Training Day!

I made the effort to make our Thursday ride a training ride. Since our favorite teams to ride with were both out of action, there were no distractions! (Well not as many anyway)

Whenever I ride with others I always find myself straying from the important things and more just hoon around - not very good.

So we started off with a little round pen lesson introducing long and low on the lunge.
Although this horse seems to live in long and low, it still needed to be done.
I knew it was going to be touch and go with the side reins but, again, it needed to be done.

I would love to have faith in my horse that he wouldn't do anything silly but... it's Mate
His motto basically to everything right now is "act first 'n think about it later".

Look at that hock action - very fancy

llamallamallamallama

The side-reins were put of extremely loosely at first. So even if he engaged his inner llama, which he did, he wouldn't feel pressure.
I soon worked out this was a stupid step and slightly tightened them.

Modeling

The lesson ended very quickly after Mate got the idea.
He lowered his head and was working his pony-sized body wonderfully.
(I actually think he was a bit shocked at how much praise he got - I was just soso proud)
Although they were only baby stretches, it was still an improvement!

That little lesson ended, in succession I might add, within 20 minutes. So I felt I was within my rights to tack up and ride for a little bit in the arena.

 When I got to the arena it was completely empty. Score.
So I hopped off and decided to work on our turns on the haunches and hindquarters - seeing as I'm banned from doing them in the saddle..
I asked for the turns on both sides and boy did he deliver!
Gorgeous turns with absolutely NO fighting on his part. Good boy!
I was very impressed.

By the time I got back on to ask for the same things in the saddle (breaking many rules) there were like eight more people in the arena!?!
And they all seemed to be doing the same thing... jumping

So I quickly asked for what I wanted and got straight outta there before I started jumping myself.
As for the turns, he's pretty such a pro.

When we arrived at the less crowded arena over the other side, we got working on our leg yielding.
They need so much work it's ridiculous - he even threw in a little buck/spin combo after we both got a bit frustrated.
The fact that my instructions aren't exactly crystal clear plus he's not really sure how to use his brain properly yet, isn't a great mix.
But thankfully, we managed to get some half hearted steps in all 3 gaits... Eventually.

I thought that was a fantastic note to end the day on. He was fed and was pleased when I put him back into the paddock - such a dude!

What a Butt Head.

Mate is definitely a funny one.
Gosh I love him but some of his "quirks" sure makes me think twice about why.

Lucky he's cute

Down in the valley (where Mate lived all his days before I bought him) he developed a bad habit of bucking - and the ill fitting saddles didn't help one bit
Now, im going to be honest here, I don't ask a whole lot out of this pony but sometimes he can be a real butt head..

Simply by just asking him to go forward to fast or abruptly, he takes HUGE offence and becomes suspiciously "light " with his body. It's great fun...
Even just asking him to wait for another horse to catch up is key to tantrum town. Urgh.

Do i get extra points for colour coordination?

Another quirk of Mate's is sometimes he takes it upon himself to be an absolute jerk when we're doing some arena work and pretend to be super scared to things he's been past 7 million times before in an attempt to get out of my very small requests.
I tell him every time this only makes him work harder/longer but he likes to try anyway!


He' also really funny about bare-back riding. To my knowledge, no one has ever been successful in riding this horse bare-back. My theory is that it feels funny
But to be honest, I'm just hoping it's not because it hurts (wishful thinking?)
Not that this is really a big problem for me, as I don't have great balance anyway and wouldn't really go faster than a walk, but I still find it strange how he completely won't allow it.

Did I mention he was also really good at rearing?

Really, REALLY good

Thankfully this is my instructor on him - there's no way i could of stuck a rear like this (let alone live to tell the tale)

Rearing. Urgh. Hate it.
Says the girl who bought a horse known for his rearing abilities. Damn it, Jess.
It's super dangerous, I don't like it and he knows it! Butt head...

 he's SO cute!

He has his issues, that's for sure, but at least he's my butt head ♥

New beginnings

I'd like to introduce my new pony

* drum roll *

Maaaate!

Isn't he just beautiful?

So Mate's basically just a mutt of generations so you could never be 100% sure of his blood lines. So that sucks.


Thankfully, I've had the chance to know both his dam and sire! This infomation is basically priceless in my book - i sadly don't have photos of either parent.
Mate gets most of his physical traits from his dad but his temperament from his mother. But more on that in another post.

Bonus friend Nomad

Mate was broken in at a young age and put to work on trails.
At some point during his career as a trail riding horse, they put him into the position of a teacher. Bad idea? Probably.
Mate got very unpredictable. He'd have his good days but they were soon out ruled by the bad ones.
So back to the trails he went!
Mate being Mate, got very unpredictable and turned dangerous - even some of the guides refused to ride him!
He was put up for sale after he no loger was pulling his wieght for the business.
With in hours, i had my claws in him!
i think i screamed for a good 20 minutes

Throw back to 2010

It's an absolute dream come true to own this particular pony and I'm over the moon.
I've honestly never felt this strongly about a single horse. I truly adore his little heart
I'll continute to write cheesy posts about this boy so hope y'all enjoy!