What is your 'Moment'?

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Clare85

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I always love reading The Moment section on the final page of H&H and thought it would be fun to hear about The Moments of the HHO members. I thought about posting in Comp but then thought that not everyone's moment would be competition related, so hope this is the right place to post.

The attached photo is My Moment. It was taken about 15 years ago when I was about 13 years old at the Mid Surrey Pony Club. I was riding my beloved Oliver, who was an incredible horse. We had lots of moments like this one, but this photo just sums all of them up nicely. He was always so willing to please and looked after me so well. We had so much fun together. He was a quirky horse with a few issues but there was just something special about him and we just 'clicked'. He was aloof and the leader of the herd, not a cuddly horse by any means, but we had an understanding and I loved him (still do actually) and miss him terribly.

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I'd love to read about/see your Moments, post away! :)
 
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Probably this one from last summer. Having had him for 8 years and him being lame 2 years previously and conventional treatments not resolving it I sort of thought retirement might be looming.

He'd just gone reserve champ at the Veteran Horse Pony and Rider Championship show in his age category on hard ground and the judge said he was stomping well (he'd had foot trouble!)

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and not a great pic but moving him to wilts to be with me after a year of commuting back to somerset at weekends.

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My moment is summed up in this picture

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Just 4 months before Id lost all confidence in my pony and riding and Id considered selling him. I was too scared to get on after a nasty fall. My friend helped me back in the saddle and I decided to go to our local show and did (and won) beginners jumping, then got brave and did novice, then finally intermediate! To me it was a MASSIVE achievement as id never done show jumping at all, never really jumped my pony at all and this photo is really special to me because he was just awesome!
 
I think my bittersweet 'moment' was going back about 8-9 years ago now when I jumped a double clear around Highclere.

I was given this horse, who had soundness problems, and managed to get a year or two of confidence building experience having had my confidence shattered by a previous nightmare horse.

I desperately wanted to event, but the truth of the matter was I was a gutless wonder. So walking the Highclere course the day before I was turning deeper shades of green with every step. So to finish on a double clear was probably my best moment. The bitter bit was that the horse was lame the next day and hasn't jumped a fence since. He is still with me retired doing nanny duties and I can honestly say I will never regret taking him on.

(edited to add - blumming piccie won't post!)

 
My moment was proving people wrong! At a previous job I had come in young and enthusiastic and was looking forward to it as I was being offered a great opportunity. To cut a very long story short it wasn't what I thought but I persevered hoping it would get better but instead of getting better I just got my confidence knocked, my boss said I wasn't or never would be good enough to jump round anymore than discovery competitively, when I was looking for a new horse(my other horse was on/off lame and decided to retire him)he told me what I should be looking for and the horses I was looking at would be to much for my ability, I felt awful and got so low I wanted to give up completely. I finally left!

At my new job which I'm still at now I just went in as a show groom as lost any ambition to ride, but new boss asked one day if i could ride out a couple as he was busy and had to rush away early that day, he watched me ride the first one and asked why I didn't ride anymore, I ended up getting a jump on the horse and all the feedback was positive and came out with a great sense of achievement and had a small sob to myself as i realised how much I missed it!
Anyway to cut another very long story short I started to get plenty of training, I got my new horse I started to go out competing again and the first show I beat my old boss's jockey that was a fantastic moment!

I now have two great horses and am beating them on numerous occasions and it may sound petty to some but having being beat down by this person it was great to prove him wrong and to think I was giving up something I really enjoyed because of him!
 
A competition one from me as well! (although I don't really count this as my BEST moment. That would be too hard!)

Ned was always appalling in the show ring. Rearing, napping, refusals, dancing on the spot etc etc...it would just blow his brains.
However, we worked and worked on it and we finally came first!! 2ft Scurry :D
I don't really compete to come 1st, but I honestly almost cried I was so happy!

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Mine was probably last summer. Last year I started horse hunting, having had an older horse with soundness problems for a long time. I bought the horse I have now from someone I know who had told me the horse would be perfect for me as he was super-bold and loved to jump, so would do wonders for my confidence. I always knew he enjoyed jumping and we did quite a bit over the summer; SJ, DR, XC, a couple of 80cm ODEs and a 90cm HT. It wasn't until I took him to camp at Somerford and was really pushed by the eventer who taught our XC sessions that I realised just what a superstar the pony is. The more you dare him to do something, the more he takes on the challenge and loves every minute. We jumped things I had never dreamed I would, and especially not on my little 15hh Irish bog pony! ;) I'd been dithering about 70-80cm, and suddenly we were flying over a 1m XC fences like they were 2ft. We both loved every minute and I realised how incredible he is. He doesn't look like much - he isn't a handsome chap, he has little stumpy legs and he can be utterly neurotic, but he is also adorable and has such a huge heart. The day the pic was taken was when I realised what people mean when they talk about a horse being a "XC machine". He enjoys work - flatwork is nice and he likes to learn, he enjoys SJ, and is happy just hacking too, but he really comes alive on the XC course.

I was absolutely wetting myself coming into this fence because we'd only ever jumped the odd XC fence at 90cm so jumping this (I measured it afterwards at 1m, and I think it's about that wide too!) felt like we were in the air forever!

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Great thread idea! Mine was Boxing day 2007. For the life of my could never bottom this horse out hunting, and I just found my brave pants with him. It was later on in the day and as we set sail across the fields I could just see the most fantastic line of hedge in front of us. He took the first one on with such speed I didn't quite know whether we were coming or going, but I was about a stride out from the second when I thought "Jesus, that's a holly hedge, horse better not dump me in that" which he did not, because the boy has wings. It was one of those hedges that seemed to take 10 minutes to land :)
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What a lovely idea for a thread, loving these photos! My Moment is from Royal Windsor last year, when we won the Polo Pony Class and Championship. Toque is 19, had never been in a show ring in his life and was totally out of his (and my!) comfort zone, and yet behaved like a total saint, went beautifully, stood like a statue as all the Hackneys and showjumpers raced past the ring! I wasn't just proud of him, I was proud of all the work that went into getting him there from the amazing team at home. I felt we all won that day, still makes me well up even thinking of it, my face ached for days from grinning. We thought about taking him back this year, but I think it's best to end on a high!

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Sadly I dont have a pic of mine as my mam was too scared to take it !

It was when I had my old mare who I still miss every day, we went cross country schooling & happily popped round all the be novice fences which was amazing for me considering before I got her the biggest I did on my pony was 2'6 ! Then we came into the last field & the were too fences very similar to the 1s in chestnut cobs pic (I cant really think what to call them) 1 was a metre which we popped the other was 1.20 & about the same if not more wide, well my dad dared me to jump it & me already floating on air knowing star was an xc machine canter into it & bloody flew it . I have never felt like that again she put so much trust in her & she never failed me !

Tbh I could write all day about her ! :(
 
This - after 3 years of putting off riding him 'properly' because of my lack of confidence, I realised I had wasted 3 years of fun when I managed to go round Blackwater (albeit the nursery level jumps!) and he didn't put a foot wrong despite it being the second time I had jumped more than 2 fences in a row and first time XC on him.

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Nugget La Poneh said:
This - after 3 years of putting off riding him 'properly' because of my lack of confidence, I realised I had wasted 3 years of fun when I managed to go round Blackwater (albeit the nursery level jumps!) and he didn't put a foot wrong despite it being the second time I had jumped more than 2 fences in a row and first time XC on him.

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awh, he is absolutely gorgeous!
 
My Dad was working 3 seconds late on hitting the shutter button with the photographs but this was the XC of the final event at summer camp at a Riding School and yes that's a riding school horse, the types of horses people refer to as push button or dope on a rope and how riding school pupils never learn to really ride. He towed me everywhere at 150mph and wouldn't stop, I missed half the jumps out, it was absolutely hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing, it was at that point that I realised I don't care what people think. So what if I am a riding school pupil and don't have my own horse, I was having brilliant fun and was happy and that's what it's all about, it was a valuable lesson to learn.

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Not so much a moment, but a day. After a bad experience moving up to novice the season before, this was our return debute. I was terrified. I picked this event after looking at the xc pictures from previous years, but was unprepared for the sheer size. And lots of experienced people wandering around muttering how they had rarely seen a novice track this big hardly filled me with confidence. So to get a 29 dressage, 2 down sj (sj was causing carnage, average was about 12 faults) and a clear xc...I can still remember EVERY moment in the saddle that day. And replay it in my mind far too often given he's now probably not going to return to this level due to injury & age.


My grin going into the treble says it all - without wanting to sound boastful, I had the perfect shot and I knew it [which is rare]


And riding for my life xc

photo of me (5 foot 8) next to that jump


One of the best days of my life without a doubt. We came 8th and got our first proper point which was the icing on the cake.
 
chestnut cob said:
I was absolutely wetting myself coming into this fence because we'd only ever jumped the odd XC fence at 90cm so jumping this (I measured it afterwards at 1m, and I think it's about that wide too!) felt like we were in the air forever!

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Brilliant pic!! :D Ok, so if the one you're jumping was 1m high and 1m wide, how big does that make the one next to you??!! Wowzers!
 
Sneaking down to the yard early one morning (I was 14) and finding this:

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And also 4 years later, when she still made me as happy and made me laugh as much as she always will. Her first introduction to a ditch:

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Cheshire Chestnut said:
Brilliant pic!! :D Ok, so if the one you're jumping was 1m high and 1m wide, how big does that make the one next to you??!! Wowzers!
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Thanks! The one next to it was... bl00dy massive! I don't know how big, 1m10 maybe, looking at the pic? I know it doesn't sound much jumping that, and it looks tiny compared to the one next to it, but for us it was a huge thing.
 
chestnut cob said:
Thanks! The one next to it was... bl00dy massive! I don't know how big, 1m10 maybe, looking at the pic? I know it doesn't sound much jumping that, and it looks tiny compared to the one next to it, but for us it was a huge thing.
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I think you're very brave, you wouldn't catch me jumping it! Well done :) The one next to it looks like a joke fence lol.
 
After almost 6 years of owning my chestnut mare, going through stages of being completely petrified of her and last January we had a lesson with William Fox Pitt - before the lesson I chucked my toys out of the pram so to speak and wasnt for going in but I am glad we did and something clicked and he have got on better since :D

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The whole of last year was full of moments for me, having had my confidence shattered by a series of jobs working for not very nice people, and had got to the point where I thought me and my horse were only good for hacking, and I could only ride her. However last year I scraped my confidence back by setting myself daily tiny challenges, we didn't compete but I discovered my love of riding again, and realised I'm a lot better than I thought. I enjoy riding other horses aswell now!
 
Bought one of my horse as a 6 mnth old foal and her confirmation was backward I think the stud wanted of the yard asap lol anyhow we worked on her feeding her strapping her and putting a lot of time into her as she is by a well known stallion she went on to win at nearly ever major show in the county best bit was when the stud manager saw her and his jaw nearly hit the floor and in his words said Is That That Foal it made all that effort worth while
 
The moment when my young stallion (whom I had owned and trained on the flat since he was a funny-looking, gangly 5yo) and my husband were picked by our national federation to represent our country in the young horse classes of the international regional championships held by the FEI, and made me immensely proud.
He had only started competing in 1 m in January last year and progressed to 1.30 m classes in just 8 months! He really is unbelievable, has scope to burn as well as the heart of a lion.

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Nearly unseating my husband (who normally has a very very secure seat) with his phenomenal jump:

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I've had a few 'moments', but this is probably the most impressive!

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I walked the course convinced I wasn't going to make it round, but somehow we got home in 1 piece and got placed! Unfortunately that is my only BE intermediate completion as the horse broke shortly after this picture was taken.
 
What a great thread idea.

It's really hard for me to pin point a particular 'moment' for me with Major, we've had such an up and down 3 and a half years. He is very cheeky, quirky and well and truely keeps me on my toes. He's had kissing spines, I've had a broken leg, and we've both had broken egos more than once. One day that sticks in my mind as a day when I realised quite how special he was to me was about 3 months after I got him, when I well and truely threw him in at the deep end with his first ever solo hack being a 3 hour hack up the hills having our photo taken (originally meant to be going with a friend). I remember riding back and thinking that there was no way he was going anywhere (meant to be being sold the following spring you see ;) ) having had the most fantastic time! Since then there have been days where our relationship has been seriously put to the test, but he has been my rock in a lot of tough times the past few years, I owe him an awful lot. (sorry soppy stuff over with now...!)

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