well done indeed Ginny. How far they've come!
Oh she so has. Sorry long, gushy post but I am so, so proud of both of them.
This little scruff-bag pony is turning into a superstar! She is exceedingly well bred but was just off a boat from Ireland when we bought her 8 months ago: underweight, scoffing great handfuls of mud (so presumably lacking in many minerals), snotty, gunky eyed and with ringworm! Her cheeks were ulcerated from sharp teeth and she had girth galls. I regretted buying her almost immediately - not for her poor health which I knew was all superficial and nothing that good grub & TLC wouldn't sort (we had her 5 star vetted - though the ring worm must have been incubating as that wasn't picked up till a few days after she arrived) but because she was so territorial and defensive. Biting/kicking, lunging at any passers by over the stable door etc. Poor Katie wasn't even allowed to go into her stable for the first few weeks - she had to be cross tied by me first for grooming, rug changes and tacking up! She hated being touched anywhere - so we had to keep grooming, stroking etc to a minimum. And sedated for farrier and dentist. Katie cried for weeks missing Oscar who was the world's friendliest pony and not being able to bond with her new pony.
But that all settled with some patient and consistent handing, and she is turning into a really sweet little thing. She never tries to bite or kick anymore, doesn't need to be held for the farrier, let alone doped and is easy to do in the stable now. She has had 3 massages with the physio as you could see from her movementr she was a bit tight in the back - the first was a complete write off as physio could not get near her. 2nd was better but at the most recent one the physio said it was the first tme she could really do any deep work as she wan't tensing agaist the touch. I doubt she will ever be affectionate but she is a lot more relaxed around people.
And when ridden she is so, so honest and such a trier. We weren't targeting Trailblazers this year as felt it was too soon for her. There are lots of chances to qualify for the 2nd rounds at our local SJ venue and Max had qualified in the 75 and 85 months ago. But there was only 1 2nd round attempt. 3 weeks ago it was the last first round event and Katie wanted to enter Ginny in the 75. A height she has never competed over. But she was schooling really well over that height and higher.
So we decided to give it a go and she went and won the class at her first attempt at that height!
The day she qualified for the 2nd rounds Katie came out with a massive grin saying 'OMG she totally saved me there' and she was right - Katier had her wrong to the double. This is the face of someone who has just very unexpectedly qualified for round 2!
There was only 1 shot at getting past round 2 and Katie was just there for experience. We felt Max had a realistic chance but it was too soon for Ginny. But this amazing pony just keeps exceeding expectations. Very excited and so happy for Katie after all the stress of a pony who was hard, hard work at first.
