He has now done a few 5-6 milers with the local hunts. Two hours is his distance so 5-6 the very furthest you want to take him, given he uses a lot of energy being a wally.
So he did Threepwood, which was beautiful, up in the hills near Lauder, lots of cantering, ground was perfect. Sadly no pictures. He did boil over at one point on open moorland when he could see horses cantering in the distance, but fortunately the 5 mile and 13 mile routes split shortly afterwards and we had a glorious 40 minutes solo coming down the ridge of a hill just the two of us. He was amazingl
He then did Rawflat where again there was good ground and cantering opportunities. It was packed, must have been over 150 horses there. After the first 15 minutes, when he was loopy loo and dripping with sweat, he had a long steady canter along the edge of stubble then some woods, so that settled him down.
In previous lives, he was ridden in a gag on the bottom rein, with flash and martingale.....I ride him in a Myler D ring snaffle with a thing mouthpiece and rollers, nothing else. Given his head is between his knees anyway, you don't need anything to put it there! He has learnt to go long and low and neck rein, and when his brain is engaged, he just lopes along happily.
We didn't go on the St Cuthbert's ride, which would have been lovely, but 7 miles is just too far for him now.
So he did Threepwood, which was beautiful, up in the hills near Lauder, lots of cantering, ground was perfect. Sadly no pictures. He did boil over at one point on open moorland when he could see horses cantering in the distance, but fortunately the 5 mile and 13 mile routes split shortly afterwards and we had a glorious 40 minutes solo coming down the ridge of a hill just the two of us. He was amazingl
He then did Rawflat where again there was good ground and cantering opportunities. It was packed, must have been over 150 horses there. After the first 15 minutes, when he was loopy loo and dripping with sweat, he had a long steady canter along the edge of stubble then some woods, so that settled him down.
In previous lives, he was ridden in a gag on the bottom rein, with flash and martingale.....I ride him in a Myler D ring snaffle with a thing mouthpiece and rollers, nothing else. Given his head is between his knees anyway, you don't need anything to put it there! He has learnt to go long and low and neck rein, and when his brain is engaged, he just lopes along happily.
We didn't go on the St Cuthbert's ride, which would have been lovely, but 7 miles is just too far for him now.