Henry the Adventurer
Shameless mushy gush post ahead. I have no regrets.
This weekend Henry went on all the adventures! Saturday we headed out to my friend Tahlia's place for a ride. It was Henry's first time over there and I think he rather enjoyed himself. He was very interested in these little horses who chase cows, but they weren't very interested in him.
We headed out into the bush and had a very relaxing ride. We crossed the creek, cantered up hills and bush bashed through some scrubby trees. Henry was pretty happy to be out doing the thing, and then enjoyed some paddock time while Tahlia and I caught up some more over a cup of tea... and then lunch... and then while we stood outside... By then Henry was like Muuuummmm can we go home now? It was 3.30 and we had been there all day!
Sunday Henry and I headed out again, this time to a competition! I manned up recently and entered thinking it was only going to be a small show. It ended up bigger than I thought with 3 dressage arenas and a show jumping arena packed in to a pretty small space. I was pretty nervous about it, but determined to do our best and not to let nerves get the better of me.
Henry unloaded from the float and I took him for a walk to look at the busy arenas. He watched for about 2 seconds before going on the hunt for grass. I immediately felt a lot better about things. I took him back ad popped him in his yard, and started getting things organised and plaiting him up. He stood like a champ, happily eating and it took me no time at all.
Andrew headed over to the show jumping and soon enough it was time to get ready. I hopped on and Henry felt nervous but nothing more. I walked him around the warm up with other people jumping and dressgaeing and cantering past us. He was alert but he listened so well and relaxed when I added more leg. We had a brief trot then we were up!
Henry was such a champ. He trotted, he cantered, he jumped! He was adjustable and listening and really on the job. It was a cute round, probably slow but we did canter and I finished feeling on top of the world. You couldn't have wiped the smile from my face if you tried. I was so unbelievably proud of my horse, and myself. We kept it all together and did the thing.
Andrew sent me a message, why don't you try the 60? So I raced to the office and swapped my dressage test for a 60cm jumping round. Who likes dressage anyway? And raced back to throw Henry's tack back on.
This time he was far more relaxed about everything and while the jumps looked big (hilarious since I happily jump Coolie so much bigger!) I was feeling good about things.
We headed into the arena to present to the judge and as we approached some well meaning poeple started putting up a gazebo for the judge before I could ask them to leave it. The wind caught the tarp and poor Henry got a huge fright, spooked, spun and flicked me off. i landed on my feet held the reins and calmed him down.
We waited for them to finish (I glared at them and had a few words about it!) and then we hopped back on and got on with things. Henry was far more unsettled and I couldn't quite get his focus back to where it needed to be. He jumped the jumps but was a lot more spooky and reactive, he tried his little heart out though and we got around.
I could not be more pleased with how Henry handled himself at this show. It was really very busy, the arenas were all on top on one another, the warm ups were small and yet he went around like he'd done it his whole life. it was a huge boost to our confidence and I know next time I will feel even better about taking him out.
I was a little nervous but handled myself well, and even falling off didn't put me off riding. Henry was such a good boy, and I think he is actually easier to take out than Coolie. People are always surprised when I tell them he is only 4!
I love my little baby horse, he is turning into such a gem. I can't believe he is 5 next week!
This weekend Henry went on all the adventures! Saturday we headed out to my friend Tahlia's place for a ride. It was Henry's first time over there and I think he rather enjoyed himself. He was very interested in these little horses who chase cows, but they weren't very interested in him.
We headed out into the bush and had a very relaxing ride. We crossed the creek, cantered up hills and bush bashed through some scrubby trees. Henry was pretty happy to be out doing the thing, and then enjoyed some paddock time while Tahlia and I caught up some more over a cup of tea... and then lunch... and then while we stood outside... By then Henry was like Muuuummmm can we go home now? It was 3.30 and we had been there all day!
Sunday Henry and I headed out again, this time to a competition! I manned up recently and entered thinking it was only going to be a small show. It ended up bigger than I thought with 3 dressage arenas and a show jumping arena packed in to a pretty small space. I was pretty nervous about it, but determined to do our best and not to let nerves get the better of me.
Henry unloaded from the float and I took him for a walk to look at the busy arenas. He watched for about 2 seconds before going on the hunt for grass. I immediately felt a lot better about things. I took him back ad popped him in his yard, and started getting things organised and plaiting him up. He stood like a champ, happily eating and it took me no time at all.
Andrew headed over to the show jumping and soon enough it was time to get ready. I hopped on and Henry felt nervous but nothing more. I walked him around the warm up with other people jumping and dressgaeing and cantering past us. He was alert but he listened so well and relaxed when I added more leg. We had a brief trot then we were up!
Henry was such a champ. He trotted, he cantered, he jumped! He was adjustable and listening and really on the job. It was a cute round, probably slow but we did canter and I finished feeling on top of the world. You couldn't have wiped the smile from my face if you tried. I was so unbelievably proud of my horse, and myself. We kept it all together and did the thing.
Andrew sent me a message, why don't you try the 60? So I raced to the office and swapped my dressage test for a 60cm jumping round. Who likes dressage anyway? And raced back to throw Henry's tack back on.
This time he was far more relaxed about everything and while the jumps looked big (hilarious since I happily jump Coolie so much bigger!) I was feeling good about things.
We headed into the arena to present to the judge and as we approached some well meaning poeple started putting up a gazebo for the judge before I could ask them to leave it. The wind caught the tarp and poor Henry got a huge fright, spooked, spun and flicked me off. i landed on my feet held the reins and calmed him down.
We waited for them to finish (I glared at them and had a few words about it!) and then we hopped back on and got on with things. Henry was far more unsettled and I couldn't quite get his focus back to where it needed to be. He jumped the jumps but was a lot more spooky and reactive, he tried his little heart out though and we got around.
I could not be more pleased with how Henry handled himself at this show. It was really very busy, the arenas were all on top on one another, the warm ups were small and yet he went around like he'd done it his whole life. it was a huge boost to our confidence and I know next time I will feel even better about taking him out.
I was a little nervous but handled myself well, and even falling off didn't put me off riding. Henry was such a good boy, and I think he is actually easier to take out than Coolie. People are always surprised when I tell them he is only 4!
I love my little baby horse, he is turning into such a gem. I can't believe he is 5 next week!
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