I had been nervous about today. I knew galloping around open countryside, on varied terrain, with anything from 50-300 horses was going to push my comfort zone, but I was confident I would enjoy it, and I knew in Abbie that I had a horse who would be keen to go but would still listen to me. I had all the theory right in my head, along with great company in my friend, and support from everyone that this was an ideal first Common Ride. Sadly though, it took a while before it became an ideal first Common Riding experience!
Arriving at the lorry, I was greeted by The Cornet – a man who had ridden James, Starsky and Hero on my last few hacks, and who had only taken up riding in February of this year. I mean, to go from total beginner to galloping around mixed terrain at break-neck speed is a huge achievement – I felt proud somehow! He is such a lovely guy too, and escorted the 60-something faller home on our hack a few weeks ago – a total gent! He greeted me with a kiss, and wee commemorative medal: I felt so chuffed! I was also given a rider’s badge, which I knew I would treasure. I did now however, realise quite how much…
Abbie was a pain at the ramp to mount, moving around a lot. YO said none of them stand still at a Common Ride, so to make it quick but gentle. Not sure how I managed it, but I threw myself over quickly, but stopped an inch before the saddle to place myself down lightly, as I always do when the horse is standing at peace. It wasn’t long until I was up, that it was time to set off – too late to back out now!
Entering town for the first time from the lorry park was fantastic: the Mayor introduced us, and people lined the streets to cheer us all on. The official party, many of which are ex-Cornets, also weren’t bothered that Abbie and other horses weren’t keen on slowing down to go behind them, so we actually ended up among them. With so many people filming on their tablets, and taking pictures on camera, I hope I actually find some nice ones of me and Abbie online somewhere. I’ve only found one so far though:
At the first trot, I had my suspicions about my stirrups unevenness confirmed: my right one was longer than me left, but by not quite a full hole. Getting Abbie standing still was going to be a pain, so I decided to press on: worst come to worst, my hips would go askew and I’d treat myself to an hour with the fit Ozzie physio to get them back in line again!
The first canter came in the first 15mins or so, up a lane that was close to single file. I was quite glad of that, as it was much like what I’m used to out hacking, plus the gradient and not being swarmed by horses would be in my favour. The ground was very undulating however, which meant sections galloping downhill – my LEAST favourite thing! I’d say I sort of enjoyed it, but I didn’t feel as great as I usually do: still, I put it down to beginner’s nerves and pressed on.
The start of the second canter was not the beginning I needed. First of all, I learned that you know when a canter’s coming up because you’ll see the strategically placed ambulance, if your horse doesn’t know the way and hasn’t already started dancing around before then of course. We were to take a 90 degree turn right, and to start off down that track. Not only was I not looking forward to the cows running about on the other side of the fence to the canter track, but there was a loose cow too! We then had a false start, when the lead horses set off at a gallop, but the ride was shouted to stay in walk as the cow had bolted. Abbie was superb, and was quick to listen when I told her we had to stop; Bobo in front of me went a bit nuts, and I thought he was going to go into a full-on rear actually. The cow ran ahead of us, and did the most amazing jump to get back into its field; I was well impressed with her athleticism! I soon discovered on this fairly even ground however, that not only were my stirrups uneven, but they were a bit long to make comfortable and full use of the light seat. I also had people over-taking, which made me feel a little nervy, though I have to say that Abbie didn’t react to it, which made me feel better. She did however spook at a log half-way along, jumping to the left, which didn’t feel good with my stirrups. All in all, it wasn’t the confidence-giving canter I needed to settle down into the ride either.
In the walks and trots, Abbie was a bit of a pain: she was rather opinionated about being at the front, and moved at speeds I didn’t even know she was capable of. Keeping her away from kicking horses, holding her back from the official party, and generally getting her to listen were all a bit effortful. I was a bit disappointed as I was sort of ready to switch off for a little while, drink in my environs and gather my thoughts, but she took active riding even during calm parts of the procession.
Before we knew it, the defining feature of any Common Ride was upon us – fields. Now, I was nervous as I knew we’d be going at it hammer and tong, we had gates to make, and obviously while the ground is safe for galloping on, it’s not exactly perfectly even and flat. Abbie grew a hand taller, and did her dragon impression as soon as her feet touched vegetation, and she set off keenly. One of the Official Party was yelling for people to be sensible and take control – we had a gate to steady for. I was directly in front of him, so worried for a second that I was doing something wrong, but then I was over-taken by people who seemed out to win the Epsom Derby, and quickly realised that I was one of the sane people in full control! Abbie made no objection to holding for the gate, though I still wasn’t completely enjoying the whole thing, especially when it came time to swing across for the final gate. Your first field on your first Common Ride of the season is meant to be a true highlight of the year – it was marred with discomfort for me, with about 50 horses running around alongside me.
By this point, I was thinking of ending early. I hated myself for even permitting it as an option, but one of the rest breaks I knew was near the lorries, so I could have popped Abbie back to base and watched the brigade arrive home on foot. I seemed to need that mental comfort of knowing I didn’t have to do 5hrs of this if I never stared to enjoy it. I felt like SUCH a fool: adding more Common Rides merrily since I started work, and I wasn’t even enjoying my ‘easy’ introduction, feeling nervous during times I should have been drinking in the adrenaline, the sun on my back, and the wind in mine and Abbie’s hair. I even doubted whether horse ownership was a realistic long-term goal, that maybe I’d never be able to beat my nerves enough to enjoy a horse of my own; I really can’t remember the last time I felt so negative or defeated about anything – it is rather unlike me to get rather that dark and over so little.
Along came another field, this time on a camber. While my right stirrup was longer than my left, the angle of the field was downhill from right to left – exactly the wrong combination to aid balancing! We also had a more abrupt finish, which I never like even when hacking peacefully on routes I know, but oddly I did start to at least appreciate the appeal of speeding across open fields even though I wasn’t fully feeling it.
Now, along a Common Ride, one is checking the borders as the townsfolk did centuries before, making sure the English hadn’t captured any of their territory. Men would ride from marker to marker, and would place stones on checked borders markers. At the first stone check on our route, we were in a field and also had a refreshment break. A family were bring us out not only wine, whisky, brandy, port, water and orange juice, but shortbread biscuits too! The weather was beautiful, but quite hot to be a riding jacket at 18oC; the temptation to have an alcoholic beverage to see if it provided Dutch courage was HUGE, but I thought that for the sake of balancing properly, and for my own hydration, that the water and sugar content of OJ would make for a better plan.
Looking back now, I can’t believe that it didn’t occur to me to change my stirrups at that point, even though it would likely involve putting a twist in one but not the other to try and balance out the half-hole difference. I also didn’t want to shorten them in general: I mean, I survived varied terrain, varied gradients and a lower light seat up until now, so I was loathe to do something that could make things worse. We did however have our next stone stop at the bottom of a wonderful home’s garden, and the family again treated us with trays of booze and soft drinks. The Official Party were even trusted on horseback with real glasses! I actually don’t know how they did it: most of them were up to the wee hours drinking after the official launch celebrations, yet here they were, having the hair of the dog while Common Riding. I’m not sure if I was more jealous or impressed! lol. I did however, alter my stirrups, and although it meant that my right stirrup was now a hair shorter than my left, I was immediately more balanced and more confident. When the next canter came, I did not spend the whole time thinking about my right stirrup, and whether my right foot was going to slip through it, or the slight imbalance would mean I’d fall if anything sudden were to occur. I FINALLY got it: at last, I felt joy and exhilaration at being allowed to gallop, rather than experiencing a feeling of impending doom.
After we’d taken the horses around the Golf Club for a social visit, we went onto the race track. Despite Abbie not having done this ride before (in fact, I think she’s only done a handful of Common Rides, as she only arrived on the yard from Ireland last summer), she immediately picked up: I don’t know if was all the grass, or whether the other horses were giving off a silent vibe of anticipation. I’d gone from saying early on the ride to anyone that asked that no, I wasn’t racing. When the time came to sign up, I knew I had to: not only would I regret not doing it, but I could enjoy it (even, flat ground, with lots of room to pass and no sharp turns – ideal), and people wanted the races to be caught on camera. So, I took my number 98 bib, gave my name in, and off we popped.
The race started a bit like The National: we had a flag rather than tape to set us off, but we were asked to hold steady and bunch our horses together. The feeling when we allowed to set off was amazing, that gloriously ‘0-60’ feeling! The light, blood horses disappeared, and Abbie settled into a steadier pace as soon as we knew we were breaking from the pack. She is not a race horse, so my intention was not to race, but to just enjoy the gallop; Abbie also knew I was happy with a bit short of maximum speed. For the final stretch, I put my leg on and she went up another gear, but the distance was surprisingly long, so it was a steady gallop rather than a solid sprint. Despite coming almost last, I still got a cheer from the crowds at the finishing line, and I waved to them all while riding my galloping horse. At the finishing line, there was some sand on the ground as the grass had worn, and Abbie had a bit of a wobble over whether to put her feet on it at speed. She hesitated through both patches, then spotted horses who’d finished the race and stopped cantering sooner than others, so she started moving across. I saw what she was up to and eased the approach angle, in case any of the crowd worried we were getting too close! I was so glad I’d done it: it was nowhere near as fast as what Jeoffrey and I had managed at the unofficial farmer’s track on Sunday, but it was exhilarating nonetheless, and unlike Sunday, there were no unscheduled dismounts!
The race brought other highlights too. The man on Clyde, also doing his first Common Ride and equally nervous as me, also took on a race. Like myself, he has a horse that was never going to win it, but he had a glorious time, and came over to me raving about it. I was delighted for him, and I knew exactly the ups and downs along the ride so far for the nervous amongst us: I think he’s now going to add the beach and race track Common Ride I’m doing in July, just to hit the grass track alone! There were a few more races, but by far and away my favourite was The Cornet’s Chase. All the Official Party participated, most of which were ex-Cornets. As I predicted, Hugo came romping home in 1st place, with several horses from the RS coming placed. I knew our 2hr hacks with plenty of hills really made them amongst the fittest horses at any Common Ride, but it was rather breath-taking to see it in action!
After the race course, it was all fun and games. The canters I enjoyed, even when I had kicking horses and some unsafe over-takers to contend with. Abbie also settled, perhaps in a mirror image to me, and I didn’t have to actively ride her to keep her in her place when walking and trotting – I was able to forget a little bit more, and take in my surroundings better, waving and cheering to the crowds.
Before I knew it, we hit civilisation again, and I could have drank in those moments in forever. The sun was lower in the sky, but had broken free from the clouds, and was striking the world at the most beautiful, summer’s angle. The town hall bell was pealing just for us, the bunting was somehow brighter and more colourful than it had seemed before, and the crowds gathered for our entrance and to see the race winners crowned with their prizes. Coupled with my now painted on grin and nervous journey along the way, I can scarcely remember a time when I felt happier on a horse.
This was the official Common Ride break – 15mins at a venue where there were sandwiches and cakes to be enjoyed, as well as hot and cold drinks, and facilities for a comfort break. I have to say, I didn’t get off Abbie as there were no natural mounting blocks, and my left hip was still a bit stiff from falling off. Plus, Abbie wouldn’t stand still for my first mounting, so I didn’t fancy going through the process again. Thankfully, I was able to hold horses, so I was able to get a drink in return. I’d missed the official refreshments at the race course, as I was too busy spectating: the only thing I’d had there was raspberry gin out of an Ex-Cornet’s hipflask. Nom! Not only that, it was a sign that I’d calmed down enough to actually partake in a wee dram. While the break was nice, I just wish there had been a source of water for the horses. We’d not been able to stop anywhere along the way for them to drink, so they’d only got whatever liquid was in the grass. I gave Abbie, Tom and Ripper some polos to wet their whistles, but it’s not quite the same. Still, if that’s the only complaint I have about the ride, then they weren’t doing too badly. The first thing the horses had when they arrived back at the lorry was a big bucket of water thankfully!
We set off from the pit stop, with about 30mins to make it back to where it all began hours earlier. Sadly, there was no final gallop to really let our hair down, but we did get two nice canters – one up a track alongside fields we galloped through earlier, and one uphill in a field. It was, however, lovely to get into a field and actually enjoy it! We even took on the gate with a bit of speed, as it was safe to do so. The Cornet picked up his flag on Hero, and off we went for a final parade through town in walk and trot, and people’s spirits had not waned despite it now being 9pm. The only thing warmer than the weather had been the people J
Finally, we saw the lorries and I hopped off Abbie after a quick wiggle of my toes. I felt surprisingly okay, but that may have been my prophylactic ibuprofen, so that my hip and bruise didn’t bother me. I loosened Abbie girth, ran her stirrups, tied up her reins, and proceeded to make a fuss of her. While she’d been a bit of a pain when walking or trotting, she’d never actually been bad – just keen. She was so obedient in canter and gallop though, happy to go at the speed I dictated rather than her maximum, she came back to me for gates any time I asked, and she even held at a false start during Coo-Gate (coo bring the local pronunciation of cow). I could scarcely have asked for a better horse for my first Common Ride, and I almost regretted not using more of her speed.
By the end of the ride, I was proud of myself. I had been so convinced that I’d have to quit in order to safeguard my confidence, but I’d stuck it out and had a wonderful time in the end. I also had a reason for not settling, an explanation for not feeling comfortable at speed – my uneven stirrups. Given that it had been so unlike me not to settle into having a good time galloping, and that I had at one point started to make sweeping negative statements about myself, I was glad to understand it. If I’d never found that reason, I would have presumed that I was incapable of enjoying such festivities, and would be a hugely limited rider forever. As it was, I’d been on a bit of a journey along the ride (not in terms of distance, but I don’t think 17miles in 4.5 hrs is to be sniffed at), and came out the other side. I’m still wondering whether to take out the Yard Common Ride as it’s faster (and one of the grooms exclaimed, and I quote, “It’ll blow this out of the water”). The options are to man up and do it but on Abbie rather than Tom (not that I couldn’t handle him, but just because I know Abbie), or to add an extra, steady Common Ride before to help settle me down. The silly thing is, I KNOW I’m a good enough rider to do a faster ride safely: I just don’t know if I need to prove it to myself quite yet. There’s worse riders who’ve made it safely around hairier Common Rides on more nutty horses this season already!
I do have to take a moment to say one thing though: I could NOT have asked for a better ride to have started with. The Official Party were AMAZING: every single one of them made conversation with me when I was alongside them, whether they knew me beforehand or not. When they found out that it was my first ever ride out, they kept checking if I’d settled in or not. I was offered more hip flasks than I could count, and was invited to several parties (including a mightily tempting bacon sarnie house party after the ride). Not only that, but they cared about their riders: they each had the skill to go hell for leather through gates, but made the whole field steady for gates in order to stay safe. They looked after me in every sense of the word, and I love them for it. Hopefully when we do the ride next year, we’ll book a B&B so that the night doesn’t have to end so young. I may be having mixed feelings about my rides this summer, but I am looking forward to this ride again next year already!
No comments:
Post a Comment