That's a very cute sedated highland calf I had just debudded so it wouldn't grow horns. It's been amazing and a huge and exciting learning curve, working with an absolutely incredible group of people and as a result I'm heading to vet school at the end of feb. Whether this means I sell China I'm not sure yet.
China has been an absolute donkey at times. He's been rushing his fences something wicked and I would have used probably twenty different bits and five different bridle set ups, trying all sorts of things. The problem isn't in the bridle though it's in his head and not much was holding him when he decided to go. It was frustrating that for months I just couldn't get through to him. I've never felt so stuck with a horse before.
Sweaty dripping mess cross country schooling. I took him to feilding show and he was an absolute nightmare. Leaping and reeding and just basically unrideable. I was definitely that girl at the show that probably shouldn't be there. The whole thing was pretty heart breaking. And completely demoralising. The very next day he jumped at a local event and did a beautiful double clear in The eighty cm class and just two cheap rails in the 90cm class. I didn't warm him up over fences at all though because that' starts the wind up.
Then I went to have a lessons and he was mad again. Thank goodness my trainer whose been injured has been feeling good again because she was like give him to me to ride. And in literally two rides reset him into the horse I thought he was. He relaxed and dropped the rushing and started to jump in some shape again. And basically all it came down to was that I needed to keep more contact and more connection to help him feel secure and not give him the room to start winding up. I'm
Softening too much at the base and panicking him by unbalancing him instead of keeping the contact and a smooth following hand.
In the mean time I've been having lots of adventures with him to make him a more versatile little guy and to get him travelling. I'm hoping this helps when we go back to a show because maybe it will all unravel there again.
Still he's
Worth persevering with, he's super nice. When he's nice, though when he's horrible he's super awful. Lesson tomorrow I'll try get some video
