22/9/12 – A Lucky Experience
I got to the yard today, said hello to the horses,
and spent the wait chatting with a woman going trekking. Yammering away, the
time went by quickly, and we were called into the office before we knew
it. The YO was in control of the book
today, and asked who I usually rode: I quickly gave a list of names, omitting
Ransom and adding Starsky as I usually do, even though strictly speaking I’ve
not ridden him yet. Well, this morning I finally got Hutch’s half brother and
partner in crime – 18hh of steely dappled grey Friesian X. I was excited!
L is by far and away my favourite hack leader, and
after I’d mounted, I saw her and A with riding hats on. One would be taking the
trek, the other the hack. I asked if L was taking us hacking, she said yes, and
I literally shouted “WOOHOO!” I hadn’t realised just how loudly I’d done it
until the echo came back to me off the stable block. No wonder there was
tittering when I did it! YO’s daughter, who also works and competes from the
yard, was saying to L “Oh: I guess you’re loved then!” Well, I was pleased and
I didn’t care who knew it! There was also only one other person on the hack: a
teen girl on Honey, Frankie’s featherless double J
L mounted up on what looked to me like a 16hh bay TB.
I had no idea who it was, and she quickly responded: “Oh, this is Lucky!” That
immediately struck fear and excitement into me: L is the ONLY person on the
yard who’s prepared to hack Lucky out. He gallops everywhere: collected canter
is not an option. He’s like a car that goes from 0-60mph in seconds! My fellow Sunday rider R. had previously told
me about an L hack on Lucky I missed out on in July: L was on Lucky, R was on Robbie
(very speedy and his favourite horse) and apparently it was being on a race
track all the way. I was excited that I was going to have the ‘Lucky
experience’, and while my first choices today were Corrie or Hutch, I was glad
to be on a horse that I felt I partially knew, as I’d seen him out with our
ride before and knew from Hutch that I could ride such big paces.
The morning was beautiful. I’d left the house and it
was cold, as there’s a nip in the air in the morning and evenings at the
moment. However, when I was at the yard, the sun really got up, and because
we’ve not quite changed seasons yet, the sun still succeeded in warming the air
when it rose. We crossed the river, with the sun glaring off it, having been
able to leave our jackets on the yard thanks to the heat. It was hard to
believe that those who’d driven to the yard had needed to de-ice their
windscreens first!
A video of the river-crossing the riverside. (The
rest of the hack was too fast, and I was too busy making the most of L’s
private attention to film anything else):
We didn’t trot along the riverside as we usually do,
but instead had our first trot on the road to the woods. I’d been so busy
chatting to L, that I hadn’t really taken Starsky in during the walking and
chatting as I usually do on a new mount. I felt like I knew him! He sprung into
life in that first trot, and reminded me of Hutch on the days he’s fresh and
keen; a similar sized pace and rhythm, and fairly damn comfy.
The canter hill came up quickly. L halted Lucky to
tell us what was happening next, but Lucky doesn’t do standing still. He was
dancing and snorting, knowing absolutely what was about to happen. No sooner
had she done talking, than L and Lucky were off. I immediately stood out of Starsky’s
saddle as I knew there’d be no transitioning up through the gears: he literally
leapt into action, and I was glad I was in the two-point seat when it happened!
Starsky galloped the whole way up the hill: not like the less fit Hutch, that
canters 80% before he slows and bellows. It was ridiculously fast too: much
faster than I’d expected or ever experienced before. I felt secure enough
though: there really is no better way to ease into galloping a new horse or
getting used to galloping itself than doing it uphill! Starsky was knackered at
the top though, and blew for several minutes afterwards, bless him.
Once we got onto the level, I told L how fast that
felt. “Oh, that’s nothing: the rest of the stretches are pretty much flat, so
will be much faster!” I felt a feeling I’d never felt before: joy at that fact
that I had a Jesus strap in the form of Starsky’s martingale! (though, to be
more accurate, I think I should name it an exclamatory “F**king hell!” strap).
I have genuinely never ridden so fast in my life before, and while two pinky
fingers under a strap doesn’t do much in the grand scheme of things, it provide
a little psychological blanket. Odd, because I’d never ever used a Jesus strap
before, and never got the appeal of something so far in front of the saddle to
help you stay on. Usually sitting back’s where you want to be, but in the light
seat, I can entirely see the value of it!
So, off we popped into the wooded, common-like area
where the majority of the canter stretches are. Lucky wouldn’t go around the
first corner, and napped so far backwards he was pretty much in a hedge. I
offered L my stick, but apparently Lucky craps himself at the sight of one. Believe
you me, that horse does not need any more speed or any more nervous energy!
lol.
Anyhow, once we’d turned the corner, Lucky took the
lead and L asked if we were happy to canter. CANTER MY BLOODY ARSE is all I can
say! Lucky went from dancing jog to gallop in one stride, kicking loads dirt into
my face and down my cleavage, and I saw all four soles of his hooves in that
one move. Starsky followed: we did a halt to gallop transition (I didn’t know
it was possible, and I don’t think the official aids are take the light seat,
put fingers under Jesus strap, and inwardly pray to yourself). I’ll be honest: such a huge and fast lurch
forward unnerved me a bit, and while I’d gone with it entirely and was
balancing perfectly on Starsky I had the thought “Jesus, if I lost a stirrup
now, I could seriously hospitalise myself falling at this speed!” The stretch
was just long enough for me to bat that out of my head though, and feel glued.
L had known today’s pace, so had stopped us to make sure we were 100% happy
before the ‘canter’ work began. This stretch ended nicely too, with much
smoother transitions-down compared to the G-force lurches on the way up. I
wasn’t afraid to tell L though that I was glad of the Jesus strap, and would be
using the rest of the way! She made me feel better mind, and told me that she
always does as an insurance policy when at that speed, and it’s all the more
important when on Common Rides. Since coming home, I’ve found photos of riders
using it while galloping him across stubble fields on even the most difficult
Common Rides. Phew! lol.
I don’t remember how many stretches we did, as it’s
all a blur of adrenaline, but the last one we did before crossing the viaduct
was the slightly uphill run, with the lake of a puddle in the middle. Last week
we had to slow down at it and go left in trot for Sophie-Loaf, in case she
freaked out. L said she’d been through it earlier in the week, so it was fine
to go around or through it whatever way we wanted. I said at that speed,
Starsky might end up making the choice, but I always prefer to go around it as
the minimises the risk of jumping it, slipping or bogging down a bit. Lucky
started going nuts, and sort of went up rather than forward as L hadn’t
released him yet. That was enough to set Starsky off though, so we leapt from
halt to gallop again, with Lucky not going straight in front but had pirouetted
off to the side. I thought for a few seconds that I was going to end up being
lead horse for this gallop, which L doesn’t mind if it’s safer than holding
back and she knows you’ll stop at the right place, but Lucky gathered himself
up and got ahead, with Starsky racing him every bit of the way!
Before I knew it, we’d eaten up half the stretch, and
puddle/lake was in front of us. As Lucky had gone left, Starsky went right in
effort to get past him. I was happy not to steer as Starsky made his decision
early, so moved over at a gentle angle without any motorbiking or suddenness.
If he’d started moving a second later, I would have let go of the martingale to
free my hands up properly to steer.
Still, we made it though the right-hand side, and despite a comedy duck
at the end for a big branch, the gallop continued. In fact, the end of the
stretch narrows and has a paving type stone with its corner sticking out on the
narrow ascent to the flat. I always at least trot, if not walk up it: Lucky had
cantered it, so Starsky did too, but with what seemed like freakily expressive
collected strides given how fast we’d just gone. Once up top, the horses
immediately relaxed and got their breath back on the buckle. All that
adrenaline, and they went back to calmness when they knew the fun was over for
a little while J
On Hutch and Corrie, their gallops are smooth and
while they don’t feel fast as their feet don’t hit the ground that often,
they’re covering ground with their stride, so it has a nice balance of feeling
safe and comfortable but still being quick. Starsky however is by far the
fastest horse I have ever galloped: never in my life have I gone that fast
outside of a motorised vehicle! Starsky not only has reach, but his hooves feel
like they’re constantly hitting the ground again to power off, and the engine
in his backend is incredible. L said that, while most folk wouldn’t believe it
as he’s not a TB-type, Starsky’s actually one of the fastest horses on the
yard, especially when on Common Rides. I tell you what, I certainly believed
it! Starsky has a 6th gear (as does Lucky, and I know Ransom does
too, even though I didn’t use it when I took him out); they are the powerful,
bit scary but rather fun Ferraris/Lambos etc. Hutch and Corrie are more like
Jaguars or Mercedes: still an impressive amount of oomph, but with smoothness,
comfort and using the regular 5 gears rather than 6!
I explained to
L that I’d really enjoyed the rush, but quite honestly that it had rattled my
nerves a bit at first, and while I felt good galloping, I hadn’t got used to
the lurching into action like that. She told me that a Common Ride is at least this
fast if not more; you typically don’t have transitions then either because soon
as you get through the gate safely and onto a field for example, your horse gets
going along with the rest. I explained
that I’m a pretty confident rider, and clearly my balance is grand: I was fully
capable of going with Starsky when he tore off from a standstill each time, and
never felt wobbly or insecure at speed. I also thanked her for making me
realise just how much work at the gallop I need before doing my first Common
Ride next summer (all being well), and she said one of the things she likes
about me is that I have a realistic appreciation of what I can do and what my
limitations are. She said it’s just inexperience on such a fast horse I was
lacking but she was confident that all I need is a bit of practice going so
fast, and if I’m happy to, she’d really like to take me into a field sometime
so I could get an appreciation of the maximum speed and how a Common Ride feels!
We talked for ages about my aim to do at least one of
the easier Common Rides next year. She also asked me who I was thinking of for
my first Common Ride. I said I’d thought Frankie might be a bit old and small
to take my weight for so many hours riding even though I like and know her, and
L confirmed that Frankie doesn’t do Common Rides. After the Turbo Cob, I knew
Hutch the best as a riding horse and probably favoured him, but loved Corrie
and Hugo after one ride each on them. To be honest, when I saw the ride come up
the Royal Mile, I also thought I’d look best on Hutch or Corrie, as Hutch
always stands out, but all the big greys on the day did, even those not in the
leading flag-bearing party. L said Hugo was a flying machine on a Common Ride,
so he would probably not be a great choice for my first time. He’d been really
contained on my hack with M: confirmation that as lovely a person as she is, M’s
a slow and boring ride leader! She told
me that Hutch and Corrie were perfect choices for me, and she was confident
that both of them would look after me if I was feeling a bit nervous on the
day. I was delighted to hear that, but was worried that the men got all the big
horses, as many tall, stocky men rode, and needed the tall weight-bearers,
whereas at 5ft 6, I can ride a smaller horse. She said I’m a paying customer,
that booking a big horse wasn’t a problem as they’d so many different types to
go around, and to list both Hutch and Corrie as 1st and 2nd
choice, so the YO could always work around what horses are requested, if any of
them get lame before the big day and so on. That settled me quite a bit, and
made me smile J
The road work was a bit more entertaining than usual
with a spooky horse. Starsky had napped on the way into the woodland before the
first canter, as a cut log of about 1ft long was on the ground. He thought it
was going to eat him, poor chap! He’d been fine since, but when we were going
through the town, he caught a late glimpse of a skip on someone’s driveway and
leapt sideways onto the middle of the road. I was glad there were no cars
coming in either direction as we were in prime position to get hit by either! I
was happy that I’d been glued to his saddle the whole time though, and I rode
him positively so he soon went onwards.
He would later however spook at a parked red car (but not parked cars in
any other colour, and never at any of the moving ones coming towards him or
past him from behind), own shadow, a stone mounting block, a bird (fair enough –
it moved suddenly and noisily) and something I didn’t see at all. He wasn’t so spooky
that it ever made me feel insecure in the saddle, or made me nervous to ride
him, but it was enough to called him a “buck eejit”, and laugh at his shying
and leaping. He always moved on though, and I always reassured him he’d live to
fight another day. Silly horse!
The park through the Glen was sadly closed today, for
reasons I couldn’t work out. We then went the road-work way to the railway line
and I was honest with L: I was a bit nervous about the railway line as when
quiet, it’s a flat-out gallop, and I was finding it difficult to fathom that we
could be going faster than we did on all of the previous ‘canter’ stretches. I
also told her before she could reply that I was, of course, being silly: if I
could ride Starsky on uneven ground with giant puddles and bending pathways,
this flat, straight run with no big branches should be easy peasy. She seconded
my rationale that this bit’s easy, told me I’d done great on a fast horse I
didn’t know that was trying to race Lucky, and that those nerves would dissolve
with a bit more practice. I knew she was right, but while I’d kept my nerves on
Ransom about that stretch to myself when I rode him, I felt that I could open
up to L as she cares about her riders, she knows me fairly well now, and she
wouldn’t judge me for sharing the fact that I get nervous sometimes.
We got onto the railway line eventually, but there
were two sets of dog walkers on it, so we had to walk under the first bridge and
on for a while. That was not especially enjoyable: Lucky was desperate to
gallop off, dancing and canter pirouetting a lot, and Starsky was ready to
gallop off into the horizon too. L was getting to the point where she said
she’d take us somewhere else to get a good fast run instead, but when we met
the 2nd dog and his owner on the corner, we could see far ahead was
clear. I don’t know if it’s because you
often meet people on this path, or if L was nursing my silly anxieties, but we
had an actual walk-to-canter transition here, not a mad leap straight into a
gallop. I then felt something I hadn’t quite expectged… Disappointment! I was
disappointed that we were cantering and not galloping: while it had challenged
my nerves, I’d been getting on well and was high on the buzz! Just as we were
heading through the second tunnel though, L opened Lucky up more and off we went.
Galloping along there on such a fast horse was easy peasy: the speed and
balance were no different to tackle than with a slower horse. I really had been
right: if I manage such a fast gallop starting with a sudden lurch, dodging
puddles and branches, and on bending paths, going straight and flat was a piece
of cake!
While the railway line continues on for quite some
time until we reach a main road, the usual stopping point is a few minutes walk
from the end. We didn’t stop there this time though! At the usual place to start
slowing, L put her hand up, and we got the horses back into canter. Lucky would
not stop cantering though, so I kept Starsky in the canter rather than a trot.
I gave a go at sitting to it as well, and I managed it! On my last two hacks on
Starsky and Hutch, I’ve noticed the difference Pilates has made to my riding.
With my back in its natural position (I’ve quite bad lordosis), even the
brothers’ big walks move my pelvis so far back and forth, that it just reaches
the point where the arching is too much on the backstroke (ie, when the walk
moves my hips back and not forwards, I feel my lower back reach its elastic
limit). When I engage my core and correct my lordosis however (just as Heather
Moffat says you must to ride softly and go with a horse), my spine can flex,
and in that supple state, I can go with the movement more and feel no
discomfort. I’d felt it work in the trot and walk before, but now I felt it in
the canter: with my core engaged and spine more neutral, I could absorb
Starsky’s big movement and keep my bum in the saddle. Hurray!
Apart from some trot schooling that I did with L
alongside Lucky (she called me up beside her anytime the path suited, which was
fab), the rest of the ride was fairly quiet. We talked about schooling on
hacks, and I said how it’s really the best way to work on the canter: you can
collect in a school, but in true extension, you run out of space in no time.
Also, being able to do so is vital for controlling the horse, especially if
jumping or more relevantly for my I hope, to have control on a Common Ride. She
told me about some collection-extension schooling she’s done on hacks with some
of my Sunday friends, so hopefully we’ll get to do that soon. She even gave me
some tips for getting Hutch off the forehand if he’s having a ploddy day. She did say I should be asking for Starsky
again though: that the more hoses I get experience with, the better, but being on
a faster horse that just takes off had been really good for me today, and made
for great preparation for CR season next summer. She said I could even handle
Starsky on my first Common Ride, as clearly riding him flat out wasn’t a
problem – I just needed more experience at that speed in order to trust my
skill more. I was rather tickled that she thought I could handle him J
The walk back to the yard was fab, and although I
rode long to let Starsky relax, he remained forward all the way, walking
purposefully and voluntarily trotting to catch up when he had to. I didn’t ride
home without stirrups though, given he’d been a bit spooky. When we crossed the
river and were almost on the yard, I thanked L sincerely. I said “Today was
just what I needed: to see how much work I have to do at a gallop before taking
on even one of the steadier Common Rides next year, and to be pushed to the
point where my nerves undeniably jangled a bit, but not so much I lose confidence.
Here I am at the end, smiling and feeling confident thanks to you!” She gave a
big smile back, told me we needed to do it again as practice is all I need, and
thanked me for a fun ride out. She’s right: when she enjoys it, her clients
enjoy it too!
When we finally stopped, D came up to me when I was
still on Starsky. L told him to give me a few minutes though, as I’d fallen in
a heap after jumping off Hutch with dead toes and ankles last week! D laughed,
and I enjoyed giving Starsky lots of pats and whither scratchers while I
circled my feet. When I eventually jumped off, I got quick cuddle before D came
back over, so I ran Starsky’s stirrups up and loosened the girth. D said
Starsky was a favourite of his, and I said it had been my first time, but it
was a fast, furious and fun hack, and I’d loved riding him. D smiled and said so
many people mistake Starsky for a plod because of his size, when the truth is,
he’s a flying machine because he’s so powerful. Ain’t that the truth!
All in all, while I’d a few flushes of nerves, I had
enjoyed the “Lucky Experience” that R had told me so excitedly about. I’d relished
the pretty much one-on-one time with L too (the girl on Honey only spoke when
spoken to, and while we tried to include her every so often, we got little out
of her apart from a giant “WHOA!!!!” when Honey’s burst of speed from a walk to
gallop to keep up with us surprised her). I wish it was always like this, but I do well
to have the funds for a 2hr discounted hack, never mind the fee for a full priced, private one. Besides, for less
than two private 2hr hacks a week, I could have my own horse on livery there.
That’ll be a much better use of money some day! lol.
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