What to do...

Pretty much everyone, aside from my trainer, is saying SELL KADEY. My family, my partner, even the saddle fit guy. I think yes, no, yes.... no. I watched a video a local lady made today about why we do dressage and it hit me - with Kade, it will take me a LONG time to compete properly; mainly because I have to spend so much time not only educating him but even getting him to calm down enough to enter an arena calmly at A! But then... it's still hard. I love him, he's my oversized furbaby who diligently ignores me unless I have food and I'm used to that now.

Then I see things like this:

Showjumper / Dressage SCHOOLMASTER

“Centro Robba”- dark bay, 16yr old 16.2hh Thoroughbred with great confirmation is sadly offered for sale.
Robba is a schoolmaster type in the disciplines of Dressage and Showjumping. Robba’s a D grade show jumper who happily jumps 1m - 1.10, and has attained a dressage level of elementary. He has been lightly competed in 2010 & 2011 in combined training days, local shows and the Fraser Coast Interschool Equestrian. At the 2010 interschool, he won his dressage and jumping classes. He is a complete gentleman, who is extremely well mannered. Robba’s quiet demeanor and extensive experience would make him an ideal mount for an up and coming young rider to progress on. Robba loves trail rides by himself or with company, is great with traffic, trucks, tractors, dog’s bikes and no spook/shy in him.
Robba is absolutely vice free. Very easy to catch (waits at the gate for us), wash, worm, shoe, rug, clip etc…. Paddocks well by himself or with others, self- loads on the float, ties up all day long at events. Robba never hot’s up even after a spell. Robba is definitely a confidence builder for any rider most patient and willing to teach them the ropes………
Robba is reluctantly offered for sale as his current rider has now gained the confidence to move onto a new mount. He will be sold with his summer and winter rugs & a work bridle and bit.
We would like to see Robba continue with his outings and competitions, so he will only be sold to the best of horsey homes.

$2,500

Ph: 41268382 or 0429018939

 
I'm going to call them in March and if he's still available, I'll go have a look. It'll help me decide either way. 

OMG! I bought a horse!!

I JUST BOUGHT A HORSE!!!

WHEEEEE!!!!!!

I heard back from the owner 45 agonising minutes later. I am now the proud owner of a 9 y/o OTTB gelding. W00t!

I'm a little blown away and.... so many different things. OMG! I bought a horse! Eeep!

YAYYYYYY!!!!

It's been 12 months of dreaming, wishing, planning, scrimping and saving. And it's actually happening! I have my lovely boyfriend to thank for it all. Not only is he loaning me $$ while I wait for my leave to be paid out from my last job, he was the one who asked 'why not start riding again, it makes you so happy' after hearing me talk about how much I loved my days of riding. 

So, step 1 of dream is underway. I own a horse!

 

image source: Tony Ob

Update: Waiting.....

Update: I just put in an offer, now I'm anxiously waiting and obsessively checking my phone for replies. ARGH!

First lesson: Susan Marshall

 image source: Crown Lodge Equestrian

Yesterday I covered off my second ride on Mister E, the lovely OTTB I'm looking to buy (pending vet check for some stiffness issues).

What I didn't really go into was the lovely instructor I booked to go with me for a second opinion.

The owner's representative had booked a local instructor to ride the horse for me (she appears in the YouTube video a few posts down). And apparently the owner's rep is also a (retired) instructor. So in all, I had three instructors watching me ride on the day. I'm not sure if I felt pampered or pressured!

Even with both the owner's rep and the instructor she booked, I wanted to take along an impartial second opinion to assess the horse, the stiffness I saw in his movement, our suitability and to give me a mini-lesson to help work out if this is the horse for me.

After doing some research on an Australia forum - www.dressageit.com - I booked Susan Marshall, who is located close to the where the horse is agisted.

And... she was LOVELY. Honestly, the confidence boost I received after a quick 20 minute lesson with her was invaluable - even if I don't end up with this horse, how she made me feel and the confidence she instilled was amazing. As it turns out, this particularl horse is quite well trained (up to a certain level) but only responds to the EXACT command he was taught for that movement. So an issue I'd had with asking him to canter during my short and very wet first ride was quickly resolved when she pointed out that I was leaning forward a little at departure. As soon as I adjusted my weight to sit back in the saddle, he rolled into one of the most beautifully balanced, smooth canters I've ever ridden. Gorgeous.

Another thing she pointed out (that I noticed after my first ride) was that I let my reins run too long. So again I need to work on keeping on top of that. This horse comes with a few bits of equipment, including a bridle with continental web reins with little leather billets every 4 inches for grip. If I do get him I might ride with those reins for the first few weeks as an easy way to watch that my grip isn't slipping. It might also help me in managing his desire to go well behind the bit and leaaannnnnnn until his nose is virtually running through the sand of the arena!

She really focused on building my confidence back up. She knew that my last canter experience with him didn't go well, so she had me do three in either direction (asking if I felt ok to) so that I no longer cling to that memory. She explained that most people will grip to the bad experiences and forget the good ones, so the point of the exercise was to remove that bad memory. It seems so silly to have an issue with a simple canter transition but I think I'm a little doubtful of my skill, fitness and strength to stay on a horse that decides to throw in a bucking fit. So I've been a little on edge, and Susan really resolved that for me.

She did a really extensive consultation with me to work out what I'd done, what I wanted to do and where my riding and confidence were at right now. She went through the horse's experiences, conformation and temperament to ensure we matched up. On top of that she gave great advice and was open and honest about both the horse's faults and benefits. Anyone seeking support, advice, a confidence boost or just riding instruction to improve their skills I ABSOLUTELY recommend Susan. She can be contacted via her website - www.crownlodge.com.au. Thank you Susan!

Lesson Points to remember:
1. Keep the reins shorter/correct length
2. Don't lean forward when asking for/during canter
3. Keep him moving forward as a means of encouraging him to not go behind the bit or lean
4. To encourage him to soften, squeeze with the inside rein in a squeeze, squeeze (she described it as gently squeezing a sponge with the bottom finger in the rein until he gives, then immediately reward him by softening .

Vet Check - fingers crossed :)

Things are heating up - I just spoke with the vet to organise a pre-purchase vet check for my potential new pony.

She has rave reviews online and from both instructors who were attending today (one rode the horse for the vendor, the other was there for me as a second opinion), so I'm happy to work with her.

As I have to be at work on Wednesday when the vet is coming out so she's kindly offered her offsider to trot the horse out in my absence. She said she'd draw up the paperwork and be back to me by Friday. So.... whee!

I spoke with the owner, who was happy for the vet to come out without me.

Provided the vet check goes well, I've found my new pony :)

Round two with Mister E

Update on the horse I trialled on Friday - I went again today in better conditions. I don't have a video this time but he was still stiff in the hind. I took a friend's trainer with me (mine is away) and we agreed that he's lovely with a forgiving and very willing and trainable temperament. After all, he worked in that disgusting rain without too much fuss.

He has a few training issues but these can all be resolved with gymnastisizing exercises, lateral work, bending etc and improved fitness. One issue is that he's quite one-sided, but he did race until he was 7 so I'm not really surprised. Others include leaning on the bit, going behind the bit and being heavily on the forehand. But these can all be improved with training.

At the same time, he has lovely movement, often tracks up nicely and has a beautifully smooth canter.

I said I'd buy him pending a vet check, with a particular focus on the stiffness in the hind. He was sweaty after a 10 minute ride (including lathered between his hind legs) so I just want to make sure that the lather is from being unfit after a 10 week spell and not from his being in pain from whatever is going on in the hind.

In all, I'm really looking forward to hopefully taking him home in a few weeks. Fingers crossed! It may be that the stiffness is something that is workable given that I'm not exactly going to ride Grand Prix with this horse; if I get to a point where my skills require a different horse in future I'd deal with it then. At the same time if he's going to break down once in full work then no deal. But I'm hoping for the former. I just want to make sure he's comfortable.

I'm quite excited about it all though - he has more training than I realised and a lovely temperament!

Mister E: Dancing with you in the summer rain :-/

I kicked off my between-jobs four day weekend with a viewing of two prospective ponies, which became one prospective pony and a scan through a stockfeed place and a saddlery store as the other pony was lame. Not figuratively lame, but literally lame - he cut his leg playing with another pony. The stockfeed place was amazing - all the smells and sights of my riding years crammed into one enormous building :)

Anyhoo, the second horse left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, he had great conformation and appeared to have a nice temperament. On the other, he looked a tad stiff and/or lame in the hind and when I rode him there was major canter drama. HOWEVER both could be attributed to the APPALLING weather. It was pouring rain and while the footing was good, there was still a sheet of water on the ground and buckets of it coming down. The pony was lovely enough to soldier on regardless but seemed a little stiff. On top of that, I came to realise that my current trainer hasn't been correcting certain things, like my reins being too long. I had a feeling they were and wish now that I'd asked for more info; as a result I had some mixed results with this horse.It left me lacking confidence and wondering if I'm doing the right thing. When i rode him it seemed he was testing me out a bit, seeing how naughty he could be with me which also left me a bit freaked and/or less confident in my ability. Add to that someone rear-ended my car tonight, so it's sitting with a repairer and will be assessed on Monday. As Elvis put it, I'm all shook up.



Apologies for the sound, it was pouring rain. Turn your speakers down perhaps!

The horse in question is a 16.2hh 9y/o OTTB gelding. He's a dark brown, with his forequarters almost black/a deep dark chocolate and his hind end bay. He has a small star and no white socks - after having 2 horses with 4 white socks (so 8 white socks at any given time) and dealing with regular bouts of greasy heel, I'm thrilled! He raced until he was about 7 then spent the next 18 months with his current owner (who has moved overseas so I can't ask a number of questions) who used him for dressage and eventing, plus used him to deliver a few riding lessons. I'm hoping the latter means he was a decent rider and taught the horse some good things! The horse's name is Mister E (as in 'mystery') but I plan to rename him if I do buy him. A few of the names on my maybe list include Liquorish (Loki [aka God of Mischief] for his stable name), After Dark, Top Hat, Tuxedo, something with Jet as his front is jet black - maybe Jetset? or some kind of exotic name that hints at dark cocoa/chocolate. But let's see if he works out for me first!

So tomorrow, I'm meeting a trainer at the place where he is agisted and I've asked her to put us both through our paces to check if we're a good match. An 8.30am riding lesson 45 minutes away from my home? *cough cough wheeze* how early on a sunday? EEP!

Fingers crossed it all goes well!