Busy Time Over Christmas for Oliver

Well Xmas Eve we did have a wee incident, just got on Oliver in arena and he got a fright, hadn't had a chance to do girth up, he bucked a few times, more once he realised the saddle was slipping and I fell/jumped off. Bad day..... BUT he's been great ever since, he was a bit fresh that day as he had 2 days off so now he is getting stabled every night, much better as now it's all about me being his best friend and he doesn't worry so much about my other two horses in the paddock next door.
He got jumped at home on Saturday and lets just say he was keen and a bit cocky, i think maybe the x country schooling confused him.....
So went to a showjumping show on Sunday, he loaded straight on my float and travelled like an angel, it was really good to get him out by himself, I got there, paid my entry for 3 rounds, she told me i better be quick as there were only 6 riders in the 2 classes before my class so I tacked him up and rode over there, well 2 and 1/2 hours later I got to do my round of showjumping.... yes, I kid you not!! As I was struggling to get near the practice fence because Oliver was PETRIFIED of the 10hh paint pony with the little kid on top hooning everywhere and constantly whipping it we went straight in, came up to first jump and whoops jumped from a standstill. Flew around after that, was attentive and listening what a star.... Oliver and I decided we'd been on for a long time and didn't want to wait another 3 hours for our other two rounds so loaded straight on the float again and went home.... All in all a good day, we are really going places!! Maybe just might borrow my friends 12hh pony to graze with him for a few days.

Cross Country

21st December we went to Whitford PC to go cross country schooling, Oliver was pretty tired as we had gone on a hack Saturday along bridle paths and down to Whitford beach but he did get into it once he got the idea. Let me tell you, this horse has no issues with Water jumps which is a change from my last, we had a little disagreement about a little green box, he jumped it straight off the first time and jumped in HUGE and then did a big buck afterwards. Think he gave himself a bit of a fright and he didn't want to jump it again after that but as usual me being stubborn he jumped it after about 3 stops but we jumped more spookier things than that and he flew everything, ditches, banks, big concrete pipes!! Decided he was a little too tired to load on the truck on the way home though..... but convinced him to get in, what a big week for Oliver, lucky Christmas is coming and I will try to take him on more treks.

First Outing

On the 18th December we went to our first outing, yes i know, good old me dropping Oliver in the deepend, no lessons or anything for first trip in truck, straight into it!! So on Cass's truck to Abderry Oliver went, had a little sweat up by the time he got there but when i got there from work he was standing happily tied up to the truck.

So we got tacked up and were away, a few little "I don't want to leave my friends and the truck" hiccups and we were there, in the open, with loud speakers and music playing, wow!! So we went in the practice arena and trotted round full speed looking everywhere and then we did our round of showjumping, Oliver was great, so good i decided to go up the top to the big jumps warm up area, flew over those jumps and then we were walking around on a long rein, I couldn't have asked for a better first outing.

Settled in

Well he's settled in pretty well, only shock so far is he bit me and man it hurt!! Wasn't expecting Greg to take these photos as you can tell by my attire and the gear, will put some flash one's on soon but he's pretty cute for his 3rd ride. Trimmed his tail, still got mane to go, he's a hairy fellow and i'm pretty sure bigger than 16hh, he's a monster all round but loves attention and cuddles so we are starting to bond. He's fun to ride and has a huge trot and tries pretty hard.

The buying process

After answering ads about 10 times a day i found something that sounded promising that said "open to offers" well, i thought we would be in completely different ball park but i made my offer without even seeing this horse (this was a first for me) and it was accepted. I nearly fell off my chair. So now I was arranging transport from Waipukurau for my new horse, oh and hmmmm i forgot to ask his name!! Oliver, well that looked fitting from the photos, so he was coming up on Friday. I brought him off these photos and this description. Scott thought this was a good sign as he is from there so he is OUR new horse, fun times that we both have an invested interest in him.

"Coleraine Monarch, out of TB mare by Coalmans Touch (pure I.D.)
Measured today at 16hh. 5 yrs old.
He was purchased as a weanling by an eager English family who wanted their daughter to be a professional rider, he was eventually broken in at Abderry and came back to the girl who had unfortunately by then discovered drugs. He was turned out for a year, and then we took him on for them but have found ourselves overcommitted.
He is a real pet, always meet you at the gate, travels like a gem, we have hacked him out with company (he’s happy to lead) jumped logs and played in the river. Other than that he’s green."