Magic's Bucking Bronco Impression 🙈 | GoPro

Luckily for me it wasn't a very good impression! 😅 PLEASE NOTE: It was clear that this saddle was not fitting correctly which was causing discomfort when it slipped and general tension in anticipation of the saddle moving/slipping, so Magic's owner got him a brand new saddle a couple of days after this lesson which fits him really well and Magic is now back to his normal happy & slightly less spicy self!! It really is amazing just how much tack fit can change a horses behaviour from one day to the next, which is why it's always important to regularly check your tack still fits correctly! Horses often change shape throughout the year and so often 'bad behaviour' is put down to the horse just being 'naughty' or 'fresh', when in fact they are uncomfortable. Fortunately Magic's owner and this yard are on the ball and so lucky Mr Magic gets whatever he needs! ❤️
I feel like this lesson needs a bit of an explanation, so here we go!: Magic warmed up in this lesson really nicely - he was pretty relaxed, but also very off my leg which was great! He even relaxed a bit more in the canters than usual and opened up his stride a little bit which is something that can be quite difficult for him in the school. You can see we also trotted over the poles on the ground with no issues as he was feeling pretty chill about life.
The first little incident was when Magic spooked at some bikes going along the road by the arena (it was very wet so they were making a funny noise and whizzing by very fast), so he had a quick bolt down the school to try to get away from them - he’s done it before so I wasn’t too worried about it, but during the little bolt the saddle unfortunately slipped slightly which Magic found uncomfortable, so he bronced round the school to try and get it off (nothing naughty about that, a perfectly natural reaction to the circumstances!). Luckily he was a good boy and stopped once he’s realised hopping around wasn’t getting him anywhere so I could get off and fix it. Also massive apologies to the other rider who I yelled “STOP!” at, I wasn’t sure if she’d seen what was happening and I didn’t want to crash into her as she cantered past!!
Once the saddle was fixed it was too late, the spicy dragon had been awakened and of the rest of the little broncs and squeals after I re mounted were mainly Magic being a cheeky monkey! 🙈 The saddle stayed where it was supposed to be for the rest of the lesson, but rather unhelpfully the horses turned out in the next door field suddenly decided to have a mad galloping rodeo party of their own, and a bit later an unknown horse came trotting down the road by the arena at full speed (something that sets Magic off at this time of year as his "YaY hUnTiNg!" brain kicks in and sends him a bit loopy)!! He was also most likely anticipating the saddle slipping again over the poles, which set him on edge until he finally realised it wasn’t going to happen again. From that point on, Magic decided that actually, jumping around all over the place was really much more fun than schooling and he’d like to do some more of it please!! This was made even more obvious by his squealing and snorting - something he only does when he gets over excited and wants to go zoomies, so please don’t worry thinking he was uncomfortable or hurting after the initial saddle slip!!
Once he’d got out some of his excess energy, he actually worked quite well and relaxed back into his normal self. He did the pole exercise in trot calmly and we decided to call it a day there as we had finished on a positive note with a much happier & more relaxed pony (and a relieved human)! As mentioned above, his owner was aware of the issue of the saddle slipping and he now has a brand new saddle that fits well and that Magic seems really happy in!! 😇
🚨For a bit of balance, I would appreciate it if anyone leaving rude or negative criticism/tips/advice would also donate at least £1 to a charity of their choice 😊
QOTD: Have you ever ridden a horse that gets a bit too excited about life?!
Ponies/horses:
Magic - 15.3hh piebald gelding
Helmet Cam: GoPro Hero 6
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