Wimbles
Well-Known Member
So this weekend just gone saw the final horseball competition of 2015. Myself and my best friend competed for our team and gained a fabulous fourth place at the Open Championships which was just fantastic, especially as this time last year we knew nothing about the sport and the horses we play on hadn't seen a horseball until February 2015.
We randomly went along to a have a go session late last year that ROR were running at a nearby equestrian centre and have never looked back.
The horses we use have never done anything like this in their lives, Sam who I play on is a 17.2 ex racer who raced until he was 11 and suffered a bad tendon injury. He had over a year off and then started hacking about a bit, tried a bit of intro dressage but he literally could not canter. It was walk, trot and gallop only. His sacroiliac was almost fused but with the help of my awesome physio and the horseball training he now literally canters circles round his opponents. He has bounced through every morning's vetting looking fresh as a daisy! He is brilliant at defending with his size and we've even managed 14th place in the top scorers table for the 2nd division!! I'm so incredibly proud of him.
My best friend has been competing on one of my other horses, Tiger. Tiger's done a bit of everything in his life (racing, eventing up to Novice, showing) but my friend usually rides a 13.2 pony so Tiger at 16.3 is very different proposition for her. She had ridden him once about 5 years ago and he decided to canter sideways down the bridlepath, terrifying her and she vowed never to get on him again. So, to see her flying down the pitch on Sunday carrying the ball, so no hands on the reins made me more than a little bit proud
I cannot wait for next season now to carry on competing in a sport that has given me back my love of riding!
We randomly went along to a have a go session late last year that ROR were running at a nearby equestrian centre and have never looked back.
The horses we use have never done anything like this in their lives, Sam who I play on is a 17.2 ex racer who raced until he was 11 and suffered a bad tendon injury. He had over a year off and then started hacking about a bit, tried a bit of intro dressage but he literally could not canter. It was walk, trot and gallop only. His sacroiliac was almost fused but with the help of my awesome physio and the horseball training he now literally canters circles round his opponents. He has bounced through every morning's vetting looking fresh as a daisy! He is brilliant at defending with his size and we've even managed 14th place in the top scorers table for the 2nd division!! I'm so incredibly proud of him.
My best friend has been competing on one of my other horses, Tiger. Tiger's done a bit of everything in his life (racing, eventing up to Novice, showing) but my friend usually rides a 13.2 pony so Tiger at 16.3 is very different proposition for her. She had ridden him once about 5 years ago and he decided to canter sideways down the bridlepath, terrifying her and she vowed never to get on him again. So, to see her flying down the pitch on Sunday carrying the ball, so no hands on the reins made me more than a little bit proud
I cannot wait for next season now to carry on competing in a sport that has given me back my love of riding!
