Keith_Beef
Novice equestrian, accomplished equichetrian
I worked from home yesterday, because of the transport strike, and so I decided to go for another catch-up lesson in the evening.
The instructor had marked me down to ride Tempo, a gelding a bit less than 17hh that I've ridden before, but not in a long time (maybe a year).
So I went to get the horse's tack, to discover that his saddle was missing... Off to see the instructor in the covered manège. He told me to take the saddle that's normally used for a different horse, then remembered that the yard manager, B, had already told a girl to take that one for a third horse...
"So is B around?"
"er, no, he took off about ten minutes ago, had an errand to run... just go and brush your horse, get him ready as far as you can and find B when there's just the saddle to put on".
So I brushed the horse and tried to get him to lift his feet so I could pick out his hooves and check his shoes. Oh, dear... he was NOT happy about doing that. I had to put a head collar on him, in the end, and by brushing down his leg all the way to behind the pastern he got used to my hands being down there and eventually he even voluntarily lifted his front feet for me. I managed to get him to lift his back right foot, but he seemed really unsteady, and when I tried to get him to lift left, he made a clumsy effort of lifting the right foot again.
By now, it was dark, the light in the stable was off, and I couldn't find the switch on the wall outside. I found B, who told me which saddle to take, and to add a cushioned pad for Tempo's withers. As I finished tacking up, my instructor came round to find out if I'd found a saddle and why I was taking so long... so I explained about the feet.
"If you'd asked me, I would have told you to not even try picking out his hooves." Right... thanks for nothing, mate.
"Well, I got three out of four done."
And off we go into the covered manège to mount up and start the lesson.
And this is when the instructor tells me that this is Tempo's first work in several weeks; he's been lame, and the vet is coming back to see him again on Friday and B wants him to do a bit of light work to loosen up his joints and muscles and for him to burn off a bit of energy.
Crikey, that horse was impatient to get started. Walking was OK, but keeping his trot nice and slow was not easy, and whenever he saw another horse start to canter, he wanted to join in at full speed. He didn't exactly buck, but he snorted and threw his head around and ducked his shoulder a few times. Oh, and wanted to pick a fight with a mare who was in there with us (apparently the two of them don't play well together), but I managed to keep him away from her.
The lesson went quite well, though I think I learnt more about riding a horse who was happy to be out of his cell and wanted to blow off some steam, rather than about the exercise we were doing...
Brushing afterwards was OK, but with the same difficulty with the feet. I got the front ones done, but didn't insist for the back ones, and he did four carrot stretches for me.
The instructor had marked me down to ride Tempo, a gelding a bit less than 17hh that I've ridden before, but not in a long time (maybe a year).
The last time I saw him being ridden was when I was taking my Galop 3 exam, and a teenaged boy had Tempo to take the Galop 4 exam. That day, the teen asked me to come and take a look at the horse who "was agitated and frightening"... The boy was literally scared to go in there with him; he kept turning his rear end to the door, eyes and nostrils wide open, ears back.
I called out to him, tapped on the door to get his attention, and he turned his head to me a bit. Keeping out of kicking range and talking to him, he calmed down a bit, and I was able to slowly get to stroke his shoulder, then his neck, then his muzzle, and put a head collar on him. Then the boy came in slowly and attached a rope to fasten him up...
I called out to him, tapped on the door to get his attention, and he turned his head to me a bit. Keeping out of kicking range and talking to him, he calmed down a bit, and I was able to slowly get to stroke his shoulder, then his neck, then his muzzle, and put a head collar on him. Then the boy came in slowly and attached a rope to fasten him up...
So I went to get the horse's tack, to discover that his saddle was missing... Off to see the instructor in the covered manège. He told me to take the saddle that's normally used for a different horse, then remembered that the yard manager, B, had already told a girl to take that one for a third horse...
"So is B around?"
"er, no, he took off about ten minutes ago, had an errand to run... just go and brush your horse, get him ready as far as you can and find B when there's just the saddle to put on".
So I brushed the horse and tried to get him to lift his feet so I could pick out his hooves and check his shoes. Oh, dear... he was NOT happy about doing that. I had to put a head collar on him, in the end, and by brushing down his leg all the way to behind the pastern he got used to my hands being down there and eventually he even voluntarily lifted his front feet for me. I managed to get him to lift his back right foot, but he seemed really unsteady, and when I tried to get him to lift left, he made a clumsy effort of lifting the right foot again.
By now, it was dark, the light in the stable was off, and I couldn't find the switch on the wall outside. I found B, who told me which saddle to take, and to add a cushioned pad for Tempo's withers. As I finished tacking up, my instructor came round to find out if I'd found a saddle and why I was taking so long... so I explained about the feet.
"If you'd asked me, I would have told you to not even try picking out his hooves." Right... thanks for nothing, mate.
"Well, I got three out of four done."
And off we go into the covered manège to mount up and start the lesson.
And this is when the instructor tells me that this is Tempo's first work in several weeks; he's been lame, and the vet is coming back to see him again on Friday and B wants him to do a bit of light work to loosen up his joints and muscles and for him to burn off a bit of energy.
Crikey, that horse was impatient to get started. Walking was OK, but keeping his trot nice and slow was not easy, and whenever he saw another horse start to canter, he wanted to join in at full speed. He didn't exactly buck, but he snorted and threw his head around and ducked his shoulder a few times. Oh, and wanted to pick a fight with a mare who was in there with us (apparently the two of them don't play well together), but I managed to keep him away from her.
The lesson went quite well, though I think I learnt more about riding a horse who was happy to be out of his cell and wanted to blow off some steam, rather than about the exercise we were doing...
Brushing afterwards was OK, but with the same difficulty with the feet. I got the front ones done, but didn't insist for the back ones, and he did four carrot stretches for me.
