Crosshill Pacers
Well-Known Member
Last weekend I visited OH in Scotland for the penultimate time before I move up for good (eek!).
It was the first opportunity I've had to spend some time with my latest purchase, a 6yo gelding that I 'accidentally' bought at the sale in October. He was lacking weight after a long racing season and was VERY sour; our first meeting ended in someone else catching him in the stall as he was lunging at me with his teeth out and kicking at my OH and friend.
Fast forward two and a half months and he's almost a different horse - he put weight on really quickly which confirmed to both OH and I that he isn't a poor doer, he just doesn't cope well with a high workload. His sourness has abated except for at feeding time - he emits a 'DO NOT APPROACH' vibe when eating (in the form of ears back, teeth out, backside towards you) but otherwise has become rather affectionate. He follows OH around the field when he's doing his rounds and seems to enjoy a bit of fuss, and has settled well in the field with three broodmares and two geldings (all of whom are big softies).
His training schedule has been drawn up and OH and I have agreed he won't be coming in for any sort of conditioning work until the beginning of March, which OH will be doing until I move up in May. I'll be taking over his training then and will start to include some ridden work to keep him fresh as the last thing we want is for him to get bored of his work!
On a slightly less positive note, he doesn't seem too keen on me yet! He's taken to OH (and I can't blame him for that) as OH has been looking after him, handling and feeding him. Missile still does the ears back teeth out routine when he sees me, but I'm quietly confident I can win him over once I start working with him every day.
Here's a photo of the big man (excuse the ripped rug, that's another sewing job for the summer!):
And in other exciting news, as another 'project' to keep me occupied during the autumn/winter once the racing has finished, OH has agreed to let me break one of his broodmares in to the saddle. Her name is Dark Velvet, she's 13 and approx 15hh. She raced with OH and his family before retiring to breed. All three of her sons are still with OH and all are due to race over the next two seasons. Because of this, they've decided to stop breeding from her but for sentimental reasons OH won't ever sell her.
This is Dark Velvet, aka the alpha female:
She's obviously been broken to drive but hasn't done any work for at least six years. OH will jog her for a wee while to get her used to being tacked up and working before we try anything with the saddle. She's a real top dog character in the field with the others but when it comes to people I'm not sure I've ever seen a horse so affectionate! We had long cuddles after I took the photo
All the other horses are doing well, Rita the American import has settled and is living out with OH's other American mare, Tate. The other two mares in foal are absolutely shining - Tracey has been making OH fall in love with her even more by approaching him and resting her head in his arms before she goes for her food, and Beachgirl seems to have forgotten that she's 20 because I caught her bucking and squealing one morning like a yearling!
I'm heading up again in April, by which time Missile will be jogging so I'll be able to have my first go in the cart on him - photos and maybe even a video update to follow on that one! OH and I found three fantastic looped tracks in the woods behind his stables so I may even get a chance to take him out for a ride, provided I have room in my suitcase to pack my new bareback saddle!
That's all for now, I'm excited already for my next visit!
Thanks for reading
It was the first opportunity I've had to spend some time with my latest purchase, a 6yo gelding that I 'accidentally' bought at the sale in October. He was lacking weight after a long racing season and was VERY sour; our first meeting ended in someone else catching him in the stall as he was lunging at me with his teeth out and kicking at my OH and friend.
Fast forward two and a half months and he's almost a different horse - he put weight on really quickly which confirmed to both OH and I that he isn't a poor doer, he just doesn't cope well with a high workload. His sourness has abated except for at feeding time - he emits a 'DO NOT APPROACH' vibe when eating (in the form of ears back, teeth out, backside towards you) but otherwise has become rather affectionate. He follows OH around the field when he's doing his rounds and seems to enjoy a bit of fuss, and has settled well in the field with three broodmares and two geldings (all of whom are big softies).
His training schedule has been drawn up and OH and I have agreed he won't be coming in for any sort of conditioning work until the beginning of March, which OH will be doing until I move up in May. I'll be taking over his training then and will start to include some ridden work to keep him fresh as the last thing we want is for him to get bored of his work!
On a slightly less positive note, he doesn't seem too keen on me yet! He's taken to OH (and I can't blame him for that) as OH has been looking after him, handling and feeding him. Missile still does the ears back teeth out routine when he sees me, but I'm quietly confident I can win him over once I start working with him every day.
Here's a photo of the big man (excuse the ripped rug, that's another sewing job for the summer!):
And in other exciting news, as another 'project' to keep me occupied during the autumn/winter once the racing has finished, OH has agreed to let me break one of his broodmares in to the saddle. Her name is Dark Velvet, she's 13 and approx 15hh. She raced with OH and his family before retiring to breed. All three of her sons are still with OH and all are due to race over the next two seasons. Because of this, they've decided to stop breeding from her but for sentimental reasons OH won't ever sell her.
This is Dark Velvet, aka the alpha female:
She's obviously been broken to drive but hasn't done any work for at least six years. OH will jog her for a wee while to get her used to being tacked up and working before we try anything with the saddle. She's a real top dog character in the field with the others but when it comes to people I'm not sure I've ever seen a horse so affectionate! We had long cuddles after I took the photo
All the other horses are doing well, Rita the American import has settled and is living out with OH's other American mare, Tate. The other two mares in foal are absolutely shining - Tracey has been making OH fall in love with her even more by approaching him and resting her head in his arms before she goes for her food, and Beachgirl seems to have forgotten that she's 20 because I caught her bucking and squealing one morning like a yearling!
I'm heading up again in April, by which time Missile will be jogging so I'll be able to have my first go in the cart on him - photos and maybe even a video update to follow on that one! OH and I found three fantastic looped tracks in the woods behind his stables so I may even get a chance to take him out for a ride, provided I have room in my suitcase to pack my new bareback saddle!
That's all for now, I'm excited already for my next visit!
Thanks for reading
