Horse&Rider’s Art Director Heather Blagden
What a great weekend I had!
I went riding for the second time this year after long break. This time, it was with my 19 year old niece, Laura.
She’d reminded me at a family get together, that I hadn’t seen her new horse, Zoomie, yet and she’d had him a year already! And then she made me promise that I would get on and ride.
So I turned up at Zoomie’s yard on Saturday, a little nervous about how Zoomie and I would get on.
Firstly, Laura and I had to catch him from the field, then tack him up, and finally, get me on board.
I’d had to borrow some boots from the yard, and had recently updated my riding hat to reach the current safety standards, so I was all ready to go.
Laura left us both in the outdoor school to get acquainted. Zoomie was a gent! A 13 year old, 16.3h, chestnut Thoroughbred, ex-racehorse, adopted from nearby Moorcroft Racehorse Rehabilitation Centre.
We started off slowly walking around on the track on both reins. When I felt confident with that, we progressed to a trot. Zoomie was really responsive to my aids, and I was impressed at how we worked together.
I could feel I needed to loosen up in my legs, and this was confirmed by my rising trot! There was definitely blue sky between me and the saddle. He was bouncy! Boy, I knew I’d be sore tomorrow!
I slowed back down to walk, a little concerned that my bouncing may make Zoomie sore as well, particularly as he’d had a rotated pelvis when Laura first got him and an osteopath had identified uneven muscle tone on his back, which Laura had worked on to rectify.
After our getting to know each other session, Laura came into the school, beaming! The yard owner had suggested we both hack out around the fields, and allowed Laura to ride her own horse, Ornella, the yard dressage diva! I could tell this was a great privilege from her expression.
A 20 minute walk in the autumn sunshine, around tree-lined fields. We both really relaxed and chatted, a great introduction back into leisure riding.
It really boosted my confidence and I’m now planning some lessons at a local school to get my fitness back before I dare to ask…
Laura, can your Auntie borrow your horse again?
Tags: ex-racehorse, horse, Moorcroft Racehorse Rehabilitation Centre, race horse, riding, Thoroughbred, trot
