Annagain
Well-Known Member
How has Charlie been in my life ten months already? We celebrated our ten month ownerversary on Tuesday on the last day of our riding club camp. The Tuesday before he had a proper meltdown out hacking with me - the only one he's had so I was a bit worried before we went to say the least!
So, the meltdown. We have pigs near us (I've posted about them before). We can't see them, but he knows they're there and he's never been fond of going past them but he's done it every time. Tuesday I took him out on his own for the first time in a while. As we approached the pigs, their owner came out to feed them so they started making quite a lot of noise. I'm not sure if the noise was enough or if he thought this head floating above the fence was the strange monster that has been worrying him for so long and was now making strange noises at him. Either way, he had a total meltdown. It's a nasty stretch of road, a sharp left hand bend with a junction on the right hand side of it and the pigs are in the garden of the house right on the junction. He was spinning, leaping and, once facing home, trying to canter up the road. There was a lot of traffic (it was about 6pm) so I decided it wasn't the time for a battle and turned round for home. It was about 200m to the lane back to our yard with nowhere to turn in before it. There were also horses in the field to our left who had now got wound up and were careering about. I managed to stop him cantering but we were heading up the road sideways.
One car overtook me (I have no idea how it got past!) and luckily the next car behind was one of the girls from the yard. She sat behind me and the car behind her started trying to overtake so she had to go in the middle of the road. With her help, we got back to the lane and I pulled into the driveway of the house at the end for her to pass me. This meant turning him back towards the pigs (we're 200m away by now!) and he just lost it, leaping and plunging. I counted 7 but think he did a few more before I was able to start counting. It was long enough for me to have a conversation with myself that went something like this: "It's ok, you have you're air jacket on, you'll be fine.".... "But that gas canister costs £15 quid and it would be a very stupid way to waste £15, hang on." I don't know how I stayed on but every time I got launched out of the saddle I seemed to land back in it! As soon as he stopped, it was like he'd never done it. By this point, my friend had passed us in her car and I was able to follow her up the lane on a long rein and he was back to his normal self. She was going out for a hack so she tacked up quickly and came down with me to the pigs. We approached them from the other way (it's a circular route) and he wasn't happy but he did it (albeit on the wrong side of the road on a blind bend, with my friend stopping traffic). We've been back past twice since then, in company both times, and again, he's been very worried but done it.
With that and the saddle fit issue we had a few weeks back putting us out of action for a fortnight, it wasn't the best build up to camp so I was a bit worried about him becoming overwhelmed there but he was really well behaved with just one nappy blip (due to lockdown he's done very little in groups and tends to pick a horse to cling to) that only lasted a few seconds. This consisted of being a bit humpy in the canter and spinning around very unexpectedly to follow the horse he'd latched onto. Nothing really! He went on his longest journey since he arrived with me and we didn't hear a peep out of him or his 5 year old friend who was also on his first long journey. He settled really well in his stable with strange horses around him, ate his own body weight in their lovely hay (we stayed away from the 'rocket fuel' haylage!) and was generally a very good boy. He's never been stabled 24/7 at home so I was a bit worried he'd have too much bounce when he first came out but he was fine.
We did one flat lesson, one jumping and one pole as well as two lovely hacks. I didn't feel quite ready for the XC yet but we have years ahead of us so I'm not rushing. The jumping lesson was great - I've really been struggling to canter at fences. I can do it all in trot but he picks up speed round the corner in canter and for some reason (I've never had this in 30+ years of riding) I panic and sock the poor thing in the teeth but by the end of the lesson I was managing to trot round the corner, then pick up canter a few strides before the fence, with him being very patient with me. The poles lesson was even better starting off with walk poles then raising them, then doing the same in trot and then in canter and we were able to canter round the corner to them without picking up speed and his canter transitions were amazing. By the end the last pole was a tiny jump and I cantered all the way to it. It seems such a tiny (literally!) thing but I was thrilled. It's given me so muck to work on and the motivation / confidence to keep going now we're home.
I'm useless at remembering to take photos but here are a couple of recent ones of the boy.
Relaxing after a hard day at camp. I know his mane's a mess, someone's stolen my solo comb and new one hasn't arrived yet.
After a lesson recently
A photographer friend wanted to practice taking photos of horses
So, the meltdown. We have pigs near us (I've posted about them before). We can't see them, but he knows they're there and he's never been fond of going past them but he's done it every time. Tuesday I took him out on his own for the first time in a while. As we approached the pigs, their owner came out to feed them so they started making quite a lot of noise. I'm not sure if the noise was enough or if he thought this head floating above the fence was the strange monster that has been worrying him for so long and was now making strange noises at him. Either way, he had a total meltdown. It's a nasty stretch of road, a sharp left hand bend with a junction on the right hand side of it and the pigs are in the garden of the house right on the junction. He was spinning, leaping and, once facing home, trying to canter up the road. There was a lot of traffic (it was about 6pm) so I decided it wasn't the time for a battle and turned round for home. It was about 200m to the lane back to our yard with nowhere to turn in before it. There were also horses in the field to our left who had now got wound up and were careering about. I managed to stop him cantering but we were heading up the road sideways.
One car overtook me (I have no idea how it got past!) and luckily the next car behind was one of the girls from the yard. She sat behind me and the car behind her started trying to overtake so she had to go in the middle of the road. With her help, we got back to the lane and I pulled into the driveway of the house at the end for her to pass me. This meant turning him back towards the pigs (we're 200m away by now!) and he just lost it, leaping and plunging. I counted 7 but think he did a few more before I was able to start counting. It was long enough for me to have a conversation with myself that went something like this: "It's ok, you have you're air jacket on, you'll be fine.".... "But that gas canister costs £15 quid and it would be a very stupid way to waste £15, hang on." I don't know how I stayed on but every time I got launched out of the saddle I seemed to land back in it! As soon as he stopped, it was like he'd never done it. By this point, my friend had passed us in her car and I was able to follow her up the lane on a long rein and he was back to his normal self. She was going out for a hack so she tacked up quickly and came down with me to the pigs. We approached them from the other way (it's a circular route) and he wasn't happy but he did it (albeit on the wrong side of the road on a blind bend, with my friend stopping traffic). We've been back past twice since then, in company both times, and again, he's been very worried but done it.
With that and the saddle fit issue we had a few weeks back putting us out of action for a fortnight, it wasn't the best build up to camp so I was a bit worried about him becoming overwhelmed there but he was really well behaved with just one nappy blip (due to lockdown he's done very little in groups and tends to pick a horse to cling to) that only lasted a few seconds. This consisted of being a bit humpy in the canter and spinning around very unexpectedly to follow the horse he'd latched onto. Nothing really! He went on his longest journey since he arrived with me and we didn't hear a peep out of him or his 5 year old friend who was also on his first long journey. He settled really well in his stable with strange horses around him, ate his own body weight in their lovely hay (we stayed away from the 'rocket fuel' haylage!) and was generally a very good boy. He's never been stabled 24/7 at home so I was a bit worried he'd have too much bounce when he first came out but he was fine.
We did one flat lesson, one jumping and one pole as well as two lovely hacks. I didn't feel quite ready for the XC yet but we have years ahead of us so I'm not rushing. The jumping lesson was great - I've really been struggling to canter at fences. I can do it all in trot but he picks up speed round the corner in canter and for some reason (I've never had this in 30+ years of riding) I panic and sock the poor thing in the teeth but by the end of the lesson I was managing to trot round the corner, then pick up canter a few strides before the fence, with him being very patient with me. The poles lesson was even better starting off with walk poles then raising them, then doing the same in trot and then in canter and we were able to canter round the corner to them without picking up speed and his canter transitions were amazing. By the end the last pole was a tiny jump and I cantered all the way to it. It seems such a tiny (literally!) thing but I was thrilled. It's given me so muck to work on and the motivation / confidence to keep going now we're home.
I'm useless at remembering to take photos but here are a couple of recent ones of the boy.
Relaxing after a hard day at camp. I know his mane's a mess, someone's stolen my solo comb and new one hasn't arrived yet.
After a lesson recently
A photographer friend wanted to practice taking photos of horses
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