Not exactly competitive, but... 4yr old's first hack out on her tod!

kerilli

kerilli

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Very pleased with my little mare today, we had our first ever hack out alone and she was really good. Didn't have a single backwards thought, had a couple of moments of anxiety (due to flapping pigeons, they all need shooting!) but just did a little dance and then calmed down again. bodes well for being brave xc, i hope!
I know it's not much compared to the dizzy heights some people are reaching with their 4 yr olds, but she was a late foal, she's not huge, i'm quite big, lots of other excuses, so i'm taking her nice and slowly! Also, she bucks on the lunge and in the field like no horse I have ever seen outside of a rodeo (no exaggeration here) so I have been very keen not to awaken the "let's get rid of mum" dragon, cos no WAY could i stay on if she started!
so, very
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with my girl.
 
Glad it went well (FWIW I think hacking out - although I love it - is the most challenging thing we do with our horses these days as the "issues" are unknown (milk lorry, building work, fast drivers, birds! ) and the surroundings unforgiving of mistakes. Hope she continues to be a good girl.
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Our 4yr olds went out on their own for the first time last week too
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I dont think it does any harm to go nice and slow with 4 yr olds. Moon wasnt even broken in till she was 5 and she wasnt behind horses her age in terms of eventing level by the next year.
 
I'd say being competitive is all about being brave, and taking a baby out for the first time does require balls of steel !!!!
 
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no one wants to awaken the 'buck dragon'!!!! I prefer the rear dragon any day
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where are the pictures of this baby horse it's about time she had some web exposure!
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aww, here you go then:
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this was her 3rd time jumping at home, just very small things as you can see. she's utterly clueless but really enjoys it, so that's a good start i guess!
 
aawww she looks like a sweetie and you have an expression like the cat that's got the cream!
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never thought to use those jump stands as fillers will be stealing that idea to build so spooky looking things. she has a nice traditional (not small and pointy) face I think she will be a winner
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Sounds like a brilliant start - what a good girl. Being able to calm down again after a little fright is key (please could she teach my 'teenager' that?!)
 
i call her 'workmanlike', she's certainly not a pretty girl, she looks like a real hunter. her official name might just be O. Tankgirl at this rate...! i always grin like a loon when i'm jumping!
those stands make great fillers, i used to stack 5 of them sideways, sort-of interlocked, to make a seriously meaty optical-illusion skinny, good Int size. my place is so windy they're only safe on the floor anyway!
i hope she'll be a winner, i was telling her today that London 2012's a bit too soon for her given her age so i'll give her till WEG 2014 instead!
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(isn't there something about aiming high or you'll never get anywhere?!)
actually, it was just nervous wittering to keep us both calm!
 
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never thought to use those jump stands as fillers will be stealing that idea to build so spooky looking things.

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I was thinking that! We used to have stands like that and I never thought to use them on their sides like that. Pity we haven't got them any more. But we do build walls out of blocks!
 
'workmanlike' i like it! I went for a working pupil position once with Jenny Loriston Clarke ans she watched me ride then said 'you are a very workmanlike rider' which from her I took as a compliment!
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I witter to mine too when bored and to try to defuse a building spook I sometimes sing too I'm sure he doesn't appreciate my out of tune warblings but I think you need to be relaxed to sing so he must then feel those relaxed vibes through the saddle and pick up on them either that or he just behaves to try and get me to stop!
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I am very impressed because *whispers* I've not hacked my 5yo out alone yet either! Buck dragon - I hear you! Mine loves to make shapes
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Though my excuse is that my hacking is all on roads

Is this the one you took to somewhere with an indoor to get backed? Sounds like she is coming good now
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Awww she's cute - like her! And I always thing the baby steps as such are sometimes the biggest achievements of all
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yay....well done!
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i'm a member of the 'proud mum of 4 year old clique' too
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i'm taking mine nice and slow too. would love to do BYEH next year as a five year old but if he's not ready then he's not ready. am hoping he's gonna be one for the future
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Thats great, dont you just love pigeons!
Really nice to hear of others taking their youngsters slowly, often feel like I have to explain myself as I havent done a huge amount with my late born 5 yr old!
 
Yay!
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Madam hasnt had a lonely hack yet, but then she was only backed in May
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and we have to go straight out on to a (village) main road
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Thats the lovely thing (I think!) about 4yr olds, every little thing seems like a HUGE acheivement!
 
Brilliant news - glad she behaved and the buck monster didn't appear with the pigeons (if it's any consolation H hates them and he's 20 this time!)

Just one argument here though - how the hell can you say you're big
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sorry, Miller, but the depression of Katy not competing means that i've been a right sad piggy for the last few weeks! and this little mare is only about 15.3 on her tiptoes... built like a brick privy though, doesn't look like a Fleetwater Opposition to me, I wonder if they sent heffalump semen instead?!
in answer to the other questions... no, this isn't the one i sent to Volatis for starting in an indoor, that's Ellie, she's still 'resting' (= growing!) in the field, and booked back in at V's starting next month for a nice refresher. this is one i've done myself, with only the one whoopsy, caused by idiot old nanny horse in field beside arena, who touched the electric (first time for years) and proceeded to go schizo round the field, set off Daisy (4 yr old), who proceeded to totally lose it and 'execute the rear program' as Endospink so wonderfully puts it. I always thought rears were easier to stay on than bucks but this one disabused me of that notion, after about 10 i had to let go and fell off!
yep, KatB, you're right, everything does feel like a huge achievement with the baby ones!
Chloe, you're not alone in singing to stay relaxed, i think we got round our solitary hack in once piece thanks to multiple clumsy renditions of 'The Star Spangled Banner' which i decided 2 days ago that i really ought to know, but the lyrics are fiendishly difficult to remember! it's got a nice soporific rhythm, so it might be my new 'show-jumping song' because if i'm trying to remember the words, no way will i fixate on the fences! Nelly The Elephant is just too easy!
 
My song of choice is "10 little speckeled frogs" since I'm bad a counting it easily lasts all hack
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Now I have to admit my boy is 10, but does tend to be a spooky nappy little toad on his own.
 
Well done. When I bought Mick he was a spoilt 6 year old and knew how to party. Singing is good and keeps you breathing.

I use those stands to jump too as they are quite spooky for mick and he hates things on the floor.
 
Yay
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. My 4yo went out on his own the first time I hacked him out (not generally recommended in the Gamebird book of 'bringing on the young horse') as our companion had to stay late at work and didn't turn up, and the school was busy. No-one could describe him as 'sharp' though. Along the lane out of the yard he stopped every 100yds or so, then after a quick application of the spurs/schooling whip he walked on again. By the time he got to the village he was moseying along like an old hunter with his bottom lip flopping about
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. He'll still stop for a look at very spooky things but a good old fashioned kick gets him moving again.

On our second hack we met our hounds being exercised on bicycles ('yeah mum, so there's a lot of dogs there, like, what's all the fuss about then?') and it was also bin day ('Oh my god it's a huge Fuggle-eating... actually I've forgotten what I was thinking now.... were those green things there last time?'). Having a 4yo whose brain is a very, very long way from his feet isn't always a bad thing!!
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haha GB, wish mine was like that! she's a very solid little powerpack and her brain is hotwired to her feet!
i went cold when i read "on our second hack we met our hounds being exercised..." that's like The Worst Possible Nightmare for most young horses!
(took a 6 yr old hunting once, and as they let the hounds out of the van this sea of hounds surged around him and he got bigger, and bigger, and bigger...)
 
I do so envy you and KatB and GB with your lovely 4yos.

It makes every day interesting, even if only going a different route out hacking and walking through a puddle.

Hope she continues to go so well K
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Fiona
 
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haha GB, wish mine was like that! she's a very solid little powerpack and her brain is hotwired to her feet!
i went cold when i read "on our second hack we met our hounds being exercised..." that's like The Worst Possible Nightmare for most young horses!
(took a 6 yr old hunting once, and as they let the hounds out of the van this sea of hounds surged around him and he got bigger, and bigger, and bigger...)

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Ah well our yard adjoins the hunt kennels so they at least know the sound of hounds from the word go!

It's probably just as well mine's a bit dozey though as once he's bigger and stronger and muscled up he'll be far too much horse to argue with. 17hh of sharp powerpack would not be fun at all!
 
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It's probably just as well mine's a bit dozey though as once he's bigger and stronger and muscled up he'll be far too much horse to argue with. 17hh of sharp powerpack would not be fun at all!

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*cough* you wait until he hits 17.2hh
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hahaha!!

Kerilli, I can sympathise, as mine is a little bit on the "sharp" side, but is actually becoming more laid back the more she does... I think she will be horizontal by the time we get out competing
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And aww Fiona!! Sure you don't mean that... you forget the bad bits when you havent had one for a while
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