# Diary of a Crazy Chestnut



## crazyredchestnut (Apr 3, 2018)

I hadn't expected to have an update so soon, but despite very wild and windy conditions today I did get out for a ride. Mom had taken her two geldings off in the trailer for a few hours; one to a dressage lesson, and the other to cross country schooling only a further twenty minutes down the road. Though Harper likes to pin her ears and bare her teeth at the boys, I think she did miss them today! She let out a few whinnies in their absence; I think she felt a bit lonely, poor girl!

She called to me as soon as she saw me at the back door, and even though the weather conditions were putting me off I decided that the mare needed something to do and I would have to brave the winds. I mucked out the boys' stables and filled their haynets in case Mom got back before I had time to do so after riding Harper. To get some photos, I asked my brother to come out and video me riding, and he let the hens out on his way.

She was very spooky today! It was rather unlike her, but I don't blame her as conditions weren't in her favour. She was all alone, with no annoying geldings to glare at every time she trotted past the stables, and the wind was causing a real racket and making noises that didn't usually occur. A plastic bag by the garage full of new copper beech saplings was flapping like crazy, and required a good long stare at before she decided that it wasn't going to fly over and eat her. And that tiny stick of gorse that protrudes into the arena - the same one that she rode past every other day - that was given a wide berth until I let her sniff it out.

Due to her being on edge, it took a good half hour just to warm her up and much longer than usual to bring in her head and start working properly. I did lots of walk-trot-halt transitions to distract her, a few serpentines and turn on the forehand to get her thinking and listening to me. _Then_ I finally convinced her to settle into a nice contact without getting upset and fighting me.

Despite the spooks, I feel that we did make some progress today!  We did some trotting poles once she was tracking up and for the first time, she held her head in nicely when I didn't give her the rein. She had never worked properly over trotting poles in her life when I introduced her to them less than a year ago, and always had to bring her head way down to really look at them as she trotted through them. Though that stopped a while ago, she would still fight the contact going over them, so I gave her the rein each time - until today, when I decided to see how comfortable she would be with them, and held the contact. A little uncertain the first few times, and then perfect! What a star!

Her canter was still a bit messy, but that being said, the last few times she steadied her pace for a stride or two before falling back to trot. She was so spooky while I was warming her up that I wasn't too surprised when legs went everywhere the first time I asked, and she ended up disunited and really all over the place. I brought her back to trot, gave her a pat to calm her, and let her trot another lap before asking again. The transition was still messy, but she picked up the correct leg and didn't throw her head as badly, so I let her canter on. We did a few more transitions each way until they were (fractionally) smoother.

I was very happy with her considering how the ride started out, so I let her go for a jump over the small double that was already set up. She had been waiting for that the whole time! :lol: Kept pricking her ears at it every time we passed the first part of the combination. She felt quite chuffed with herself.

The only other spooking incident happened as I was walking her off. My brother opened the back door on his way back inside (how terrifying is that?!) and she reared up and spun around. Nearly threw me, actually, because I had taken my feet out of the stirrups! :shock: I just gave her a pat and kept walking and talking.

Just as I dismounted, the trailer and the boys pulled up at the gates and she was delighted; let out a loud whinny to them and had to give them each a good sniff (and a bite, just to remind them that she supposedly doesn't really like them) as soon as they were unloaded.

It was a good day, all in all! Glad I braved the weather today because it's rain, rain, rain forecasted for the end of my Easter break. :frown_color: Our area even received a weather warning. How lovely.

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Enjoy the pics haha! Hens were loose in the arena while I was riding, those cheeky chickens. Would have uploaded some jumping pics but I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that because the house was in the background :/ Maybe next time!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Hello Anna! :wave:

How nice to see an Irish horse journal! The international aspect of this forum is really enjoyable. (And of course I'm speculating that your Irish name is Saoirse or Aine or Aoife or Niamh or Gaillimh inion Breasail. ;-) )

Loved the Harper intro and the photos. She looks like a handy little mare, good build, pretty face, bit of spunk, and you look like a good team! She can carry you a good while yet I would think - I was still riding my first mare when she was 27.

That's such lovely scenery where you are. Do you have many trails nearby to ride on? Any you can get to without trailering?

I see you have a wind farm in your area. Same here, on the South Coast of Western Australia - ours is about 25 minutes from where we live. Wind and horses...

Good luck with your exams! :charge:


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Harper is lovely! Love that color!


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## Loner (Dec 21, 2017)

Beautiful Horse.Nice job on journal.


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## crazyredchestnut (Apr 3, 2018)

SueC said:


> Hello Anna! :wave:
> 
> How nice to see an Irish horse journal! The international aspect of this forum is really enjoyable. (And of course I'm speculating that your Irish name is Saoirse or Aine or Aoife or Niamh or Gaillimh inion Breasail. ;-) )
> 
> ...


Yes, it's really interesting to see horsey people from all over the world! And my name definitely fits in with that category, haha! Do you have any Irish friends or family? You seem to be more familiar with the language than any other foreigners.

She does have a very cute face! And while she's old enough that I wouldn't push her as far as I'd like to progress myself, she'll definitely keep going for a long while yet!

The views are lovely up here in the mountains. There's countless trails just up the road from us, so we never have to trailer anywhere to go on a nice hack. It's really handy!

Yup, our wind farm was just finished being built a few months ago! They're not far from the house at all, but since there's no direct road to them, it takes from one to two hours on foot on one of the trails. A lot of people don't like looking at them, but I don't mind. They're good for the environment.

Thank you! 



knightrider said:


> Harper is lovely! Love that color!


Thanks! I do love the rich colour of her winter coat.



Loner said:


> Beautiful Horse.Nice job on journal.


Thank you!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Hello Anna! 

When I was 16, our Literature teacher made us read a comedy play from the West Coast of Ireland - English in Gaelic syntax with cute Irish expressions and bits of Gaelic thrown in. I was enchanted; it was so much better than Paul Hogan (I don't know if you've seen _Crocodile Dundee_) and the general on-the-street use of language in Australia. Also can you imagine a class full of Australian teenagers trying to read their parts in Irish accents? Hilarious. Only one girl succeeded, our Andrea Clancy, whose grandparents came from Ireland and she could do a good Irish accent - most notably she used to make us laugh with her stock phrase in an Irish accent, "Hello, me name's Simon, I can't read or write but I can drive a tractor!" which her grandparents apparently taught her. 

Also we did Yeats etc, of whom I'm rather fond, and so I was off exploring lots of Irish Literature on my own. I also liked a lot of the music that came from Ireland and Scotland; there was a sound to it that didn't seem to come from anywhere else - initially I was drawn into the contemporary music and then later into the better traditional stuff and the fusions around it, like Sharon Shannon really making the _accordion_ dishy by adding bass guitar and percussion and playing like a person possessed.

And then I wanted to know what the Gaelic words meant, so in my 20s I took an introductory Gaelic course at the Irish Club in Perth, where the lovely Fidelma Carroll taught us lots of stuff and it was so much fun.

I imagine it's not so much fun if it's bashed over your head in school whether you want it or not? I had colleagues from the West Coast of Ireland later on, from the Gaeltacht, and they were also extraordinarily musical and would play us tunes, at work and also open mike in various venues in our town. Music was in their blood the same way rhythm is in African people's blood. There's lots of excellent things that have come from Gaelic culture, it's a very ancient and rich culture. I also think people hold on to stuff more tightly when someone is trying all the time to take it away from them! ;-)


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Yes, very pretty mare and great countryside.


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## crazyredchestnut (Apr 3, 2018)

SueC said:


> Hello Anna!
> 
> When I was 16, our Literature teacher made us read a comedy play from the West Coast of Ireland - English in Gaelic syntax with cute Irish expressions and bits of Gaelic thrown in. I was enchanted; it was so much better than Paul Hogan (I don't know if you've seen _Crocodile Dundee_) and the general on-the-street use of language in Australia. Also can you imagine a class full of Australian teenagers trying to read their parts in Irish accents? Hilarious. Only one girl succeeded, our Andrea Clancy, whose grandparents came from Ireland and she could do a good Irish accent - most notably she used to make us laugh with her stock phrase in an Irish accent, "Hello, me name's Simon, I can't read or write but I can drive a tractor!" which her grandparents apparently taught her.
> 
> ...


Haha, it's kinda funny to try and imagine Australians trying to speak in an Irish accent! :lol: I'm so used to hearing the Irish accent that I kind of forget that we have one - that being said, I can never understand the heavy accent typical of old rural farmers. God knows what they're saying sometimes. A few generations ago, driving the tractor before learning to read or write was pretty common, though thankfully we've began to prioritise our education. It's still a huge milestone for the kids with a farming background to get their tractor's license!

Traditional Irish music is definitely one of the pride and joys of the country! Very lively and energetic, and when you're Irish you either play the music or know how to dance to it (at the very least, everyone can dance The Siege of Ennis).

It's really interesting to hear that people who live so far abroad would pick up an interest in our language and culture! It's definitely not as fun when you have to learn about it in school every day. Only six people out of roughly seventy in my year are exempt from studying Irish, and two of them are English while the others have learning difficulties. Even though English is everyone's first language, you still have to study Irish to the same level as English; analysing prose and poetry, writing your own pieces and then engaging in lengthy conversations for the dreaded oral exam. So it's difficult to enjoy it, but good to hear that other people do! :wink:



whisperbaby22 said:


> Yes, very pretty mare and great countryside.


Thank you! :smile:


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## crazyredchestnut (Apr 3, 2018)

So I rode again yesterday, having gotten out of school early, but had no time left to update this because I had an insane amount of homework to finish that was all due today :dance-smiley05:

It was probably the most productive session this year so far! (That being said, I haven't worked her in the arena very often this year at all) She was still a little jumpy having not been turned out in over a week in an attempt to save the fields, but the boys were in their stables this time and she was much more controllable. I knew what I wanted to do heading out there today, which I think is always important - I wanted to set up an oxer in place of the double that had been there, because she hasn't seen a good oxer since last year! And I meant business this time about really addressing her canter - the transitions in particular, after some advice from people here! I also received some advice from my mother's dressage instructor (I'm not taking lessons myself until the school year is over): every time she hollows and throws her head going into canter, to bring her back immediately, circle her until she collects herself again and ask once more.

Well, it's definitely a lot easier said than done. It was a _very_ frustrating process. We started on her good side, but after the second ask she would return to trot but just refused to bring her head back and steady her pace. She was fighting me, fighting me, fighting me. It took countless walk/trot transitions to bring her back, but a few strides back into trot and she would take the bit and rush the pace. I was lost as for what to do until I realised how clever she was - she was _anticipating._

I almost always ask for canter in a corner, because it helps her get the correct leg forward. It wasn't that every few strides into trot she would fight me - it was coming up to every corner, she was expecting the transition and stressing out over it when I didn't ask because she wasn't gathered. "What?! You were supposed to ask there! You always do! Then it's this corner - what are you doing?! This isn't right!"

So I brought her to the middle of the arena, where the geldings had made a very prominent circle after a morning lunge. We trotted the circle instead of the outer track and she happily calmed down. Since it was a circle, she still (most of the time) picked up the correct leg for each transition, and I could ask at any point on the circle so that she wouldn't know when exactly I would ask next. After about three messy transitions, she finally had beautiful smooth ones on each side, and granted, she still motored around once I let her canter on and praised her as if she were a goddess (she likes to think she is), but I was so delighted with the transitions that I'll concern myself with the speed another day. We'll keep working on the transitions for the next couple weeks, enforcing the nice and smooth movement until she knows how to do it the first time without me correcting her, and on the right leg.

And we did jump a nice, sizeable oxer in the end, too! Just a hole under eighty centimetres, which is what I'm aiming to compete at this season. Mom said she even made a proper shape over it the last time (shame we didn't have the camera, sorry for the lack of pics!) and by then poor Harper was all sweaty and breathing heavy, so we loosened the girth and the flash and walked her off for a solid five minutes.

Even when I dismounted and untacked her, she was still breathing quite fast, so I slipped on her headcollar and a lunge line to see if she wanted to have a roll in the loose sand and walk her off by hand. She was only interested in following me, though! And here was my absolute favourite part of the day - Mom decided to test something, and unclipped the lunge line and told me to keep walking. Harper, bless her, followed me everywhere. When I stopped, she stopped. I turned around and so would she. We did zigzags and figure eights, and she was right behind me the whole time.

I always feel like with mares it's very difficult to establish that 'bond'. All the mares I've ever worked with tend to have those flat ears, unimpressed expressions, and they don't seem to be half as willing or lovey-dovey as some geldings. Harper was included in that for a while - I got the feeling that she didn't really care for me but more for the bucket of feed that came in my arms every evening. But there's something so incredibly magical about having your partner in this sport willingly follow you when left to do whatever they want. That's real trust, that's exactly the bond that exists between horse and rider when they really respect each other. And seeing Harper follow me around yesterday, that was the warmest my heart's felt in a long time. Love her so much! :loveshower:


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Sounds great. So glad you are enjoying your horse.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Subbing...Nice writing Miss Anna! Really like Hannah a lot and so glad your momma found her before the factory did! 

Love the bonding


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## crazyredchestnut (Apr 3, 2018)

Between birthday parties and communions, I haven't had the chance to properly ride Harper again, though I have been up on her a few times for some short sessions so she can get her exercise. Yesterday, we decided to go for the long hack all the way up to the mountain peak (it's a small mountain :lol: ) and rather than me bringing Harper twice so that both of the boys could get out, we just took the boys and left her at home so we could go on said long hack. (See the pic below; me and Finn! Unfortunately the valley doesn't feature in this one...) Harper wasn't too impressed and whinnied a few times when we left, but I did find a break in the weather once we returned to lunge her.

I was delighted to see how calmly she started out on the lunge yesterday! When we bought her, I reckon she'd either never been lunged, hadn't been lunged in a very long time or has had some bad experiences with the lunge whip. The first few times we tried, she completely freaked herself out, spun around, got the lunge rein caught around her neck and tore off. It was very stressful for all involved, but luckily no harm was done to anyone.

Since then, we've been working on (re?)training her to lunge. Mom will stand in the centre with the lunge rein and whip held low and still, and I would walk and jog beside Harper along the circle to get her used to the idea of going round and round with no harm done. Every few circles I slowly increased the space between us, until I could walk a small circle at the centre around Mom and she could stay trotting. Now that I believe she trusts us not to hurt her or chase her around until she can barely stand, I've been trying to shorten the amount of time I have to spend at the start of each lunge reminding her of how to do it, and yesterday, while she still needed that reminder, once she got going she had a lovely relaxed and calm pace, for the first time ever, really! I was very proud.

Granted, once we put the side reins on she worked herself up a bit, and the first canter transition was made up of a spin and a sudden halt. But progress is progress, and a calm start is amazing to see from the mare that nearly killed herself the first time we tried to lunge her. 

As for today, I am very excited! There was an announcement at school this morning looking for those interested in an interschools showjumping competition coming up in two weeks time. Naturally, I decided I'd take an entry form just in case, but I think I might actually go for this one. There's only a few problems - one being that Harper will never be fit enough in the next two weeks to jump a course of fences without being overworked. I don't want to push her so early in the season, and since I don't plan on going to any other competitions until I'm out of school, having her super fit when I'm not prepared to maintain that fitness is pretty pointless. We're both slowly coming back after the winter break at a gradual pace that I'm happy to fit into the schedule alongside study.

The second problem is that there's only two options for secondary-education students: eighty centimetres or metre. Obviously no way am I prepared for metre, and I'm currently comfortable at a seventy centimetre height. So even eighties is pushing it, as that was what I was planning to work up to later in the season. I can jump an eighties course, I just never have before and I can assure you I'll be sick to my stomach. And Harper was sweating like a pig after popping a seventy-five centimetre oxer twice at home - she'd burn out of fuel after fence one!

Fortunately, there was a solution to both of these problems (well, it sort of only half-fixes the second problem as most of that problem is to do with me and my confidence). I could ride one of my mother's horses. They're both very fit, and have the scope to jump metre-twenties, nevermind an eighty track. So with my determination to jump at my first ever interschools, I thought I'd try my hand at a proper eighty-centimetre oxer on Nico at home.

Mom had me warm him up fully too, so I could get used to his gaits. I could definitely feel the breeding in him, compared to my mare-out-of-nowhere. A very flowy trot with a nice bounce when he's working, and a gorgeous rocking-horse canter, very easy to sit to. He was _very_ responsive to my leg in regards to leg yielding, but also very lazy to start working. I had to work my butt off to get him going, but once we started jumping he became a bit more eager.

His jump is definitely much neater than Harper's, that's for certain! As soon as we reached the desired height of eighty centimetres, I could really feel the shape he made over the fence. It was easy to predict which stride was the take-off, and even when he stretched for the long one I didn't get left behind. I could feel his hindquarters really lift over the fence, and despite my position (which I'll just say could use some improvement :lol: ) he was very honest and happy to jump no matter the angle or slight hesitance on my part.

So I am looking forward to this interschools competition! I think I'll go for it; even if I hadn't planned on eighties until later, it won't hurt to be pushed out of my comfort zone. Two weeks to gain a little more confidence with eighties, and practice a combination, and see which of Mom's horses I'd rather jump. But I'm excited! My first proper show in a long time and though it won't be Harper I'm bringing it will still be a great experience I'm sure. :smile:


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