I arrived at the
yard on Saturday morning, and had a nosy through the stables. I didn’t see Tom
in my quick look around, but I decided that’s who I wanted that morning. I’m
sure he’ll be given the winter off, so I was hoping to enjoy him one last time
before he’s on a break. I was told however that he was away to be reshod, and
was given Abbie for a split second before they realised she wasn’t available
either. Having had my confidence bolstered on Starsky, I decided I’d take a
faster horse – one I’d not ridden since January/February this year, and who is
never really an option because he’s M’s favourite, Ripper. He’s about 15hh of
power house – a mightily fast horse, with better stamina than some of the
ex-racers. Why not I thought, when I’ve enjoyed him before, my confidence was
good, and who knows when I’d next get the chance?
Me & Ripper before we set off:
LD was our ride
leader and took us on the clockwise circuit, whereas 99% of my hacks have been
doing the anticlockwise route. This meant that rather than the first canter
being up the hill, my first break out of trot was galloping a field fringe –
there was no easing into things! Ripper was very keen to go, and his wither was
literally twitching with excitement before he rocked back onto his hocks and
fired off into the gallop. I already knew that my stirrups weren’t even, but
the difference was less than half a hole, so there was no way that I’d be able
to achieve perfection. Well, on the uneven field fringe, with the mare in front
of me leaping off the path to try and over-take and my uneven stirrups, I
definitely got quite an introduction into without doubt the fastest gallop I
have EVER experienced on horseback! Ripper was sensational, he held the two
horse’s length I asked him for even though he had the speed to be in the hunt,
and while I had to adjust a lot to maintain balance, it was rather thrilling. I
can see why he’s a popular Common Riding horse, especially for Official Party
members leading rides!
Next up was the
Railway Line, in the opposite direction to normal. Again, I asked Ripper to
hold back as I’ve learned from Common Riding just how much I value the added
reaction time of being a little further back, and given how fast Ripper goes, I
didn’t fancy a slamming-on-the-brakes style of stop if something came up. So,
Ripper twitched and shuddering with excitement and leapt into the gallop again,
but when I told him to hold a distance he was good about it, and maintained it
perfectly with little adjustment. I’m sure that even when I lead the Railway
Line on Hugo that I’ve never gone that fast. I also noticed for the first time
that Ripper actually gallops with quite an upright head position, he just has
such a little neck that I’d never noticed when I rode him out a couple of times
in Winter! The lead horse is a spooking machine though, and with a dead bush at
the side of the path, he shied around it, as did the mare in second place, and
Ripper – the usual “Yeah, AND?” wee horse surprised me by doing the same. Thank
heavens it was a leap to the right, into my shorter stirrup, or it might have
been harder to go with him at that speed!
We’d joined the
two parts of the Railway Line together and got a really long go of it. This
mean going into the Country Park by going up the stairs. Well, Ripper was hyped
after the long gallop, and leapt up the first few steps like we were schooling
cross-country – all I could do was laugh! He did also race down the other side
though, and we all know that I hate going downhill at speed. I did ask him to
walk rather than trot, but he just had to keep up with Cha Cha – he was not to
be telt!
I enjoyed the
roadwork more than usual – having had such a fast start with two really speedy,
lengthy gallops I enjoyed the sedate pace through the town. I was also glad to
head back to the familiarity of the woods, knowing exactly what was to
come. I had time to drink Ripper in too,
and how different he is to my beloved Tom; Tom will do anything not to extend
or speed up his walk, and will jog at the drop of a hat. Ripper is the opposite
– he has the fastest, longest strides of walk for a little horse that I’ve ever
experienced, and will lengthen and speed up until he’s fast enough to require a
trot – there is no intermediate jogging. He also got the message pretty quickly
about eating: that snatching the reins or leaning down were not acceptable, but
opportunistic grabbing while still moving forward was okay. I know it annoys me
when I see other people allowing him to stop to eat as it’s not much fun when
you’re the horse immediately behind, so I was pleased the argument was over
quickly; he’s started bucking like a moody mare when I’ve stopped him on
previous hacks.
After relaxing
on a long rein and enjoying a chat with LD side-by-side, we reached the woods.
I had my first protracted argument with Ripper – he wanted to lead the hack,
and I was trying to say no. LD wasn’t complaining though, and rather than lean
on Ripper the whole trot, I just let him lead until we got to the point of
needing to walk across the viaduct; I halted and held him to let our galloping
order from earlier resume for the woods.
You’re probably
sick of hearing this phrase by now, but I have never been so fast through the
woods, not even on Hugo (one of the yard’s fastest horses). LD’s horse only has
one gear – 6th gear, but the hack is kept safe by controlling the
order, with faster and more excitable horses first, slower horses at the back
(so often the hack drifts into two halves, with everyone at the speed
comfortable for them). However, in the field and on the railway line you are in
an open space, and you don’t have a lot of landmarks to gauge your pace. In the
woods, it is pretty much single file with branches everywhere, and having the
tree-line on both sides of each path really lets you know how fast you are
going, and while it probably isn’t as fast as the open gallops due to the
length of the stretches, it FEELS faster. I did say a bad word setting off, but
did enjoy it all, even though Ripper shied to the right again at some mystery
demon amidst the trees. I was fine, never in threat of tumbling, but I
certainly didn’t enjoy my balance being forced even briefly off-centre at that
speed. I also got twatted in the face by branch upon branch after that, as
Ripper wasn’t in the centre and it took several metres before I could get out
of the smack zone long enough to see ahead of me to steer. I thought I was
bleeding, I was so solidly thumped on the conk!
I enjoyed all
the gallops in the woods, but I had come to the realisation earlier in the hack
that I would never Common Ride on Ripper – he just has more speed that I would
ever deem necessary, and he does get strong and need some wrestling at times; I
don’t think I’d have the patience to ride him for hours and hours on end.
Besides, M and I try to do Common Rides together, and Rips is her baby! I am also
more than happy with Abbie Bear – fast but not uncomfortably so, not strong and
generally more biddable, but I can enjoy her top gear now I’ve got the bravery
to kick on at the gallop. I also was hating Ripper’s stirrup leathers – the
difference in length meant that my left calf and ankle were really having to
compensate by stretching into the extra length to keep me balanced, and my
right hip was feeling the adjustments on my shorter leg. I was pretty sore by
this point, hoping that I’d be able to bring myself back to normal by doing my
Physio exercises rather than needing an extra session with my magnificent but sadistic
Physio Maestro.
Instead of
leaving the woods and turning left for home, LD turned right. I thought “No, we
can’t be doing the field – the gap in the fence was closed weeks ago.” Alas, we
were as the main gate was now open. This is the field I have done on Frankie
and her son Finlay – it is a rectangle, with 90 degree corners, and a sharp
downhill on the back length. With Frankie, we motor-biked around most of the
corners as I was fighting to stop her taking a shortcut over the cut and drying
hay, while I wasn’t meant to do them at all on Finlay, but his brakes failed in
the corner as a few other ponies were taking the corner before starting to
trot, and he wasn’t to be left out.
Well, this field
had regrown, so the grass had been cut but was on the ground, creating diagonal
lines the length of the whole field, and still covered in the morning’s dew. LD
shouted “We’ll get along the edge a bit, then we’ll go for it, but watch as the
corners are slippery.” That was it – I decided right then that I wasn’t doing
it, and I had several reasons in my head:
·
I am sore in several places from the uneven
stirrups – cornering will really put lateral forces through my joints, and I’m
not sure they can take them at this point
·
I do NOT want to have a horse with temperamental
brakes and steering around slippery corners, especially at speed.
·
We appeared to be doing it anticlockwise,
meaning my longer stirrup was on my inside leg, which was the opposite to what
would have suited my uneven stirrups
·
I’ve done this field before, and the backward
dip is easier to ride in the opposite configuration
·
Probably a product of all of the above, but I
had a jolt nerves – going that fast on Ripper, doing the slippery corners
(rather than doing the easier long diagonal), being physically tired and sore, and having
uneven stirrups not at Common Riding length (I need them up a hole for downhill
work) just ramped up my anxiety. It felt like a totally unnecessary risk to
take, and I was not excited about the prospect (whereas usually I am usually
excited, with a hint of nerves when it’s my first field of the day).
I stopped Ripper
before we reached the entrance gate and said I couldn’t do the gallop. I didn’t
explain all the issues I had, but cut a long story short and just said my
ankles were crying out, and I didn’t think I could stretch to one more hooly. I
knew Ripper wouldn’t be able to watch the others go, so I offered to walk him
part of the way home, keeping him a few minutes away from his herd, or even to
dismount him if it would help. LD said no – it was everyone or no one at all,
as Ripper would “go totally mental”, even if I dismounted him and walked him a
good distance away. I immediately felt guilty, but even with the peer pressure
(imagined, not real I should add - no one was goading me or anything), I just
couldn’t do it. I just knew the risk to firstly my body but secondly my
confidence were too high for me to take, and at the end of the day, it wasn’t
my fault I was on a horse that I couldn’t have calmly walked away to allow
everyone but me take part. I felt awful,
but it seemed like the right choice. I just consoled myself with the fact that
everyone had done a field already, and we’d had a really long, fast and clear gallop
at the railway line, so I was taking away a bonus opportunity to gallop, rather
than a sole one.
I walked home
quietly – I wasn’t much chat after that. Everyone was really supportive though
– the person that I knew was most excited about doing the field literally
patted me on the back and told me I did the right thing, and that we’d all do
the same for anyone else who was nursing an injury. I even got a text message
from a rider later to ask how the ankles were doing, and said anyone who ever
complained about that kind of thing would be “a dick”. I could have kissed her
for that! Everyone was genuinely lovely about it, very supportive, and it really
wasn’t seen as me chickening out at all; they’ve done Common Rides with me, and
know that I’ve done of the more advanced ones this season and loved them.
Galloping fields is not something I take issue with – I’ve done a season of it,
and did it first thing today too! I still feel that it was a bit cowardly
though, as sane a decision as it was, and to be honest I’d make it again if the
clocks could be turned back.
I had managed to
let all this slide, after a day or two of ruminating on it. However, for the
past few days I have had a case of the blues – I have just been feeling low and
wanting to curl up and avoid the world. I think it just a case of my hormones,
the shorter days (less daylight) and stress from work all conspiring together.
I’m not concerned – I know it’s just temporary, but it still doesn’t feel nice.
Anyway, I probably should go riding this weekend – getting back out would
probably do my mood the world of good and help me put my refusal to do that
field behind me, but I just feel so ‘meh’ that I’m not sure I can muster the
will to do it. I’d choose a horse I feel totally at ease on, like Abbie or
Frankie, but if I ended up needing to refuse a gallop again, I’d just feel
immeasurably worse. However, on a horse I know with more even stirrups, I don’t
think it would be an issue. I suppose it’s a case of being aware of what’s good
for me, but my mood making it difficult to motivate myself or see the
positives. Someone kick me up the arse, please!
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