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Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

Ten Questions for November...

...because I am bored and riding time is short right now!  I even added links back to old posts and as many photos as I could to make it more fun!

L at Viva Carlos posted these questions and several other blogs have joined in, so I might as well.

How old is the youngest/greenest horse you’ve ridden? 
That would be the young Standardbred mare I started named Reva.  She came to me in 2009 sight-unseen (besides photos) from New Jersey as a three year old.  I showed her a bit through 2010-2012 and I ended up giving her away to a lovely local family (because no one wants to pay money for a well trained Standardbred *sigh*).  Reva was a sweet mare, she just wasn't thrilled to be a show horse.
Reva at her first show!
How old is the oldest horse you’ve ridden? 
The oldest horse I have ever ridden was my first horse, Sparky, the winter before I had to put her down at age 32.  It was a Christmas tradition to ride bareback and I am glad I never missed a year with her.  We briefly walked and trotted around the snowy field on Christmas 2013 when she was 31, and she tried to canter and buck.  It was funny then and a wonderful memory now.
Sparky the night before she had to be put down, though I did not know it at the time of the photoshoot.
Were you scared of horses when you first started riding? 
Not that I remember at all.  I don't think I would have been so incredibly horse crazy all those years ago had I been scared LOL!  Fun blog post about my horsey past here!


And so it began, at age six!
Would you say you’re a more nervous rider or a confident rider? 
I would say I am a confident rider.  My goal is to always stay calm in order to give my horse confidence.  I don't think I would have had as much success with my horses over the years if I was nervous. 

Biggest pet peeve about non-horse people around horses? 
I don't really get too worked up about non-horse people around horses.  I know horses are not for everyone and I don't really remember anything that has made me upset.  I would say that being asked "can I ride your horse?" is sort of awkward to me.

A time you’ve been scared for your life? (horse related) I don't ever really remember being scared for my life, though I will say that I had a bad tumble off Dreamy a few years back at a fox hunt.  I was not as much scared for me, but when she took off at a dead gallop as I was there on the ground, I was pretty scared for HER life.  Of course, it was called the "Die Hard Hunt" of the year, and I just had to take a spectacular fall.  


Photographic evidence of our fall during the fox hunt!

Have you ever fallen off at show? What happened?Yup, but so far only once!  LOL!  Took a tumble off Dreamy at a show in 2010.  The full story is here, but basically she tripped in the last class of the day (Command class) on one of the HUGE rocks in the ring while cantering.  She stumbled and I went off over her shoulder.  We still somehow pulled a fourth place ribbon hahaha!!!

What’s a breed of horse you’ve never ridden but would like to ride? 

I would say a Connemara, mostly because I want to own one as well!!

Describe the worst behaved horse you’ve ridden? 

Hmmmm...my horses are mostly well behaved and I have been lucky to otherwise have ridden pretty decent school horses when in college.  Probably the worst behaved horse would be Tiffany, a Morgan mare I leased before I owed my first horse Sparky.  I was 11 and Tiffany was coming off a lengthy maternity leave.  She wasn't terribly behaved, but she pulled every stunt she could think of and made me cry a lot LOL!


Learning dressage with Tiffany about 26 years ago!
The most frustrating ride you’ve ever had?
OHHHHHHH there are too many to count!  Retraining a harness racehorse to become a dressage/event horse is one of the most frustrating yet rewarding experiences EVER.  Half of this blog is made up of frustrating ride reports, as I started my blog about Dreamy in order to have something to look back on and remember how far she had come.  There is this post, this one, and this.....and many more!  :-)


Still the best mare no matter what!

Comments

  1. I don't enjoy the "can I ride your horse" question either. I also connemaras! Although I might be too tall to not look like a giant grasshopper if I ride one haha

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  2. That picture of a little you on that big horse is adorable!

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