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T O P I C R E V I E W
Crusaders Angel
Posted - 22 Jun 2009 : 11:41:52 AM After having a few nice rides out on Mr Roo off leadrein I decided to take the plunge in to Growed Up riding so on Saturday we took Mr Roo out with another horse.
My mum had a bit of a wobble deciding who to take out -
Smartie - good on the roads but does everything at high power and is very impatient.
Zephyr - very laid back, has been know to just lunge and bite stranger horses and won't take the lead if we meet anything scary, or
Tom - laid back to the point of horizontal, very slow walk but gets wound up and takes off it all gets too exciting.
We decided on Zeph as Roo is really confident anyway about new stuff and is more settled in front.
We both lead the horses out the yard to make sure they were okay with each other and down the road into the woods. My mum got on first and rode to our getting on place and then I got on Roo. He lined up straightaway and stood still whilst I found my stirrup (a 1st ). We went off really confidently in the lead, Mr Roo even gave a bit of jiggy-jog but settled quickly.
Until I got on Zeph had been behaving really responsibly and not made any attempt to intimidate Roo at all but as soon as I got on this all changed and he started jogging and snatching at the bit and trying to siddle up to us. Roo was really good and just ignored him, didn't even react when Zeph started grinding his teeth. We decided to go down a new track in the woods and Roo jog-trotted round the corner and onto a lovely wide sandy track, I just picked up the rein slightly and he dropped back into walk. Zeph decided that we should be going home and dropped a shoulder and spun off the track and tried to head back home , my mum managed to stop him and turn him back and get him onto the track but by this time Roo had noticed he wasn't behind and lost a bit of confidence about carrying on in front but with a bit of encouragement he carried on. I kept telling him that he was a good boy and he relaxed and went back to swinging along .
Zeph was still messing about, my mum tried to settle him but he was getting really naughty so she made him go in the front. He stopped messing about but wouldn't wait for us as he was really walking out so me & Roo had some nice short trots to keep catching up . He was really good and waited for me to tell him it was ok to go but I'd didn't wait until the gap was too big .
As Zephyr was really messing about and all the trotting was going to Mr Roo's head a bit I got off well before we got to the Naughty Corner so I could get him settled. As soon as I got off Zeph changed back to being nice and steady . I've no idea what was going on, even when Angel is at her most bouncy he never usually bats an eyelid, in fact he just gives her the most withering look as if to say "you're not impressing anyone with THAT behaviour, love".
I led Roo back home through the woods and along the road but lined him up by the picnic benchs on the way back to the field, he lined up straightaway so I got on and rode him the last 200 yards back to the field. Our field is at the bottom of a hill and as we rode down I realised that that is the first hill I've ridden him down For some reason, I'd been avoiding them in the woods and just sticking to flat paths . Anyways, his legs didn't snap, or buckle and cause us to plummet to our deaths so I might just have to ride up and down a few more
I'm so proud of Mr Roo, he has had a lot of little hang-ups which when added up created a lot of problems in his head but over time he has started to let go and start to work things out, rather than just react to what he THINKS is going to happen. I just have to remember not to join in when he's having a mini-crisis and just carry on quietly until the penny drops, easier said than done when you know how quick and how far those legs can fly
My mum is taking Alex on holiday for 2 weeks soon so I'm going to use that time to get Mr Roo out on his own and with some of the neigh-bours Thanks for reading, Lucy
). We went off really confidently in the lead, Mr Roo even gave a bit of jiggy-jog but settled quickly.
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. He was really good and waited for me to tell him it was ok to go but I'd didn't wait until the gap was too big 
. I've no idea what was going on, even when Angel is at her most bouncy he never usually bats an eyelid, in fact he just gives her the most withering look as if to say "you're not impressing anyone with THAT behaviour, love".
. Anyways, his legs didn't snap, or buckle and cause us to plummet to our deaths so I might just have to ride up and down a few more 
