Annie and Mouse pics

[joosie]

Just wanted to share a little update & some photos of my beautiful ponies.

Annie and I have had some lovely hacks since I brought her back. She hasn't been ridden much this year for various reasons so she's not really fit enough to do longer ones but we go out for an hour or so at a time mostly in walk with the odd verge canter and just pootle along enjoying the scenery. Sometimes when we get to junctions I let her decide where we go - she has picked some of my favourite routes so clearly they are her favourites too She hasn't changed at all apart from no longer being scared of cows (go Annie!), and I'd almost forgotten what an honest and sensible pony she is. I have been riding along with a massive grin on my face and probably looking like a right idiot but I can't help myself, she is just such a pleasure and I have so missed our time together.

 

[joosie]

As for Mouse, he is doing so well at the riding school I'm not sure they will let me take him away They absolutely love him, the owners and staff speak so highly of him and he has got quite the fan club amongst the kids! They call him "Mousse" which amuses me more than it should He is 100% safe and reliable for beginners and young children and seems to know instinctively which riders he needs to look after, but with the more capable kids he has got quite a few tricks up his sleeve and will not just let them sit there while he does all the work, oh no. There's no malice in him but he can be a cheeky sod when he fancies it! He is also happy to try anything and is proving quite the all-rounder. There's even a few adults there who try to pinch him when they can

Today my wonderful friend Cathy (whose daughter Lisa used to be Mouse's rider) forsook her Sunday morning lie-in to take me to his riding school show and watch him compete. When I spotted him in the warmup I rushed over to him gushing and cooing and covering him in kisses and then had to explain to the kids that I was his owner who missed him terribly and not just some lunatic who freaks out when she sees ponies Well now, it wasn't exactly a great result... he was entered twice in the 65cm class and was eliminated in both rounds He had three runouts at number 4 with his first rider - they have always been his favourite trick, you can actually see them coming a mile off and they are easy to correct with positive riding, but it was the girl's first show and I suspect she was a bit nervous so she just sat there and let it happen. The second girl really attacked it and Mouse did a mahoooosive jump over it but unfortunately this unseated his rider and when he landed she kept going and went plop in the wet sand

Sorry jumping pics not great as the weather was awful (you can see the rain in the first one!) and I didn't want my good camera to get wet!

I was chatting to some of the kids afterwards when they were grooming him and putting him away, and they were all absolutely besotted with him showering him with kisses and carrots and telling him how wonderful he is The parents of the girls who'd ridden him were both there, the mum of the first one said how much her daughter's confidence had improved since she'd started riding Mouse in lessons, and the mum of the one who'd fallen off said well at least that will teach her to keep her shoulders back So clearly he is doing something right, even if today was not his day!

 

[Jessey]

Its great they are both doing so well and they are both bootiful as ever

I noticed in the first pics there are 2 men out of 4 in that lesson, is it common in Europe that more men ride? its so often a female dominated sport here in the UK, I just wondered if its different there

 

[KP nut]

Lovely update. Thanks for sharing.

 

[orbvalley]

Wow some great shots! and a heartwarming update.

 

[Skib]

I love your updates on those two. As for the French riding school, is it correct that in France riding education is far more structured for both adults and children than it is here?

 

[Kite_Rider]

Lovely, lovely update Joosie thank you. I was looking at the Annie hack photo's and wondering why you seemed to be on the 'wrong' side of the road, until I remembered you are in France!

 

[Taffie]

Lovely, lovely update Joosie thank you. I was looking at the Annie hack photo's and wondering why you seemed to be on the 'wrong' side of the road, until I remembered you are in France!

So was I! The lanes looked very English and I was thinking you were on the wrong side haha

 

[joosie]

I noticed in the first pics there are 2 men out of 4 in that lesson, is it common in Europe that more men ride? its so often a female dominated sport here in the UK, I just wondered if its different there

Actually in that first photo 3 of them are men I don't really know how many male riders there are in the UK as I'm a bit out of touch but there are certainly a fair few of them here. The "training shows" I used to do with the ponies, which are run by riding schools and are mostly RS riders, often had a good male turnout (and just as many adults as boys) and at the affiliated shows I'd say maybe 4 in 10 competitors are male which I think is pretty good. I think horseriding in general is still female-dominated in many parts of Europe but competition-wise the men are definitely holding their own.

Lovely, lovely update Joosie thank you. I was looking at the Annie hack photo's and wondering why you seemed to be on the 'wrong' side of the road, until I remembered you are in France!

Lol I get confused too! Sometimes I ride out and realise I've been on the wrong side of the road! I remember Newforest commented on a photo where I was riding past a 50 sign in the village that the speed limit seemed a little high... well it is in km/h so not really

As for the French riding school, is it correct that in France riding education is far more structured for both adults and children than it is here?

Yes it is quite structured. The French are very fond of structure in general You need to have a licence with the FFE (French Equestrian Federation) to ride at a public riding establishment or to compete. You apply for a new one annually and have to pass a sports medical certificate to get it. You also need an FFE licence if you are the registered owner of a horse registered to compete, but there is a non-riding version for that. There is also a system of examinations called Galops, which range from 1 (lowest) to 7 and test both riding and horse care, and the majority of RS riders go through the Galop system as a matter of course, as they do the training and take their exams through their club. But you also need a licence to compete, and the required Galop exam for the level you want to compete - to get the licence for Club-level competitions you need the Galop 4 and for an Amateur licence you need the Galop 7. If you're not registered with a club you can usually join an assessment day at a riding school, or find your own registered assessor, and just take the exam you need.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Lovely pictures and stories. Mouse looks very grown up and content!

And it looks as if Annie is just entering her rocking-horse dapple grey period...