Fascinating

Well I should be doing housework but I switched on the telly and Edwardian farm was on.  Absolutely amazing they have taken a wild pony of Dartmoor and brought over an American horse whisperer to tame it. He has taken it from wild to putting his weight over its back in one lesson.  Christopher has tamed two horses himself and he also takes a gentle approach with lots of ground work but this was amazing.  Some ideas to try with my miniature ponies in the spring.  Although they are too small for us to ride I would like to get them tame so small children could have a ride on them.  Christopher says that since the ponies have been marked they are a lot quieter.

Shaun on Sambo (tamed by Christopher)

I used to ride Sambo when he was a young horse.  Christopher would ride him out on a gather to take the edge of him then I would ride him home.  Because the gathers on the large farms were so big I would take a horse, Christopher would take a horse and he would lead two spares.  He would always ride the two he had tamed first because I can not sit a horse that might decide to stretch its legs.  This particular day we were riding home at the end of a long gather back into Port Louis settlement.  We were riding at quite a lick because it had been a long day and the day was drawing to an end.  I was on Sambo and he was behaving nicely when one of Christophers dogs ran under his belly.  One of my biggest problems was I always rode with box stirrups, these are like a safety stirrup and your foot can not go through them.  Sambo got a fright and bucked, not hard but we were going down hill and I shot  forward up his neck, this frightened him even more but I was still on but my feet were already out of the stirrups and I couldnt get back.  Of course he bucked again and I was hanging down over his neck, still holding on but I remember thinking you will have to let go, you cant get back, so I let go and ended up in a heap on the ground.  Sambo just stood and looked but he never forgot.  I never rode him again for many years but the day I decided to ride him again he must have picked up that I was nervous and two bucks and he had me back on the ground.


Humbug & Curly Wurly the miniature ponies