Ride Report - Lion's Tail 32km

Spice completed his first novice ride (40km) at Kings Forest (Suffolk) at the end of June and you can read about that here. I had intended to take him to Well Vale (Lincolnshire) on the August Bank Holiday weekend and was hoping to actually compete two days to finish off his novice qualifications. The goal from there was to then take him to Poplar Park (Suffolk) the last ride of the season to do the 2-day 80km GER.

However, after Kings he developed horrendous cracked heels and a rubbed armpit. I always plan to give my horses a mini-holiday after every ride but he ended up having a whole month off because of his skin. Whilst fitness wasn’t going to be an issue we were then plagued with rock solid ground and a drought that meant I was really uncomfortable doing anymore than walk as his young joints and unconditioned legs are really rather precious to me.

In hindsight, I was probably being very ambitious planning to complete on the Bank Holiday weekend anyway as this is the anniversary of my riding accident. Throughout August, I found myself struggling for confidence again and despite nothing actually happening to trigger this, I knew that I was avoiding Spice. The hard ground was a convenient extra reason to not train but even so I hadn’t accounted for how much the anniversary was going to affect me mentally.

I set my sights on Lion’s Tail (Leicestershire) with the proviso that we would have had some rain by late September and the ground conditions would be much better. I was also quite distracted training Chip (my older horse) for Scotland (Home International Championships) and that took up so much more time than normal as I was doing a lot more slow and conditioning miles. It worked quite well though taking Spice out on the lead with Chip as I could get them both exercise simultaneously and I didn’t actually have to ride Spice!

Spice was often getting 3hrs of work with Chip and in a way I think it’s actually quite ideal because the intensity is less for him not having to carry the rider’s weight. It’s also nice for both of them to train in company since horse’s are herd animals after all!

As soon as I was back from Scotland I knew it was d-day to actually ride Spice! Of course he’d had a week doing absolutely nothing whilst I was away too.

My sister Pheobe had entered to ride at Lion’s Tail too so the Monday before we both got on our horses and went for a little pootle around the village. Spice was mostly a good boy but understandably on his toes a little.

We then went for another ride out on the Wednesday and we did approx. 10km maintaining mostly a steady trot and taking it turns to lead. I was really pleased with Spice on this ride leading over all the bridleway bridges and past scary objects. We also had a lovely little canter so I felt fairly confident ahead of the weekend.

On Friday I did some inhand poles with him and that was us set for the weekend.

Usually I like to pack the day before so that on the morning of the ride we can pretty much load up and go but Pheobe’s horse, Roo, is particular about which trailer he can travel in. This meant we had to go in Pheobe’s Bateson (which doesn’t have a tack locker). Pheobe’s trailer also lives at her yard of course so it meant I couldn’t pack anything up other than my kit box.

The dogs were also coming with us so their travel crate takes up the whole boot space. So trying to pack for two horses, three people, two dogs and the kit was a feat to say the least. We really need to think about a better solution for this going forward as we want to be able to compete the chestnuts together next season too and it’s crazy to take two cars/trailers when we are travelling from next-door villages to the same destination.

Anyway, Sunday morning we did manage to squeeze everything in and the only thing I forgot was my full first aid kit which I always take out with me – even if I’m just going 10mins down the road! Luckily I have a smaller first aid kit in my spares bag but even so it doesn’t have all my usual supplies in it. As it happened we didn’t need it but more packing coordination is required for future.

When we got to the venue we were greeted by the parking attendant who told us she wasn’t entirely sure where to park us as the venue was packed! We squeezed on the end of an aisle and by the time we actually completed our ride we were well hemmed in with not a great deal of tie up space. It was nice to see the ride so well supported though and have such a bustle and busy atmosphere.

As soon as we had unloaded I noticed Spice was much calmer here than at Kings Forest. He and Roo both settled into their haynets at the trailer and before long we were off to vetting.

At Kings, Spice was incredibly fussy about having his HR taken and even just standing still to be assessed by the vet. It was so lovely to see how his confidence had blossomed and he stood perfectly still to have his HR taken this time and be felt all over by the vet. I was so proud of him.

He trotted up beautifully too and the vet even commented on what a smart trot up he did. All the random vetting practice I’ve done at home clearly has paid off. Roo was also a good boy for vetting and so it was a quick tack up and off we went.

Leaving the venue was drama free, both boys were relaxed and attentive – it was lovely and I felt so calm and happy. Like all the months that I’d been worrying about this were actually unfounded.

When we got to the photographer I felt a bit sad that he was so soon into the ride. I really wanted to get a canter photo, to show our progression from Kings, but we just hadn’t got going enough at this point to canter on – next time! As it happened, I think the official photo shows just how lovely and relaxed we were as a partnership at this point. A lovely free moving and attentive trot <3

Shortly after this is when everything went quite horribly wrong. For those of you that haven’t ridden at Lion’s Tail it’s a really wonderful ride with lots of headland and grass cover and you go around the margins of HUGE fields. It’s really lovely but also you can see a lot of horses on the horizon around you which for some horses I guess could be a bit exciting.

As we turned into a new field we noticed a couple of horses off-route where they had taken a wrong turn. It ended up that they were cantering on the other side of the hedge coming towards us whilst we were trotting on the actual route. Spice had his eyes on stalks and was really unsure but bless him just kept moving forward whilst we passed each other on either side of the hedge.

Ahead of us there was an organised running race taking place too. You couldn't see them because they were behind the hedge but you could hear all their trainers smattering along the road. We’re talking hundred of runners here…

We continued on and before long the first lost rider was upon us and wanting to overtake. Which of course we said no problem, because we’d already been overtaken quite a few times at this point into the ride. However, the rider cantered past which Spice found unnerving. He tried to leap and began going sideways.

Because of our accident I try to keep a contact all the time so that he can’t actually get his head between his knees and have any opportunity to rodeo. Luckily I had my reins bridged at this point so he couldn’t really go anywhere or do anything more than launch around a bit but it was all a forward motion, he just wanted to go with this other horse.

After a few moments of silliness he took a hold of the bit and bolted. Blind bolted. He stuck his head up and just ran through the bridle. It was so scary. For me it’s just the worst and most horrible feeling of anything a horse can do to you. You are just a helpless passenger on top.

Thankfully I shouted to the rider ahead to please stop and she did hear me so we were able to pull up. Only because she had though, if she’d carried on I would have too, there was absolutely no chance of me stopping otherwise.

In the 2 + years of owning Spice he’s never bolted or shown any signs of even being particularly strong, so it was really unsettling. Pheobe caught up with us and then we tried to just move forward but Spice was beside himself. We were now going alongside the hedge that the runners were on the other side of. There were horses behind, horses in front. Trigger stacking overload – he’d lost his mind.

He was launching himself any which way he could. Backwards, sideways – really any direction he just didn’t know how to handle the situation. Whilst I was on and keeping my reins bridged I knew it was only a matter of time before I would eventually become unseated because it was getting bigger not smaller so in a small window of opportunity I managed to emergency dismount.

Once on the ground I saw just upset he was. He was a white lather all over his body. So foamy he looked like he’d just run the Grand National – twice. He continued to throw his body weight around on the ground including pulling us both through a ditch.

Despite all the madness and sheer danger of the situation I felt that there wasn’t actually any malice in any of it. He didn’t kick me (despite having ample opportunity to do so) and he didn’t bite me, or stand on my foot and actually I didn’t get injured. Whether this was luck more than skill I don’t know but I just felt sorry for him. We needed to get out of this field, away from the runners and so many horses around and just let him process it all. He just needed a moment.

Thankfully, and this is said with the more sincerity it’s ever been said before, the route exited the field possibly only 5 mins after this. We had to cross the road (through the runners) through 15m or so of trees before entering the next field. This break from the danger field, then actually getting to see the runners and understand what all the commotion had been, and then entering a new field gave Spice the moment he needed. He actually took a breath and was able to walk forward relatively sensibly.

Amazingly Roo was a saint throughout all of this and was such a calming and reassuring influence. Pheobe also kept on giving me words of encouragement and kept saying ‘shoulders back’, ‘breathe’ and saying ‘well sat’ haha.

Once into the new field and no horses in sight Pheobe told me I needed to get back on. I so wasn’t ready but I knew that if we were going to complete this ride I would have to get back on at some point and probably the sooner the better since there were horses not that far behind us and I wasn’t ready to be overtaken again so soon.

To Spice’s credit and I guess credit to the hours of mounting practice I have done, he stood still for me to get on despite still showing the whites of his eyes. Once my bum was in the saddle he started fussing again but I just put my leg on and rode forward. I counted my diagonals out loud to focus my mind on something, changing every five.

Once we had trotted all of 500m we both started to settle and I knew that the first crew point wasn’t too far along from this field. I said to Pheobe that worst case scenario we could stop at the crew point to let the next horses behind us go and then carry on after that. Cameron was there and would be able to ground Spice if needed.

At the crew point I used three sloshes just to wash all the foam off him. He of course was too wound up to even consider having a drink and really didn’t want to stand still either.

The horses behind us seemingly had slowed down as we were ready to go with no sight of them. I was petrified that they would come up behind us in the next field but Pheobe reassured me that if we just kept trotting we would maintain the gap.

After 10-15mins more I started to relax again, Spice was being uncharacteristically strong as we could still see lots of horses on the horizon but he was at least just going forward in a straight line.

Over the course of the next 7km or so we got more into our stride and by the time we made it back to the crew point I was feeling relatively confident again.

Not too much further, perhaps 12km or so into the ride at this point, Pheobe gave me a little side-eye and nudged Roo into a canter. I sooo wasn’t ready. But she wasn’t giving in, no words were spoken – she was just grinning and I knew that she was just going to keep cantering until we did too. I did the quietest little squeeze and took hold of my breastplate incase he was going to turn into a rodeo pony again but thankfully he did the sweetest and most honest uphill transition into a lovely canter for a really nice stretch.

Relief. After this I think I took my first big breath and realized we were going to be fine. From there on we pretty much cantered the rest of the ride. We took it in turns to lead and we overtook people as well as being overtaken ourselves. We were like kids in a sweetie shop, grinning from ear to ear as we cantered to our hearts content.

Spice was still really forward and strong, and really taking a lean on the bit which he’s never done before. But I kind of liked it! He actually showed some aptitude for racing. Yes – this horse can move!

It was the most cantering we’ve ever done and it was ground covering, efficient and balanced. He felt amazing! And he maintained it right to the end of the ride – it was exciting!

(He’s currently in a very mild, Eggbutt snaffle with a lozenge. I don’t want to desensitize his mouth by changing this at home as there’s really no need but I do think I need something a bit stronger for competitions now. I’ve been suggested transitioning to a barrel instead of a lozenge and then going for a thinner 10mm bit but sticking to an Eggbutt which sounds like it could be a good intermediate change – I just wonder if it’s going to be strong enough?)

Anyway, through to the finish we walked in the last bit so that we wouldn’t have to work hard on cooling. It was a reasonably cool day anyway so we just sponged them clean rather than really cooling them and after 10mins or so we decided to go to vet.

A final HR of 47 for Spice and 45 for Roo. Both trotted up really well and finished with two grade 2s.

I was really happy. The story of Lion’s Tail could have ended very differently but actually the overall feeling is that once again we have strengthened our partnership. I’m more confident that I can stay on him and manage his outburst, I also know more about what triggers him and in turn I think he has learned to trust me that bit more that’s it is going to be okay.

My biggest take home though is that he is actually going to be a fun race prospect after all. I just need to work on channeling that energy a bit more and that will come both with time and practice anyway.

Now to decide whether to enter him for Poplar Park (40km GER) or not. I’m in two minds, leave it there and work on some dressage over the winter and start fresh in the spring. Or strike whilst the iron is hot and reaffirm being overtaken and overtaking others by going to a ride. Of course, I can also go to some pleasure rides over the winter to practice these things too. Thoughts on a postcard please!