by Isobel Hudson
27. January 2010 19:34
Archie arrived at the yard a couple of weeks ago having had a holiday at home where he had very quickly reverted back to his natural state of Irish Bog Pony! Despite being all clipped out and trimmed in October he had grown amazing amounts of hair everywhere and a mane on each side to look decidedly shaggy. Alongside a rather portly tummy and a nice red tail from the mud he looked a far cry from the little eventing superstar of last year.
Archie on Arrival
Something had to be done fast. With 3 inches of hair on his body the clippers came out straight away and much to his annoyance his mane was attacked and his tail washed. The farrier provided a new set of shoes and viola! Event pony rematerialises. Amazingly his tummy was mostly fluff so he has escaped a dreaded diet.
Archie after some TLC
Archie is a serious workaholic and is very happy to be back being ridden, but does have a very cheeky sense of humour.... After a few days power hacking I took him in the arena for a gentle school and he was exceptionally obliging in his trot work. However having lulled me into a false sense of security I gently asked for canter and was answered by a high pitched squeak and some impressive bucks across the school! 10 minutes later and countless transitions Archie was still sounding like an irate mouse and was completely adamnant that he had completely forgotten how to canter, but surely broncing would do just as well! Eventually we manged to hold a few strides of canter without an explosion and as we were both getting rather puffed left it at that. Fortunately things have improved over the last week although there is still a lot of work to do before the events begin in March.
The next aim is to give him a little jump at the weekend although Archie, who hasn't had a jumping fix for three months, may have other ideas. After his break last year he did his very best to put me into orbit, so I am prepared to hang on very tight.
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