Ridden Obstacle course Clinic

Firstly let me say a HUGE thank you to Ross of ROSCA Horsemanship for creating a relaxed and comfortable environment for us all to learn in. I have never been to an agility or obstacle clinic before, in fact, I’ve never taken my own horse to any clinic. I’ve been to watch loads of demos and talks but never actually taken my own horse to something like this so I was super excited when it finally came around.

I had booked Estrid into a ridden obstacle course clinic, my aim was twofold. Firstly to improve our communication when I’m on board. On the ground she’ll follow me through anything but when ridden we sometimes get stuck in the mud if she’s scared. Secondly, to get her used to going to new venues, being around other horses and experiencing new things. She got very sweaty, shaky and screamy at her first event and as it is I wouldn’t have high hopes of her passing an initial vetting, so our winter task is to improve this by going to do lots of things in lots of places.

She travels so steadily, munching away, that it’s always a surprise to open up the ramp and find her dripping with sweat and shaking. She doesn’t do anything bad really, she’s still good to handle, she stands still to be tacked up but her eyes are out on stalks, she’s on edge and jumpy, dripping with sweat and whinnying at everything that moves.

I did think we would end up being the disruptive kid at the party as we jogged sideways into the arena, screeching and snorting. I also did not think I would be getting on board anytime soon. That was ok with me, if the only thing we did was walk in the vicinity of the obstacles and calm down then that would be a win. But Estrid, as usual, pulled it out the bag, she settled down for her first-ever time in an indoor arena, first-ever time in the same space as a group of other horses. She walked with me, stood with me, went over every obstacle!

So much to my surprise, I hopped on and she did it all ridden too!!!! Once I took her back out of the arena, the screaming and shaking started again…….but we can’t win them all hey. Lots to work on this winter for sure, but Estrid has demonstrated quite the capacity to learn and I’m so excited for her progress.