wooo boy
so beejay bolted on me tonight. don't worry, he's not disowned and i'm not injured. haha.
we were schooling in the arena & then i started putzing & was ready to wind down, so i decided to ride him up the driveway and back. then i decided to ride the 'square' which is basically about 2km (down the driveway, along about 200m of road, then along a thick sand track and around to the back of paul's property & then back home). i have NO idea why i decided on this as i haven't ridden right off the property since probably... november or something last year.
so we went along the drive. all good. he was UP but not silly. then along the road with the crazy dogs next door. again, UP but not silly. along the track (THICK black sand, so he has to work!) and then WHAM some leaves rustled in new zealand or something and he BOLTED! luckily i had a good grip on the reins so we only had a mad dash of panic for about 2-3 strides before i was able to regain control & turn it from a blind !@#!@# to a forward canter. we turned around & trotted (VERY LOOKY!) back to the spot where he flipped out (could see our tracks a mile off!), then cantered back up the track.
i actually felt half inclined to just let him go.
hrm.... there are some fucking awesome galloping tracks out there & because they're hard going & can be twisty, he has to think a bit too... we'll see. i was pretty pleased with him really. he didn't dash sideways, only forwards & we can ALL work with forwards. quick crabdances can test ur seat & if you're worrying about falling off, then controlling a bolt is not that easy. but this was okay today.
he'd drop his poll when i asked which is good. he did get quite jig joggy when i was asking him to walk, but lots and lots and lots of half halting later & he sorta got the idea.
i think he's going to make a wicked little event horse because he doesn't worry about things on the ground, & if i can keep him (and me) focused enough not to worry about ghosty leaves or headless horsemen, he might do quite well yet.
we were schooling in the arena & then i started putzing & was ready to wind down, so i decided to ride him up the driveway and back. then i decided to ride the 'square' which is basically about 2km (down the driveway, along about 200m of road, then along a thick sand track and around to the back of paul's property & then back home). i have NO idea why i decided on this as i haven't ridden right off the property since probably... november or something last year.
so we went along the drive. all good. he was UP but not silly. then along the road with the crazy dogs next door. again, UP but not silly. along the track (THICK black sand, so he has to work!) and then WHAM some leaves rustled in new zealand or something and he BOLTED! luckily i had a good grip on the reins so we only had a mad dash of panic for about 2-3 strides before i was able to regain control & turn it from a blind !@#!@# to a forward canter. we turned around & trotted (VERY LOOKY!) back to the spot where he flipped out (could see our tracks a mile off!), then cantered back up the track.
i actually felt half inclined to just let him go.
hrm.... there are some fucking awesome galloping tracks out there & because they're hard going & can be twisty, he has to think a bit too... we'll see. i was pretty pleased with him really. he didn't dash sideways, only forwards & we can ALL work with forwards. quick crabdances can test ur seat & if you're worrying about falling off, then controlling a bolt is not that easy. but this was okay today.
he'd drop his poll when i asked which is good. he did get quite jig joggy when i was asking him to walk, but lots and lots and lots of half halting later & he sorta got the idea.
i think he's going to make a wicked little event horse because he doesn't worry about things on the ground, & if i can keep him (and me) focused enough not to worry about ghosty leaves or headless horsemen, he might do quite well yet.