Waterford Estate: Mack

Yesterday I reached a milestone in mine and Mack's partnership - we went for our first ride together. Jeanette and I went up to Onewhero where our horses have been learning about how to be riding horses for the past couple of months. We had made an appointment to meet Sue Rudler from Saddle4you there to fit saddles so we decided it was a good idea to go up a bit early and go for a test drive.

Before we got started on our young horses, I rode Zack, a cute little Appaloosa who belongs to Dave while Jeanette rode Javago in the round yard. This gave us a feel for what Dave's cues were for stopping, starting, turning and going faster and slower. Once Dave was happy that we'd understood his way of riding, it was time for the young horses.

I was first up on Mack. I was a wee bit nervous, especially as he was quite a bit taller than anything I've been riding over the last couple of months but I had nothing to worry about. Dave legged me up and then walked with me for a couple of circles, then sent me out on my own around the round pen. We did some walking, stopping and turning. Mack was brilliant. Then it was some time for trot. Dave warned me that he has a very bouncy trot so not to let it catch me unawares. He was quite surprised when he first rode him as it was quite unexpected. And boy was it a bouncy trot! It didnt' help so much that the saddle I was riding in put me in an awful position and made me feel very insecure. Not what you want when you are riding a freshly broken horse.

Nevertheless we did some trot circles. Then it was time to canter. I was nervous as anything as going into canter and very tense which didn't help. Mack's canter was rather big as well which to begin with was a bit scary, but once I started to relax and sit back it was fine. We didn't ride for too long as Mack has been a bit sore with an abscess and only just starting to come right.

Once I was done it was Jeanette's turn on Diarnimo, her young Donnerwind Colt. He was really good as well, and just as she was finishing up Sue arrived so it was saddle fitting time. She had brought down quite a few saddles to try. We found a Jaguar saddle that was a really good fit, and there was also an Albion K2 that was OK. I decided to ride in the Jaguar saddle despite having reservations about the colour.

The second ride on Mack in the Jaguar saddle was completely different. I felt a hundred times more secure in my seat and so I relaxed a whole lot more and got some lovely trot and canter work in. Mack also relaxed and we just cruised around the round pen. I was so stoked! I decided that even though the colour of the saddle wasn't quite what I was after, I was going to buy it as I felt like I was glued to Mack and I felt very safe in it. What more could I want?

All in all it was a very successful day. Jeanette took Diarnimo home as he was more than ready, but Mack is staying up at Dave's for another couple of weeks. His foot isn't quite right yet so he's missed a week or so of work, and Dave feels he needs another week of work before he's unleashed on me. I'm more than happy to have him up there as its all good education. I'll probably go up at the end of next week for another ride and go from there.