Today Louisa and I took Toffee down to Solway for her first public outing. The local SJ group have started running a 'Recycled Ribbon Day' once a month on the fantastic new all weather arena down at the Showgrounds and it presented the perfect low key outing opportunity for a baby horse and Toffee was quite the star pupil.
I am so impressed with this young mare's brain. She has only been on a float a handful of times and I have still not got around to actually giving her proper loading lessons yet she always quietly and sensibly loads and unloads when asked. When we arrived today, not only did she stand quietly at the float after being unloaded and whilst being saddled up but she put four very good feet forward and jumped out of her skin in the ring. OK it was only one 70cm round but from tiny acorns do mighty oaks grow and we really could not fault her attitude. She did take a rail on course but it was a green error (when faced with the rather daunting challenge of a treble, she hooked the first fence as she cantered through), nothing to forgive there. Job done we elected not to run her over another round and took her to her new grazing in Carterton where she was last seen head down, bum up, eating her dinner.
Toffee will have an easy week of hacking this week so she can relax and process everything that has happened over the last three weeks. If the weather isn't too bad, I might even try and pop Meg on the float and take her to visit Toffee and Louisa for a ride.
I am so impressed with this young mare's brain. She has only been on a float a handful of times and I have still not got around to actually giving her proper loading lessons yet she always quietly and sensibly loads and unloads when asked. When we arrived today, not only did she stand quietly at the float after being unloaded and whilst being saddled up but she put four very good feet forward and jumped out of her skin in the ring. OK it was only one 70cm round but from tiny acorns do mighty oaks grow and we really could not fault her attitude. She did take a rail on course but it was a green error (when faced with the rather daunting challenge of a treble, she hooked the first fence as she cantered through), nothing to forgive there. Job done we elected not to run her over another round and took her to her new grazing in Carterton where she was last seen head down, bum up, eating her dinner.
Toffee will have an easy week of hacking this week so she can relax and process everything that has happened over the last three weeks. If the weather isn't too bad, I might even try and pop Meg on the float and take her to visit Toffee and Louisa for a ride.
Warming up over the practice fences
Video of their round
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