Post by Admin on Jun 11, 2007 7:48:28 GMT
Hamish is my 4 year old grey cob whom I bought when he was just a baby of 2 1/2 . I first saw him galloping over the brow of a hill in Meath on a very hot sunny day with another baby cob beside him, best mates! Being new to the world of horse I wasn't even sure what I was looking for as this would be my first horse. To be honest, looking back I didn't have a clue what I was doing! The two slowed to a walk and strolled in my direction and stopped, the little grey moved nearer to me, confident and curious he sniffed my palm and as I walked away to the gate of the field he followed me all the way. It was love!
My dream for this little horse was to give him the best start in life - to bring him on through natural horsemanship so that he would never know cruelty or hard times. From there our journey began. With lots of help I started him with n.h. and from day one he really was good as gold, he took all that was introduced to him in his stride and never really complained, even when he had the dentist!
His first move brought him all the way down to Wexford and he loaded and travelled like a dream, munching his hay the whole way! He has loaded and travelled brilliantly everytime since always adapting easily to new environments. Some would have ridden him then and got on with the job but I knew I wasn't ready to ride and felt he was still too young. My fear also was that all the good work to date could be undone with the wrong rider on his back. So I decided more groundwork would be for us. But then I let him down, I brought him into a situation which I wasn't comfortable in and I learnt the most valuable lesson about leadership, if your not up to the job your horse knows it and will fill that space. Sadly we came to an impasse and I decided to be fair to him I needed to get my confidence back and he could do with a year off as he was still so young and had already learnt so much but most importantly he was still sweet and I had to sort myself out without messing with his head.
When his time off came to an end I had been around other horses all year I felt the time was right to resume our journey. Wow, latent learning, well he is the bests testimony! He loaded and travelled without a bother and was as light as ever when we did our first groundwork session together. I was so impressed and so thrilled to be re-united with my little man. By now he had grown from being this funny looking little horse into this handsome even magnificent horse. He has two grey ears, beautiful black liquid kind eyes with black eyelashes on one eye and white on the other! A pinkish nose with black markings, he has grey patches on his body with a long blonde maine and tail. Last but not least he has huge feet with lovely feathering. A fine cob indeed.
He is intelligent, quick to learn and a genuinely good quiet horse
who has taught me so much and I know will teach me much much more as we continue on this journey. I just hope that I can teach him well enough that he will always be as happy to work with me as I am with him, work or play whatever word you prefer, partnership is really what I want, fair and equal. So far so good...
I think he is wonderful because despite all the things he has had to endure like moving homes, change or loss of friends, an often nervous and perhaps inconsistent trainer he never stopped wanting to be with you willingly and never ever shows signs of disgruntlement. This journey could have ended in blood and tears because I was a complete novice and to start a youngster from scratch, I now know, is a tall order but he was the brave, trusting and cool cucumber that made it possible and that makes him very special. Most of all he is this larger than life, funny character who is hugely entertaining, curious and playful with a big big heart...
Happy trainer, happy horse!
Mandy
My dream for this little horse was to give him the best start in life - to bring him on through natural horsemanship so that he would never know cruelty or hard times. From there our journey began. With lots of help I started him with n.h. and from day one he really was good as gold, he took all that was introduced to him in his stride and never really complained, even when he had the dentist!
His first move brought him all the way down to Wexford and he loaded and travelled like a dream, munching his hay the whole way! He has loaded and travelled brilliantly everytime since always adapting easily to new environments. Some would have ridden him then and got on with the job but I knew I wasn't ready to ride and felt he was still too young. My fear also was that all the good work to date could be undone with the wrong rider on his back. So I decided more groundwork would be for us. But then I let him down, I brought him into a situation which I wasn't comfortable in and I learnt the most valuable lesson about leadership, if your not up to the job your horse knows it and will fill that space. Sadly we came to an impasse and I decided to be fair to him I needed to get my confidence back and he could do with a year off as he was still so young and had already learnt so much but most importantly he was still sweet and I had to sort myself out without messing with his head.
When his time off came to an end I had been around other horses all year I felt the time was right to resume our journey. Wow, latent learning, well he is the bests testimony! He loaded and travelled without a bother and was as light as ever when we did our first groundwork session together. I was so impressed and so thrilled to be re-united with my little man. By now he had grown from being this funny looking little horse into this handsome even magnificent horse. He has two grey ears, beautiful black liquid kind eyes with black eyelashes on one eye and white on the other! A pinkish nose with black markings, he has grey patches on his body with a long blonde maine and tail. Last but not least he has huge feet with lovely feathering. A fine cob indeed.
He is intelligent, quick to learn and a genuinely good quiet horse
who has taught me so much and I know will teach me much much more as we continue on this journey. I just hope that I can teach him well enough that he will always be as happy to work with me as I am with him, work or play whatever word you prefer, partnership is really what I want, fair and equal. So far so good...
I think he is wonderful because despite all the things he has had to endure like moving homes, change or loss of friends, an often nervous and perhaps inconsistent trainer he never stopped wanting to be with you willingly and never ever shows signs of disgruntlement. This journey could have ended in blood and tears because I was a complete novice and to start a youngster from scratch, I now know, is a tall order but he was the brave, trusting and cool cucumber that made it possible and that makes him very special. Most of all he is this larger than life, funny character who is hugely entertaining, curious and playful with a big big heart...
Happy trainer, happy horse!
Mandy
You're doing a great job BTW ;D and if you're getting a bit stuck, just email me.