One hell of a ride ...

On Sunday 23rd November 2014 'Mr F' and I joined up with other riders that belong to the local riding club, of which we are now members.

I really didn't want to do this. Mostly because I wasn't interested in riding with others. But I thought and was told that it will be good for 'Mr F' to ride in bigger groups. Alright, fine. And so I grudgingly joined the local riding club who organises these rides.

Our transport was to be 'Lillian's big horse lorry, offering space for three horses. It is too wide to come up the drive to 'Buttercup Farm'. We asked the local pub if we would have permission to use their car park as a pick up and drop off point. They very helpfully agreed to let us use it. 

'Mr F' and I prepared ourselves and then walked to the nearby pub car park where we would be picked up. He was fine with everything and 'Lillian' was already in the car park with the lorry, waiting for us.

The horse truck had room for 3 horses, it is a fantastic truck and very solidly built. Apparently it had been used for racehorses prior. Although it was a steep ramp and a VERY tight fit lengthwise for 'Mr F', he loaded and unloaded perfectly.

Little did I know what I let myself in for!

As soon as we unloaded at the ride's start point, 'Mr F' began fidgeting around. I had to keep him busy somehow, moving. I walked  him in circles to calm him down. There were 8 other horses, and only 2 of them he knew. But soon more horses arrived.

We travelled with tack on, just in case he would behave like this. The more horses turned up, the more he began to fidget and to throw around his head. We mounted (in a fashion!) and I had my legs full keeping 'Mr F' under control. I deliberately write 'legs' because that is what I mostly use nowadays, my legs and seat to control him. If I put pressure on his mouth it makes things worse. 

Clearly, to him it was racing day! What on earth did I let myself into. And what where the others thinking letting me take part? A novice rider on an ex-racehorse that hadn't done hacking out in big groups! 'Oh dear, oh I wish I was back at home - this is going to be difficult'. I had never in my life sat on a horse that behaved like this! 'Well, there is a first for everything - I can't go home now so I might as well brace myself.'

'Mr F' spend most of the first part of the ride jogging and I noticed there were only to options to get him relaxed: either by being at the front or by being in the middle but with large gaps to the front and rear group. Having any horse anywhere near him would drive him mad and he would shake his head just like he does when he herds his pasture mates. 

Even the steep uphill part didn't slow him down, he marched on like his life depended on it. Other horses behind him where breathing heavily and struggling to keep up.

But there were riders part of this ride that couldn't control their horse and some of them shut forwards to overtake 'Mr F', which of course made him want to go faster each time.

I didn't have a single minute to take in the surroundings. All my energy was taken up by finding ways to keep 'Mr F' somewhat under control. Looking back he was actually behaved quite well considering his history and the circumstances. He sure was extremely kind towards me as he could have bucket me off or at least he could have tried. This was the first time for him to be out with another group of horses without racing. He also didn't know the surroundings and to top it off he was with a rider he must have realised was everything but relaxed (me). I knew I had lost him, mentally, we were no longer partners but instead fighting one another.

By the time we arrived in Endsor (just outside Chatsworth) I could feel in every fibre of mine and his body that he was about to explode. On top of that we landed up in the middle of heavy queuing traffic, with loads of walkers and dogs japing and children playing.  'Oh god! I got to do something here, its not going to end well!'

 

The other horses were unruly too, partly because of 'Mr F' and also because of all the traffic. Apparently, this is classed as one of the spooky rides, where many horses tend to loose it a little, so I was told later! No words can describe how angry I was with this lot, putting 'Mr F' into a potentially very dangerous position.

It got worse; we had to go along that very busy road with all the queuing cars and people before we could get out of the way.  'Mr F' was by this time dancing around and he ended up loosing one of his front hoof boots. That was it! I sat on a rocket and I could feel every of his muscles tense up. I grabbed hold of the rolled up lead rope attached to the saddle and jumped off while holding on to 'Mr F's reins. I leave his rope head collar on under the bridle on rides out so that I can take off the bridle when we stop somewhere. And of course this was handy now as I managed to attach the lead rope so I would have something more solid to work with.

By this time both I and 'Mr F' had lost our tempers and I shall not repeat what I shouted as it wasn't anything pleasant. But yet in the all this chaos, I suddenly woke up: 'Hang on. 'Mr F' is in the same boat as I am. He too doesn't know better. Shut up you stupid woman and deal with your horse KINDLY.'

I shouted at the others asking that they could go ahead. I knew that the only way to calm him down was if the others would go out of sight. We have on our own,  just the two of us, travelled great distances and are most content with each other's company.

'Lillian's partner 'Tom' decided that he would stay with us, just in case things didn't get better. We waited for the others to disappear off into the distance before following them up the grassy hill.

I walked 'Mr F' up the fairly long hill. Rather than him trying to drag me along in any direction, I made him circle around me while moving forward. When we at last reached the top of the hill, after a good 20 minutes, 'Mr F' was a quite a bit calmer and actually ate some grass. I took off all his boots as we were now on grassy and muddy ground. 'Tom' offered to carry them on my behalf, I was very grateful for that offer.

Normally, I would spend as much time as it takes to deal with something the horse doesn't understand. On this ride however, time wasn't available. Therefore I could not give 'Mr F' the time he needed to make sense of it all. I was hoping that at some point he may begin to settle down more.

We had a lunch break at the top of the hill and I had a good portion of mulled wine, made by 'Tom'. It was delicious and it sure helped me to calm. Then we continued. 'Mr F' was back to just jogging now but no longer near exploding. At 21 I wondered where he gets the energy from. I had no idea of the route but seeing that was lunch, we probably were only just over half way. Although it looked to me like fairly straight terrain now, on open countryside. That is better than busy villages with lots of traffic. And so we went along for a little while, not much happened. Until:
"Can we canter up the hill that is coming next?" Someone shouted excitedly.
'HUH? Canter? Hill? Didn't it say in the ride description that this was a walking only ride?' By this time I was exhausted, not physically as I am a very fit person, but mentally!
"Is there a stone wall or a hedge up there to stop us all?" I asked, realising there was no way out of this for me other than to go along. My question was to assess our (mine and 'Mr F's) safety in among all this chaos. 

"Yes there is."
"Ok". Was all I had to say. 

I guess the wine helped because I though: 'Oh what the heck, let him have a go at winning once more. I can't hold him back forever and perhaps its time I am less of a chicken. After all I do trust 'Mr F'.' 

We reached the bottom of that hill. It became clear very quicly that some horses seemed to know what comes next, either because they have been here before or because of their riders becoming giddy. Either way, there was very intense energy in the air. To my surprise I shouted back ('Mr F' and I were by this time at the front) to the group: "Are we ready to go?" 
"Yes, go!" Was the reply.

And that is exactly what we did! The group was already trotting but now I let 'Mr F' have the reins, stood up in the saddle and just said: 'Go!' although he didn't need any encouragement and raced up that hill. The others followed behind us. Up ahead I could see a perplexed group of walkers at the top of the hill. I can only imagine how it must have felt for them: first a load of screams and then the feeling of a mini stampede, with some 15x4 hooves hitting the ground at rapid speed. Suddenly, we came into sight and several of the walkers decided to retreat behind the gate they just come through. I can't blame them because I was actually screaming because I enjoyed this moment so very much, to my surprise. To feel the fierce force underneath me and the speed, it was out of this world! I guess at this stage I was pure adrenaline!

We reached the top and 'Mr F' listened to everything I said and stopped, very calmly as though I was all in control. He was quite out of breath but not for long, and he was sure pleased with himself!!

I had a huge grin on my face! Never before had I experienced anything like it nor could I even imagine it.

After he 'won' the race, he was much calmer and the last hour of the ride he actually managed to relax  quite a bit.

At least I know now that all my efforts in keeping him healthy with feeds and herbal supplements have improved his breathing ... there was no weezing, no huffing and puffing anymore like he did a year ago.

By the time we reached the trailer, 'Mr F' was pretty calm, which allowed us to load up fairly soon and make our way home.

'Mr F' and I got dropped off at the pub and we walked back to the farm, very leisurely. I was absolutely exhausted but 'Mr F' was VERY SMUG and pleased with himself. He stood there happily eating his food, in his 'fancy' fleece blanket (another great 2nd hand purchase). I guess he felt he had won the race ... and I did give him much praise. Because looking back, he could have done much much worse.

Moral of the day:

Sometimes, both human and  horse are equally at a loss and it is important for me to never again forget this. Not at any point was 'Mr F' to blame for anything that happened, even though it made me 'feel' better at the time to shout at him with a fairly colourful array of words, none of which I am proud of. But while I am a silly human with little knowledge it was my first reaction, very much like 'Mr F' who too couldn't cope.