Today the unimaginable happened: my ultimate, life long dream came true! I got the one thing I thought would always be out of my reach: my own horse! And so my journey to convert a 3.5 year old gelding, straight of the track, from a crazy, run as fast as you can
Thoroughbred, to a reasonably calm
dressage horse.
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| As Flag arrived |
Was I nervous? Yes, most definitely! I grew up with horses - horses that were used to running in the field and not spooking at the smallest little thing. Horses that didn't have Thoroughbred blood running through their veins. I knew I was in good hands though: my instructor's passion for classical riding and experience in training Thoroughbreds were unbelievable!
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| Another arrival pic. Poor starved little creature. |
My little beast's name is
Flag. His last race was 2 months ago - so as you can imagine, he did not have a clue whatsoever - and I soon realized what a massive challenge lay ahead of us.
He arrived earlier than he was supposed to, which caught me off guard and I think all I did for the first hour was stare at him. I had absolutely no idea where to begin! He was a skinny little thing with lots of insect bites and a very dull coat. He couldn't care less about human attention and it was evident he was treated pretty badly at the racetracks.
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| Champagne to celebrate his arrival |
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| Charlene giving me a few tips :) |
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| My first ride on Mr. Flag |
After I composed myself, we got some
tack together and myself and Charlene hopped on. I was a bit cautious and didn't quite have the guts to ask him for a canter, Charlene however did - he didn't have a clue what the canter aid was or meant of course, but eventually she got him into it... seemed pretty calm for a horse that was fresh off the track, so I relaxed a bit.
