My big bad greenie just won his first tricolor ribbon today ;]
He was nasty this morning and so was the weather, the fog was so thick you couldn't see the jump 4 strides ahead of you (I was not jumping at that point but some people were). He has issues with being around other horses in the ring, all our forward motion disappears and all we can do is go up, down, up, down. Any leg or hand added just makes us go up/down faster, yet still not any forward motion. It was progressively getting worse so I hopped off and, restraining with all my might from killing him, hand walked him for a little to let him regroup, then went down to an empty ring to work him.
I gave him a good work out there, lots of transitions, bending, and forwardness
I was on for about an hour, including some very long walking breaks.
I was stuck there all day with or without him as I was helping my trainer out, so on the trailer he went to think about how naughty he had been
Well Baby Greens came around and I decided to just go with it. There were only 7 or 8 in it, so I figured the worst that could happen would be I have to pull up and stand in the center if he acts up. I have had so many disappointments with this horse that I just couldn't give up, if he was going to be bad, he was going to get ridden.
Well his little time out in the trailer must have done the trick! When the time came, he strapped on the big boy panties, sucked up the fact that there are people/horse/dogs at horse shows, and he did his job! So our rounds were not perfect, he has trouble with left-right lead changes, and we took a rail down, but he was SO consistent! Something I have NEVER had out of him before. His pace never changed. I asked him to leg yield over, and low and behold, over we went!
My face in the pro photos are just priceless ... I have a look of utter shock, no other words to describe it. But boy was it such a lovely and well deserved shock!!! I even entered him in the baby green stakes class. His round was DEAD ON up until the last fence. I don't really know what he did, some kind of put an extra stride in where there clearly was no room, but only with one leg, then just propelled his body over the fence. The result? (caught on camera by the pro photographer) my horse flailing through the air Way to finish off your stakes class big man
but I will take that over his normal antics ANY day!
Then came the hack .. the death of us. His fear of horses normally does it in for us here. Such a shame because he moves well enough to win, even in good company. It just all falls apart when other horses are added to the situation. Well, by the grace of god I found a great spot on the rail, and people stayed away from me (he put on a good enough show in the AM to make people remember to stay as far as possible .. woops). He was fantastic. threw impulsion into his trot that I have never felt before, I was thrilled! then it happened, I heard the horse coming up behind us. I tried my best to stay relaxed, but then I realized my horse was more relaxed than I was. The horse behind us came up to about his shoulder before cutting across the ring. And, I couldnt believe it, but my horse hadnt changed a thing! there he was still loping along like the other horse wasn't even there! By far the BIGGEST milestone we have ever reached! And in the line up we came .... and he WON!!!! his first real hack win. I knew he had it in him with that, and is 2nd and 4th over fences we won reserve. MY baby Green's very first tricolor... momma is so proud
and ill admit it ... when I got him back to the trailer, I cried tears of joy. Its so frustrating when I feel like I never progress with him, but then he throws a day like today into the mix and it is all SO worth it!!
some very entertaining photos are on the way! Don't have any myself, but I will post them when the pro gets them up
ETD:: PHOTOS
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9&l=c0cc97f48f
hope that works!
thanks for sharing my joy!
He was nasty this morning and so was the weather, the fog was so thick you couldn't see the jump 4 strides ahead of you (I was not jumping at that point but some people were). He has issues with being around other horses in the ring, all our forward motion disappears and all we can do is go up, down, up, down. Any leg or hand added just makes us go up/down faster, yet still not any forward motion. It was progressively getting worse so I hopped off and, restraining with all my might from killing him, hand walked him for a little to let him regroup, then went down to an empty ring to work him.
I gave him a good work out there, lots of transitions, bending, and forwardness
I was on for about an hour, including some very long walking breaks. I was stuck there all day with or without him as I was helping my trainer out, so on the trailer he went to think about how naughty he had been
Well Baby Greens came around and I decided to just go with it. There were only 7 or 8 in it, so I figured the worst that could happen would be I have to pull up and stand in the center if he acts up. I have had so many disappointments with this horse that I just couldn't give up, if he was going to be bad, he was going to get ridden. Well his little time out in the trailer must have done the trick! When the time came, he strapped on the big boy panties, sucked up the fact that there are people/horse/dogs at horse shows, and he did his job! So our rounds were not perfect, he has trouble with left-right lead changes, and we took a rail down, but he was SO consistent! Something I have NEVER had out of him before. His pace never changed. I asked him to leg yield over, and low and behold, over we went!
My face in the pro photos are just priceless ... I have a look of utter shock, no other words to describe it. But boy was it such a lovely and well deserved shock!!! I even entered him in the baby green stakes class. His round was DEAD ON up until the last fence. I don't really know what he did, some kind of put an extra stride in where there clearly was no room, but only with one leg, then just propelled his body over the fence. The result? (caught on camera by the pro photographer) my horse flailing through the air Way to finish off your stakes class big man but I will take that over his normal antics ANY day!Then came the hack .. the death of us. His fear of horses normally does it in for us here. Such a shame because he moves well enough to win, even in good company. It just all falls apart when other horses are added to the situation. Well, by the grace of god I found a great spot on the rail, and people stayed away from me (he put on a good enough show in the AM to make people remember to stay as far as possible .. woops). He was fantastic. threw impulsion into his trot that I have never felt before, I was thrilled! then it happened, I heard the horse coming up behind us. I tried my best to stay relaxed, but then I realized my horse was more relaxed than I was. The horse behind us came up to about his shoulder before cutting across the ring. And, I couldnt believe it, but my horse hadnt changed a thing! there he was still loping along like the other horse wasn't even there! By far the BIGGEST milestone we have ever reached! And in the line up we came .... and he WON!!!! his first real hack win. I knew he had it in him
with that, and is 2nd and 4th over fences we won reserve. MY baby Green's very first tricolor... momma is so proudand ill admit it ... when I got him back to the trailer, I cried tears of joy. Its so frustrating when I feel like I never progress with him, but then he throws a day like today into the mix and it is all SO worth it!!
some very entertaining photos are on the way! Don't have any myself, but I will post them when the pro gets them up
ETD:: PHOTOS
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9&l=c0cc97f48f
hope that works!
thanks for sharing my joy!
Definitely know where you are coming from!
Can not see photos because they are on face book. They sound cute.
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