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Post by dalesnfellfan on Aug 23, 2015 10:36:02 GMT -1
We have stubble everywhere, and although we have good off road riding it is always lovely to be able to ride across hundreds of acres of stubble, in recent years the farmers seem to plough almost as soon as they have baled the straw so we only usually have a window of a few days to ride on most fields. This year they are not doing this as much which means there are lots of huge stubble fields, I have been riding most days with a friend I haven't ridden with for a few years, Julia only lives half a mile away but she is not ideal to ride a young or inexperienced horse with as she tends to go everywhere at speed, never asks if you want to trot/canter just takes off, and has a very stressy spooky horse, she is definitely not for the faint hearted but I have had some wonderful rides with her in the past with Spud.
Her main riding horse is lame so she has brought her old Anglo Arab mare out of retirement and wanted a babysitter as Kira is not great going out alone, I felt I trusted Connie enough now to ride with Julia and I laid down a few ground rules first, about general pace and letting me know before taking off into the distance etc.
We have had some lovely rides in the last week just hoping from one stubble field to the next and enjoying some wonderful long canters across huge open fields, Connie has been fantastic filling me with confidence, although we've had fast canters she never gets strong or silly and totally ignores Kira's huge spooks and silliness, Julia has been trying to remember to ask before going, but on occasions when she has forgotten Connie doesn't get upset, she just waits for me say we can go too.
Just hope we can have another few weeks before it all gets ploughed up again. |
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Post by zeldalithgow on Aug 23, 2015 17:36:35 GMT -1
You are so lucky I have never ridden in a stubble field or on the beach, I always wanted to gallop along a beach
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Post by harveydales on Aug 24, 2015 4:46:52 GMT -1
fabulous! Lovely to read how you are enjoying Connie and the stubble fields, you certainly deserve to have some fun at last.  I'm finding I can enjoy Harvey so much more now he's older and doesn't buck quite so athletically. Last week I had a brilliant hack in group of 6, something I would have never risked in past years, with lots of fast canters. So yesterday I took Harvey over to Sheila's and the plan was to have some good gallops on the stubble. It was Sheila's own land so no problems aggravating farmers. However, we hadn't counted on the effect of the very hot weather and the woolly thick coats of our ponies. Neither Harvey nor Jaycee could be bothered to go. All we managed was a few half hearted canters and lots of trotting! I'm getting Harvey clipped tomorrow so you can be sure the weather will turn cold......... |
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Aug 24, 2015 10:16:36 GMT -1
Zelda, I've never ridden on the beach either and I've always wanted to, our endurance group do a beach weekend every May at Holkham in Norfolk, I hadn't got the confidence this year but I'm definitely doing it next year.
Pam Connie has been feeling quite lazy in this weather recently too, she is happy with fast canters but when I gave her her head to gallop this morning she couldn't be bothered to change her pace at all.
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Post by Debbie on Aug 28, 2015 21:47:31 GMT -1
I have yet to get any of mine to the beach, though it's a bucket list thing for me. Stubble fields can be a real blast! I remember riding a clients' saddlebred mares through the corn stubbles (her insistence). The girls were really good, going full out, but still controllable. There's nothing quite like the feel of going full out on a mount you can fully trust. I'm so glad you and Connie are having so much fun!  |
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