Thrills......and spills
The learning curve in this pony lark is steep. One week ago I had never so much as filled a pony’s water bucket.; now I can groom the dear beast with efficient sweeps of my dandy brush (I am getting nearer and nearer the dangerous tail end every day!) and find the muck heap with my barrow of dung, on a good day.
The day after the bucking off incident: J was very brave and rode Whisper around the school for 10 minutes, alone. She behaved beautifully but J was understandably tense. Had a long chat with Pat who reassured us that it was just normal ‘young pony’ behaviour and that by Christmas, ridden 3 times a week by experienced stable girls, she will have lost a lot of that ‘silly nonsense’. This was an incredible relief to hear, since up till then I had been worrying desperately about how we, me a total novice, and J, a competent but not especially brave rider, were going to achieve the steadiness necessary before she is ready for J to safely ride her, yet alone for her to be used in working livery (i.e. considered as safe as any other school pony).
Of course this ‘help’ comes at a price. The pony will be on ‘full livery’, at a cost 3 times that of working livery until such time as she is ready for the school. The first three months are going to be hard, since J is not enjoying riding the pony at all – which is exactly what Pam warned us might happen if we chose a young pony with potential, rather than a safe old nag.
However, so reassured were we, so confident is Pat that the pony WILL be just fine, that we went ahead and made an offer to the seller, who accepted it.
Of course my real dread is not so much that it will all be a disaster and we will have to give up and sell the pony on – one can get through that and only have lost money. It’s the real dread I now feel when J mounts (a dread I have to conceal). Nothing’s worth being seriously injured for. But no horse is entirely ‘safe’ – in that weird way humans have of being comforted by the disasters of others, I watched and was reassured today three school ponies today ‘spook’, bolt and buck in no less alarming a manner than Whisper – the difference was that the riders were outwardly matter-of-fact about it and continued to ride as if they expected their horse to behave normally thereafter. Whereas we are now continually on edge, expecting ours to misbehave. Almost a self-fulfilling prophecy, since horses are adept at picking up on behaviour and body language – no mysticism this, not a ‘my pet is psychic’ bit of mumbo jumbo – as flight animals, they are programmed to sense tense behaviour as this possibly indicates some danger nearby which they should flee from.
Oh well, there have been some lighter moments – we’ve been shown how to lunge Whisper in a round pen – this gives her exercise and works her fizz off – J looks quite the part as she flicks the whip like a ringmaster and the pony canters around the perimeter. Pony-mum meanwhile gets the dumb jobs – on hand to go in and remove the muck if the pony performs – she is quite capable of making deposits every two feet in a perfect circle around the ring – without missing a spot!
Big day tomorrow, a Dressage Gala at the stables. Whisper won’t be taking part of course but J is helping all day, being a gofer with the scores, writing down marks for the dressage judge, etc. Preparations have been intense for this event with most livery owners entering, involving private lessons to learn the tests, many visits to the saddlery for smart outfits for rider and horse, lots of discussions ‘you mean we have to ride without a martingale??’. People were plaiting manes and tails as we left tonight, all very excited.
That’s what it’s all about – having fun. Maybe we will be among them next year….. maybe.
The day after the bucking off incident: J was very brave and rode Whisper around the school for 10 minutes, alone. She behaved beautifully but J was understandably tense. Had a long chat with Pat who reassured us that it was just normal ‘young pony’ behaviour and that by Christmas, ridden 3 times a week by experienced stable girls, she will have lost a lot of that ‘silly nonsense’. This was an incredible relief to hear, since up till then I had been worrying desperately about how we, me a total novice, and J, a competent but not especially brave rider, were going to achieve the steadiness necessary before she is ready for J to safely ride her, yet alone for her to be used in working livery (i.e. considered as safe as any other school pony).
Of course this ‘help’ comes at a price. The pony will be on ‘full livery’, at a cost 3 times that of working livery until such time as she is ready for the school. The first three months are going to be hard, since J is not enjoying riding the pony at all – which is exactly what Pam warned us might happen if we chose a young pony with potential, rather than a safe old nag.
However, so reassured were we, so confident is Pat that the pony WILL be just fine, that we went ahead and made an offer to the seller, who accepted it.
Of course my real dread is not so much that it will all be a disaster and we will have to give up and sell the pony on – one can get through that and only have lost money. It’s the real dread I now feel when J mounts (a dread I have to conceal). Nothing’s worth being seriously injured for. But no horse is entirely ‘safe’ – in that weird way humans have of being comforted by the disasters of others, I watched and was reassured today three school ponies today ‘spook’, bolt and buck in no less alarming a manner than Whisper – the difference was that the riders were outwardly matter-of-fact about it and continued to ride as if they expected their horse to behave normally thereafter. Whereas we are now continually on edge, expecting ours to misbehave. Almost a self-fulfilling prophecy, since horses are adept at picking up on behaviour and body language – no mysticism this, not a ‘my pet is psychic’ bit of mumbo jumbo – as flight animals, they are programmed to sense tense behaviour as this possibly indicates some danger nearby which they should flee from.
Oh well, there have been some lighter moments – we’ve been shown how to lunge Whisper in a round pen – this gives her exercise and works her fizz off – J looks quite the part as she flicks the whip like a ringmaster and the pony canters around the perimeter. Pony-mum meanwhile gets the dumb jobs – on hand to go in and remove the muck if the pony performs – she is quite capable of making deposits every two feet in a perfect circle around the ring – without missing a spot!
Big day tomorrow, a Dressage Gala at the stables. Whisper won’t be taking part of course but J is helping all day, being a gofer with the scores, writing down marks for the dressage judge, etc. Preparations have been intense for this event with most livery owners entering, involving private lessons to learn the tests, many visits to the saddlery for smart outfits for rider and horse, lots of discussions ‘you mean we have to ride without a martingale??’. People were plaiting manes and tails as we left tonight, all very excited.
That’s what it’s all about – having fun. Maybe we will be among them next year….. maybe.
1 Comments:
At 10:05 PM, sammy_bunny said…
My mom started dealing with horses when I was 12 and got my first pony. Now 20 years later she still doesn't ride but is an absolute expert at running horse shows, teaching 4-H clubs, and all kinds of other stuff I'm sure she never imagined learning how to do.
Have fun!
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