I have been riding for a long time and have had several ponies over the years. I currently have a pony named Adee, who I have had for three years and he is with me for life. I knew Adee for over a year before I had the opportunity to buy him, having met him through the riding school that I worked for at the time, and I can still remember the moment he arrived there – it was love at first sight.
Adee is a 13.2hh 11 year old black gelding of unknown breeding, and many people often offer me their ideas of what breed he may be when they meet him for the first time – it’s interesting how much they differ. Personally he somewhat reminds me of a Fell Pony but not completely and I wonder if he does have a bit of Fell in him, but I don’t know anything for sure. I guess he might just be a mix of things, and I often refer to him as a “Native Pony” for ease. Let me know what you think he looks like!
For the first two years of having Adee, we spent a lot of time hacking as we didn’t have much in the way of schooling facilities at the places that I kept him. This suited us both fine, however, as Adee’s confidence really needed building up when I first got him so we spent so much time hacking out. When I think about the progress we have made so far, I feel so proud of him and how relaxed he has become in situations he would have previously worried about. He’s even considered the chilled out, brave one of his friends when I hack out with other people – a far cry from the way he was when I first got him!
Last summer, we took a trip out to the forest with a couple of friends and ended up going in the river where it was so deep that Adee was almost swimming! He went in so many times, despite the fact that the other two horses we were with weren’t keen. I was so impressed with him, especially thinking back to when I first got him and it would take a good few minutes to encourage him over the tiniest stream on our usual hacking route (often ending in a nervous leap to the other side). It’s moments like this that really make me realise how far he’s come and it’s so rewarding to see.
Now that we are at a yard with more facilities available to us, I have started focusing on getting Adee in the school and have really been able to find out just how green he is. We’ve got a lot to work on but I am definitely seeing so much improvement with the work that we have been doing so far. Sometimes the little successes we have don’t seem like a lot, but I have to remind myself to put things in perspective and think about where we were when we started. Even in the school, we have had to continue to work on Adee’s confidence. With Adee, it is so important to pick up on the little signs that he doesn’t feel confident about something to avoid it escalating into a blind panic. He’s the kind of pony that really relies on reassurance from his rider when he’s in situations outside of his comfort zone, and through listening to him and understanding his needs it really didn’t take much to transform him from nervously rushing towards a simple set of trot poles to being an absolute pro at all sorts of fun pole exercises. There is still so much for the two of us to learn together so stay tuned for future posts following our journey!
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