Freddie's Firsts!

Wow what wonderful weather we've had in the last couple of weeks, it's been unseasonably warm and with the warm weather our little gang have been very happy to be turned out without rugs to enjoy the sun on their backs to soak up the rays! 
It's also been Easter and I took a couple of days off work to top up the bank holidays and make it a nice 6 days off!
In that time I've spent a lot of time with Fred and Georgie etc and we've even done some of Fred's 'firsts' as well as spend some time away from the horses, which was nice too!

On Wednesday Georgie, Frankie, Fenella and I went to the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens and had the best time! It was lovely to see so many beautiful plants and tree and have a horse-less day!
On Thursday we decided rather than going to the beach it would be nice to still go somewhere sandy and we decided to take the horses to Little Lodge in Santon Downham, we've been going here since we were children and always had a lovely time, so we felt it an ideal place for Fred's very first outing. 
We borrowed a trailer from a friend and also got Millie and got our entire gang together and along with Mum and Dad we took all of them to the sandy forest! We had the absolute best day!
Fred really loved it, as we've had so little rain the ground has been really hard so we've been limited on what we could do but as it's so sandy at Santon Downham the ground was absolutely perfect. As I am still building my confidence riding in open spaces after my fall off Fred, Georgie kindly offered to ride him and I rode old faithful Beanie! We took the two big boys off quietly before the kids met up with us later so Fred could take it everything and not stress. 
He was such a good boy, he walked and trotted over a pole on the floor with no problem, and with a lead from B he also got confident enough to even pop over a couple of small cross country fences! I was so shocked at how well he coped and seemed to really thrive and gain confidence with every new thing we did!
I was however a little too relaxed on B and when he spooked I plopped off the side of his bottom when I was on the phone to Dad, so arm is suitable shades of green and yellow and covered in a giant graze, silly me aye!

Not that that stopped me, I got back on and we had a lovely canter in the grass over to meet the girls on their ponies and go to the river to have a splash! Water baby B was straight in, no hesitation and was love being hock deep in the cold water having a wail of a time!
Fred also walked in, more cautiously obviously, and without intervention would have walked right in to the middle of the deep river! Seems he's not afraid of getting wet!

Afterwards we then took Frankie off so she could have a little jump and a canter on Ronnie while the boys joined her, the 3 stoogies had a great time! After being out for ages we came back and had a lovely picnic and I think Fred was happy to be finished for the day, he'd done a lot and was quite tried it would seem!

 

Then on Sunday we decided that we'd take Fred to a show happening not far from us and take Fred to do the in-hand class for the RoR. I was really unsure how he'd cope but wanted to see. We plaited him up the night before and he stood beautifully falling asleep while I plaited and being spruced. We were the first at the show on Sunday and he coped ok, but when other lorries arrived we do think he thought he was racing again, especially we he was being walked in hand! Parade ring anyone!

We calmed though and we were able to go into our first class, the Best Turned Out, so he could gaine some experience in the ring before our main class. He walked well but did fidget and not stand so well but we manage a 5th so I was happy with that.
Our next class was the in hand RoR class and Fred was fine to keep walking but any stopping meant him being a fidget arse. Which is fine, he's never been asked to stand for long periods before so I expected as much. I obviously knew I wasn't going to win or be placed so I just let him stand in the shade and eat grass until the class was done. I wanted him to have a next experience which I think he did. He calmed enough to cope and learn that going out in the trailer from home is a nice fun experience and that it won't mean going racing any more.
Obviously, as predicted we didn't win but I am happy with how he coped and I've since entered for another show in about 3 weekends time, while Georgie wants to take him to one over the May bank holiday weekend and she ride him so I am happy for that to happen too.

We still have a lot to work on at home and every day I am working on him and getting racing out of his brain!

Pretty good for 9 weeks with us hey!

Week 7!

This won't be a super long post as we've had quite a quiet week this week!

We're still very much working on what works for Freddie in his retraining and what he's not so keen on at the moment. For example on Friday I had my second attempt at a solo hack after last time where he got very frightened at a removals van and we ended up in a farmers field with me on my back being dragged along! 
It went well, although Fred definitely is a lot more nervous going out alone with a rider on board than he is when I take him out alone in hand. He obviously get's a lot of confidence from me as he doesn't spook or get 'looky' at anything with me when we walk out, but when I am on board he is rather tense and does definitely look at pretty much everything but that is because I think he doesn't have this 'pack leader' with him on the ground and feels more vulnerable so it's something I am going to work on. He doesn't do anything silly but is not relaxing. 
While that isn't surprising as he's very likely never hacked out by himself before. 

Earlier this week Georgie got on first and did some schooling on him, and we switched half way through and I finished. He is definitely learning to now use his body in a different way and is responding very well to that. He's also listening very well to aids and understanding more of what we're asking him with those aids so I am really pleased with his progress there.
We're also definitely working on slowing everything down, he's so used to being mounted and then rushing off fast, which I know if obviously what he's used to, so all about walking about and slowing that work into active walk, rather than power walking everywhere at speed! Same with trotting, we're instilling into him to work slower and push rather than hollow and whizz everywhere in trot. It's going well and he's trying hard, especially on rides out where he's obviously enjoying himself and get very exuberant in this speed and paces. 

Sunday Georgie and I also went out for a ride together and went on one of our longer rides and Fred absolutely loved it, very happy to be out with his pal Beanie and seeing a new route he hasn't done before. He's a very smart horse who can get bored of the same routes so I have to keep it different and his mind busy. He's like a smart toddler that doesn't like doing the same thing all the time!
He's going in to water no problem and is also enjoying splashing and pouring in the water so that's made me really happy as water is often a big deal for horses and an area people have trouble with so hopefully I've set the foundations to not find water scary.

Following on from what I said about about him being looky, I have also been doing some 'desensitisation training' with Fred and it's going well. We've been doing it in the school, in hand and with plants in pots, cones, bright coloured plastic markers and a tarp on the ground with flaps in the wind. 
Obviously the tarp was the thing that Fred looked at most but by the end of the session I was able to pick it up and flap it, rub it over his body and throw it in the air and he was no longer fazed by it so I am certainly going to keep that up. 

I've actually haven't taken many photos this week, it's been a busy time but I will make sure I take some more. I've been making sure to keep my hands on the reins lol!

Sophie x

6 whole weeks!

Alright so I ran out of F related titles for the blog, boo! But in better news, Freddie has been with me a whole 6 weeks. Ah we've loved it and he's doing so well, feeling so well and just overall a happy chap!
It has however not been an uneventful week.. as Fred and I experienced my first 'unscheduled dismount', which I'll be honest, was sooner than I had wanted it to be!

What happened? Well Tuesday of last week Mum and I felt confidence that Fred was ready for his first solo hack without B and/or Ronnie and for Mum to come with me a short way before I peeled off and went the rest of a short loop by myself. I didn't think this would be a problem, he's done this ride a good couple of times with other horses and it's not a spooky ride so I felt excited and pretty confident.
I was walking with Fred, mounted, along a short section of road that I have to ride on to get to this ride when we had to pass a rather large van (for removals) that was parked, frustratingly, on the thinnest part of the road, with a quite vertical grass bank, before a corner. I was riding along with Mum on the bike no problems when it came time to walk past the van. Mum said to me 'Don't walk up the verge' when I quickly informed her I wasn't asked him to and that Fred was shying away from the van when he quite quickly leapt up the steep grass verge onto the side of a farmers field where he proceeded, in fright, to spin in pretty tight circles (think the western horses who spin at speed on the spot)..
While scary I was able to lean my legs forward into what I call the 'safety' position and quietly tell him woah and steady.. which he did.
As this all happened another van came round the corner and seeing this all happen, stopped and waited and no doubt watched in horror!
Mum, bless her, had dropped the bike in the road to come to my aid, but now needing to move it went back down the hill. I think this again spooked Fred and he span again, bucked and sadly I was unseated. Now we were in a farmers field that is very large and not fences in and I could not dare let go so I held onto the reins and was dragged a distance before poor Fred finally calmed down enough to stop.
Poor chap was very frightened by it all and rather than try and mount I walked him some way away from the van, back towards the yard so he could take a breath and calm down.

We made it back to the yard and after a few deep breathes I realised I had to get back on, not only to not end on a bad experience for Fred but for me and my confidence also. So we made our way back to the menage to get back on and Fred to feel safe again. Bless him, he was a good boy and after a quick lunge to get the adrenaline and urge to run out of his system I got back on. He was very good and walked around no problem and sighed and relaxed. With Mum and I happy that he was none the worse for wear and no longer frightened I got off and he was put to bed and given a nice tea as he always is.
The next day I tacked up Fred, but this time, for him and I (I was feeling sore by this point), I lead him out in hand and we had to walk passed the van. This time I better experience as I was able to walk in front of him and show him it was safe but he did walk somewhat up the verge bank again away from the van. Confirming what I had said to Mum the day before, it was a fright/flight response as opposed to being naughty or napping. The rest of that walk out went out without a hitch and since then all has been ok.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't achey and bruised so the following days I did our exercise in hand and come Friday afternoon Georgie kindly got on and schooled Fred in the menage and he was an angel! He worked beautifully for Georgie and accepted the bit and various aids with ease and showed real willingness to please. 
He looks lovely I am sure you will agree? 

Saturday Georgie, Frankie and I went for a hack and to regain some confidence and have a less hazardous ride Georgie lent me super star RoR Beanie and she rode Fred. Well I say less hazardous but B very much likes to always go first and lead but when Ronnie and Frankie whizzed off trotting B did throw his toys out the pram and canter passage sideways until he caught up, all the while yanking my arms out! Cheers Beebop!

B had a lovely splash in the water, he absolutely loves it!
Watch B have a splash in the ford!

The rest of the ride really was very fun and we all had a lovely time. It was nice to ride B again but I am looking forward to riding this week and getting back on Fred, hopefully incident free obviously!

I felt like I should write a blog post about what happened, social media nowadays is always so rose tinted where people only really share their ups and never mention the downs. Falling off last week sucked, I sprained the left wrist, which is the one I broke, but it's part of retraining a racehorse and getting to know each other. Falling off is kinda part of the course. 

I am really proud of Fred, he is trying really hard and in 6 weeks has come a really long way. We're trying to even out keeping his work varied and fun without over facing him! 
His personality and how he reacts to things is really starting to shine through, part of me is really sad about what happened last week because he doesn't care about running jogging by, or cyclists whizzing along by him or passed him, he's walked passed guineas fowl clucking and squawking without any care in the world so I'm saddened he got so scared by a van. I may never know what it is, but I think it was the confined space he would have to go through so it's something I am definitely conscious of now. 

Also he's slowly but surely building up and gaining weight and muscle and is a shadow of the horse he was 6 weeks ago. Makes me realise how poor he was! 

Taking each day and week by week and we'll decide more on plans as we go on! Nothing firm in place yet. I have a few little things in mind for him but I will not rush him and over face him, he deserves only the best.

Here's to a better week this week!

Sophie x