7 Has Been Ridden!
I had my new endurance pony home, now to get to know her
The woman that I bought Lace from had got her so that she could get back into riding after a 20 year break. She had thought that because when she did ride she had got thoroughbreds off the track that she would be able to cope with a four year old. But, whatever your opinion of thoroughbreds, at four years old they have done A LOT. It’s not quite the same to take on a four year old part arab!
I discovered the people who had looked at Lace on the Saturday had tried her with a western saddle… they hadn’t got past lunging, so I’m guessing it did not go well. Add to that the fact that her owner was afraid of her and had given up trying to cover her after one attempt, it soon became clear that in a world of people who didn’t really know what they were doing, Lace had learnt to look after number one and when things didn’t go her way she came out of her corner fighting…. Like trying to jump out the front of the horse float.
It became clear that being ridden in an ill-fitting bridle had not done Lace any favours. With the bit being too big it had been pulled up higher to compensate and so dropped in the middle. Thus my new horse had learnt to get her tongue over the bit to the point it would often hang out the side!
The next month or so certainly proved a challenge and this challenge came with a number of bruises – mainly mine! On an early ride down the road with the others we snuck into a paddock and Lace and I had our first canter up a hill… but as she got to the top she got a fright, spun and proceeded to buck with a vengeance or her way down. Exit rider… hard. I got up and peered hard at my bright blue jodphurs, “My pants are green”, “Just grass stains” says Kerry, “No, they’re green”… I think there may have been a bit on concussion…. My right knee was swelling rapidly, in hind sight it was probably a haematoma. Lace had buggered off and the others were busy fetching her, interesting that is the one and only time when I’ve come off that she has ever left me but I had known her only about a week. Kerry was busy telling me to take it easy, “but I have to get back on”, “Well someone has to, but it doesn’t have to be you”. Huh?? This was possibly the first time I realised this family were going to be friends for life… no one had EVER even thought of such a thing, let alone actually offered! I was so used to having to cope on my own I was completely gob smacked, someone would do that for me??? Yes. Kerry then got on Lace and rode her around a bit before getting back on her own horse. I led Lace back to the round pen and got on and rode around there for a bit. My knee was very sore.
So that was when we learnt that whatever education Lace had had up to this point it had not included any normal sort of backing procedure. Whenever you got even slightly off balance she would panic and start bucking. Sure enough when we tried lying across the saddle – the normal first step in getting on a young horse – it was very apparent no one had ever done that before. She also had no idea about leg aids and had never cantered with a rider. No wonder her previous owner had had trouble! So it was back to square one.
A major breakthrough occurred a while later (i.e. I can’t remember) when Lace and I were riding down the road alone. She got a fright and shied, took an enormous leap into the middle of the road and I was expecting her to come down bucking and bucking hard, this was going to hurt…. But she leapt onto the road and froze, dead stop. We both sat there in terror, I had only one stirrup and I daren’t move. “Good girl, its ok, what a good pony”, she needed to know stopping when you’re scared is always OK. Eventually we both relaxed and calmed enough we could continue.
And then there was drenching. It was clear that Lace had won most of the drenching fights and I spent a lot of time drenching her with apple juice. Initially the only way to win was to stand on the off side and pull her head right around to her side. She is still better from the off side, too much history fighting on the near side I guess. Now she is generally really good as long as you let her express her opinion first!
I tried to teach her to rein back one day… the day before my 40th birthday… the day before my party. Thankfully we were having a picnic by the Blue Springs and I could wear my sunglasses all day (February), I had a huge black eye! I hadn’t told Mum or any of my family, a quick shush to the only party goer who knew and nobody was any the wiser! Although I did tell Mum later that week.
And then there was the day I was saddling Lace by my car and Shimar came wandering past… just out of her reach. She was annoyed that he was free to wander about and she was not, but she couldn’t reach him… so she bit me instead… huge open mouth full bite… on a breast!!! The PAIN!!!! I instantly became a psychotic , yelling, screaming banshee and Lace set a backwards speed record as I pursued her trying to hit her with the end of the rope. We were half way down the drive in mere seconds. When she stopped I was shaking so hard, I had my fist in her face, desperately wanting to punch her…. But I didn’t. Kerry had been saying only a day or so earlier that you apparently have about 12 seconds after they do something for any punishment to be associated with the crime… Having worked in animal behavioural psychology for 20+ years I’m not sure that’s right… but it stopped me hitting her that day. However she has never bitten me again! I think my instant transformation into the most scary thing she’d ever seen was probably sufficient. I had an amazing bruise, it was still very sore some hours later.
So, all things considered, it’s not surprising that Lace did not start her endurance career until mid February.
