First Hack With 'Mr F'

'Jane' asked whether I'd like to come out on a hack with 'Mr F',  accompanied by her on 'Madame'.

After some hesitation I did accept the kind offer. I hesitated because I didn't feel able to manage him out in the 'wild' and was concerned that I might cause traffic jams should I fail to deal with 'Mr F.

But there has to be a first time for everything and so I decided to not worry as it wouldn't get me anywhere. 

First of all I had to get to grips with all the tack. The previous time when I rode 'Mr F' in the menage, he had been tacked up for me as I had no clue. I knew where the tack was supposed to be but how to make it stay there is a different story!

Once everything was in the right place and securely 'attached', 'Mr F' was 'parked' along side the stonewall which all use to mount. 'Mr F' was very kind and stood still - perhaps too much so, as I will find out later.

'Mr F' and I are off on our first hack.
And no, I am not a child, I am 40 ... 

He patiently let me mount and waited until I had adjusted my stirrups. He must have known that I was a rookie / greenhorn in terms of riding. I was very well aware that he could have so easily taken advantage of my lack of ability, but he didn't. 

And so we got on our way, veeeeery slowly. 'Mr F' was desperately trying to stay on the grass verge, resisting any attempt of mine to get him off it. I was busy trying not to get stuck in the trees! 

All I can say is this:  'Boy' was A LOT easier to 'steer'. 

There was an embarrassing moment when 'Mr F' decided to stand still in the middle of the road, ignoring my feeble attempts to make him move, holding up traffic coming from both sides. I guess he didn't want to go out, perhaps he didn't feel secure enough with me. 

'Jane' had to come to the rescue with 'Madame'.

After this little mishap we continued and the rest of the little outing went without further mishaps, although very slowly.

All along I felt that 'Mr F' was very stiff and uncomfortable on his hind legs. I had the notion that he was in pain, although I was not quite sure where.

I had a recommended local Osteopath look him over. The diagnosis was that 'Mr F's back was dead (the lumbar section - somewhat similar to the driveshaft in a car...). He did make some changes / corrections and I had followed the instructions to massage and stretch 'Mr F's limbs and back. 

The Osteopath did say that he could not see a reason why 'Mr F' couldn't be ridden again.

So, perhaps he was still having back pain, although the fact that he was determined to stay on the grass verge which is soft compared to the tarmac, made me think he may have sore feet.

When 'Mr F' was put into the field in his previous home, his shoes were taken off and he was kept barefoot. I guess they occasionally trimmed them but they were in quite bad condition. Unevenly shaped and flared.

Some people did suggest that I should just put shoes back on but after I did some considerable research into the whole barefoot topic I decided to keep him barefoot. 

It was time for some more reading ... and to find a barefoot trimmer.