Yes I'm back... its been almost two years!
But couldn't stay away in the end... why? Cos I need your help as usual
just to recap... Been on EE for quite a long time now, one of the first to join after reading Heather’s first EE book. I've ridden since I was a child, grew up careering across the New Forest. Stopped riding when I was about 19 and it wasn't until i was in my 30s that I started again. I spent my first three months on the lunge and then went on to do loads of flatwork lessons and hacking. Bought a gorgeous horse Blue, who we transformed thanks to Heather, with a pelham, elastic curb and double reins. He went to an amazing home and he now does dressage comps, show jumping and hunting. I was also lucky enough to have Shadow in my life who went on to have a ridden career with another EE'er, before coming home to spent his last years with me.
We had all sorts of plans and decided to move to France. but that changed when back problems, which had been plaguing me for five years, deteriorated so badly that I ended up with a ruptured disc and had emergency surgery. It took a long time to recover and I still haven't got all the feeling back in my left leg. I started back riding six months later at the end of 2008. My nerves were absolutely shot. Even the idea of trotting terrified me. I went to Gilfach every week and Sheila slowly built my confidence back up on her lovely schoolmasters.
Then I got to know a neighbour through my riding club who suggested I come and ride some of her eight horses. In the last two years I've done things I would never have dreamed of. Firstly I hacked out again, something I had decided never to do again following my operation as I felt the risks were too great.
Then I did some jumping, only up to about 2ft. I did it, thanks to my friend’s amazing schoolmaster (point and push) but realised that I never quite got over the terror and left it there!
Then less than a year ago my friend told me we were going on a funride. She used to be an advanced endurance rider so instead of it being a gentle pootle we did it at endurance speed. I loved every second until we got to the last 2km which was a long flat stretch, we hit that at the same time as a huge hunting crowd and a selection of nervous riders. People were falling everywhere, there were loose horses galloping around. As you can see in my photo, I demonstrated the Vulcan death grip, but Pablo looked after me and took me home safetly.
Curiously I had actually enjoyed it….. so we went to another fun ride the following month. This was amazing. Long uphill canters and in a treeless saddle I felt so much more secure.
So my friend suggested we do some proper endurance rides. What scaredy pants me??! So we entered the Wentwood Ride, but that morning Pablo came in from the field with a filled leg. He couldn’t go. Could I ride another horse instead. Her beautiful Crabbet-Polish Arab Tsar could do it, but I’d only ridden him two or three times, hadn’t even cantered him yet. But it was either ride him or forget it. It was an 18km forest ride and raining. I had my eyes shut for most of it, got sopping wet, smacked in the face with wet branches, even dropped the reins once, but Tsar looked after me.
That was the start of my love affair with this amazing chap. Next up was Blaenavon – even though the horses almost sat down when a steam train blew its whistle below us as we came down the hill.
Then it was Festival of British Endurance at Cirencester. We were riding30km on the Friday and 16km on the Sunday. I’d never ridden so far in my life! We stayed for the weekend in the living of the trailer and the boys had stables.
If you don’t enjoy the riding at Cirencester through the park, you might as well give up. It was incredible.
We finished the year with the Red Dragon, we rode 35km on the hottest day of the year at the beginning of October. We got off and lead the horses up the steepest bits to save them – not clever in a body protector.
It paid off as Tsar’s heart rate was 10 lower at his vetting at the end of the ride than it was at the beginning. As for me, I lost four pounds in weight during that ride, it was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. Yet I’m only a beginner, other riders were doing 40, 50, 80km rides at far faster speeds than us. Respect.
This year we hope to get up to the 40km and 50km rides and I aim to do my first solo endurance ride as I always go with my friend. We did a training ride of 18km last month which was lovely and Tsar was happier and more confident than he’s ever been. At the end of the day you can’t force a horse to do an endurance ride, they have to want to know what’s round the next corner so to speak. So we’ll go as far as Tsar is happy to.
I’m still a nervous rider. But endurance riding has taught me so much about the horse I ride. I’m not his mum, never will be, but I’m his friend who he has fun with.
I know he would never harm me, would be mortified if anything ever happened to me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that so strongly from a horse before. He actually likes me!!! He comes over to me in the field, follows me around the outdoor school without being lead, looks after me during rides when he doesn’t have to. It’s a huge privilege but also a huge responsibility.
He’s always been ridden in a hackamore but he was getting U-shaped so we’ve put him into a snaffle and I’m teaching him that its okay to hold hands with me, he’s still tending to overbend but he responds to the lightest of touches.
So that’s why I’m back. He listens to me, tries to work out what I want and then really wants to do what I’m asking for…. I want to help him be the best he can be.
I mustn’t let him down and I know that this forum is the place I’ll get the advice and support to make sure I don’t.
Sorry… didn’t mean to write so much, just got a bit carried away.
(Apologies to those on FB as you know all this and have seen all this already!!)
