fairhill
Well-Known Member
It's exactly 3 years to the day that Megan stepped off the horsebox into my life, so I thought I'd do a little (long!) post in praise of the average horse.
I'd been looking for a youngster to bring on, ideally non-TB, and by chance spoke to a show pony producer who was using our school to see if she knew of any for sale. Her OH had 2 that had come over from ireland, and she thought 'the cob' might be suitable.
I went to see her the following evening, and she was definitely the ugly duckling in a barn full of swans. She was hairy and skinny, and not quite as big as I wanted, but at only 3ish yrs old there was hope she'd grow. A few weeks later (when she was shod) I tried her on a hack, and she happily walked, trotted and cantered when asked, and went past tractors, so I decided to take a chance and bring her home.
She'd been clipped and tidied up the occasion, and straight away settled in her stable with a too-big rug and lots of hay, whilst I dithered over what to name her:
The next 12 months were spent with her unshod to correct some very bad farriery, feeding her lots of haylage and grass to get to a proper weight, and letting her be a horse. She settled straightaway into the herd, and was everyone's best friend.
Towards the end of summer I made a start on re-breaking her, and I had a lot of nappiness to cope with. She went out following my mum's horse, Chloe, and got used to traffic and the strange sights of hacking. For awhile she'd nap as soon as we reached the field boundary, and even following another horse her homing pigeon instincts kicked in, and as soon as we turned away from home she'd slow down, then speed up as soon as we facing home. It made going on bendy roads and tracks interesting
Anyway, after another 2 years of working with her, this summer I managed a 15 mile solo hack, which was completely nap-free!
Last year was spent building on the basics, introducing her to parties, and taking things slowly. It was also the year she showed me her stupid streak by getting stuck in bramble bushes in her field, twice, and leading the other horses into mischief in her never-ending quest for more grass.
She did a couple of RC prelim dressage comps this year, and we didn't disgrace ourselves, getting 60+%, and once we sort out her forward-thinkingness I think she'll do even better.
This year we started jumping, and with help from a GB YR on my yard she's starting to show some real talent, and some enthusiasm for the job, so next year our goal is to do a RC ODE
She's been a real pleasure to own, and despite her plainness, iffy confirmation, and a stubborn streak, I can honestly say that 'the cob' has been the best horse I've stumbled across.
So, thanks for reading, and here's to the average horse
I'd been looking for a youngster to bring on, ideally non-TB, and by chance spoke to a show pony producer who was using our school to see if she knew of any for sale. Her OH had 2 that had come over from ireland, and she thought 'the cob' might be suitable.
I went to see her the following evening, and she was definitely the ugly duckling in a barn full of swans. She was hairy and skinny, and not quite as big as I wanted, but at only 3ish yrs old there was hope she'd grow. A few weeks later (when she was shod) I tried her on a hack, and she happily walked, trotted and cantered when asked, and went past tractors, so I decided to take a chance and bring her home.
She'd been clipped and tidied up the occasion, and straight away settled in her stable with a too-big rug and lots of hay, whilst I dithered over what to name her:
The next 12 months were spent with her unshod to correct some very bad farriery, feeding her lots of haylage and grass to get to a proper weight, and letting her be a horse. She settled straightaway into the herd, and was everyone's best friend.
Towards the end of summer I made a start on re-breaking her, and I had a lot of nappiness to cope with. She went out following my mum's horse, Chloe, and got used to traffic and the strange sights of hacking. For awhile she'd nap as soon as we reached the field boundary, and even following another horse her homing pigeon instincts kicked in, and as soon as we turned away from home she'd slow down, then speed up as soon as we facing home. It made going on bendy roads and tracks interesting
Anyway, after another 2 years of working with her, this summer I managed a 15 mile solo hack, which was completely nap-free!
Last year was spent building on the basics, introducing her to parties, and taking things slowly. It was also the year she showed me her stupid streak by getting stuck in bramble bushes in her field, twice, and leading the other horses into mischief in her never-ending quest for more grass.
She did a couple of RC prelim dressage comps this year, and we didn't disgrace ourselves, getting 60+%, and once we sort out her forward-thinkingness I think she'll do even better.
This year we started jumping, and with help from a GB YR on my yard she's starting to show some real talent, and some enthusiasm for the job, so next year our goal is to do a RC ODE
She's been a real pleasure to own, and despite her plainness, iffy confirmation, and a stubborn streak, I can honestly say that 'the cob' has been the best horse I've stumbled across.
So, thanks for reading, and here's to the average horse
