I can always say that when I ride Gatsby it is never boring, and we always manage to have fun well yesterday was no different I got there at half past to tack him up and loved to see that he had been clipped, he looked amazing and so handsome, but was grumpy to say the after being sedated to be clipped on Friday. He had his face done like a blanket clip and then all his body clipped just leaving his legs and had his feathers trimmed. He looked supers smart. I groomed him up and tacked him up, then Elaine said that he would need an exercise sheet on.
We started warming up and did pole work, well the minute that Gatsby noticed the pole that was it he was so excited as it is something that he loves to do! Eventually we calmed him down and got him relaxed going over the pole, then when asking him to go in canter he decided hed jump the pole (it was flat on the ground) buck and then run as fast as he could. We then decided that we would calm him down and do some sitting trot work and then try cantering again this time it was much calmer when we picked up canter but he didn't want to stay in canter. We ended up taking the exercise sheet off him because it was aggravating him, poor guy got a little bit cold after that! Then we tried again and he was still super excited we put it down to the fact that he had been clipped the day before and was still grumpy and not happy to have been clipped, but there was also something aggravating him as i could see his muscles none stop twitching almost like when a fly is aggravating him. After we had him calm and his head in a relaxed position we then started doing some three loop serpentines (still in sitting trot)
Okay so now heres a few pictures for you.
Gatsby and you look so good together.
ReplyDeleteHe looks really good with his new clip.
Awwww thank you :) I Love his new clip he looks so different x
ReplyDeleteAmber,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great post! What a good horse Gatsby is! You are very observant to see that he was twitching a bit- there was something bothering him. I always fell deeply in love with all the school horses I rode- I couldn't help it-horses that we ride for lessons are some of the best horses anywhere!! After taking lessons for over five years, I had the opportunity to buy my school horse, Buckshot, since they wanted to put him in semi-retirement. I bought him and have loved, loved, loved riding him ever since, for five years. I wouldn't trade my years of lessons for anything. In fact, I still take lessons, on Buckshot since where I board him the owner is s terrific riding instructor. Great post about you and Gatsby!
Hey Jan :)
ReplyDeleteI love Gatsby to pieces when he was at his previous yard I used to ride there and if anyone couldn't find me they would look in Gatsby's stable and find me sat on the floor talking to him. Thank you for the compliments :) We were all nervous when I got on because of him being sedated the day before but thought he would be okay but he let us know that he wasn't happy, I even ended up getting off to check his feet cause he was stamping about to but they looked fine, so we are not really sure. All though he's a school horse I don't think any horse will replace how much Gatsby means to me, I feel so lucky to ride him. I cried when I thought I'd never see him again. But now I've found him again and I love every minute at my new yard :) Thanks for commenting x