Going Places

Today was the day. TC's first time at a new facility where he had to do more than just follow another horse up a hill.

The facility is really cute- three arenas (small covered, jumping, dressage), one main barn and some turnouts, and a little trail that walks around the property. I don't know how big exactly it is, but it's a pretty small, inviting place.

He was really excited to look around

He unloaded pretty well from the trailer, at first refusing to get out because he was busy looking behind him. I had tacked him up at home (where he had to wear boots for the first time in a week or so and was pretty convinced that he couldn't walk in them anymore) so all we did was put on helmets/bridles and we were off.

He was actually surprisingly calm and relaxed, just very interested in everything, so I opted not to longe him. The round pen looked kind of hard, and to be honest, longeing doesn't really calm him down significantly.

After whinnying a few times and standing very very tall, we were told that we should go to the jumping arena (probably because TC was looking like he was going to explode haha) where we'd be by ourselves. Now, TC has never seen a real jump. He's seen logs and poles but never big jump standards with fillers.

And... he didn't give a single shit about them. He expressed no interest in sniffing them and never spooked at them. Meanwhile, Ali's horse was giving them the evil eye every time they passed one. He's 11 and while I wouldn't call him been-there-done-that, he's definitely a LOT more experienced than the baby horse.

We walked around a bit while Ali worked her horse and then started trotting ourselves. I was pretty pleased that TC wasn't any more distracted than I expected in a new arena. He looked at things but never spooked or took off or whatever. We weaved in and out of the fences, riding circles and serpentines, and he slowly started to relax a bit more.

So cute!

His behavior did get worse every time this one horse went by. I don't know what it was about this horse- he was just a big gray gelding, turning white from older age, and was quietly doing laps around the property getting warmed up for a lesson. Every time he was nearby, TC got very distracted, whinnying and wanting to be RIGHT next to him.

It didn't pose a large problem until Ali took her horse over to the dressage court (where the gray ended up riding) and TC was by himself. I don't know TC all that well, so I wasn't sure what to do when he started getting upset. Some horses need to just stand and watch (Rico) to make sure things are okay, other horses get more upset the more they watch so need to be worked to get their mind off of the problem (apparently TC, but I learned this the hard way which is obviously the more fun way).

I let TC stand and watch but he became more and more agitated. So I walked him in circles, asking for leg yield and tighter turns, switching direction and he LEAPT into the air, twisted a big buck and..... yeah I didn't fall off, I just pulled his face to the left and he got scared that HE might fall and he came right back to me. But that's when I decided that trotting would be the answer. He was an idiot at first, but eventually settled and gave me some GORGEOUS trot work. He felt much more engaged than he normally was, and we even got a few compliments from the nice people that we were disrupting.

One of the ladies said "a kid is going to LOVE brushing that tail"

I wasn't about to go disrupt the lesson in the dressage court alone, so Ali came back to get me and we both walked out there. The letters were these big boxes (where, presumably, you could put flowers, but there weren't any) that TC thought might have food in them, so he wasn't afraid at all. He also thought the judges booth was pretty interesting and possibly contained food. Once as he gave both the boxes and the booth a good look, he never looked at them again.

We did some walking and a bit of trot in the dressage court, including a lot of 20 meter circles and riding across the diagonal. He was surprisingly good, considering what an idiot he had been in the jumping arena. BUT I think this was because the gray horse he was obsessed with AND his trailer mate were in the arena with him.

We finished with a turn up centerline and a halt. The turn was excellent, but the halt took a bit since he really didn't want to stop.

After our short ride in the court, we headed over to the covered arena to show TC himself in the mirror. He spooked at first, but then walked right up to himself and sniffed a few times. After that he'd definitely look over at himself when we passed the mirrors, but no spooking.

We headed back to the barn after walking in the arena. I didn't want to make him do any more work there after he was so good in the dressage court.

Mirror pony!

SO after careful evaluation, here are some of my take away points:

The positive:
- Don't really need to longe him for him to be safe
- He's really not that spooky about new things, including scary jumps, the mirror, judges booth, etc
- He didn't jump out of the court
- Our geometry wasn't that bad
- He DID end up going on the bit eventually and gave me some excellent trot work
- No bucking other than that one big buck and only a little head shaking

The negative:
- He needs to get off the property more! (Duh)
- He has an incredible amount of stamina, working more does calm him down a bit, but a walk break brings all the energy back
- He does have some herd bound problems, including toward horses that he doesn't even know
- Lots of whinnying oh my god
- The brakes weren't as tuned as they are at home
- We never got to school by ourselves in a new arena, don't know how he will handle having to go work away from the group
- This was a small facility and the show facility is large so I don't know if that will make a difference

At this time, I'm still thinking about the show. On one hand, it will be fun and I don't care how we do since it's just a schooling show (plus I get to wear my medal while we get a 50% at intro, hilarious!). I might be able to have Ali bring her horse close to the court so that he can still see him. On the other hand, it's cheaper to get him more experience off the property by going to different barns and paying a use fee rather than a show fee (it's maybe 1/3 the cost to go places vs show). Then once as he is quieter (maybe in May), introduce him to the show experience.

I don't think it'd be a bad experience to go to the show. I'd have a nice long warm up, and warn the judge that I might "go off course" with extra circles or walk transitions to get him listening. I can always ride HC and not even take a score. BUT if I think that we won't get through the test because he'll be kind of a spaz, why pay so much to essentially go school at a place with a dressage court? Things to think about. Feel free to give me your thoughts about whether it's worth it.

Using all my medals for the first time would
be really fun!

In other horsey news, TC's half sister who I have been riding about a month FINALLY hit a big breakthrough in our last ride. She's been very agitated about going on the bit- flipping her head, threatening to rear, becoming completely rigid in the bridle, wanting to go faster at all costs- and I've been ridiculously patient, longeing her in side reins and ignoring her antics undersaddle. Ah but the last ride she finally figured out that the connection is better for both of us when she comes round. So she did! And I could put my leg on her! And we even cantered for the first time.

And holy shit guys, this horse needs to jump. I hate jumping (not hate, but I certainly don't go out of my way to ever do it) and all I wanted was a 4' fence in front of me as I was sitting this canter.