eeek
26th May 2010, 05:04 PM
But when will my ridiculous animal realise that he is 15?????
He has been indulging in what social workers call completely unacceptable behaviour recently.
Yesterday, a bin liner caused his eyes to pop out of his head and every muscle to freeze rigid. I knew it was hopeless to ask him to move for a minute or so, and giggled away while he snorted and backed away from it. Eventually he minced past it as I knew he would, and we ended up having a brilliant ride, apart from the bit where he ran away with me, did a ninety degree turn at a flat out gallop and very nearly hit the decks...
A friend who rides him regularly and LOVES him has offered to bombproof him for me (or try to!).. But I don't know if I want him bombproofed.
At the races on Saturday he was a disgrace. You'd think after 100+ races he would know how to start. And he does...
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6553.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/gategreat-1.jpg
But this time it was a very tricky start and he was on the inside. The gate (on a battered old Subaru) was bouncing up and down on the grass, then there was a false start, and after that it was Vinny who was bouncing around. The video is agony. He looks like a baby on his first ever run.
I put him in the saddle later that day and he ran much, much better. Tragically I got a crucial piece of harness caught round my leg (occupational hazard) and couldn't kick him on in case it brought us and the rest of the field down. So I just sat there. Shame, but my only alternative was to pull up.
He will redeem himself next weekend. His first 3 races this year have been cracking.
Anyway, onto an ode to my Vinny. The best horse I could ever have.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n698080322_2797367_8606.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DCP_0020.jpg
Doing what he loves best:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6740.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6480.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6752.jpg
My best race so far with Vinny (last September), when he raced some class horses and the only one who managed to beat him is the best horse on our tracks (and she only got him by a length). He raced like a lion that day.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/racing/IMG_4716.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/racing/IMG_4681.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4766.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4812.jpg
My 5th race. The day I bought Vinny. CRINGE. In my defence I was only 15 (he was 8). But still. :scared::scared:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/vinnyenjoyingbeinginfront-1.jpg
My friend's first time driving a trotter. 5 minutes before this photo was taken,
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01155.jpg
we were going round our training track and I had to cut the session short because I knew that if I did one more lap with him I would experience total brake failure. When he gets to this stage you need to pull up while you still can:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/Picture2.png
But Vinny is the kind of horse who can go from mental to perfect in five minutes, as you can see :)
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01155.jpg
Kind and gentle to a beginner
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5401.jpg
2 minutes later at the bottom of a favourite gallop when he knows he's going to have some fun because I'm on him!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5416.jpg
Vinny and I are a bad influence on each other. I may have the best intentions, but when he suggests a gallop I usually think it's an extremely good idea... And we're off!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5426.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5468.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5472.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC00239.jpg
Our favourite hacking partners: Olive and my feral friend
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5484.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5498.jpg
Vinny as you may have guessed LOVES hacking
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5493.jpg
He also loves hunting, but is quite a liability on the hunting field!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_1362.jpg
He has a weakness for corners. He likes to speed up on the corners. The tighter the better :evilgrin:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4089.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4120.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4125.jpg
He turns a hoof to anything
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/PB300027.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4019.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P7170003.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8230471.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8230466.jpg
Going to the pub
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P7170025.jpg
Exploring the arctic circle
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01005.jpg
Winning a little 10km race
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC00877.jpg
Winning his first ever SJ competition (and coming 4th in a trotting race later that day)
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8130223.jpg
Scaring the living daylights out of my friends :evilgrin:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4305.jpg
Mother friendly
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/vinnyaged.jpg
His slightly unorthodox method of approaching a jump...
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4143-1.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_3975.jpg
But it works!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4145.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_3969.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8080159.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P5200017.jpg
So that's Vinny for you. Mad half the time...
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n61301392_35278495_1532.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n61301392_35278811_4043.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n61301392_35278814_1162.jpg
...the rest of the time sweet and gentle.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DCP_0018.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DCP_0026.jpg
I will stop now. Thanks for reading :)
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01016.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC00674.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P7180169.jpg
He has been indulging in what social workers call completely unacceptable behaviour recently.
Yesterday, a bin liner caused his eyes to pop out of his head and every muscle to freeze rigid. I knew it was hopeless to ask him to move for a minute or so, and giggled away while he snorted and backed away from it. Eventually he minced past it as I knew he would, and we ended up having a brilliant ride, apart from the bit where he ran away with me, did a ninety degree turn at a flat out gallop and very nearly hit the decks...
A friend who rides him regularly and LOVES him has offered to bombproof him for me (or try to!).. But I don't know if I want him bombproofed.
At the races on Saturday he was a disgrace. You'd think after 100+ races he would know how to start. And he does...
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6553.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/gategreat-1.jpg
But this time it was a very tricky start and he was on the inside. The gate (on a battered old Subaru) was bouncing up and down on the grass, then there was a false start, and after that it was Vinny who was bouncing around. The video is agony. He looks like a baby on his first ever run.
I put him in the saddle later that day and he ran much, much better. Tragically I got a crucial piece of harness caught round my leg (occupational hazard) and couldn't kick him on in case it brought us and the rest of the field down. So I just sat there. Shame, but my only alternative was to pull up.
He will redeem himself next weekend. His first 3 races this year have been cracking.
Anyway, onto an ode to my Vinny. The best horse I could ever have.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n698080322_2797367_8606.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DCP_0020.jpg
Doing what he loves best:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6740.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6480.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/eva%20steve%20may%202010/IMG_6752.jpg
My best race so far with Vinny (last September), when he raced some class horses and the only one who managed to beat him is the best horse on our tracks (and she only got him by a length). He raced like a lion that day.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/racing/IMG_4716.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/racing/IMG_4681.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4766.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4812.jpg
My 5th race. The day I bought Vinny. CRINGE. In my defence I was only 15 (he was 8). But still. :scared::scared:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/vinnyenjoyingbeinginfront-1.jpg
My friend's first time driving a trotter. 5 minutes before this photo was taken,
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01155.jpg
we were going round our training track and I had to cut the session short because I knew that if I did one more lap with him I would experience total brake failure. When he gets to this stage you need to pull up while you still can:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/Picture2.png
But Vinny is the kind of horse who can go from mental to perfect in five minutes, as you can see :)
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01155.jpg
Kind and gentle to a beginner
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5401.jpg
2 minutes later at the bottom of a favourite gallop when he knows he's going to have some fun because I'm on him!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5416.jpg
Vinny and I are a bad influence on each other. I may have the best intentions, but when he suggests a gallop I usually think it's an extremely good idea... And we're off!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5426.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5468.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5472.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC00239.jpg
Our favourite hacking partners: Olive and my feral friend
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5484.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5498.jpg
Vinny as you may have guessed LOVES hacking
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_5493.jpg
He also loves hunting, but is quite a liability on the hunting field!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_1362.jpg
He has a weakness for corners. He likes to speed up on the corners. The tighter the better :evilgrin:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4089.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4120.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4125.jpg
He turns a hoof to anything
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/PB300027.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4019.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P7170003.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8230471.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8230466.jpg
Going to the pub
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P7170025.jpg
Exploring the arctic circle
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01005.jpg
Winning a little 10km race
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC00877.jpg
Winning his first ever SJ competition (and coming 4th in a trotting race later that day)
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8130223.jpg
Scaring the living daylights out of my friends :evilgrin:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4305.jpg
Mother friendly
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/vinnyaged.jpg
His slightly unorthodox method of approaching a jump...
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4143-1.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_3975.jpg
But it works!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_4145.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/IMG_3969.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P8080159.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P5200017.jpg
So that's Vinny for you. Mad half the time...
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n61301392_35278495_1532.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n61301392_35278811_4043.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/n61301392_35278814_1162.jpg
...the rest of the time sweet and gentle.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DCP_0018.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DCP_0026.jpg
I will stop now. Thanks for reading :)
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC01016.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/DSC00674.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/vintagelobell/P7180169.jpg