PolarSkye
Well-Known Member
Let's just say that we didn't exactly cover ourselves in glory today 
. But that's horses . . . ups and downs are part of the sport, and there were still a lot of positives to take away.
So, I gave Kali his pre-competition bath last night as usual . . . put the new hood on (bought as a replacement for the one he decimated a month or so ago), bandaged him and left him with a ridiculously deep bed in the hope that he'd stay clean.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203518496422378&l=158fd60647
Hmmmmmm.
When I arrived at 7 a.m., he looked like this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203523019695457&l=3ba2b78090
He's worn that hood three times.
Sigh.
Back in the washroom he went to clean up his face and the stable stains on his legs and the on the walker while I did yard jobs, gathered up competition gear and waited for Z to arrive with the lorry.
He was a bit knobberish while Z plaited his mane, but nothing out of the ordinary . . . just him being . . . HIM.
Loaded him (little ****** tried to do a repeat of last weekend's shenanigans but Z caught him in time and tied him up quick), ramp up and we were off to East Soley to do Prelim 14 and his first ever Novice (24).
We left in brilliant sunshine . . . we arrived at East Soley in the middle of a flipping hailstorm with an arctic wind!
Kali came off the lorry alright . . . not sweaty, a little antsy, but nothing horrific, but it was like his feet hit the lorry park surface and something shot him up the arse. He's been fidgety and tense by the lorry before, but nothing like this . . . somehow I got him tacked up while Z got changed, she was on and they were off . . . he had proper ants in his pants. Normally, as soon as Z's bottom hits the saddle, he relaxes a little and puts his "work" hat on . . . not today.
It took Z a good 25 minutes to get him to remotely settle in the warm up for the Prelim . . . he wasn't being naughty, he was genuinely unhappy . . . tense/stressed/scared . . . but he really was trying really hard to listen to her. About fifteen minutes into the warm up he had a panic, almost as though he had had his fingers in his ears up to that point and then had suddenly lost the plot. Z rode him through it, sat quiet, settled him. The steward was lovely . . . so encouraging, gave them as much time as she could and kept telling me how beautiful he is. So sweet.
Right - time to go in . . . poor boy shat his pants going into the indoor arena . . . didn't like it at all . . . but he gave Z the benefit of the doubt for the first half of the test and (even though he was holding his breath and/or grinding his teeth much of the time) tried really, really hard . . . and then the very spooky doorway got the better of him and he did a massive spook . . . shot sideways and then planted, snorting at the spooky door. Z gave him a pat and a stroke, told him he was a good boy, and they continued.
Some of the trot work was quite nice - especially considering how tense he was . . . he broke quite a bit in the canter because he was so tense, Z couldn't ride accurate movements at the end of the school nearest the door, the free walk on a long rein was better than last weekend . . . he tried . . . he really, really tried . . . but when Z got off and we got back to the lorry, he lost the plot . . . one seriously unhappy pony. YM came and asked us to put him back on the lorry because he was spinning/churning up the car park . . . that made him worse! He tried to escape from the lorry by climbing underneath part of the partition! We got him off and attempted to walk him - which usually calms him - but, if anything, he got worse. Z and I looked at each other and decided to put him back on the lorry and take him home. He was still bouncing as Z pulled out of the lorry park . . . but two minutes down the road he had calmed . . . he came off the lorry tired, was a little rude going down to the field, but after a reminder sorted out his manners, had a good roll in the field and just really, really chilled.
When I brought him in to take out his plaits, rug and bandage him up, he was very calm and very, very tired. Ate up his tea, had a good munch on his hay/haylage and had a good drink . . . YO checked on him for me and said he was dozing . . . no doubt wore himself out poor lad.
We are both (Z and I) totally baffled. He's been stressed and excited before . . . but never like that. And, to me, he seemed desperately unhappy about something, rather than just naughty. The venue isn't particularly busy - the outdoor school is nice enough, the atmosphere is calm.
I don't care that he didn't do the Novice . . . and I didn't bother to go and collect our sheet for the Prelim . . . I just wanted to get him on the lorry and get him home . . .
I have just spoken to our trainer and our plan for tomorrow WAS to take him to another venue to practice the test for the championship (this coming Sunday) in test conditions - so bathed, plaited, etc. Now Z and I will just take him out to the venue (he used to livery there), without our trainer, no plaiting, no bath, and just see if she can get him to relax in their school/work long and low and as soon as he does, box him up and bring him home. Then we'll take it from there. If we feel it isn't the right thing for him to go out and do stressage this weekend, then we won't go. Perhaps he should go XC schooling instead . . . or jumping . . . we'll figure it out. Together.
However bad the bad bits of today were, though, I was immensely proud of how hard he tried . . . and immensely proud of how well Z rode him . . . she couldn't have been more reassuring and he couldn't have given more of himself than he did.
Horses eh?
P
. But that's horses . . . ups and downs are part of the sport, and there were still a lot of positives to take away.So, I gave Kali his pre-competition bath last night as usual . . . put the new hood on (bought as a replacement for the one he decimated a month or so ago), bandaged him and left him with a ridiculously deep bed in the hope that he'd stay clean.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203518496422378&l=158fd60647
Hmmmmmm.
When I arrived at 7 a.m., he looked like this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203523019695457&l=3ba2b78090
He's worn that hood three times.
Sigh.
Back in the washroom he went to clean up his face and the stable stains on his legs and the on the walker while I did yard jobs, gathered up competition gear and waited for Z to arrive with the lorry.
He was a bit knobberish while Z plaited his mane, but nothing out of the ordinary . . . just him being . . . HIM.
Loaded him (little ****** tried to do a repeat of last weekend's shenanigans but Z caught him in time and tied him up quick), ramp up and we were off to East Soley to do Prelim 14 and his first ever Novice (24).
We left in brilliant sunshine . . . we arrived at East Soley in the middle of a flipping hailstorm with an arctic wind!
Kali came off the lorry alright . . . not sweaty, a little antsy, but nothing horrific, but it was like his feet hit the lorry park surface and something shot him up the arse. He's been fidgety and tense by the lorry before, but nothing like this . . . somehow I got him tacked up while Z got changed, she was on and they were off . . . he had proper ants in his pants. Normally, as soon as Z's bottom hits the saddle, he relaxes a little and puts his "work" hat on . . . not today.
It took Z a good 25 minutes to get him to remotely settle in the warm up for the Prelim . . . he wasn't being naughty, he was genuinely unhappy . . . tense/stressed/scared . . . but he really was trying really hard to listen to her. About fifteen minutes into the warm up he had a panic, almost as though he had had his fingers in his ears up to that point and then had suddenly lost the plot. Z rode him through it, sat quiet, settled him. The steward was lovely . . . so encouraging, gave them as much time as she could and kept telling me how beautiful he is. So sweet.
Right - time to go in . . . poor boy shat his pants going into the indoor arena . . . didn't like it at all . . . but he gave Z the benefit of the doubt for the first half of the test and (even though he was holding his breath and/or grinding his teeth much of the time) tried really, really hard . . . and then the very spooky doorway got the better of him and he did a massive spook . . . shot sideways and then planted, snorting at the spooky door. Z gave him a pat and a stroke, told him he was a good boy, and they continued.
Some of the trot work was quite nice - especially considering how tense he was . . . he broke quite a bit in the canter because he was so tense, Z couldn't ride accurate movements at the end of the school nearest the door, the free walk on a long rein was better than last weekend . . . he tried . . . he really, really tried . . . but when Z got off and we got back to the lorry, he lost the plot . . . one seriously unhappy pony. YM came and asked us to put him back on the lorry because he was spinning/churning up the car park . . . that made him worse! He tried to escape from the lorry by climbing underneath part of the partition! We got him off and attempted to walk him - which usually calms him - but, if anything, he got worse
. Z and I looked at each other and decided to put him back on the lorry and take him home. He was still bouncing as Z pulled out of the lorry park . . . but two minutes down the road he had calmed . . . he came off the lorry tired, was a little rude going down to the field, but after a reminder sorted out his manners, had a good roll in the field and just really, really chilled. When I brought him in to take out his plaits, rug and bandage him up, he was very calm and very, very tired. Ate up his tea, had a good munch on his hay/haylage and had a good drink . . . YO checked on him for me and said he was dozing . . . no doubt wore himself out poor lad.
We are both (Z and I) totally baffled. He's been stressed and excited before . . . but never like that. And, to me, he seemed desperately unhappy about something, rather than just naughty. The venue isn't particularly busy - the outdoor school is nice enough, the atmosphere is calm.
I don't care that he didn't do the Novice . . . and I didn't bother to go and collect our sheet for the Prelim . . . I just wanted to get him on the lorry and get him home . . .
I have just spoken to our trainer and our plan for tomorrow WAS to take him to another venue to practice the test for the championship (this coming Sunday) in test conditions - so bathed, plaited, etc. Now Z and I will just take him out to the venue (he used to livery there), without our trainer, no plaiting, no bath, and just see if she can get him to relax in their school/work long and low and as soon as he does, box him up and bring him home. Then we'll take it from there. If we feel it isn't the right thing for him to go out and do stressage this weekend, then we won't go. Perhaps he should go XC schooling instead . . . or jumping . . . we'll figure it out. Together
.However bad the bad bits of today were, though, I was immensely proud of how hard he tried . . . and immensely proud of how well Z rode him . . . she couldn't have been more reassuring and he couldn't have given more of himself than he did.
Horses eh?
P
