Maz And I Jumped a BARREL. 😱 + sore pony issues!

Helloooo!!!

I had another lesson with Maz today, and it was great! It was an evening lesson, and I really really enjoyed myself.

First, like usual, I went into the paddock and gave Maz some face itchies. Sophie caught Zion, and we led them up through the gate leading into the backyard. Mabel and Zaydie, the two labrador collie crosses, were VERY excited, and Maz looked less than impressed. They were both very good, though, when I told them to go away so Maz could pass through without having a giant puppy latching onto him like a barnacle. A few gates later and I tied Maz up in the stable, and took off his summer sheet. He was very clean, except for some loose hair on his unclipped bum, and I picked out all of his hooves. His hooves are quite long and are due for a trim soon, I think, and he still had the hoof blackening paint on from our last ride! I brushed out his mane and tail too, and chose a GP blue saddlepad, one of my favourites, and put on his halfpad too. He looked a little bit worried, so I gave him a hug and a pat. Then while I was strapping up his back boots, Sophie checked all the horses’ saddles, to see if there was a reason why he had been so unhappy when I went to mount him. I was glad we checked, because he tried to bite me over five times last lesson, and wouldn’t square up for the mounting block. When she checked Maz’s saddle, this was her response: “oh my gosh I can’t believe I didn’t notice that.” Even I, an inexperienced horseperson, could see that the saddle was terribly fitting on my poor horsie’s back. It rocked onto his withers when I rose to the trot, putting lots of pressure on his withers, which also would’ve made it really uncomfortable for me to mount for him. His eyes went HUGE when Sophie checked the saddle fit on him, and he looked really upset, even though he didn’t swing his head around or anything. I felt so bad for him! Then Sophie got out Zion’s old saddle. She told me she used to use it on her 12 hand pony, and that it might be easier for me to ride in, so I don’t develop a bad position. Zion couldn’t wear this saddle, because he has a huge wither, and it was really uncomfortable for him, so I was keen to see if it worked on Maz, so Sophie could use Maz’s saddle (which has more space for a large wither) and I could use Zion’s saddle, so we could both ride at the same time! (One of us had to use the western saddle or bareback pad otherwise) Maz didn’t even FLINCH when Sophie tried on the smaller saddle, and he didn’t look worried in the slightest. She said it was a good fit, and I could try it today if I liked. I said yes, definatly, because I really wanted to see if it made a difference in how Maz behaved during mounting, dismounting and rising trot. I put the saddle on, did up the girth, popped on his bridle and led him over to the mounting block. Maz stood PERFECTLY alongside the block, YAYYYYYYY!!!!!! It meant I didn’t have to be a gymanst and leap on from the ground, or stretch myself over the span of a meter to put my foot in the stirrup. He looked happy and comfortable when I mounted, and strode out well. I warmed him up in my new gloves, too, which were sooo nice. Then Hayley’s horse float pulled up in the drive towed by her ute, and Sophie told me she just remembered a new pony was coming to stay! I was like, “WHAT? Don’t you have enough ponies on your hands, especially with Jenna gone?” (Jenna moved to Australia btw) And Sophie laughed and she said Bo (the pony) belonged to Hayley’s friend, Tasha, and Tasha was going to keep Bo with them for the weekend. Bo was really cute! He had such a long gorgeous mane, and he was a sunbleached black. Tasha said he goes jet-black when he loses his winter coat 😍She also said he’s a bit of a crab, which was why he was paddocked in the cattle yards seperate from Max and Ellie. Maz was so keen to see Bo, but he didn’t do anything stupid with me on him, and he didn’t even start a clarion call fight! Zion, however, was hopping on the spot like a racehorse in the starting gates! Anyway, we walked over to the gate to where Bo was tied to the float, and Maz and Zion said hello. Tasha groomed him, and put on his bareback pad, and came to join us for a ride! She was really nice, and Bo was pretty well-behaved for a pony with the reputation of a grumpy crab!

I did some cantering with Maz, focusing on not riding with ‘duck feet’. The term duck feet is one dad came up with to describe how my feet stick out sideways when I ride. I look like a DUCK. I should glue some feathers to my jodhpurs and riding top 🤣 So I tried to work on that. Maz was perfect, especially with an unfamiliar horse in the arena with him and Zi! In Pony-Club, there’s a rule like the riders’ shoulders go left-to-left so you don’t crash into eachother, but I didn’t understand that and I’ve never practiced it before, so I just stuck to the outside route so I wouldn’t crash into Tasha or Sophie 😁 I learnt something that DRASTICALLY helped my cantering work, from Sophie. She said I should try squeezing Maz forward so that he goes FASTER in the canter, which will smooth out the bouncing. I did, and although his canter was a lot faster, I could sit it much more comfortably, and it helped SO much. I will definatly be using that trick next lesson! We jumped a black pipe, at a trot and canter, and he was really good.

I personally love our new saddle, because I didn’t have as much space to flop around, and develop a ‘chair seat’. My legs stayed down by his girth, and I’d like to think I kept a half-decent line from my heel-to-hip-to-ear, though I probably didn’t ngl 😁 It also had a strap I could hold onto which has a name (it’s a bit harsh, so I won’t say it here) but the pony-club novice rider name is ‘monkey strap’ (don’t ask me or Sophie why it’s called that haha). I really liked having it, because it helps me keep steady hands. By the middle of our ride, Maz was quite fresh and ready to roll, so I did have to keep my reins shorter.

Sophie suggested we try jumping the barrel, which was only 50 centimeters, but it was WIDE, so when we jumped it I was so, SO proud of Maz! I must have looked like a lump of potatoes when I jumped it the first time, but like usual, he totally came through for me and jumped it anyway, even from a bad trot! We cantered into it lots more times, and it was soooooo fun, it felt like we were jumping volcanic boulders! Sophie explained what a canter lead leg is, and Tasha and Bo demonstrated for me, so I could see. The way it works is that the back outside leg comes forward first, followed by the others, and then you can change the lead leg (I think it’s called a flying change). Sophie said Maz is pretty good at getting on the right lead leg, and Tasha said that Bo usually favours his left lead leg. The challenging part is when Maz gets on his right lead leg, he drifts a bit to the right, like Zion does, so I have to keep my right leg on, and push him in the direction of the jump. She also said that when you canter, the reason why we put our outside leg BACK, is to encourage the horse to put their outside back leg FORWARD, which made sense!

It was six thirty by the time we finished, so I cooled Maz down, and then took him back to the stable to unsaddle. All the times I had to remount to repair the barrel jump if we knocked it out of place, he was perfect to mount and line up! I was so so extatic he was happy!

I took off all his gear, put it away, gave him and Zion a slice of carrot, cleaned up his manure he very kindly left for me, put away the jumps and led him back to the paddock. I had a bit of carrot left, which I fed him, and I gave him a hug and face itch before waiting for Dad to come pick me up!

Later that evening, I did some digging about Maz’s breeding history. I know he’s from Starlight Farms, a warmblood breeding stable producing grand prix showjumpers, and Sophie told me his show name before I left, which is Starlight Damascus. I don’t think my lesson pony could’ve had a more GRAND show name than that. Anyway, I did some poking around on the internet, and found out Maz has a GRAND PRIX SHOWJUMPER DAM AND SIRE. I went outside a SQUEALED. My safe, fun lesson pony has parents who competed in Dressage AND showjumping!!! His dam was Tha’ Lassie, who’s half-sister was world-cup jumper Air Force One, and his sire was Wohler II. Tha’Lassie was a chestnut Warmblood, and Wohler was a Hanoverian.

The timeline works, too, but maybe it’s wrong. Some horses could share the same show name, but I doubt it! If it’s true, my snuggly little lesson pony has crazy – good jumping and dressage bloodlines and comes from a top breeding stable in Otorohanga! How cool is that?

Thanks to Sophie, for having me and teaching me lots this lesson, and it was lovely meeting Tasha and Bo! I’m mostly so happy we’ve got a new saddle for Maz, because I got pretty spooked when he kept showing me his teeth last lesson whenever I mounted.

I also can’t believe we jumped a barrel! yayyyyy!! Thanks so much for reading, BYEE!!