My strange TB, bombproof in heavy traffic, spooky in the countryside!

sidesaddlegirl

sidesaddlegirl

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11 November 2007
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Location
Wigston, Leicestershire
www.sidesaddlegirl.co.uk
So pleased with my mare this past weekend :)

We have no transport so have to hack to shows and the show we went to on Sunday was nearly 6 miles away. We set out at 6:30 am to get to the showgrounds for 8:30 (my first class was at 10 so plenty of time to get changed, groomed, relax, etc). We did well and got two 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd with good comments from the judge. We even jumped 2' side saddle in the Riding Club class!

Hacking on the roads in the early hours on a Sunday isn't too bad but coming back in the afternoon, the road we have to ride on, is always heavy with traffic as it's the main road from where I live into town, the motorway, shopping centers, the tip...

Well, my champion mare did not disappoint on the way home riding through the heavy traffic and over roundabouts. The lanes are narrow and cars did their best to pass wide and slow but even so with heavy traffic in the opposite direction, there was a limit to how wide people could pass us. Hattie did not blink an eye and kept plodding on in her long stride TB walk, even when big lorries came rumbling past to get to the tip.

If anyone is familiar with south Leicestershire, it was the busy B582/Blaby road through Enderby we had to go on:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=B58...64941&sspn=21.0873,39.506836&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=14

We were hi-vized in pink up to the eyeballs and I tried to thank every single person as everyone drove really courteously.

Now, saying that...how come Hattie is completely bombproof in heavy traffic with cars up her butt but as soon as we hit the country lanes, she has a heart attack if a farmer leaves a gate open or there is a rhubarb leaf on the floor???!!! :D
 
What a complete gem - I would say she is simply a 'townie' and finds the countryside a little intimidating and scary!:p My Aunt nearly had a heart attack when she visited - no street lights - she was convinced she would be mugged if she stepped out into the dark and empty lane! In reality she was far more at risk in her home deep in the city! :D Your mare sounds lovely just prefers the town to the countryside.:)
 
Is she an ex-racehorse? Perhaps she was at Newmarket where they ride through the town every day.

I had an ex-racer, who very nearly caused an accident when he shied at a hollyhock into the path of an oncoming car!

He had been at Newmarket. Combine Harvesters? - No Problem!
 
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Sounds very similar to my lad although he's from Devon so no excuse for it. :p

He's bombproof in traffic (lorries, tractors, fast cars etc) but in the countryside he's a nervous wreck although he's getting better.
 
Frank's welsh so def not from newmarket! ;) :D. I get a much quieter life taking him down the A38 than round the lanes, I think he just likes to entertain himself on the lanes!
 
My spooky Arab is just the same. Leaves, mud, branches and nature in all shape and forms terrify him - but a big lorry is a different matter!
 
Ha! My mare was quite similar...we have passed fires, a small airfield with planes taking off and landing, a hot air balloon landed in the same field as us once yet a bright flower pot or a blackbird on the lane and she would come over all unnecessary!!!
 
A steady Bob the cob I used to ride was exactly the same! He was bombproof in heavy traffic, going through towns, past building works, tractors etc. But as soon as we were in the quiet country lanes he would spook at everything, a twig on the road, some grass that is greener than the rest etc. He would constantly be nervously looking into the hedges in case a rabbit popped out...drove me insane!

He had been broken in and and hacked out in a busy environment with lots of busy roads and towns, for pretty much all of his life until he was about 12-13 years old I think. So explains a lot!
 
my horse is 100% in any traffic but has, in the past, spooked at:

her own fart
a trotting pole amongst several other trotting poles
a purple flower
a rabbit hole
some grass that looked slightly less grass-like than the grass it was hiding in
some horse poo
some sand in the sand school

my horse isn't a townie, she is a ****! :)
 
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