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Glorious hacking
Apr. 22nd, 2007 10:53 amThis weekend has been really rather good, so far. Yesterday, I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Windsor with Bear and, this morning, took a glorious trip through the woods on my favourite hacking horse.
If I ever buy a horse, I want one exactly like Toby. I haven't ridden him in a while and I'd forgotten how well suited we are. He's a cob-type, which I've always liked, but he doesn't have any of the disadvantages you normally get with a cob. A lot of cobs can be slow, ponderous, lazy and grumpy (see Bilbo, who could be Toby's twin in all but temperament), but Toby is very highly strung for a cob, and this makes him the ideal horse for me.
He's solid and comfortable, but also forward-going and very responsive - and he's got one of the loveliest canters I've ever experienced. His mouth is quite sensitive, so he likes a really light contact, which I'm happy to give him, since he needs only the smallest of half halts to slow down.
We had three canters in the woods today, and they were all wonderful. I let Toby run on a bit too much on the third one, which made it difficult for him to make the transition but, once I'd collected him a bit, it was just as good as the other two.
I remember riding Toby in a lesson once early last year, and it was great fun, so I'd like to ride him more often - in lessons or on hacks - but they don't seem to use him in lessons much.
If I ever buy a horse, I want one exactly like Toby. I haven't ridden him in a while and I'd forgotten how well suited we are. He's a cob-type, which I've always liked, but he doesn't have any of the disadvantages you normally get with a cob. A lot of cobs can be slow, ponderous, lazy and grumpy (see Bilbo, who could be Toby's twin in all but temperament), but Toby is very highly strung for a cob, and this makes him the ideal horse for me.
He's solid and comfortable, but also forward-going and very responsive - and he's got one of the loveliest canters I've ever experienced. His mouth is quite sensitive, so he likes a really light contact, which I'm happy to give him, since he needs only the smallest of half halts to slow down.
We had three canters in the woods today, and they were all wonderful. I let Toby run on a bit too much on the third one, which made it difficult for him to make the transition but, once I'd collected him a bit, it was just as good as the other two.
I remember riding Toby in a lesson once early last year, and it was great fun, so I'd like to ride him more often - in lessons or on hacks - but they don't seem to use him in lessons much.
