The last thing I wrote about Lexi was "She's been doing big girl hacks on her own and in company; going in puddles, seeing lots of traffic, alpacas, sheep, cows ect without batting an eyelid! She's having front shoes on Tuesday - I can't wait as her feet are wearing down chronically, especially on her boxy foot so might need to reign in the riding for a few days."
We're now two YEARS into the future and damn I wish I'd kept better records.
She was a shy, scaredy cat little mare with little handling when I got her. She didn't know how to pick up her feet, she was so filthy my hand was black after I stroked her, didn't understand haynets...or anything really.
I slowly backed her
She was insanely good. She didn't bat an eyelid. I remember when I was first led around on her she was so incredibly wobbly, and kept plunging her nose down to touch the surface of the school (despite I'd been working her in it on the ground for weeks!).
I began hacking her within a couple of days - on her own. I didn't want her to become reliant on other horses and it worked. She has never been fussed about going out alone, napping has never crossed her mind. She has become a wonderful hack infact, bar nervy in large traffic (partly my fault as I'm terrified of it).
She did some in-hand showing
Loading her on the way back was interesting. It took about 3 hours (about 3 minutes at home). Eventually we had to blindfold her which was not a pleasant experience. A couple of visits from Uncle Mike, a behaviourist who did some work with an old pony of mine sorted that out....I did feel I would be able to cure it in time myself, but given my intentions for her, I NEEDED her to be a reliable loader so decided getting a pro in was the best course of action. It worked - she now trots up the ramp with her ears pricked.
She did some schooling
She quickly proved to be exceptionally sharp, sensitive and responsive. I took my first fall when a fright with a truck caused her to leap off the ground Spanish riding horse style, I got slightly off balance, then she started bucking. Then I was on the floor and she was snorting her head off saying "WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE?!"
She did some very babyish dressage
She turned 5
eventually she even did a tiny bit of SJ
the jumps weren't a problem - but the loudspeaker was!
She maimed herself
I competed her very very lightly. Up until last autumn she was all legs and just took forever to develop.
I did two events on her.
At Elmwood she did the loveliest dressage, well that she was capable of the time, scoring 30, had a couple down SJ and went beautifully cross country until we hit the water. I decided to go slowly at it and let her get a good look which proved to be a mistake. Hesitant due to my hesitancy she stopped to sniff. And reversed. Unfortunately this very quickly happened three times and we were eliminated.
Several schooling trips later and I took her to Ascott under Wychwood unaffiliated. When we arrived, I unloaded and the ramp promptly fell off the lorry.
To be continued...
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