Extra riding

[alobear]

Since we didn't get to canter on last week's hack, and since I won't be able to ride at all next weekend, I decided to go on an extra ride this afternoon. This turned out to be a mixture of good, bad and downright weird.

First of all. my usual hat wasn't available and I couldn't find another decent one, so I ended up wearing one that was slightly too big and had a very uncomfortable strap. (Must buy own hat, must buy own hat...)

If I'd been asked beforehand which horse I wanted to ride, I would have said Toby, and that's who I was given, so I was very happy as we set off. The instructor was riding a multi-coloured four-year-old called Trio, who spent most of the hack trotting sideways and twirling on the spot. Now, I understand that horses like that need to be ridden out to get them used to the woods, and it needs to be a member of staff who rides them, but taking them out on hacks with other riders seems like a disaster waiting to happen - if there'd been any kind of incident, she would have been too busy trying to control Trio to look after the rest of us.

Next in line was a rangy chestnut mare called Ginger, who automatically made me think of Black Beauty's friend who ends up on a knacker's cart. Then came me on Toby, and good old Jim brought up the rear.

Towards the start of the ride, we had to negotiate a downed tree branch. All the other horses stepped calmly and happily over it, while Toby spooked for no reason and decided to drag me off in the bushes at the side of the track so he wouldn't have to go near the branch. Not a great start.

Then came the first canter stretch. Trio took off like a rocket, with Ginger keeping pace behind him. Now, when I've ridden him before, Toby has always felt like a coiled spring of pent-up energy just raring to go, so I was really looking forward to the canter. What I'd forgotten is that he's a cob, and cobs don't like cantering, so half the canter stretch was taken at a really fast trot. I eventually got him into canter, but it was very slow and lollopy and not nearly as much fun as I'd hoped, so I was rather disappointed.

About half way through the ride came the weird bit. On a muddy stretch of track, Toby just stopped dead and did his best Thumper impression by stamping his hind feet rapidly in the mud for about two minutes. I've never experienced a horse doing anything so strange - my only guess is that he was signalling to the evil equine hordes who are evidently hiding out in the woods.

On the second canter, we managed the transition right at the start and I just sat back and enjoyed it. My seat isn't as good as it should be in canter, and I have a tendency to lose my stirrups, but Toby was steady as a rock, my feet were completely still, and my bum didn't lose contact with the saddle once. Toby has the smoothest, securest, most comfortable canter of any horse I've ridden. It may not have been as exciting as careering at top speed, but it was lovely.

So, all in all, it was a good ride, and I certainly won't quibble about riding Toby again in future. My only real problem is that I didn't wear my ankle support, to which I can only say, "Stupid girl!" and "Ow!"

More riding tomorrow - yay!