What your horse did today to make you smile

TG1

I stole this idea from the animal and pet forum, which in turn got it from the parenting forum I think, but I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we could post all things equine related that make us happy.I hope it hasn't been done before and I missed it!

To start, mine today is that I sat on my mare after four months off with a fractured pelvis (me, not her!), and she was as good as gold!

She's spooky, and this is what led to our accident, but today she was just all about the job and put the head down and didn't so much as flinch at anything!

I was terrified but the support from the yard I had her in has been phemominal in getting us to this point, and today after 10 mins of walking around on her I actually got into my car and cried happy tears the whole way home!!

Ah_Yeah

Love this!

Today was the first time jumping my horse since before Christmas when she was diagnosed with arthritis in her hock, she pinged down through a grid with a metre spread without issue and her canter felt super Have had her on a joint supplement which I believe has made the world of difference.

Ave Sodalis

Not my pony but a cob the yard took in last year. She was three last year and incredibly quiet. I had taken her to the beach when she was just broke and she went straight into the tide and didn't hesitate. She was out all winter so I had forgotten. We took her in because she has a slight bit of rain scald. I was washing her yesterday with hibiscrub by poring it over her back and scrubbing it. She had never been washed and it must have been uncomfortable. However, not only did she not flinch, she didn't even lift her head out of her hay... it's going to be nice riding a horse that's unbelievably quiet for a change (even if she is the slowest pony in Ireland).

Not as nice as some of your stories and not even my cob but she's such a gentle sweetheart, it makes me smile to work with her.

Esroh

I have a new TB that I took on last week . Very Thin and a walking saint. Today he just exploded into a gallop and did 2 laps of the field. My 2 Terrier Pups decided to join him and after a week of ignoring their yapping at him any chance they got he decided it was time to play. He spent 5 min trotting round with his head down at their level following them. It felt good to have Horse and Hounds back around the place after a bit of time without either.

TG1

I left my mare alone with her grooming kit for two minutes while I put her saddle away and came back to her swinging her tail brush round the stable!!

It was after I'd got off her in floods of panicky tears so I needed the laugh. she was just swinging it round and round for the craic looking very proud of herself!

Ah_Yeah

TG1 wrote: »

It was after I'd got off her in floods of panicky tears so I needed the laugh. she was just swinging it round and round for the craic looking very proud of herself!

Keep going with her, you will get there x

byhookorbycrook

The (very) roundy cob has actually put on (lots of) condition over the winter, so he is now in the long barn with a Shetland who also needs to shift some gut. We have nicknamed the Shetland "Marty Morrisey" as he thinks he is a big hit with the laydeees.

When they are turned out together, there's a lot of pushing and shoving, chasing -sometimes with flat ears. Cob got fecked up of Marty today and chased him across the field. Much to Cob's disappointment, the little fella was small enough to get under the fence and get away. If a pony could raise a middle finger, that's exactly what he would have done.

TG1

A small ancient riding school pony gave me a fantastic hour today, I trotted for the first time in 4.5 months and relaxed enough to actually have a somewhat ok position. And there was no hyperventilating or crying, which is a slight problem on my own mare right now! What a pony! I'm sitting at home grinning from ear to ear!

Ah_Yeah

TG1 wrote: »

A small ancient riding school pony gave me a fantastic hour today, I trotted for the first time in 4.5 months and relaxed enough to actually have a somewhat ok position. And there was no hyperventilating or crying, which is a slight problem on my own mare right now! What a pony! I'm sitting at home grinning from ear to ear!

Excellent news!

Had a Dressage clinic today and my horse gave me lateral steps! Doesn't sound like a big deal to most but she never offered them due to a combination of me asking incorrectly and being physically unable to due to arthritis.

Ave Sodalis

Not exactly smile worthy, it was one of those moments you weren't sure whether to laugh or panic!

Anyway, the yard I frequent is about a mile outside a little seaside village. There's a very old graveyard surrounded by high walls on the far side of the village, up river a bit. My aunt is mad about family trees so I told her I would check in there for her yesterday. I thought sure, I had best take a pony because why walk when there's ponies. I took Dusty, a dun cob who's fairly bombproof but very cheeky. So I get to the graveyard, and tie the cob to the far side, beside the river. I then clamber over the wall to get in. I was there about ten minutes (having checked on the pony twice, who was happily munching both times), when I hear hoofbeats... I look over the wall to see a delighted Dusty galloping around the walls and down the road. He even looks behind him when he sees me, sticks his tail up and runs faster. I drop everything, including my camera, my helmet, my tripod, my phone, jump back over the wall on the far side which was low enough to drop from, and run to the edge of the village to make sure the pony was heading home. By the hoofprints on the grass, I could see he was. So then I had to sprint back to the graveyard, back over the wall and grab my phone to ring the yard owner. It turns out Dusty had already made it back and was standing it the garden, eating with the shetland. I then had to haul everything back to the yard (which just so happened to be at the top of a steep hill), warding off villagers who had seen the loose horse and came to check if I was hurt.

Baring in mind, I'm very unfit these days and it was a warm day yesterday. Thankfully, I had taken my cheap Pennies boots and not my Ariats. As comfortable as the Ariats are to ride in, those boots are not made for walking.

As for Dusty, bar a little sweaty, he was absolutely fine. I doubt he even spooked at anything. What I think happened was he pulled for a tastier looking bit of grass (all he thinks about is food), broke the noseband in stubborness, and made a break for it while he had the chance...

https://scontent-cdg2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/923047_723472684339126_2052352822_n.jpg?oh=5cf1a33230cbd090a7b9ebf9815b2750&oe=5753FA38

fits

This morning

Ah_Yeah

Jumped our first 1m course on Wednesday since before we diagnosed the arthritis - such a big improvement in her canter and we popped around clear! Confidence slowly coming back

silverfox88

Powered my slightly hungover self around the Rosanna Hunter Trial last Thursday like his usual pro self - despite not being in full work at the moment and having a similarly unfit and less than fully functional pilot on board.

Gorgeous course and a beautiful day - he's so happy out cross country I couldn't stop smiling from the minute we left the start box; can't wait for the next one!

TG1

Didn't want to sit on my mare today, I was getting fond of the lovely steady neddy I was riding, but got told to put my big girl pants on and just do it.

She was as good as gold, I even remembered to breathe at one point! there wasn't even a thought of a spook from her, there might be hope for us yet.

byhookorbycrook

Great stuff,TG!
I think I have mentioned before that I have problems with my legs , so depend on voice and a schooling whip quite a lot. Cantering is also dodgy due to the bouncy sitting trot aid.Small fat cob,lots of bounce. He hates to canter in mud or a slushy arena so little enough cantering all winter. The aim for the last few weeks was to re-establish canter by voice command, which we have been working on quite a lot. Today I had just thought about a canter, when his nibs just tucked up and on he went. Fortunately he also knows the trot command on voice or we would still be cantering. He was actually enjoying himself and without leg or stick he did three full circuits of the arena.

It's not like lateral work, pretty basic stuff, but for me, I had a smile plastered on my face for an hour after.

Odelay

Excellent news Crook! That is a massive achievement,well done:)

byhookorbycrook

Thanks Odelay, he's a good old chap most of the time. The lads in the livery yard through a rope over the gate so that hen we are done, I can lift the rope and then the cob will push out the gate with his nose. Worth his (considerable ) weight in gold.

convert

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I can lift the rope and then the cob will push out the gate with his nose. Worth his (considerable ) weight in gold.

I love horses who do that - it makes gate opening/closing so much easier! The more seasoned horse will do that pretty much on demand, whether opening or closing gates - it makes it very handy if you don't want to get down in muddy gateways The younger chap is learning to do it too, so fingers crossed he becomes pretty adept at it.

convert

Had the 2 older boys in the arena to loose lunge them and out up a small pole for them to pop. The older boy saw it and immediately trotted around the corner and popped it. When he landed, he turned and cantered back over it. The other boy joined in, and they had great fun jumping together, competing over the lead and jumping upsides. Then, to add to the fun, the older boy changed direction and the 2 ended up going around the arena in opposite directions, popping the pole each time. It was like a circus, and the 2 were having great fun, but made sure they staggered their timings so they didn't have to jump at the same time. They had so much fun, I had to take down the pole to get them to stop - they were not impressed!

Ave Sodalis

So the drama of Dusty continues.

Last week he decided when hacking that he was a Paso Fino, rather than cob. Or rather, he wanted to gallop, I wanted to walk... so we came to an odd compromise where I wouldn't let him go and he wouldn't calm down.

Today was not much better, despite him being lunged all week. Took him to the beach and he drank water like he usually does. He was a bit light on his toes on the way down but not too bad. Then I thought I'd go for a trot, but not push it past that. He was having none of it. He took off bucking the whole way across the beach. I had zero brakes and all too aware that he knew where the exits are far better than I did. I tried circling him and he just bucked harder so I had to aim him for the tide. You will have to bare in mind that Dusty was broke as a 2 year old by a certain community, which resulted in almost no feeling where the bit is (and a mistrust of having his head touched by almost anyone)... and he was having far too much fun to listen to my seat. It was fun though, even if I was all too aware of potentially trampling dogs. I was full of adrenaline by the time I got home as he also decided to trample through someones hedges to get to grass (thankfully not doing any damage), and to canter up the hill home.

I can't wait until they get out to the field and calm down a bit!

silverfox88

Oh Loooord sup_dude that sounds like great fun!! I love this description also - "I wouldn't let him go and he wouldn't calm down". Such an accurate description of how not fun hyper hacking can be!

Roll on the summer, slightly muggy days and slightly overheated horses with no major interest in movement.

s8n

mine went moo !!

Made me smile

MedusaV8

I have slowly been bring my mare back into work that I bought last October. She is 7 and hasn't been ridden in over a year. She is extremely green so my first few lunge sessions were crazy bombing round episodes interspersed with rearing and snorting. It decided to dispense with the lunge whip and I'm tackling this as if it's her first time and yesterday we achieved one small goal of a calm session with no rearing. It think she is starting to "get" it. I was delighted.

TG1

For various reasons my mare wasn't clipped out this year, so is currently moulting like a trooper. I looked over the door yesterday and she was lying down, nearly asleep while a small bird plucked clumps of hair from her neck.

This is the same mare who spooks at her own shadow, but birds grooming her are totally acceptable!

Esroh

My OTTB has begun to look healthy and as we are both restarting from a low base I have been only lunging and sitting up for 30min.
I have gone really old school re grooming and strapping for up to an hour and today Himself was nearly falling over he was leaning into me so much as I strapping him.
Its been a while since I saw a horse enjoy being strapped .