OrangeAndLemon
Afraid of exorcism
Sorry, this is very long.
Owning a horse like a Suffolk comes with a sense of responsibility; these rare horses are amazing. Its important as many people as possible see him being the perfect ridden horse he is.
Being a nervous rider, taking him to a show myself was always going to be tricky. When a fabulous friend volunteered to ride, I was beginning to run out of excuses. I chose the Cheshire (Warrington) Horse show as our goal.
Trying to find 7.5" bits has had an obvious impact on my phone bill. I had to give up and go for a Pelham but the only one big enough was a straight bar, Mullen mouth. He has a light mouth and is very responsive to the seat, bending like a dream. I was nervous the Pelham would make him back off. I was wrong. It turned him into a steam engine; no steering, no brakes and no bend. The poor way he worked in the Pelham affected his way of going.
I was also struggling with the Suffolk plaiting. So on Sunday we switched back to his snaffle then walked over to the RC show which uses one if the fields on the yard. He was still being a bit opinionated. I entered him into an equitation class just so he could have a go in the ring with other competitors. I'd let the judge know in advance that if he misbehaved in any way we'd bring him out. The judge asked if we wanted to do the canters, I said we'll see how he goes. He went like a dream and won!
Feeling happy that it no longer mattered what happened at the Cheshire show, we set off excitedly yesterday morning. One of the girls from the yard came to the show and plaited him for me. He was calm and happy so with entry numbers low in the in hand, non shire class, we entered that too. He spooked at a pram, did the class on his normal bridle, but came second (out of 3 - one left the ring before judging) and we got a blue rosette.
Then we threw his saddle on and he went back in for the ridden class. This time he was against two professionally produced shires, turned out immaculately. We'd gone back to the snaffle knowing we'd lose marks but would have a happy horse. He went round with his head up, was a bit exhausted before his individual show and didn't do his best. We came third out of three and got another rosette.
So we came last in both classes but it didn't feel like it. We got rosettes and prize money and had so much fun with friends. We'll be back next year. Ernie is currently enjoying a two week holiday.
Owning a horse like a Suffolk comes with a sense of responsibility; these rare horses are amazing. Its important as many people as possible see him being the perfect ridden horse he is.
Being a nervous rider, taking him to a show myself was always going to be tricky. When a fabulous friend volunteered to ride, I was beginning to run out of excuses. I chose the Cheshire (Warrington) Horse show as our goal.
Trying to find 7.5" bits has had an obvious impact on my phone bill. I had to give up and go for a Pelham but the only one big enough was a straight bar, Mullen mouth. He has a light mouth and is very responsive to the seat, bending like a dream. I was nervous the Pelham would make him back off. I was wrong. It turned him into a steam engine; no steering, no brakes and no bend. The poor way he worked in the Pelham affected his way of going.
I was also struggling with the Suffolk plaiting. So on Sunday we switched back to his snaffle then walked over to the RC show which uses one if the fields on the yard. He was still being a bit opinionated. I entered him into an equitation class just so he could have a go in the ring with other competitors. I'd let the judge know in advance that if he misbehaved in any way we'd bring him out. The judge asked if we wanted to do the canters, I said we'll see how he goes. He went like a dream and won!
Feeling happy that it no longer mattered what happened at the Cheshire show, we set off excitedly yesterday morning. One of the girls from the yard came to the show and plaited him for me. He was calm and happy so with entry numbers low in the in hand, non shire class, we entered that too. He spooked at a pram, did the class on his normal bridle, but came second (out of 3 - one left the ring before judging) and we got a blue rosette.
Then we threw his saddle on and he went back in for the ridden class. This time he was against two professionally produced shires, turned out immaculately. We'd gone back to the snaffle knowing we'd lose marks but would have a happy horse. He went round with his head up, was a bit exhausted before his individual show and didn't do his best. We came third out of three and got another rosette.
So we came last in both classes but it didn't feel like it. We got rosettes and prize money and had so much fun with friends. We'll be back next year. Ernie is currently enjoying a two week holiday.
