Smem is always asking me about the horse I had when I was her age. Sail's reputation had obviously been imprinted on Smem at an early age and she's forever asking me about the things we did together, our accomplishments, how high she could jump, whether Annie really went team chasing on her etc etc.
..........She did. Yes, Smem, that's a photo of your wussy mother! Oh, and for Rising Rainbow, Team Chasing is when a group of four riders go around a cross country course (rustic solid fences - mainly hedges and post and rails) against the clock. It's fast and furious and fairly dangerous. Some courses have a 'dressing fence' where the object is for all four riders to jump together, but most of the way round they go one after the other so you need a good lead horse that won't stop but also won't go too fast so that everyone else gets left behind. No cows or sheep are involved. Annie's team actually got the 'dressing' prize in this competition. When we were looking for a horse for Annie I always tried to remember how it was that we found Sail and that feeling of just knowing that she was the right horse for me.
No of course she wasn't perfect. She had the uncanny knack of finding the tiniest bit of soiled straw in her box, however carefully you mucked out. She had to be chained up because she chewed through ropes on a regular basis and could strike with the speed of a snake when she was in a bad mood (which was whenever you touched her). She would jump out of anywhere you put her if she felt like it and would leg it back up the road to her field.
But as soon as you were on her back she could really turn it on. She could go from quiet old nag to showjumper to ladies hunter to team chaser at the drop of a hat. And if we'd had horseball then, she'd probably have been happy doing that too.
No pimped raspberry ruffles today. I decided to go for a hack on Ruby. Considering she's done hardly any work this year, she was suprisingly fit. It shouldn't be very long before she's back to her usual self. We mainly walked (Ruby has a fantastic big walk - it's her plough-pulling genes coming through) and did a bit of trotting. I was most pleased that she opened and closed gates without any problems (after that horrific gate-related incident) and we cantered a couple of circles without striking off on the wrong leg or bucking or anything. She was hardly sweating when we got back.
We've decided to take Ruby the next time Zorya goes for her loose schooling. Not that she needs any encouragement. Apparently Emma's done it with her before and she absolutely loves it! Ruby has got an enormous jump and has no fear (or no sense, one or the other).
2 comments:
Thanks for the info on team chasing. I had no idea. Because there's a difference on the meaning of some terms between continents, I thought maybe it might be like our team penning where they chase cows or sheep.
I think the name's derived from Steeple Chasing (racing over fences rather than on the flat)when 'country gentlemen' used to measure their horses against each other by racing from one village steeple (church tower) to another by way of any obstacle - hedge, fence, ditch, bog etc - that happened to get in the way.
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