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

Freddie, Week 1

Wow, a week has gone so quickly; Freddie has officially been with me one whole 7 days!

So, what has happened this week then. First thing Monday we went and got him a wormer and gave it to him just in case. We were told by his trainer that he had been wormed within the last 4 months but we felt it better safe than sorry and wormed him again for safeties sake. It seems that he didn't have any worms or eggs which is really positive!

He is just so incredibly calm and relaxed, we cannot get over it! We think he’s enjoying the quiet less busy yard and also very much enjoying being turned out in the lovely grass. The first 2 days he was a bit excited to go out in the field and we had some gymnastics with legs in the air which is totally normal for a horse joining a new yard and being with new horses, they do find it exciting and rightly so! Come Wednesday he just sauntered off once put out in the field to go and graze. Perfect, that what I wanted him to be likely, settling into the routine of every day life. 

He’s getting nice and round, his pointy edges are slowly covering over and we’re pleased with his progress for just 7 days with us.

We had our vet out on Thursday to do all the horses teeth and Freddie’s weren’t bad at all, just a couple of sharper edges but nothing major and he didn’t mind at all. I am really pleased with how level headed he is and just seems to take everything in his stride.

He’s also taken very well to being tied outside his stable to be brushed, rugged etc and stands there completely relaxed with no thought of pulling back, what a good boy considering he’s probably never had that before and has always been ‘done’ in his stable. Some horses realise they can pull back and can run off round the yard but he's never once thought about that so I am impressed with how quickly he's picking up the new routine and our expectations for him. 

Friday afternoon I roped Georgie in to helping me thin up Freddie's mane and also take quite a lot of length off it as it's grown really long and thick. As you'll likely see from this blog page Georgie and I are brand ambassadors for Smart Grooming  so we used their humane mane comb to thin on the bulk of mane rather than pull it (as mane pulling does hurt horses I didn't want Freddie to associate mane combing with pain and that make him head shy). Georgie and I did a 'How To' video while we did this, which I will upload shortly! It really is helpful!

We got, what amounted to, half a bucket of mane out. It was just so thick it was splitting down the middle to form two manes! Ugh! 

Before - 

After -

After we had thinned it out we then took 2 inches off the length. Not only was it looking straggly it was also 'cutting' Freddie's neck in half and giving the illusion of this really thin neck, which we certainly didn't want because A) it looks gross, untidy and unkempt, but B) it also doesn't help when we're looking to monitor his muscle gain during the weeks/months of his retraining. Now he actually looks decent and more like his usual self! 

Super smart if I do say so myself!

Saturday was really sunny so I decided to give Fred a wash with some baby shampoo to get the excess grease out of his skin (that wouldn't shift with just brushing alone), get the dry skin off from weeks of not being brushed and also help get the shine in his coat. He really was looking a bit dejected! 

He was a very good boy to be bathed and enjoyed standing under the heat lamps to dry off. 

So with him near enough dry I put his bridle on and got him ready to go out for his first walk out in hand, down the road. He is in Erik's old showing bridle (the only bridle I actually own) so he looks a little silly in a very thick nose band but still so gorgeous at the same time. He was a little exuberant so I wasn't able to get any photos unfortunately. When I say exuberant I mean that he just wanted to walk quickly/jog slightly, and pretty much puff up and grow a couple of inches but nothing silly at all. He was just very much excited to see what his new surroundings were like and from his reaction of ears pricked and eyes looking at everything I think it's safe to say he liked it. 

As obviously we're just starting out and he doesn't have shoes on yet it was literally just a walk down the road and back but having done it on Saturday and again Sunday he is pretty clear on that he loves it. On Sunday I also went into the school and on a lead rope I just build our bond and also just see how responsive he is to being asked to stop and wait, and also to set the foundation of being allowed to walk off when I allow it. I am very big on horses having good manners and it all starts with ground work. 

I also put some walk poles down just to see if he'd seen any before and how he would react; he did have a look at the poles but absolutely no hesitation, he just walked straight over then and really picked his legs up high. What a cutie!

For his first week I am really excited with his progress. He's very affection and has proven himself safe and trustworthy round Georgie's two girls. Expecially loving Frankie, 6.5 yo, who he nuzzles and smells at any opportunity, she even led him back to the field on Sunday afternoon in just a head collar and he just sauntered along next to her. It's very reassuring to know he is safe with her. Fenella, nearing 2 years old, also loves being around him and he is very gentle with her also. 

This coming week he is having the physio come and just look at him, he does seem a little sore over his lower back so I am wanting to see what Alex feels about that, he is also having front shoes on on Tuesday also so that he won't get foot sore now that I am doing walk work on the roads. 

I will continue to work in hand with him, he will also be lunged and once built up muscle enough I will get on.

Week 1

New kid in the gang!

So quite a bit announcement but I've bought my own horse! 

It all happened rather quickly, with the space of a week in fact but now he is home with me I am excited to have him.
Our journey together is going to be a long one; he is very light at present and will need plenty of time in the field every day to fill up with grass and nice hay and feed morning and night and then with that I can start his rehab work to build up the muscle that has just pretty much completely gone.

What are the details I hear you ask, well... His name is Krugermac, who I have given the stable name of Freddie (like Freddie Kruger), he is 8 years old, an Irish thoroughbred, he was a National Hunt Hurdler and Chaser, he was in training with Gary Moore. He is approximately 17 hands and is dark bay. 

We went down to Gary's holding/R&R, pre-training etc yard on Sunday to view Freddie and see what he is like. He was quite excited to be having a trot up and a walk around but was overall a very responsive chap who listened to instruction so with a lot of discussion and talks of how we have to see the diamond in the rough we got him and he came home with me.
I was really surprised that considering he had never travelled in a trailer before he walked on first ask without any hesitation at all and travelled home as quiet as a lamb.
I unloaded him to which he very cleverly assessed the ramp first before ambling off and with my permission towards a nice bit of grass that he eagerly put his head down to eat.
It would seem he hasn't bee out on grass for some time so he's very grateful to be out in a field with lot's of lovely grass to feast on to make him nice and round.
And boy does he need it! He sadly is rather light on the weight and muscle front so for the next few weeks he will be solely put out to pasture every day, have a nicely snuggly bed with plenty of hay and good hard feed so he can round off before I start from scratch with the ground work in hand, some lunging and finally when he is muscled up enough then I can put a saddle on and get on but I will absolutely not be doing that before he is ready. 

It is going to take a very long time and is definitely a project as opposed to getting on him and getting out straight away. Once I can ride him then we have that saga to start with him having to understand a different way of moving and using his body. I don't think we'll be out competing at all in 2019 but I am totally ok with that. Slow and steady wins the race as they say and I think with bringing Freddie on the slow pace and making sure I do it properly will be what counts.

He has only been with us 2 days and is settling in to his routine nicely, will already stand tied up outside his stable while I put rugs on etc and is generally a very loving affectionate chap who just wants all the love and attention you'll give him.

I am very much looking forward to Friday afternoon when it's warm and sunny so that I can bath him, tidy up his overly long mane and give him a good scrub and trim. I know from grooming him already that he is going to love it!

Here are some photos from the last couple of days. I don't want to do a photo without rugs yet as I am aiming to do a 'when he arrived, X months later' in say 6 months time so we can really see the difference in his appearance.

So everyone, meet Freddie! 

 Winning The Geotech Soil Stabilisation National Hunt Maiden Hurdle in November 2015. Photo by Steven Cargill/Racing Fotos

 In the parade ring at Ascot. Photo by Mick Atkins

Ascot Hurdle win

Jamie Moore guiding Freddie to win at Ascot

Final Hurdle before winning at Ascot

Second day at the yard, with a new turn out rug ready to let down for a while

 Currently super loving the grass 

 Watching  and look at all that is going on when being let out 

The Gang <3

First Show of the Season

As you'll know, if you've been reading the blog for a while, Beanie has had a lovely time this winter drag hunting and eventing with lot's of fun galloping and jumping, but today we had our first outing of the show season to a small show in Fordham, Suffolk for the Worlington Riding Club Show. They were holding a Thoroughbred and Retired Racehorse Association (TARRA for short) qualifier for their championships that this year are due to be held at Aintree Racecourse in August 2015.

As well as drag hunting, and now Cross country we have been schooling B at our local Riding School which has a lovely ménage as we do not have our own and it is somewhere we've been going since we are very little girls and really enjoy visiting.

I spent the Saturday morning in the sun cleaning and polishing boots, then followed by lunging Millie the Shetland while Georgie lunged B. We've found it really helpful as as well as responding to Georgie's physical commands while being ridden, it has helped Beanie really listen to Georgie's vocal commands while working on the ground and on the lunge.

I do polish a pair of long boots rather well, if I do say so myself! I find it rather therapeutic.

The up early today to plait and spruce. Mummy P the pro plaitter below! 

I also got to try out some new pressie's this morning too so watch out for those posts coming soon!

The turn out was good with about 6 or 7 competitors in each class which is good for the very start of the season and braving the cold weather. It was freezing and even spat a bit of rain at times. Not the spring weather we would have liked!

Admittedly Georgie was a bit tense and rusty. Her shoulder was playing up from an old injury today so lot of reminders to stretch and relax. Looking forward to Tuesdays Bio mechanics lesson with the ROR to see what they say about it! (look out for that post later this week)

Beanie is also very very fit. He was quite tense but was forward and active in the ring, and was listening to Georgie.

After a slightly disappointing individual show with a car starting up and moving off next to the ring just as Georgie asked for canter, it made B lose focus for a second and strike off on the wrong lead. Despite that it had it's lovely moments and was good. B did a gorgeous square halt at the end which we were really pleased about. Carl Hester would have been pleased! 

We were pleased to be pulled into second, behind the lovely Purple Moon and our friend Chantal Wooton who took the first spot. And a second placing meant we had qualified for the championship up in Aintree! Not too shabby for our very first show!

George and Beanie sharing a little kiss in the ring. Very  lovely ginger boys!

B scrubbed up very well and overall we're pleased. We've decided to make a few changes to B's feed and routine as he is really fresh at the moment being so fit and well, we are going to turn him out in the field the night before a show, rather than stable him all night. It will really help him relax so he can graze and mooch about. B is a very clever horse so nice relaxing situations keep his mind calm and occupied, helping him keep chilled.

We have some lessons coming up, and then onto some big shows so looking forward to seeing how Georgie and Beanie do this season. Everything we do with horses is a learning experience of trial and error. Nothing is ever going to be perfect, it's just learning from your experiences and making changes for the better. B is a lovely boy, who does try really hard but like all horses he gets a bit rusty. It's hard to change between galloping and jumping big cross country courses to then slow right down and gather back up to then go showing. The more we do, the better we'll get.

See you at Aintree!

Sophie x