A bit of History and less Knickers needed.

History

Well we do appear to have turned a corner in our relationship me and Charlie. it is coming up to a year since I bought him my god how times flies when you are yo-yo ing between fun and terror.

The boy came to me through a dealer friend and I just generally knew his history but no detail. The past weeks of challenges strewn in my path like roses eaten by caterpillars and blighted by mildew has made me wonder if there are any clues in his history. if the nappiness and bounces are really as a result of our traumatic few months or deeper seated. I was very much of the opinion that it was the former.

By chance I spotted a post on Facebook by the hunt he came from so I started asking and lo and behold I got a contact. It has really strengthened my opinon of Charlie and put to bed the "He needs a man on him" statement I received from a friend who should have known better.

This is what his previous keeper said

·         Ok here goes...............
This is what I know about Charlie

My mother in law bought him from a dealer in Coventry as I think a 5 6 yrs old of course the dealer said he had done everything I personally think he was just broken as he was extremely green

He was hacked with others and lightly hunted by my mother in law and also did some fun rides with a younger girl, unfortunately my mother in law injured her hip( not on Charlie) and was unable to ride him so he came to me as we were short of a horse for our whip

He arrived I think in early April , we had a fun ride here at the kennels so the first time I rode him was then, he was impeccably well behaved just green ,very wobbly and I had to kick a lot! I even jumped a few small rails on him, that was when I realised he was not just a plain cob, he was very athletic and made a lovely shape

I rode him around for a few months showing him the sights etc then we introduced the hounds, he was very excepting of all I threw at him and would occasionally show slight resistance by a half hearted rear but nothing that worried me, after all he was only a baby

He came along in leaps and bounds learnt how to be led and how to lead other horses
He did hound exercise and then started hunting, he loved his job and work, he would be cheeky and have a buck as you cantered along but only as a way of 'yippee'!

He was never sick or sorry and boy can he jump!!!

He worked very hard with us and never missed a day he would go off on point, stand on main roads with lorries whizzing past etc you really couldn't fault him

We got to the end of the season and 1 spoke with my mother in law about selling him as he was too good! So that's how he got into Daves hands

This is my experiences with Charlie, he is a very intelligent horse with a cheeky character ,if you gave him an inch he would try and take a mile! 

So there we have it he was initially ridden by Ladies so there!

Taking this on board was one of the reasons I kidnapped the lovely Robin to be our Equine babysitter as it was pretty close to ride and lead.

Cantering

Yesterday my schooling wasnt going brilliantly I had a mental block doing counter shoulder in but we threw that onto the pending pile and just worked on enjoying some nice trot and then.....we had our first ridden canter. I have been practicing canter on the lunge and was getting some nice transitions. Before his Op Charlies canter in the school was very erratic and extremely awkward and unbalanced on one rein. Cant remember which rein now but was not good.

So there I was trotting around and thought I feel like asking for canter so I just sat thought and whoopee there it was. Change the rein and it happened again. No getting unbalanced and all over the place although I must admit I used the neck strap to ensure I didnt get in his way and restrict.

Arctic Hacking with Less knickers needed

Well today was a little bit on the chilly side. No I lie it was blooming freezing. Up at the yard there was an icy blast and it was snowing lightly so good to her word Chris turned up and she and Robin took us out again. The same short hack as we did Sunday but with no creative input from Charlie. Readers who dont know our geography will be unaware that the hill we ride down is a major rat run and vehicles speed along it at very silly miles an hour.

Charlie was so relaxed his back was loose we only had a light contact on the rein and he was unphased by every big lorry that threw itself at us. To my shame at one point I felt his bottom tense and thought uh oh but then when I looked behind me my bottom would have been tense it it had a car that far up its arse.

So I think we can safely say that the boy is absolutely fine but needs gentle confidence building hacks with breakdown trucks skip lorries and other general noisy delivery vehicles hammering past him and screeching to a halt on a blind bend as we frantically wave our arms saying stop you complete arse!