Trail Riding. Good(ish).
26th April 2008 - Saturday
We had our first ridden trail ride today.
Chippy hasn't been ridden on a trail since pre-EI about August.
Hopefully he'll get better the more he does it.. If I can convince myself to go out again. :)
It started well. We went out with a reliable horse who is quite a bit bigger than Chip. His strides are bigger. Chip was walking his little heart out but couldn't keep up with the big horse who was casually walking along. :)
This wasn't so much a big deal but the first time we went down a little hill he thought it was an opportunity to take off in canter and catch up to the big horse.
There was also something invisible that was really scary that the big horse walked calmy past, but we had to sidepass past it while carrying on.
We went along for about 20/25 minutes and then turned around to come home. The leading horse stopped and was staring intently at a sheet of metal attached to a fence, trying to decide whether or not it was scary. Chip decided that was enough for him and the scardy cat spun and took off away from the other horse, leaving him to be eaten up by the horse-eating fence. What the?
That was enough for me!!! Chip was calm the rest of the way home. Luckily the leader horse is pretty laid back as Chip couldn't help himself and kept nipping at the leader horse's dock. Much to my growling, snarling and smacking, but that didn't seem to bother him.
At the time I was really nervous after he'd misbehaved but in hindsight it wasn't so bad.
I must have been bloody tense the entire time. As soon as I hopped off, my arms, my legs.. everything aches..
Thanks Kim for coming out with me. :)
Another good day.
20th April 2008 - Sunday
Chip was a sweetie.
We headed down to the arena and attempted the Preparatory1 test - lots and lots of practise is needed.
My circles aren't great and my diagonals even worse. Though I think the arena is wider than 20x60. Coming past C, to M and then across to E over the diagonal is an awfully sharp turn.
Here are some pics from today. He's getting scruffy with a winter coat but he's putting some needed weight back on.
Ehh a little from Column 'A'... a little from Column 'B'
19th April 2008 - Saturday
What a day!
Farrier appointment at 7AM - Chip is now sporting pedicured tootsies. Then we went for the dreaded sheath clean.
Foulest.Thing.Ever. That's all I'll say, but he appears to be feeling better.
Some scary monster has appeared in the laneway at a certain spot. Much snorting and neck-arching was apparently necessary.
We went for another walk (this time saddled up) down the trail. He's much better. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future I can look back on this and see how silly I was "back then".
Finally we saddled up and rode out on the grass. There are some issues with bending to the right - he seems happier to bend to the left, even when on the right rein. Could be a lack of forward. We cantered - went well, but after a 20 metre circle I lost my 'centre' and then had issues pulling him up. Silly me managed to get myself in a position where we had to go right instead of following the circle left.. while still trying to stop. :) Chippy had no idea what I was asking, and I *think* we did a simple change and then cantered off on the right lead a few strides before stopping.
**Have to work on keeping centre!**
Riding in the grass gets boring, so we headed off to the arena and proceeded to yell instructions out loud as if it were an instructor yelling them out. It probably looked ridiculous (there was noone else around - thankfully), but it's really effective. Chippy was paying attention and did not put a single hoof wrong. Right rein bending issues disappeared - must have been a forward issue. We worked on serpentines (mild disaster - looked more like a big squiggle), turning squares, changes of direction, trying to get a straight line across the diagonal (another mild disaster) whilst stretching and lowering the head/neck. Chippy did awesome stretches today! No excuses for not getting a great score in our first prep test for that movement. :)
Walking him back to his yard, the scary monster re-emerged. I've never seen a horse spook by splaying all four legs out as far as possible with the belly near touching the ground.... all the while snorting and looking at invisible monsters.
On to the naughty stuff... See? Trident -->
Chips' feed time manners are becoming appalling. I'd like to be there at every feed to remind him of his manners, but unfortunately can't. He pulled the ol' "I don't want to walk PAST my stable in which lunch is inside" and then proceeded to get snakey, aggressive and prancy. We walked straight back to main area and he stood tied while I did some stuff. On the second try, he was snakey, but no prancing! Better! But still not good enough. Out we go again, and we come in again. Cranky pony but he stands there. I take his halter off and he launches off his quarters, runs around me, bucking and does the snakies all the way to the stable. I throw my whip at him as he runs past. lol! Little turd, but it made me feel better! :D
Sigh. I march into the stable and put the halter back on him, throwing the hay out the window so he can't get it. Lead him BACK out of the stable to the middle of the yard and let him go again. No snakey, no launching, he just trots off to the stable in a non-threatening manner. Good boy! I go outside and bring his hay in - he tries to mug me at the gate. Much growling and hands flying, he backs off. I walk into the stable where he attempts to mug me again. The poor dear clearly has not been fed and how dare I keep food from the starving pony. I pick up the fly mask on the ground and chase him to the other side of the stable where he practically stands there whimpering. Unfortunately the whimpering doesn't last long and he's back attempting to tear the hay out of my hands. There was an all-out brawl in that stable until he finally stood quietly and waiting.
Phew! Don't want to have to do that again.
He's given up on trying to be boss outside of his yard, but we'll need to keep working on who's feed-time boss :)
Stupid human body.
17th April 2008 - Thursday
Beep. Rode again this morning.
Still can't get the contact thing working, so we worked on changes of direction instead.
Hips are still pinched and I find myself leaning forward, unable to lengthen the leg or lower my centre.
Guess I'll try again tomorrow...
What a Superstar!
13th April 2008 - Sunday
I was supposed to ride today but was feeling pretty crappy. I've been pencilling at SEG and had a whopper headache which only got worse over the course of the day.
Rather than ride, I took Chip for a walk along the roadside. He didn't put a foot wrong, even when meeting horse-eating mailboxes.
Seeing as he was taking it all in his stride, I lead him down the trail for 20 minutes. There were some scary beasts in some of the bushes, but Chip put on his brave face and pushed on.
All in all, I'm incredibly pleased at how he behaved in new environments. It's reassuring and I hope he's just as brave when I'm on his back.
Mini Lesson.
12th April 2008 - Saturday
A friend of mine came over today to provide ground support and basically force me to canter. :)
It went very well and pony did everything he was asked to do.
Achievement!! He was such a good boy.
About Chippy
17th March 2008
Chips is my new 14.3hand, 13 year old gelding.
He's an arabian cross stock horse gelding and will be used for dressage, trail riding and general confidence building. Chips arrived on the 17th of March at his new home at Madison Park, located in the beautiful Samford Valley.
I'll be adding updates here so that I have a record of our progress and can see how far we've come.
Below is a photo of Chips at his previous owners', before he stepped on the float:
Below are photos of Chips in his new yard:
