Post by spotti on Mar 3, 2011 11:28:36 GMT
Just ridden my pony out on hack ON HER OWN and she was fantastic 
. Had a bit of a performance getting past a certain point in the hedge where a bird jumped out on sunday (cue trying to spin and bolt for home), but she listened when I turned her back around and after a bit of faff we managed to get so far past it then walked calmy across the middle of the field instead of the edge where the scary hedge was. She tried to bolt for home a few more times and somehow I managed to stay on through a few bunny hop broncos whilst she was trying to canter back home before we managed to get out of that field (the one that is straight out of the back of the yard) but once she was out she was FANTASTIC! Walked beautifully, really powering up the hill, then she wanted to trot alongside the XC jumps (I thought she was going to take me over one or two, that's how enthusiatic she was..well, until she stopped dead from a powerful trot to eat grass!!!), and we had a cheeky canter back along the edge of the field ;D. Technically she should still be walking with a tiny bit of trot, but she's just so enthusiastic about being out (once she's away from the yard anyway 
) that she pretty much 'asks' to go faster. Like I say, it was a cheeky canter that was relatively short (probably the length of a lap around a school) and she absolutely loved it, even the panting and being out of breath she seemed thrilled about! She wanted to have another go on the way back up another hilly field but I tried to think better of it...not that it worked - we ended up cantering anyway with me standing in only one stirrup trying not to go out the side door while Faith was thoroughly enjoying herself, bounding along without a care in the world! I thought I was going to fall off at one point because of how my saddle had moved sideways, but because its a treeless it just moulded to her and somehow I managed to stay on and pull her up. When we got back into the first field Faith went back to being on edge but this time she listened and we managed to only slowly jog up the track instead of flat out gallop! Half way up we saw a big green tractor in the field with an orange flashy light on top - not likely to help a pony that is trying to bolt, you might think - ah, but this is Faith we're talking about and for some reason having the big green flashy tractor helped her calm down and we managed to walk calmly for the rest of the way back up to the yard!! (she is a very odd pony that one, but I do love her lots 
. Always behaves impeccably when you really need her to 
.
So yeah, that was our mini adventure!
Cookies to anyone who gets to the end
. Had a bit of a performance getting past a certain point in the hedge where a bird jumped out on sunday (cue trying to spin and bolt for home), but she listened when I turned her back around and after a bit of faff we managed to get so far past it then walked calmy across the middle of the field instead of the edge where the scary hedge was. She tried to bolt for home a few more times and somehow I managed to stay on through a few bunny hop broncos whilst she was trying to canter back home before we managed to get out of that field (the one that is straight out of the back of the yard) but once she was out she was FANTASTIC! Walked beautifully, really powering up the hill, then she wanted to trot alongside the XC jumps (I thought she was going to take me over one or two, that's how enthusiatic she was..well, until she stopped dead from a powerful trot to eat grass!!!), and we had a cheeky canter back along the edge of the field ;D. Technically she should still be walking with a tiny bit of trot, but she's just so enthusiastic about being out (once she's away from the yard anyway 
) that she pretty much 'asks' to go faster. Like I say, it was a cheeky canter that was relatively short (probably the length of a lap around a school) and she absolutely loved it, even the panting and being out of breath she seemed thrilled about! She wanted to have another go on the way back up another hilly field but I tried to think better of it...not that it worked - we ended up cantering anyway with me standing in only one stirrup trying not to go out the side door while Faith was thoroughly enjoying herself, bounding along without a care in the world! I thought I was going to fall off at one point because of how my saddle had moved sideways, but because its a treeless it just moulded to her and somehow I managed to stay on and pull her up. When we got back into the first field Faith went back to being on edge but this time she listened and we managed to only slowly jog up the track instead of flat out gallop! Half way up we saw a big green tractor in the field with an orange flashy light on top - not likely to help a pony that is trying to bolt, you might think - ah, but this is Faith we're talking about and for some reason having the big green flashy tractor helped her calm down and we managed to walk calmly for the rest of the way back up to the yard!! (she is a very odd pony that one, but I do love her lots 
. Always behaves impeccably when you really need her to 
.So yeah, that was our mini adventure!
Cookies to anyone who gets to the end
