| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| zooscat |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 02:51:44 AM
Well - what a suprise! Yesterday, I actually fell off Aragon the Spook King! I had dreaded it from the moment I got on him last December, because I was intimidated by his size and shape - long and high instead of short and fat like the Fat Crabbet Bomb(RIP). I used to fall off FCB quite a lot in the middle years of owning him, due to my doing more adventurous things on him and him honing his wicked spook skills - even my instructor fell off him once! In the latter years I didn't fall off because I'd got to know him so well and could judge when a Mega Spook was upcoming by the movements of the hairs on his ear edges! That and the WoW saddle!
Aragon has put in some mammoth spooks during the time I've had him and so far, I've managed to stay on due to having long legs, good balance and the wonderful WoW saddle which is a real fail safe hold you in the right place bit of kit.
Hah - sense of safety misplaced! Up on the North Downs yesterday on a windy day a rogue plastic feed bag leapt out of the bank and chased after him wrapping itself round his back legs. He shot to the left and spun - I slipped to the right, he saw me out of the corner of his eye, he leapt and spun to the left again and I came out of the side door! I was determined to hang onto the reins as I didn't know if he would gallop off and get hurt. So - there he was - bag round his back end, me on the floor in front of him, hanging onto his reins. He leapt up and down, trampling me underneath his feet - but very lightly. Eventually he stopped. (Thank heaven for my body protecter, long Ariat laced boots and a good hat)I crawled up his shoulder by hanging onto the stirrup leather and hung on his neck. He nuzzled me and we both gathered ourselves. I got hold of the bag and he eventually allowed me to put it near to his front end and he sniffed it. I hid it back under a rock and scrambled aboard and off we went for the five miles home. Met more plastic bags but managed to get past/round/over them.
I was very impressed with him - he was really making desperate efforts not to tread on me while being obviously terrified; he allowed a conversation with the dreaded plastic monster. He allowed me to scramble up very unathletically and get back on(from the ground -BAD - but no logs/stones/banks to get on by)and then agreed to deal with yet more flapping plastic on the way back.
Very bruised and headachey today, horse ok. It wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. Another piece in the process - onward! |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| TanyanChewy |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 3:33:12 PM
Eek. Glad you have both come out the other side in one piece and he was such a good boy when you addressed it yesterday. Definitely could have been a lot worse.
Well done to you both for getting through it. Onwards & upwards! |
| Pasch |
Posted - 30 Aug 2011 : 4:24:19 PM
 at the plastic bags grinning malevolently in the gutter...What about some work on long reins to get him used to being touched/rubbed on hind legs without taking over? |
| Callisto |
Posted - 30 Aug 2011 : 12:31:16 PM
Well Done for addressing the issue straight away - and good luck with crossing the tarps!!!  |
| zooscat |
Posted - 30 Aug 2011 : 09:17:44 AM
Yesterday, after Sunday spent by both me and The(P)Aragon  doing R&R,A and I did lots of Plastic Bag training! The beginnings were easy - get your horse to eat treats/carrots off a plastic bag on stable floor -Greed is All!! No problem - especially as Ze the GSD was trying to beat him to the draw over the carrots - about equal in the event. So - out into the breezy school with bale wrappers, lots of different sized plastic bags round the school, conveniently flapping around. Eventually, with lots of treats and Intelligent Horse (wo)manship remembered techniques - we got there. I could rub the plastic sheeting all over him and he would walk figures of eight over/round the plastic bags. I remember doing all this in Nov/Dec last year and he was really good about it quite quickly. It seems to be when we are out and they are there grinning malevolently in the hedge/gutter that he forgets the whole de-sensitising bit and leaps around. However, I will persevere every day with it for a few weeks - next game - walking over tarps! |
| Pasch |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 6:04:24 PM
Hope you are feeling better today!Any horse would spook having a killer plastic bag attacking from behind.Once Pasch got a branch of thorny acacia in his tail,the more he moved the tail the more the thorns hit his legs(the kind of thorns to rip your clothes open)until he panicked and started I fell off after the fourth or fifth buck(now I understand what rodeo must feel like)only then I realized why he was doing it!
I think after all Aragon behaved well under the circumstances,he tried not to hurt you,sounds like a nice sensible horse and you seem to have a strong bond with him.Also agree with arnica,and maybe some homework to get him used to plastic bags? |
| Ari |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 1:39:07 PM
You both did very well, I can't think of many horses that would have coped better and he tried his very best bless him. Glad you are both ok, agree with you about the saddle the WOWs are fabulous. Would be my saddle of choice if I didn't have my Lovett and Ricketts event that has saved me many times during our airborn moments. |
| Callisto |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 12:00:59 PM
At least he had the excuse of a killer plastic bag wrapped round his hindlegs - the two times I have come off Lily (both while cantering), the first was a pheasant flapping out of a bush (landed on my back on frozen ground with a large rock in the middle of it - took a bit of time to recover from that one), and the second time she spooked at some molehills in long grass (that one was relatively painless). Both times she appeared somewhat surprised to find me at her feet . I know what you mean about long and high (she's 15.3hh) and nothing like riding my 14.1hh yellow pony.
Well done to both of you for coping with it, and hopefully he won't be attacked again. Agree with the advice about arnica. Onwards and upwards! |
| Kharidian |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 11:49:58 AM
Ouch! Love Arabianrio's "Paragon"
I think the outcome was actually the best you could have expected given a truely horrific situation: neither of you are hurt (bruises excepted), he got to see the monster and realised it wasn't too scary, you got back on and arrived home together. WELL DONE TO YOU AND ARAGON!
Caryn |
| arabianrio |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 11:23:27 AM
Well he sounds like a"Paragon" let alone Aragon....nasty nasty plastic bags attacking him like that! Sorry to hear you came off...I had quite a few scary moments with my old Rio...very good at spooking from one side of a lane to the other droppig a shoulder on the way. As you say you can usually sit them....so its a big suprise when you do come off! I do hope you don't hurt too much, It def' takes longer as we get older!! |
| barbara.gregory |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 10:38:03 AM
In the circumstances you both did very well and came off with no real damage. He was a good boy considering there was a plastic bag "eating" his back legs; a sure death sentence for prey animals; he must have been terrified.
Hope you feel better soon.
Barbara |
| complete novice |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 09:49:26 AM
Tlc needed all round today  I hope you're not too stiff and sore. Glad to read he had a head to head with the plastic monster and hopefully knows they're not quite as scary as he thought. |
| Honeyb060674 |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 09:36:47 AM
Ouch A trauma for both of you, I hate feral plastic bags...you can just see them quietly billowing in the breeze waiting for the next victim to pass 
Hugs, carrots & arnica for you all, hope your'e not too black & blue  |
| Arachnid |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 08:54:30 AM
I think most horses would take issue with a plastic bag wrapped around their legs - you did really well. Hope you are feeling better soon. |
| Offira |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 08:35:30 AM
Oh my goodness  hope you are OK this morning. |
| Suelin |
Posted - 29 Aug 2011 : 07:32:27 AM
Well done to you. It's dreadful to fall off as you get older. Personally I no longer bounce, Ouch!!! Hope that you aren't too bruised and sore. Onward. |
