Gogo goes going gone

So what I really wanted to do with this post's title was something along the lines of "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." But. Idk, guess my well of literary genius has runneth dry lol.

pony playing coy

Regardless, the whole point here is: another day, another lesson at OF, and another new face. And it's another chestnut!! Apparently, aside from my brief (tho intense) fling with Bali the Bay, I'm pegged as a chestnut kinda gal.

i <3 full sized horses

This week's lesson mate is Gogo, a chromey ~10yr old ottb who I believe has also done some timber racing. He was a real treat too - as he's not actually a lesson horse at OF, rather he's privately owned. But trainer P worked her magic to get me the opportunity to ride him. Apparently she got the idea while I was riding Wick a couple weeks ago?

sunburnt noses need love too!

Gogo was a real sweetie too - super laid back in your pocket type. He has some very legit schooling under his belt too, so I was eager to hop on for a try.

still cute despite the smudged mirror

Alas, OF was planning for the recognized event the following day and we were therefore relegated to the tiny indoor. In years past, they have run stadium out in a grass field, leaving our lesson arena untouched. But I guess this year is different. Womp womp.

cute brown blur!

It was fine tho. I basically had the lesson to myself - only sharing the arena with the tiniest of little ponies (seriously - if you only watch the video for one reason, let it be because you want to see that tiny freakin adorable little Shetland!).

one day when i can ride more than 1-2x per week hopefully my position will improve? maybe?

For various reasons, Gogo has been more or less out of work for about three months, and is a touch out of shape. So we kept things easy enough for him. The flat work was really interesting to me. He feels like a type of ride that I understand and can work with, but he didn't give anything away for free.

big horse doesn't have much compression lol

The biggest priority with him is getting him FORWARD. He was pretty good off my legs, but would kinda peter out if I wasn't vigilant. Plus, I noticed that if he wasn't really moving forward from his hind end we'd get some pretty noticeable head wagging.

no problem just cantering over the fences instead of jumping tho!

The canter was interesting too as he's lacking some strength behind and struggles to sit or tuck his hind end up under himself. So there's a certain degree of fishtailing. And when he gets unbalanced he sometimes gets a little bolt-y. But again - the answer there was forward. More forward. Always.

"wheeee run go fast!" - Gogo

The jumping stayed super simple, due to being in the indoor. And it being balls hot. And the horse being unfit. Ya know. Lots of little details. It was enlightening tho. We just worked on trainer P's favorite exercise: one stride grids.

And let me tell ya: this horse is a very straight forward ride. I know I always said that Isabel was not complicated... And, well. She isn't. But just bc the answer is known doesn't mean it's easy to get to. Whereas with Gogo, it felt a little more attainable. Horsie jumps the jumps!

video here

(try not to die of cuteness at that teensy tiny pony!)

Big key here was staying soft with my hands and supportive with my legs. Nothing groundbreaking there. The grid was kinda tricky bc Gogo is kinda derpy and doesn't do much in the way of adjusting, since he basically doesn't pay attention to small fences... Given that the fences were set at 18" distances... well, it occasionally felt a little awkward.

hacks out like a champ tho

We got a couple nice shots through tho, and a few more, uh, educational as well. The oxer grew to 3' and honestly the horse was still just loping over it. My position was a straight up shambles bc I am so used to Isabel's round, back-cracking jump - and Gogo basically gave these fences zero effort.

novice bending line - looks like fun!

That had the beneficial effect of making the jumps feel tiny and totally inconsequential to me too - always a welcome feeling (as opposed to cold sweats and trepidation over a 2' fence lol, something I'm keenly familiar with...).

b element from the bending line. i've jumped the a before, but not this b

All the same tho, I was sorry to not try actual coursework with Gogo. Somehow I suspect he's a different kind of ride in wider open spaces going through full courses, rather than the stop-and-start of grids in the small indoor.

sweet pony was very ready to be done lol

So I've got my fingers crossed to be able to give him another try soon. OF usually keeps the course set up for a while after the recognized event - and of course there are semi-permanent jumps out there too. Perhaps our lessons will take us out xc sometime soon?

freshly renovated water and banks complex

Anyway tho, after we finished the ride, trainer P encouraged us to hack out around the cross country field. Which, obviously we had to do. They've worked hard to refurbish a lot of existing jumps, and replaced or updated a full 50% of what was out there.

new trakehners and hanging logs!

And obviously it was very interesting to see how different the jumps (many of which I've tackled previously with Isabel) looked from tall Gogo's back. Verdict? It all looked quite enticing!

happy horses hacking out

Plus it was cool to just get him out of the ring and see how he behaved. I like to know the horses I ride entirely - even if I only ever ride them once. I like to know if they spook, or if they enjoy hacking out. Whether they can lead or if they are herd bound.

gosh i just love full sized horses

Gogo turned out to be quite the pleasant hack horse too. He had one spook (near some woods and he basically just took a couple sideways steps then stopped) but otherwise was fine on the buckle. He is just *super* laid back.

cute ponies!

It was kinda adorable too - my lesson mate was on Noel, and it turns out Noel and Gogo belong to the same family. Kinda funny how that works out lol. I really have liked both of these horses tho so perhaps that family is onto something!

very handsome :)

So even tho it's kinda frustrating to feel like I'm "restarting" in some ways with every new ride on a different horse, I'm really enjoying the experience and variety. And Gogo in particular felt like a type of ride right up my alley - but still feeling like he has plenty to teach me. Fingers crossed I'll get another opportunity!!