I’ve been to Field Farm equestrian once before, last year. So I was super excited to see what Estrid thought of the beach (Tissy has been plenty of times before). This was Estrid’s first ever ‘stay away’ since I bought her and she was pretty nervous. Shaking like a leaf, dripping with sweat, eyes out on stalks and absolutely wired. She did settle over the next 3 days but stayed pretty on edge, what I Iove about Estrid is that no matter how stressed she is, she tries so hard to keep it all together and do what you ask of her.
We went straight to the beach with 4 other horses, including Tissy, for our first ride and it blew her brain. She was prancing, rocking, jogging, going sideways before we even started cantering. Being in a big open space with a group once they started going faster was just not safe for her, I didn’t want her going flat out fast and I wanted to be able to steer and pull up if needed so I asked the others to slow down and decided that we wouldn’t go out in the group again, for Estrid but also so that everyone else could go for a blast without being held back by the baby of the group.
The next day we went to the beach with just Tissy and it was an amazing magical morning. I loved being able to watch Tissy enjoy herself and Estrid was so brave with the water. It was really one of those moments you cherish forever.
Next up was Estrid’s first ever cross-country jumping. She went over everything I pointed her at, I only asked her to go over jumps that she could step over if required so she had a good first experience and we kept it nice and steady, she was great at steps and did start actually jumping some rather than using them as trotting poles. Most impressively she cantered into and out of the water jump, I couldn’t have been prouder. I’m quite excited to work a bit more on our jumping and I hope that next year I can have some proper coaching.
Before we left I had another beach ride with Izzy and Fluffy this time. We got some great controlled canters in and although Estrid was still quite hot-headed she was getting much more manageable and safe with every trip to the beach.
All in all an excellent learning experience for Estrid, a nice little trip for Tissy and both traveled well in the trailer back home.
Beth Endurance 