending. My friend's unseen from Ireland horse turned out to have been diverted from an abbattoir! Horrific. But I bought from Grangefort Equestrian who lots of people on here said was sound. He was fab to deal with, helpful, friendly, described her perfectly and has rung up to check on how she is getting on! So it can work very well if you buy from the right people.
 
Ample Prosecco

Ample Prosecco

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Here you go!

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241577173_4355982807815100_5528643052959659594_n.jpg
 
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