The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

I <3 My Horse

697 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  RedTree 
#1 ·
My horse is 5, a thoroughbred, and off the track for about six months, but I've only had her for about four months. I haven't ridden her in three weeks. She lives at home, and I live at college, three hours away. When I rode her over Christmas Break I would mostly walk/trot her because I only have access to an outdoor arena, plus I had to get a surgery, so maybe rode her walk/trot a total of six times. I just really haven't had the opportunity to work with her as much as I'd like.

So there's a schooling show going on this weekend. I figured it'd be fun to take her out and go in a couple of walk/trot classes and do some crossrails. Just let her see the sights, you know? (Plus, getting an indoor and therefore, canter-able arena to work in!) I've only taken her to one other show and she was a rockstar. Same sort of situation, I didn't get to ride her for a while because of college, and opportunity for a show came up, so we just kind of sent her in without much preparation. She's super green (maybe has 15 rides on her) but has the best temperament and most willing nature I've EVER seen in a horse.

So, I get on her, we trot around, at first she has her head high and is acting nervous, but she's REALLY listening to my leg cues to get in the corner, which is a first. Doesn't spook at ONE SINGLE THING. I've also trained her that when I cluck, she needs to refocus her attention on me. So when we would pass a scary entrance, and she looks at it a little, all it takes is one cluck to get her ears swiveled back on me. I got a little nervous about asking her to canter because the last time I did she was taking the corners fast and scrambling with her legs and sometimes I think she sees the straightaways and thinks "track." My trainer had told me to really sit back and stop hovering over her front end. I asked her to canter, and she was ah-maz-ing. She actually stuck to a pace, and went in corners, more than I could have ever asked for. Her left lead was a little sticky, but eventually we got it.

That's not even the best part. So we go in the large arena where all the jumps are set up. We trot around - rockstar. We canter around - rockstar. All the other horses are acting ridiculous, bucking and mini-rearing. So I pause in a corner of the arena to talk to my trainer, right by the concrete and wire fence that surrounds the arena. Two minutes later, a horse was jumping a line and coming up behind us. It had just cleared a jump and literally falls FLAT on its face TWO feet away from my horse and then proceeded to roll over on its rider - flailing its legs in my horse's direction. I'm in shock, so I didn't move for a minute. My horse turned her head to look at the horse and rider, with her ears pricked forward, and looked concerned, but didn't move a muscle. Then I realized I should probably get off, because although the horse has rolled off the rider, the horse is still on the ground, and the people needed more room to deal with the situation. I dismount, and my horse just looks at me like "What's the big deal?"

THAT is a GOOD horse.
 
See less See more
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top