Proud post - almost a year on!

Denbob

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I'm not sure if I've posted about D's background before, but as a little bit of a preamble I took him on as a share whilst I was on my placement during university as a very young (mentally and physically) 4yo. He was up for share because he had developed some fairly dramatic napping issues. He would plant and the more pressure you added the more he would fight, to the point where he almost ended up charging through barbed wire fencing on a bridleway rather than move forward. I immediately stopped riding him. Months of calm, consistent groundwork until we had a saddle fitter and physio out and we were totally confident there was no pain involved, then gentle ridden work at a different yard with hacking in company only, but even then he could be nervous and would never even consider going past the lead horses shoulder. When his owner put him up for sale he came with me to university where he has had the better part of a year off, some of it intentional when he went through a gangly phase, the rest unplanned due to health and work committments.

On Monday we moved yards (he even loaded better!) and it's like he took a deep breath and went, "yep, this is good". Tuesday I 'lunged' (cheat definition I basically just use the whole school, workout for both of us :p ) and he was soft, responsive and an absolute pleasure to work with. Yesterday we went on a hack ALL OFF ROAD (a totally new experience for us) in a group of 4 horses he had never met before and aside from a hairy moment with a dog he was foot perfect. This morning off we went on a totally different ride and I could have cried, he took the lead on a group ride past a trough full of stagnant stinking water which the other horse froze at and wouldn't move past. He then carried on in front for a good 200 metres including round a gate onto the road and under low-hanging branches, and marched off in front most of the way home on the buckle the whole way! Brakes were good, totally on voice command on upward and downward transitions, and even snuck in a few cheeky leg yields with beautiful bend on either side, which would have been unheard of 6 months ago.

I am so pleased with him, and while I love my OH he doesn't quite understand how big of a deal this is to me, so thought I'd come and celebrate with lovely horsey people on here! We've still got a long way to go, he's still young and I daren't push it too far for fear of undoing anything, but for now I'm just thrilled to have a horse that's happy and comfortable in company with the eventual prospect of being able to ride out alone.

(I tried to add photos but having trouble uploading!)
 

Fiona

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Brilliant :)

Well done, and I hope your improvement continues.....

My son's pony is like this to hack (perfect in company, but will rarely go past the lead horse) and it can be sooo annoying even for a childs pony, never mind an adult's horse.

Fiona
 

Rumtytum

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A wonderful post, congratulations to you! Glad you have a lovely husband and also glad you have this forum to share with people who can truly appreciate what you've achieved :)
 
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