My name is Saffy and I'm a kleptomaniac

I'd been watching someone else's lesson for about 20 minutes while she had a snooze, came back to the yard to find that she'd unclipped herself (don't know how) and was 'on the missing'.

Looked in the feed bin area, she wasn't there, hadn't got a clue where she'd gone. Someone shouted that she was over in the other stable block. I went over to find a very pleased with herself looking Saffy heading towards me with a Waitrose carrier bag dangling from her teeth ... in said carrier bag were apples that she'd stolen from one of the other liveries.

At least she has standards (Waitrose carrier bag) :)

One thing is for sure is that life is never dull with Saffy around!

Some photos of the mare with, ahem, 'character'

Awwww ... mum ... but the grass is better here!

She likes her food!

Come on mum, hurry up, I want my dinner

The day after ..... a step forward again

I tried to reschedule my lesson as there were gales, driving rain, you name it but my trainer was already out and about so that little ploy failed miserably.

Now our school is open to fields on two sides and open onto a 'stack yard' which is open to fields on the other (with the YOs horses in!). Add in trees along one of the sides and you've got the biggest recipe for disaster that there ever was. The trees were blowing and making one hell of a noise. Each tree had it's own microcommunity of what sounded like a tornado. There was NO WAY on earth that Saffy was going to behave.

But she did :)

She not only behaved but she didn't bat an eyelid even with the wind up her tail, in her ears and battering us about. She didn't even toss her head around. My trainer said "I want one like that" as she was just so well behaved. Not only well behaved but worked beautifully, even doing the lateral work Let's just hope that she stays like that :D

Here's her dozing after an Equine Touch body balance

August 2006 .... 3 steps forward and 1 step back

She was going well despite having not been ridden for a week (I was in London all week then moving at the weekend). She started with a 'dog stretch' (think front legs stretched in front, leaning RIGHT back onto her hind legs) though not while I was on her but went quite well in the school even doing a few teeny steps of leg yield

The next day, however ... ok, it was windy and raining ... it was like she'd been wound up and let go. She trotted around like she was on a mission, nice rhythm, just like Spotty Dog! FINALLY got some good work out of her (including better leg yield) but left canter for another day as I didn't fancy speeds approaching the sound barrier
There was a pigeon on the fence looking at us, unfortunately it was next to the 'spooky tree'. She was fine, ignored the pigeon, but then it decided to fly off making the MOST noise possible! Saff did extended trot for a couple of strides and then settled down again quite quickly (thankfully).

After her 'clockwork toy' routine on Thursday I decided to get her on the lunge on Friday. She wasn't naughty but she was up for it BIG time. At one point she was doind a 20 metre circle in GALLOP! Yes, true gallop. She was completely controlled and obviously just wanted a blast.

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The strops

I have always wanted to know exactly what she's doing when she strops. Although I'm aware that she's stropping it somehow feels quite comfortable and not really unseating at all. I got a birds eye view when I watched my trainer ride her. Thankfully she doesn't do this any more ... well very infrequently. She has several 'methods':

Cantering on the spot - she does as it says on the tin! She literally canters on the spot

Makes herself tall - it's really bizarre, she kind of grows, hollows and 'tap dances' with her feet, her feet barely leave the ground, she just shuffles them around like she's tap dancing

Rocking horse - she rocks backwards and forwards from her front to back feet, it's quite bizarre to watch

The head toss - probably the most uncomfortable, she sets her neck vertically and throws her head around

The levade - this one is weird. I think of a rear as them levering themselves up with their back legs fairly straight. Saffy doesn't actually 'rear' anymore but she did ... well, I have to explain it really .... when my trainer was riding her she brought her back legs right under her, if I hadn't have know her I would have said that she was going into a canter pirouette. It was very strange and did look like the SRS levade rather than a rear, she was superbly balanced, her hocks were under her and well flexed and wasn't upright like you'd expect a rear to be.

As my trainer said, let's just hope that she can remember that for when we ARE doing canter pirouette! It does go to show that she CAN take the weight on her back end .....

The Spanish Paw - this is one that she uses on the ground to express her disapproval or impatience. Like the Spanish Walk but she doesn't walk! She's careful never to catch me when she does it and if I'm not looking at her she'll stamp her front leg down so that I can HEAR her disapproval. She did it the other day, I turned around, glared at her and she backed up, dropped her head and kind of went "oh c**p" I don't mind her expressing an opinion but she does get reamed out for this method as it could be dangerous.

Changing bit by bit ....

Anyway ... having two weeks solid with her when I was on holiday paid off beautifully. She is a changed horse. She's still opinionated but now works nicely most of the time and doesn't cause half as much fuss when she is expressing her opinions. Her movement, when she moves more correctly, is phenomenal especially the movement through her shoulders.

Quite a few people say that she looks a bit like an Andalucian though I couldn't really see it even through my rose tinted specs. I have to say though that when I saw the few 'correct' steps that she did in one of my lessons I have to agree.

She also enjoys jumping the xc fences and even tackled the tyres without batting an eyelid. She's such a good girl.

The thing is that I want to do dressage, she seemingly wants to event ... My ex trainer has ridden her a few times. He wouldn't ride her previously because, as he said, it's his livelyhood and he couldn't afford to get hurt. Although she argued with him she went beautifully. It was nice in a way that she stropped a bit with him too. I'd have been completely mortified if he'd have got on and she'd have been a complete angel

So ... they do get better, it just takes time I love her to bits and she's taught me so much. It must have taken about 18 months to really bond with her. I thought that we'd bonded after 6 months and then at 12 months but each time I found new depths to our relationship. I love my little Saffy Moo

Fast forward to 2006

Through it all she's been a kind and generous soul. A dream to handle, easy to catch (apart from one episode where I couldn't get near to her but later found that there was a very good reason for it :( ) and easy to look after.

We still had the tantrums in the school though.

Saying that, things WERE better, she didn't carry her neck vertically anymore and the strops were shorter and less dramatic.

My trainer recently told me that although he thought that I WAS ready for a youngster he wasn't sure that I was ready for THAT particular youngster. He also said that it was touch and go for a while as to whether I'd come through it or completely lose my confidence. He says that he's very pleased with me and proud at how I came through it all and that a lot of people would have given up on her and sold her on.

I think that I've gained a modicum of respect from him for sticking with it and coming out the other side I refer to those days as my 'darkest hours'. They only lasted a few weeks but boy were they tough. Thankfully what didn't (literally) kill me made me stronger and I'm a lot more confident now than I was even before Saffy.