Kokopelli
Well-Known Member
Took my little man to Badgworth Arena yesterday for a Blue Chip qualifier, luckily we got there early and I managed to jump early as there were about 60 people in the class.
For those who don't know him Andy is my 148cm ex racing pony who I've had for just over a year now, he's gone from an absolute nutter of a horse to a very sensible one, he's my dream horse and is perfect to me in every way.
Andy warmed up really nicely, we have perfected his warm up routine now which is lots of walking for about 15mins including leg yielding, turns on the haunches and other lateral work then 10 mins in trot and canter. We then will jump two jumps before going in; a tiny cross pole and a 2ft6 upright. This keeps him nice and calm so when I'm in the arena he doesn't have motor head on.
He jumped really nicely he's a different horse since 6 months ago, I had lots of control the whole way round but through a combination I bodged up the second jump which meant we knocked the third one so with 4 faults I knew we were out and with a good 50 people to jump we decided that it's too cold and tedious to wait for the next class.
So instead we loaded Andy up and took him 15mins down the road to the beach for his second time and he was absolutely fantastic! When I first got on him all we did was a very fast trot everywhere and in every direction but he eventually settled down so I decided it would be a good idea to let off a bit of steam!
And omg can this horse move! It was the first time I've really been able to really let him go and trust him not to be too much of a plonker. Andy loved it and even walked after the gallop.
So some pictures of the little guy and one very happy rider.
Mad trot to begin with
Wish this was in focus:
And a funny one:
Hope you enjoy.
For those who don't know him Andy is my 148cm ex racing pony who I've had for just over a year now, he's gone from an absolute nutter of a horse to a very sensible one, he's my dream horse and is perfect to me in every way.
Andy warmed up really nicely, we have perfected his warm up routine now which is lots of walking for about 15mins including leg yielding, turns on the haunches and other lateral work then 10 mins in trot and canter. We then will jump two jumps before going in; a tiny cross pole and a 2ft6 upright. This keeps him nice and calm so when I'm in the arena he doesn't have motor head on.
He jumped really nicely he's a different horse since 6 months ago, I had lots of control the whole way round but through a combination I bodged up the second jump which meant we knocked the third one so with 4 faults I knew we were out and with a good 50 people to jump we decided that it's too cold and tedious to wait for the next class.
So instead we loaded Andy up and took him 15mins down the road to the beach for his second time and he was absolutely fantastic! When I first got on him all we did was a very fast trot everywhere and in every direction but he eventually settled down so I decided it would be a good idea to let off a bit of steam!
And omg can this horse move! It was the first time I've really been able to really let him go and trust him not to be too much of a plonker. Andy loved it and even walked after the gallop.
So some pictures of the little guy and one very happy rider.
Mad trot to begin with
Wish this was in focus:
And a funny one:
Hope you enjoy.
)
