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PythonPonyPalaces
MOD This Barn was viewed 214,569 times
Best Rank
1
| Best Jump
105"
| Winnings
2,000,426,229
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PonyBox News Trending
On 22 August 2010 I attended a small practice jumping show. After entering my young horse, Moonfire, in the 60cm and 70cm class I took him home to fetch my brilliant little pony, Tempest, for a friend of mine to ride. Th ...
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At every show, without fail, we will see some tiny kid chucked up on the million dollar showjumping pony that Daddy dearest smashed his piggy bank to buy, and 9 out of ten times, little Sally or Mary-Sue will be sitting on the poor critter with a bit that looks like it could stop ...
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“Bolting when I get on. He's as good as gold on the ground, but when I mount, he bombs off before I've had the chance to get my stirrups or tighten my girth. This morning, my saddle slipped and I fell off, because he didn't give me time to adjust it, so it's getting dangerous. He ...
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This is the first article in my new series, ‘Ask Polo’. In this series, I will be addressing equine problems mentioned by players, and giving suggestions to assist in solving their problems in article format.
Today’s problem was posed by Ponybox player ‘Bright Horizon’. ...
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Finola’s rehabilitation process was a long one. Weeks upon weeks of roadwork to strengthen her tendons and build muscles, and still weeks more of gentle schooling until she was ready to really hit the flatwork hard. At the beginning of the year, Finola had come back relatively un ...
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When I first started this scheme, I set two goals for myself: Jump a single jump at 1,20m backwards, and complete a low course backwards. I also considered trying a small course at a local practise show if I could find a venue to allow it.
My next challenge to tackle was a low ...
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What was my revolutionary idea, you ask? Well, it came to me one day when I was riding with a friend, without the supervision of either my mother or my instructor, as usual. I decided that if I was going to try riding backwards, I ought to take extra safety precautions. But what ...
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Let me begin with a note to any of you who scorn this idea: I first got this idea from seeing a photo of Rodrgio Pessoa, an undeniably brilliant rider, trying the exact same stunt: Jumping his horse backwards. It isn’t just some harebrained scheme I concocted on my own.
Next, ...
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Who is Olop, you ask? Well, that is my new nickname for Polo. Read on, and I daresay the reason will soon become clear.
Those of you who know me will surely know that I am somewhat ‘lacking’ in the sanity division. In fact, at times I wonder if I have any sense of self preserv ...
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In this article, I will providing definitions for what our commands mean to the young horses we’re trying to train. This article is for entertainment purposes only.
What you say: "Bad horse."
What he hears: "Excellent work today, my valiant steed! You’ve carried out all my in ...
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In the previous articles, we discussed Moony’s rearing problem, a rider’s usual approach to a rear, and how to correctly approach a rear. To sum up, when your horse rears, you do not want to make a big issue out of it – because that is what will lodge it in his memory. You want t ...
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I did my best to avoid the instances that encouraged rearing – but if you look above, you’ll see that it’s quite a list, and that there are many aspects that you just CAN’T avoid when riding a competitive horse. The main thing I did with him, is kept all my sessions short, but ef ...
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It all started around November 2011 – I couldn’t tell you what caused it. Sometimes there is no cause – young horses are constantly going through phases, which are seldom triggered by anything at all – and this was just one of Moony’s phases.
At the time, his flatwork had come ...
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Carrot ownership laws.
1. If it belongs to your rider, it is yours.
2. If your rider wants to give it to another horse, it is yours.
3. If it is in a bucket, it is yours.
4. If you like buckets, that is yours, too.
5. If there is another horse's head in the bucket - that is ...
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Those of you who event, or know somebody who events, will surely agree with me when I say that the sport defies all logic. It’s like trying to take a convertible around a 4X4 track, or going skydiving using a plastic packet as a parachute. It is completely nonsensical, no matter ...
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Anybody who has done showing must know that you can’t be completely sane to choose to wake up at 4AM, and work for a good three hours getting your horse to look its best for a few boring minutes, just so that somebody else can judge it. There is absolutely no chance that it is wo ...
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It was toward the end of 2006 that Bronze started graded jumping. I managed to convince him that he could in fact keep more than one hoof off the ground at any one time, and he began to jump his fences properly, rather than stepping over them. Unfortunately, with this improvement ...
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He was nearly five years old now – a late age to geld – so he was left with the thick neck and muscular build of a stallion, which of course was delightful. He was always an eye-catching horse, and attracted attention wherever I took him. Many people stubbornly refused to believe ...
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Fill a plastic bottle with stones, and shake it. This, according to our neighbour, would make Bronze ‘Go’. So, the next day I mounted Bronze – bottle in hand – and hoped desperately for results. I booted him into a walk, then tried to make him trot. When he wouldn’t, I raised the ...
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With the horses, we were given some old poles, tools, a wheelbarrow and a hay feeder – just a few useful items to help us out with building paddocks and looking after the horses. The same groom who led me around on Bronze also came along, and became our groom – and a truly fantas ...
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I looked into his gentle brown eyes, and I knew that I had found my horse. Or rather, I suppose, that he had found me.
This was my first meeting with Bronze. My mother was besotted with him from the second she saw him, so we hurried to Alfie’s office to ask who the stallion wa ...
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Suddenly, from amongst the herd of stallions, one came charging toward me. He was a huge, bright bay creature – standing at least a hand over any of the others, and double the size of most in bulk. He hardly seemed like a Thoroughbred at all.
Seeing this tank of a horse bearin ...
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So you all remember the stories of Polo, Choc and Finola, and I’m sure you’ve all been thinking "But what about Bronze? Doesn’t Bronze also deserve a story?"
Yes, he does. This is a story I have been planning to write for well over a year – but I have been biding my time and w ...
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I closed my legs around her sides, waiting for the beautiful feeling of harmony I’d felt over the two previous jumps.
At the last minute, Finola seemed to lose heart, and she slammed on brakes. She skidded into the base of the jump – hocks nearly touching the ground – and ende ...
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On the way to the dressage arena, he was rather excited by the unfamiliar atmosphere. He considered spooking at the dressage letters, but decided that watching them warily would work just as well – since I decided not to let him behave like a silly baby-horse.
We trotted up to ...
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On 5 March 2011, I caught my Moon-horse, and tossed him into the horsebox beside my tank of a Bronze-horse for his first dressage competition.
Both horses traveled well, as they always do – good boys. Thus, we arrived in good time for our dressage – early for once – and all re ...
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I stabilized my lower leg to get my hands looser and softer and keep my balance in my seat, then rode Moony up and down the hills again. He was certainly more forward and eager uphill now that I was riding properly, but still hesitating on the downhill.
So I set my weight back ...
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On 26 February 2011, there was an open day at one of the nicest show venues in the Province, and also one of the few that is never available to rent for public use – it is used for shows only, as is the rule. Thus, it was a great opportunity to go here and jump the cross country ...
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On 17 February 2011, I began preparing Moony for his eventing debut. After his Third Place in his first jumping show of the year, I decided it was time for him to start eventing and see if he couldn’t achieve similar results.
We boxed Moony and Bronze to a nearby venue that we ...
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After these fantastic results, we faced our first hint of a problem. I felt a strange choppiness in Finola’s stride, and suddenly placing her became difficult. The stride I saw didn’t seem quite as good as before, but Finola still made a plan and kept jumping, though perhaps not ...
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Have you ever taken a moment at a show, to pause before entering the warm up? Do you ever look into that deadly hornets’ nest of an arena and think, 'Holy doughnuts, I’m going to get crushed in there!' If you haven’t – good for you – but those of us with any sense of self preserv ...
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