My next equine project horse

Ted has had a long chat with himself and reckons the only way to win Alice's affections back is to become Valegro mark two, same colour, plenty of white, can't be that hard can it ?

So this morning he got his feathers in a knot getting to grips with half pass - well baby leg yield but don't burst his bubble by telling him. He can't stand any more disappointment.

DSCF2011_zpsf6ztt9qt.jpg


DSCF2029_zpsklggk2zh.jpg


DSCF2030_zpswzw6rcwl.jpg


He is entered for another walk and trot test next week. He is a funny little soul, he takes his schooling very seriously and we have noticed he rarely puts his ears forward when he is working. They are either sideways are slightly back, I hope it is just concentration and not anything wrong. His eyes are soft and he is forward and responsive so I assume he is comfortable.

He is certainly growing up, he did his work this morning taking no notice of a tree being taken down in a neighbours garden just 50 yards away, with men up the tree with chainsaws going. On the other side of the school Alice decided to do gymnastics and sprinting games. Not once did he look at either distraction.

His conformation is against him, his huge neck and thick gullet give him a very closed up look and allow him to curl up very easily. He will stretch in snatches but is very inconsistent. This was Ted's idea of stretch - just need to find a test with this in it.!

DSCF2016_zpsuifwlfbu.jpg
 
He looks great and like he is really concentrating on what he's being asked to do. I've been told to aim for ears relaxed out to the side as it shows good concentration.
 
Ted is doing so well- just lovely to see those photos. Hope ears to the side just mean he is listening and concentrating. Doing all that with chainsaws and Alice trying to distract him - wow. Clearly she's forgotten Brad already, or perhaps she's trying to keep all options open.
 
Never under estimate a newly broken 4 year old !. Ted has decided he won't be mounted and Alice has found a buck.

It has been an entertaining afternoon, well from where I was standing it was, maybe not for the person taking 10 goes at getting on a naughty Ted, or the young rider on Alice who went up the long side in 4 strides and 4 bucks.
 
Ted is making his third public appearance tomorrow. Given some rather bad behaviour over the weekend I am not sure how good an idea it is but he is entered and fingers crossed he will be a good boy. Just another walk and trot test at Wyvern Riding Club.

I just hope he does not resemble a chocolate chip cookie in the morning. He is an awful lot of horse to chip mud off and plait his bog brush mane.
 
Good luck tomorrow - I am sure that Ted will rise to the occasion and be a proper grown up lad!! Have followed this thread from the beginning and am awestruck by the progress. Of both o you, through very different problems. You are (both) an inspiration for us mere mortals!!
 
66.3 % and lovely comments about his paces, we are so chuffed with him.

What really matters was how he coped with the morning. He was so grown up, dragged him out the field at 6, he stood well whilst I tackled his shock of a mane and his rider chipped mud off him. His feathers were beyond help and in all honesty even after the clean up efforts he still looked like he had just come off a tether at the side of the road !

He loaded perfectly and travelled well just getting too warm. I am loathe to clip him but I have asked his breakers to come over and see if they can get his chest and half neck off.

He did have a naughty moment whilst being got on, but it was fleeting and soon forgotten. He warmed up nicely and had a 'I have done this before' air about him, ears pricked, interested and calm. He was first to go again and the bell went really quickly before he was half way down the long side.

The only blip was during a circle when a donkey brayed outside, I can only think a donkey must have been on a lorry as company for something, don't think it was entered ! Ted got distracted and wobbled around a bit. The 2 half 10 metre trot circles through X caused him the same problems as before. I do wonder if that movement is really appropriate at this level, especially for big baby horses.

The free walk was not great and he wanted to look behind himself for some unknown reason. Halt was square and he had a lovely pleased expression on his furry face.

He was boiled so we went off for a pick of grass and a relax before reloading him. He travelled well again and is tucking into lunch now. So we have had a very successful morning and Ted has added to his rosette collection with a 3rd place.
 
I think that the word is out, Ted is the one to beat, I reckon that the donkey's (un)timely bray was an attempt by a rival to nobble his test :D. And those 10m trot half circles are a ridiculous movement to have in a test designed for young horses and/or inexperienced riders, they need to be ditched.

Seriously, another jolly well done to the whole team.
 
JenHunt said:
another excellent result for Ted! <3 <3
Click to expand...

and he got an 8 for his final halt ! a whole 8 for a horse that found any form of stopping his furry self a real challenge. I still have horror flashbacks of his attempts to stop in front of me in the field and of course there was the incident when he barged Alice head first into the water trough.

Yesterday was his third walk and trot test and he has maintained a consistent 6 to 7.5 on the test sheets and for what he actually is I think that is quite an achievement. We have a plan - by the end of the summer 2016 we hope he will win a BD prelim and an unaff novice.

Always have something to aim for is my motto. This evening he is going to listen to a set of clippers running. His breakers have assured me the horse will be fine for them to take his tum and neck off at the weekend. Be positive they said.
 
With Ted hopefully, having his first go faster stripes tomorrow his breakers asked me to expose him to the noise of the clippers.

Fair enough and a very sensible start to his clipping education. Barge horse needs an all over job again (she is like the forth bridge) so she and Ted are put into the ark, side by side. There is a divider but Ted is tall enough to see over into the other box. The doors are side by side so I tie the mare up on the door. Ted cannot be any closer. It was a little unfortunate when the mare grabbed his top lip with her teeth, but he was trying to snog her and she is not that sort of girl.

Apart from her front legs the mare is golden to clip and stood quietly with Ted looking on in total fascination. I use two sets of clippers so I don't have to stop when they get hot. The old Listers are very noisy but he did not bother at all, I offered them up to his face and he sniffed them and had a little feel with his lips. I got on with the job and was doing the back end of her when I noticed Ted had gone from the door. Ah, perhaps it is a bit much for him, I had a look over the boards and he was only lay down on his chest snoozing !

That was where he stayed whilst I got finished, packed everything away and put the mare in her own box. He got up when he heard the teatime buckets start. He is a funny soul, I hope he lets us clip him tomorrow.
 
love this thread, always cheers me up especially tonight when fireworks are going off and my dog is shaking!!!!!! well done ted (and everyone) for being a dressage star...
 
Hetsmum said:
How did the clipping go? :)
Click to expand...

No news is good news...hope so, anyway!

It sounds as though clipper training was going very well, and have I said well done about the dressage test yet? It's so nice to hear that he is progressing so well. You sound more than a little amazed at times...<g>
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top