Meet Jack

This is Jack getting all excited because he hasn't seen his friends in awhile

Yesterday was the day I met Jack. Unfortunately M, his current owner was unavaliable to show him to me as she had to put her other older horse down and didn't feel like she would be up to the task. Instead D, his former owner, took the time to talk to me and show me him. My first impression of Jack was great. He came cantering up to the fence when D called him and was super easy to catch.

She told me a bit about him as we got him saddled. She had rescued him off the track when he was a lot younger and he was in bad condition. Thankfully after a bit of TLC he came right. She had always been a show jumper (up until recently) so with her most of his experience was in jumping. She said she just loved his jump but sometimes he was a bit looky and would jump higher then he needed to (at this point he was sounding supiciously like Red). She's done 1.20m show jumping on him. He's done one ODE but has done a few cross country clinics where he was sailing over the Open jumps easily. He's an easy keeper (i.e. not like Red who fluctuates between being practically obese in the Summer to under weight if hes not fed daily in the Winter). His hooves are strong and she only used shoes so she could stud him when jumping. He's never been lame. His ground manners aren't the best I've ever seen but that can be worked on. She had also taken him to her dressage friend and had him schooled. Once they got over the trot situation (see below) he was great. Unfortunately Jack was always the horse D rode last in the day. She had another horse which took priority plus she schooled horses for other people. She said she was always having "first rides" on him and she never liked him enough to want to put up with his trot. Which is why he was passed onto her friend M.

Jack is enjoying a good scratch on his withers. You can just see the pleasure on his face.

Before I got on him she warned me that his trot was sticky and fast... more like a pony trot then the hack that he is. M had also told me about it so I knew that I wouldn't be getting beautiful extensions out of him. I mounted up and took him for an amble around the paddock on a loose rein. Soon I gathered him in and asked for a trot. He went into it straight away and it was diabolical. His neck came up and his steps shortened so much that we were barely moving. His body was bunched and I kept thinking he felt like a colied spring (not in the sense that he was going to suddenly start bucking wildly but just that he was so bunched up). I worked on getting him softer and he slowly started to un-wind and I managed to get a few resonable trot strides out of him. As in trot strides that any normal horse would do immediately. I did a bit of canter and some more trot and walk and then we put him away. Being a trainer herself D said she would be happy to come and give me Dressage lessons since she knew Jack so well. She also offered to float Jack down to Pony Club for me so I can take him over the jumps there. She did warn me that he had been out of work for awhile so for the first few weeks I would get a lot of thoroughbred crap out him until he came back into work. Also apparently he's much better with flat work if you take him out and do some jumping with him first. She stressed the point that because of his trot this was a horse you would have to love otherwise you would just get pissed off everytime you asked him for a trot.

This is Jacks impression of a "too-cool-for-you-cool-guy" as he ignores the other horses. He really just wants to be loved.

Once I got home I gave Sue, my instructor, a call and told her about him. I was going to do this earlier but when I called she was in the middle of a meeting with the Pony Club instructors and I was on speaker phone so I got to say hey to all of them. She said she would give D a call soon and we would go from there. I really think that Jack is the horse for me. Especially with my limited funds. I think his trot can be worked on and that he could be an awesome horse with some work.

Once a horse woman, always a horse woman

When I told people I wasn't going to be riding in Auckland many people commented that they were sure I would start riding again one day because you know "Once a horse woman always a horse woman". I agreed with them thinking I would start riding again when I was in my late 20's or something but a higher power decided differently for me.

Since leaving Taumarunui and not being able to ride I've gotten kind of depressed. My zeal for life vanished you might say. I'm not a naturally depressed kind of person. I've always been happy and upbeat and depression has never touched me. But since "giving up" riding I've been down in the dumps. I felt like I had lost a part of my identity. Because I had always been a horse rider and now I wasn't. It all came to a head one day when mum came home with the latest Horse and Pony magazine. I refused to look at it for a couple of days because I wasn't riding any more and what was the point. But that shiny magazine sitting on my desk just beckoned me over. Finally I opened it and promptly burst into tears. It was then I realised I just couldn't give up riding with out a fight. It was my passion.

My good parents had said they would pay my Pony Club fees if I wanted to start riding again. And then a Pony Club friend offered me one of her horses for the season. I went to look at him on Saturday but still quite hadn't made up my mind when I went to a party for her that night. All the rest of my PC friends were there as well and I got to talking to one of them about coming back to Pony Club and how I was looking for a horse. She told me about a great horse she knew about that was in my price range (not very much) who would be perfect for me. The owner was looking for someone who would make him their "No.1" horse.

Anyway I got onto the owner last night and she told me all about this great horse. His name is Jack. He's a 15.2, black thoroughbred gelding. Hes also only 10 years old. He's a been there done that horse but has been out of work for the past few months hence the good price. She has had him for a year but has only done bits and bobs with him because her first priority has always been University and now that she is getting a full time job she just wants him to go to a good home where he will be the "No.1" horse. He sounds perfect and I'm going to see him on Monday! I am so excited. I really have a good feeling about this horse so hopefully things will work out with him. Wish me luck.

Also I've been struggling with what to do next year. I knew I didn't want to go back to full time employment and wanted to study... but what? I had been thinking about going to Telford Rural Polytechnic to do Equine Studies but the accommodation costs would have been beyond my budget so that was a no-go. Thankfully I found another course in Palmerston North at Kyrewood Equestrian Centre. I've applied for the Sport Horse Course and everything looks like its a go ahead at this point in time. So hopefully everything will work out and I'll be studying what I love best next year!

So that's it. I am back for good! Since making the decision to come back to riding I have been feeling a million times better and I can't wait to get back to Pony Club! Now to find a job to fund my passion.

Goodbye.

Well a lot has been happening in the past few weeks and its led me to make a very difficult decision. I've decided to move back to Auckland... this coming Tuesday in fact. Its been on the cards for awhile mostly due to financial problems but a recent health scare pushed me to make the final decision. Unfortunately I won't be bringing Toby to Auckland with me as he is needed here for camps in the Summer and it would mean bringing him back from Mid-December to Early February. This cuts into the eventing season which I dont want to do and so he stays here. Since Red is retired (and thats where I think he should stay) I won't be riding when I go back to Auckland. I'm neither in the right financial place or state of mind to look after a horse at this stage.

I didn't make this decision lightly but I believe its the right thing to do for a lot of reasons. And so with the end of my time as an equestrian, so comes the end of this blog. I may raise it from the dead one day if (and I hope I do) I get another horse.

Thank you to all those out there who have supported me throughout this endeavour by reading my blog. I really appreciate it. I enjoyed the time I spent getting to know you and your gorgeous mounts through your own blogs.

May God bless you all.

Happy Riding and Happy Trails.

Love from Katie, Red and Toby

Katie and Toby

As promised...

Out on the farm

For some reason the gods have decided to grace us with nice weather on two sundays running (why they choose not to do it on a saturday I'm not sure). Anyway we took advantage of the break from the rain and went for some nice hacks out on the farm. My friends took some pics and video of Toby and I doing our thing. The video will be published in the next post since I'm having trouble with Blogger uploading it. You can see in the video that Toby is fighting the whole way in, he was full of beans that day and he just wanted to "go go go!" I even got a few bucks out of him which was suprising.

Anywhere heres a picture of us doing the little log. Toby is a mess at the moment with his yellow tail and shaggy fur but he still looks cute.



And one of us doing one of the big log

A Glimpse of the Past

Just thought I'd show you some awesome pictures of Toby and my best friend Sarah-Anne in action at Timberlands 2007. Don't they look great?! That will be me next season.

I Ride a Wooly White Mamooth

Winter officially arrived on the first of June. It unofficially arrived here early last month. I'm an Aucklander, I come from the warm north. We have cold winters but its nothing compared to Taumarunui winters. Its already been colder here at the start of winter then it ever gets in the dark of winter in Auckland. We live 45 minutes away from Mt. Ruapehu. An active volcano, its also the site of one of the biggest ski fields in New Zealand. Snow started falling on it last month and on Sunday the snow went to the foot of the mountain. The mountains due to open to skiers and snowboarders in three weeks. Reports are that this winter is going to be earlier, colder and longer then other years. It would happen the year I move down. I didn't get much of a chance to acclimatise. At least the skiing is going to be awesome, not that I can afford to go skiing with the petrol and feed prices the way they are.

Toby's coat has grown full pelt even though I've had him well covered since last April. Hes become a shaggy mammoth and I've affectionately dubbed him Wilbur the Woolly Mammoth. Hopefully I'll get him clipped soon.

Somehow he got the memo about the harsh winter before I did.