So this is Sadie

Guess who forgot to warn her friend that Sadie will occasionally just drop her head to rub her face on her leg and there isn't much you can do about it 😬 she didn't have to do it while already going downhill though. I just heard a very surprised little wail from behind me.

Poor form on my part but what a lovely day!
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Three quarters of the scary road is conquered! She even stood and just flicked her wee ears at a barking whirling fluffy little dervish of a bichon coming pelting across his unfenced garden at us who THANKFULLY (and I was very vocally thankful) has great recall. Considering how funny she has been about the big GSD pups down the other road (rightfully, they're a lot of dog) I'm glad she is still supremely unbothered by small yappy ones.

One of these days today
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I'm sure eventually every little hack we do on our own won't feel special enough to to post about but not yet folks!

Today was day 3 of weaning onto grass turnout so she got 2.5 hours of her own grass then took herself and her friend into someone else's field for another 20 mins of grass that wasn't hers. Just to set the scene, it already a fun day.

So out and round the corner, she spots for the 4th time the rubble bags that are sitting 10m inside the driveway of the yard owners house and I have to ask a passing car to completely stop before she crawls backwards over their bonnet. Got past the second time with only a little crabwalking. Literally the 4th time she's seen them and never a problem before. We go on.

Spots a man taking grass clippings to his bin about 300m away from the top of the hill. He is A Monster. But eventually he goes back into his garden. When we pass his garden he is again A Monster so I take a punt and ask if he will let her touch the grass basket which he does! Lovely man! Got to thank him for his dogs excellent recall because of course its the same house with the dog as in the previous post.

On the way home she decides a passing commuter cyclist is her new herd leader and toddles along behind him up the hill as happy as a clam while we have a chat and he asks for a tow which I wish we could have provided. When he pauses to take a phonecall from his wife she stops too and wants to wait with her new best friend. He passes us again just as she's going past the Rubble Bag Danger again and I think he helped 😂 so he got a sincere thank you too.

I hate talking to strangers, Sadie. The things I do for you.
 
A victory for spite this evening, weird flex I know. Sadie absolutely flat out refused to go left out of the yard this evening. I cajoled, tried waiting it out, I annoyed her, we turned in circles, moved her sideways, tried a sharp whack on the arse (which honestly never works and probably will never work but in the spirit of trying everything). She would happily go right tho so we went right and kept going and instead of a 20 minute dander round familiar roads we crossed the main road and did a 50min loop shes never seen before with lots of cows and a strung up wire round somebody's garden that had her reversing us into a hedge.

We will see if she just bloody goes left next time 😈 I would have liked that little loop to be a happy victory as its been the goal for so long but I will take a spiteful win. She was excellent and very brave for 90% of it and I am very proud of her 💕
 
smolmaus said:
Next week she will refuse to go either direction and I will spitefully walk her in circles round the yard for an hour 😂
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Called it 😬

We did get out of the gate and went LEFT but my god it was a struggle. Shes going to hack every bloody day for the next week even if its literally 2 minutes. Or shes going on the barbecue as quarter pounders.
 
Cherryblossom said:
Well done! 😄 I used to be at your yard (a million years ago), and my pony would have massive tantrums if I tried to cross the main road because she knew then it was going to be a long hack!
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Its not hard to recognise is it lol the location is so close to lovely hacking but that bloody main road is a pain!!

The shortest little loop isn't even that long if you don't be an arse about it and keep trying to reverse every time you see a cow!! 😂
 
linka said:
did I spot the ears doing a sideways translocation there?
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She used teleport and it was very effective

it was a rabbit coming out of the gateway on the right by the way, and then disappearing again. It is visible for less than half a second when VERY zoomed in and I had no idea why she spooked until I went full CSI enhance 😂
 
OH and FIL came on a walk with us last Sunday! One lovely photo of Sadie and one less than lovely one of us at her favourite industrial estate. She pulls in to here every time we pass. Loves packaging!
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The next day she decided the very mildly thrushy frog (confirmed by farrier VERY mildly thrushy) was too much to work with and downed tools. The frog is thrushy because she has been insisting on standing in the only puddle available beside her girlfriend, while said girlfriend flirts over the water trough with Sadie's second worst enemy. The number one enemy is still of course the Foal. Horses are so much fun, I love horses.

eta: also first pics of her in her new saddle! Awkward creature can't fit a 16.5" seat standing but stretches herself out so much when pulling herself along on the forehand that her back stretches enough that its fine??? Weirdo. We ended up in a 16" anyway, so I guess I'm not allowed Christmas weight this year or I won't fit 😡
 
Sadie update highlight reel!

Hacking with her Uncle C last week, passed a combine harvester coming directly at us across a small hedge. We didnt die! Scooted a few steps forwards to hide between Uncle C's bumcheeks and then was fine!

Let the yard owner blow leaves with the big petrol leaf blower about 6 feet away (while I was on top) and just watched.

Has been showing her young friend the ropes for being Good in Traffic being led in from the field. The one valuable thing she has to teach anyone is being absolutely unphased by any kind of vehicle, farm equipment, tractors pulling 15 round bales, whatever. If it's on the road, its a Friend. The same combine passed the field gate and she didn't even twitch because it was where a vehicle is supposed to be!

She has been a gem, I love her more than life itself.

BUT. The accompanying lowlight, and the reason I needed to post, was her properly taking off with me on our hack this evening because a little mini came trotting across the field to say hello. A mini she KNOWS WELL because they used to be on our yard 😂 Stared at him, assessed the situation, said NOT HIM AGAIN and went. Did the same bloody thing on the way back, when his owners were at the field gate and we had been calmly chatting for ages. Absolutely ridiculous creature, complete embarrassment, a comedian!
 
She sounds like such a character. She reminds me of Archie. We once went sideways down the road for about 5 minutes because we met two mares on a hack and girls just blow his mind because he doesn't live with them.
 
Annagain said:
She sounds like such a character. She reminds me of Archie. We once went sideways down the road for about 5 minutes because we met two mares on a hack and girls just blow his mind because he doesn't live with them.
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Oh that is quite sweet, poor boy just got a bit flustered 😂

This little mini was still a stallion when she knew him. Honestly he still might be, I wasn't cheeky enough to ask the owner if she still hadn't gotten him chopped yet! 😬
 
Vermeer said:
Enjoyed this thread from start to finish. It's lovely to hear how you both have progressed with eachother ☺️
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Ty 🥲

We haven't done many of the things I thought we would have done at this point but comparison is truly the thief of joy and I have had a mostly joyful year and 9 months. I wouldn’t change a single thing if it meant not having the relationship we have.

Hopefully fore-posting doesn't jinx this (wait and see I bet it will) but we have a pleasure ride booked on Sunday and my friend has just told me she has bought me three sessions with a local trainer to be used as lessons or schooling for Sadie for my birthday. I have been meaning to contact her for months and keep putting it off so that is my kick up the bum! We WILL see if this pony can canter more than 4 strides in an arena 😂 (she can, its me, hi, I'm the problem it me)
 
Anyone within 50 miles of Craigavon might have heard me today, yelling YOU ARE SO COOL I LOVE YOU in the woods as my perfect angel popped her first little logs and had her first gallop. First on an actual gallop track and then up our first stubble field 😭

I am so happy with her I could actually cry (I'm also very tired and 2 days away from starting my period so I'm one thought away from sobs). Only one brake failure that worried me for a second but otherwise completely foot perfect. Let her Uncle C canter away to pop some larger jumps, even took the lead across the field a little bit, she was brave as anything, only spooked at one flappy ribbon.

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