# Noble's journey from endurance to trail horse



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Noble is sooo handsome! I love his conformation!


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

No experience in turning an endurance hrose into atrail horse, but I did trail ride an Appaloosa mare, race bred, half TB, and who had been on the track.
While I like to say that I made her into a great trail horse, that would not be true, as when things got her excited, she would click into race mode.
The fact that she must have had bad experiences on the track, did not help, as when I got her, she halter pulled, reared, went over backwards.
I trail rode her lots, as we had way less horses then, and I was young., thus not too disturbed when she charged through bogs, sinking deeper, versus allowing herself to be guided, spend a lot of time spooking hard, whirling around,, where it was not really safe to do so, went back into starting gate mode, if ahorse passed her at speed
She had been screwed up though, so not typical of all ex race hroses, and once I put her in the broodmare band, produced horses that were very sane, easy to start and great trail horses, as well as show horses.
Best advise I can come up with, is feeding less hot food then would be fed to an endurance horse, and lots of slow long miles.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

An endurance horse is worlds away from a racehorse. He will be an excellent mount, should be even better than anything advertised as a trail horse. The amount of terrain he's covered and things he's seen and done during those endurance races should have made him rock steady. And it sounds like he is.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Just ride him like you would any horse and be fair and consistent on what you expect.

All of my endurance horses can and will hack out on a loose rein as that is something I expect from them. If someone is feeling a bit too good, a quick session of lateral work reminds them than moving calmly down the trail is a lot less work than other things we could be doing. :wink:

Your new guy is lovely!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Noble is lovely. Totally my kind of horse,too. 

It looks like he is in some kind of elevator bit? And he wants to push against it and curl up behind it. That could make it hard to stop him if he really set himself into that position and just ran. 

I guess I would spend time feeling out his ability to flex laterally, work in circles. Building in softness in the body and poll and jaw , laterally.


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

Noble's first week in Port Elizabeth was rather dramatic....but he came through with flying colours, proving very adaptable. Last Wednesday we went out for our morning hack with Bez (the OTTB rescue horse) and did an easy 10 km in the reserve, walk, trot, canters, sometimes in forest and sometimes out in the open. Noble led going out, and went behind Bez on the way back - calm and bold in front, and did one spook when at the back (when he thought there was a leopard in the bush! - readers please be assured there are no leopards in this reserve.....only in the Baviaanskloof (which is quite far from here). I had the farrier come and trim his feet, and she (yes, female farrier) said he is slightly pigeon toed but otherwise has clean legs and good feet, symmetrical. 

The next day, Thursday, our morning schooling session was cancelled because gale force winds came up. With the winds came fires burning in the reserve, and my dog Roxy went missing....the horses were safe, fire was down the road in the reserve, the horses just hunker down in the trees and wait for the wind to pass. The only problem was that Delilah (the QH) got 'choke' on Friday evening....another minor crisis which resolved itself but repeated on Sunday. 

By Saturday, the whole reserve was burnt down by fire, so of course we could not ride in the reserve…..…..I took Noble with Delilah and Bez through the forest next to our house, to an old quarry, where we schooled in a grassy area. I replaced the Portuguese gag snaffle that I had been riding Noble in (this was what he was ridden in in his endurance rides in Stellenbosch) with an ordinary loose-ring snaffle for schooling. He was fine but my attention was on Bez who was very excited and jumping around. Noble and Del were both fine with all the new places, paths and activities, Noble leading through the forest, down steep steps and over roots with no problem. 

Sunday we still couldn't go into the reserve, small fires were flaring up and the ground was covered with hot ash. It looks like a moonscape in places. So Noble and I went with Delilah and Kath along the road and through another set of riding tracks to the local pub for breakfast. Not a long ride but some nice canters, and Noble proved his versatility again by walking past a generator (power was down because of the fires). We had put rope halters under their bridles, and took the saddles and bridles off so that they could graze in the pub garden while we ate our breakfast, before riding home again along the road unfortunately - past a dead dog (not my dog!) and various rubbish that had blown around in the gale. Noble coped very well. So despite the trauma of the fire and the missing dog (who came back on Friday night, thank goodness, though she is blind, having had a stroke, we think) I was very happy with Noble who feels safe, though lively, and is proving to be a 'go anywhere, do anything' kind of horse. The kind of horse I like!


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Noble goes to the beach*

Very good week with Noble who is really 'clicking' with me as a super trail horse. We did three long rides on Wed, Fri and today (Sunday) - each about 14-15 km, 2.5 hours. Wednesday was our first ride in the tracks since the fire, and we had to ride along the road for quite a way in order to avoid the paths blocked by burnt trees. Noble was fine on the burnt tracks, looking at everything but not spooking (and as he is new here he wouldn't know what it was like before it burnt!). On Wed and Fri we crossed into the unburned Sylvic reserve and had some lovely canters, and on Friday Noble and Delilah both did the (very very small) jumps on the track on the way back - most exciting! On Saturday there was a gale force wind again (sigh)....and we went up through the forest to our little grassy riding patch to do some schooling. Then this morning we could go through into the reserve on our normal direct path which was cleared on Saturday by a team from the Sardinia Bay Horse Riders Association - thanks guys! 

So we rode down over the dune onto the Sardinia Bay beach - Delilah quite calm (she has been there before), but Noble became unaccountably excited on the dune - trying to leap and spin around. I couldn't work out if it was because he had never been to the beach before, and the dunes and sea were all new to him - or if he HAD been to the beach before and had very exciting experiences on the beach which he remembered! Anyhow I hopped off and led him down the beach for a while, past the waves and the dogs and humans, and then when the beach was empty I asked Kath to dismount and help me hold Noble and his saddle so that I could remount. And on we went, having a blissful long canter down the empty beach, Del and Noble happy as anything, cantering smoothly and steadily as long as we asked. Noble felt he could go on for ever - but Del is not fit and the sand was not very hard, so she was out of breath and we didn't want to push it. Had another canter on the way back though.....and a lovely ride home. Both horses did extremely well, calm and steady in the burnt tracks (wonder if they feel more confident having better visibility?). I am riding Noble in a leather McLellan saddle (do you know McLellan saddles? Designed in the US civil war I think??) with a sheepskin bumnah - and finding it very very comfortable and secure. Think I have found my dream trail horse at last ....:runninghorse2:


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Noble goes to the beach*

Very good week with Noble who is really 'clicking' with me as a super trail horse. We did three long rides on Wed, Fri and today (Sunday) - each about 14-15 km, 2.5 hours. Wednesday was our first ride in the tracks since the fire, and we had to ride along the road for quite a way in order to avoid the paths blocked by burnt trees. Noble was fine on the burnt tracks, looking at everything but not spooking (and as he is new here he wouldn't know what it was like before it burnt!). On Wed and Fri we crossed into the unburned Sylvic reserve and had some lovely canters, and on Friday Noble and Delilah both did the (very very small) jumps on the track on the way back - most exciting! On Saturday there was a gale force wind again (sigh)....and we went up through the forest to our little grassy riding patch to do some schooling. Then this morning we could go through into the reserve on our normal direct path which was cleared on Saturday by a team from the Sardinia Bay Horse Riders Association - thanks guys! 

So we rode down over the dune onto the Sardinia Bay beach - Delilah quite calm (she has been there before), but Noble became unaccountably excited on the dune - trying to leap and spin around. I couldn't work out if it was because he had never been to the beach before, and the dunes and sea were all new to him - or if he HAD been to the beach before and had very exciting experiences on the beach which he remembered! Anyhow I hopped off and led him down the beach for a while, past the waves and the dogs and humans, and then when the beach was empty I asked Kath to dismount and help me hold Noble and his saddle so that I could remount. And on we went, having a blissful long canter down the empty beach, Del and Noble happy as anything, cantering smoothly and steadily as long as we asked. Noble felt he could go on for ever - but Del is not fit and the sand was not very hard, so she was out of breath and we didn't want to push it. Had another canter on the way back though.....and a lovely ride home. Both horses did extremely well, calm and steady in the burnt tracks (wonder if they feel more confident having better visibility?). I am riding Noble in a leather McLellan saddle (do you know McLellan saddles? Designed in the US civil war I think??) with a sheepskin bumnah - and finding it very very comfortable and secure. Think I have found my dream trail horse at last ....:runninghorse2:


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

Oh, I miss South Africa so much! It really is a magical place. When I'm there it feels like life is both ordinary, but also extraordinary at the same time. I absolutely love reading your posts. Please, if you don't mind, keep them coming. 

And, if I'm not mistaken, you haven't posted the Stellenbosch photos? I would love to see them, if you don't mind.

Noble sounds like great little horse to keep up with you


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

Horsef said:


> Oh, I miss South Africa so much! It really is a magical place. When I'm there it feels like life is both ordinary, but also extraordinary at the same time. I absolutely love reading your posts. Please, if you don't mind, keep them coming.
> 
> And, if I'm not mistaken, you haven't posted the Stellenbosch photos? I would love to see them, if you don't mind.
> 
> Noble sounds like great little horse to keep up with you


Hello Horsef yes the Stellenbosch pics are at the top of this post - when I went to ride Noble at the end of May. Sadly SA does not feel very magical at the moment, in the aftermath of raging fires as well as frequent protests - but we live in a quiet place and the ride on the beach yesterday was magical indeed.....

I couldn't take pics of the beach ride yesterday as I was too busy copying with Noble's excitement but I am posting two pics of our reserve - the first you can see is our riding track burnt, and the second is the other side of the road in the same place where you can see the beautiful unburnt fynbos. A couple of weeks ago before the fire we rode through a glorious display of flowers....will try and find a pic of that as well for you!


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Noble helps in a search*

So Noble (now Nobi) has been here just over a month and I am loving him, he is the sweetest natured horse I have ever had in my little herd....unfortunately he is at the bottom of the pecking order and gets bullied by both Bez (the OTTB gelding who is the boss and is very worried about food) and Del (who is rather mareish and foody as well). Anyhow Nobi is the easiest horse ever on the ground, to catch, groom, handle, tack up etc. After the last post our dog Roxy went missing - she had had a stroke during the fire and went blind, we think she was confused and wandered off into the thick forest around here. Anyhow on the Wednesday morning when she disappeared, I tacked up Nobi quickly with an old trail saddle and rode up through the forest path to look for her. Didn't do the girth up tightly enough and half way up the hill (which is quite steep) the saddle slid back and sideways; I slid off, and poor Nobi felt the saddle under his belly, panicked and bucked and leapt off the path in to the forest. The forest is so dense that he couldn't go more than a few metres and got stuck in the branches. I reached him, unbuckled the saddle and untangled him from the tree, and he fought his way out of the bush and ran up the path. I followed on foot, and at the top of the hill, saw Nobi stop, wonder where he was, then turn and trot right back to me. We walked back home, picking up the saddle on the way.....

The following day we did a horseback search along the other path on the way to the big yard where we go schooling with Bez....no luck with finding Roxy and did some schooling in the howling wind again, which I hate. Nobi and I worked on his standing still for mounting, one of his weak points.....I have changed his bit from the Portuguese gag to a kinder bit, a Bomber 'control plate' with a flat link in the middle (like a French snaffle) which he seems to like. 

The Saturday we did a ride together with Del to another area, still searching for Roxy, but having some good canters and Del even doing a couple of little cross-country jumps, Nobi and Del alternating the lead, both going beautifully. The Sunday all three of my horses went out together, meeting up with other horses, where Del was not so well-behaved and bucked like crazy (luckily not with me riding her, and luckily her rider staying on). In between rides, the search for Roxy continued on foot......with the help of our conservancy guards, who searched for her over the weekend but couldn't find her. It was freezing cold. 

On Monday morning they found her body. She had died in the dense forest, between two neighbouring properties. She was not trapped in a snare or injured in any way, so we don't know whether she died of exposure having not been able to find her way home, or whether she went away to die by herself after the stroke. We buried her in the garden and planted a lemon tree on her grave.....

Meanwhile Noble has been proving himself adaptable and independent and cooperative and willing.......oh and also has learnt to open our front gate - see pics....


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

So very sorry to hear about Roxy.


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## Oreos Girl (May 24, 2011)

I am sorry to hear about Roxy. Glad Nobi is working for you so well.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Adding condolences for Roxy. Sorry to hear it!


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

I'm so sorry about Roxy. :-(


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*RIP Roxy*

Thanks for all your support.....here is a pic of Roxy dog for you.


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Roxy*

Sorry I didn't manage to post the pic....here she is: in our garden....


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

So sorry to hear about Roxy but glad that Nobi is proving to be as nice of a mount as he is handsome!


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Winter setbacks and some progress*

So August was a difficult month; Nobi had cynancum poisoning from eating a creeper that grows in this area; it is not fatal but affects the horse's central nervous and muscular systems; hind legs go into spasm and it is painful to stand up. He recovered but then he was struggling to bend his hind legs - a form of locking stifle, which I haven't experienced before; it was really horrible but fortunately not too serious. Spent some weeks building up his hindquarters again, leading him up and down hills and over poles. Horses all had to have African Horse Sickness vaccine as well, which means six weeks in total in light work. 

Anyhow, September has been better, and apart from my having a bout of bronchitis, and the cold wind blowing a lot, we have recently had some good progress. The week before last I found a second-hand Dr Cook's bitless bridle at the feed shop, and took it to try out on Nobi. Last weekend took him for a short ride with it together with Delilah, and he was fine, no problem with control; the following day we took the two for a short schooling session, to check if he was manageable in the bitless bridle. All well, and so on Monday (a public holiday in SA) Kath and I took Del and Nobi on a long picnic ride. Nobi in bitless bridle (which can serve as halter); McLellan Saddle; breastplate and saddlebags, containing our drinks, snacks and a few carrots of course......despite strong wind, and the saddlebag slipping, and getting on and off a few times sorting things out, we ended up having a lovely ride. We passed a couple of other groups of riders and the horses were cooperative and no incidents. Found a sheltered picnic spot, let the horses graze and relax, sitting in the spring sunshine in a beautiful area......rode back quite fast, doing some of the small jumps on the tracks on the way, both horses going beautifully, relaxed and yet energetic. 

So that is about a 14 km ride, nothing strenuous, and we weren't under any pressure but were also able to canter and jump on the way back without any panic. Nobi behaved impeccably, no worries about tack and putting up with me faffing around, getting on and off, tying things on and moving them around etc....so he is turning into a good trail horse. More importantly, I feel safe with him, that we are building up a real relationship of trust.....so still some anxiety about the stifle issue and whether he is strong enough but really love his attitude so am hoping that he remains okay and we can do some longer rides this summer.....holding thumbs!


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

What a good and bad update. so sorry to hear Nobi has had some medical issues - but glad he is feeling better~


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Summer holiday riding*

Sadly it is the end of the summer holiday, and we are back to work. But I need to celebrate some of the wonderful summer hacks Nobi and I have had over the past few weeks. One picnic ride to Schoenmakerskop, long slow ride in the heat of the morning, but with a breeze to cool us down, and being served tea and sandwiches by my riding partner's husband.....the second an unforgettable evening ride to the beach, leaving at 6 pm, and riding along the Sardinia bay beach into the sunset....riding back in the dusk, seeing the bushbuck in the dusk and coming home in the dark with fireflies glittering in the forest, Nobi spooking at a white moth fluttering in front of him....Bez and Nobi both very well behaved and enjoying the novelty of riding in the dark and cool of the evening. And the third a ride down to the Schoenies beacon, Nobi checking out a herd of cattle in the reserve....


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

that beach pic is amazing!


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Trail rides and picnic adventures*

In South Africa we celebrate Human Rights Day on 21 March, followed by Easter long weekend this year 30 March - 2 April. I decided to mobilise some riding friends for some long trail rides with picnics thrown in if the weather is good. Unfortunately Bez is not joining us at the moment (see 'Crazy middle aged rescue horse experiment' for more on Bez's progress) due to stiffness and saddle problems. 21 March I was determined to do Bushy Park ride (Bushy Park is a beautiful farm on the coast, at the end of a loooooong beach ride, over steep dunes) and packed saddle bags, with cider, sandwiches and chips......but Delilah's rider was sick, so didn't want to join us for a long ride, and turned back before the dunes; and when Anne (other riding friend) and I reached the high dune overlooking the long beach, the wind was howling, sand blowing off the dune towards us (the prevailing Westerly). So we decided it would be too unpleasant to ride for many km down the open beach, and bailed from our mission, riding instead to Ladies Mile which is a sheltered ride inland through indigenous forest. So: beautiful picnic. Saddles off, Nobi with halter and lead rope tethered to a tree; Du Preez (Anne's horse) without a halter, grazing next to him. Sitting in the shade of the trees, enjoying the beauty of nature and feeding the horses salty chips (see pic). Then..........Du Preez and Nobi both get tangled in the lead rope. I unclip the lead rope and foolishly decide that Nobi is not going to go anywhere, so leave it unclipped. Next thing, something alerts or alarms Nobi, up goes his head, and next thing he is off at a canter down the path towards home. Du Preez follows him of course. Anne and I are laughing, we take our bridles/lead ropes and, leaving saddles and saddlebags etc, we begin to walk up the track (the Ladies Mile is a long gentle uphill slope on a farm road between trees, where you can safely canter the whole way to the gate). We know the horses will be stopped by the gate at the end of the farm track. Until we arrive at the gate, and.......no horses in sight. To our dismay we see that someone has cut a new track through the bush at the side of the gate, and the horses' hoofprints lead down this new track........which we follow on foot, up and down hill, until we can see that the horses have now found the other path across the main road and have headed home. Thunder and lightning begin; soft rain is falling. Anne contacts our horseriders' group on her cellphone, and within minutes we know that the horses are safe, and have been found and put into a paddock at Du Preez's stable, which is closest. I phone my partner who reluctantly leaves his movie watching to drive to pick us up on the road. We then drive to the gate, and have to walk back down the Ladies Mile to our picnic spot, and then carry our saddles etc all the way back up the hill again.....we drive to Du Preez's stable and I saddle up Nobi and ride him home. So that is the first of our trail ride adventures for the Easter holiday period....more to come!


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Wow what a beautiful little horse! Lovely country too. Thanks for the photos!


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

*Next installment: The Bushy Park coast ride*

Our Good Friday holiday turned out to be the most beautiful autumn day, clear and windless, and we set out with full saddlebags for the Bushy Park ride planned for the previous week but aborted because of the wind. Because it was a public holiday we had to ride through the reserve to a path down to the beach called Secrets - a spectacularly beautiful path that goes down a steep dunefield onto a very long stretch of empty beach. We cantered most of the way along the beach as it was low tide, the sand was hard, and apart from one young surfer walking back alone along the beach, the only living creatures we saw were a few pairs of black Oyster Catchers, charming birds which nest on the high tide line among the seaweed and shells. At the very end of the beach is a headland, where there are a few fishermen's cottages, and here we greeted a few people who had come to stay in the cottages for the long weekend. Round the corner, the last cottage is a stone structure with sheltered verandahs, a grassy patch out front and a hitching rail for horses. Here we unsaddled and had our picnic of hot cross buns and a flask of tea - all went well except that Delilah came and nosed through the picnic and gobbled up my hot cross bun! Not a soul in sight, the sea a glittering blue, and grass green, we chilled there for an hour or so.....then set off home, first finding a water trough a little further down the path, where a natural spring flows down to the sea. As we had left it so late, by the time we were riding back down the beach the tide was coming in, and the sand was very soft and undulating, so we had to take it slowly. Going back up the steep dune, Kath got off Delilah, who was battling in the soft sand and on the steep dune. Noble, however, gamely hauled me up to the top of the dune. The ride back was uneventful, reaching home at 3 pm, spraying the horses down and giving them plenty of carrots and a good feed when they had cooled off. The whole ride took us 5 hours, 4 hours riding time, and covered around 25 km. Nobi as an endurance horse has done a few 80 km rides at a fast pace, and he doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the distance, but he does find the soft sand strenuous. Still he is coming along well as a great trail horse, carrying saddle bags and lead ropes and leading the rides without hesitation or complaint.


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Lovely pics! What a good boy


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