Sunday Stories Shared - @that.irish.bay
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"I wanted to share the story of me and my pony to inspire people to never give up!
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Our journey began on the 16th of October 2015 when I was looking for a pony to buy. My mum and I went to view Benny. As soon as we met him, we both fell in love. When I tried him out, he was perfect and I felt like we had an instant connection.
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Soon after, Benny arrived at our stables. When he came off the horse box, he was dripping with sweat and very worked up. This was unexpected as he had only come from five minutes down the road. We let him settle in for a few days before I rode him. During those few days, any horse he was put in the field with he would corner and kick so he had to be put into his own paddock.
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As I was spending more time with him, I discovered that he was quite a nervous pony. He was head shy and unsure if you went near him, but the main thing was he didn't seem to want to eat! I would sit for hours trying to encourage him to eat but for the next few weeks the only thing he would eat was chopped up carrots.
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It was about 3 days since he had arrived that I decided it was time for our first ride.
When i first got on him he was very fresh, but that is understandable as he was somewhere new. However, after 30 minutes of riding him I got off of him and just cried. He was the opposite to how he was when I tried him out. I lunged him for a few days and then began attempted to ride him again, however he was constantly trying to throw me off.
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We had his back checked, his teeth checked, everything checked, and everything was absolutely fine so we knew that it was a behaviour problem. It got to a stage where he was biting, kicking and always trying to throw me off. He was constantly bucking and rearing, it was horrible!
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In 2017 it got to the point where I was petrified of him. I didn't want to catch him from the field and I didn't want to ride him. He got a bad name at my stables because other people tried to ride him and he would throw them off. I was the girl with the nutty pony. This made me determined to get back on and overcome my fears of him.
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For hours each day, I would try my best to stay calm and go and catch him. It worked for a few days until he bit me really hard. I thought I was going to have to sell him, but people kept saying I was going to get no where with him and this made me defensive of him and determined to make him the pony I knew he could be.
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I had a long hard think, trying to understand where and why he behaved as he did. We don't know for sure, but we thought he could have been badly treated in his past. Whether this was true or not, good came out of me thinking in this way as it helped me to look at his behaviour from another point of view, I felt like I could understand him more and was determined to prove everyone wrong about us.
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It took a good 8 months to a year to get fully confident riding him again and to trust him. We now love doing show jumping and cross country.
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He is still naughty, but that's just him and I love his little attitude. He really is a one in a million pony. I am so happy that I never gave up on him because what we've gone through together is what has made us strong. I have now moved yards and Benny loves all his new mates and he is one happy little pony!
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I wanted to share my story to help anyone else that might think it's only them going through a tough time with their horse, sometimes you can feel so out your depth and it's very daunting. Don't give up, stay determined. Dedication and hard work is key and it does pay off."
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Thank you to @that.irish.bay for your story!
Click here to view their Instagram and meet us back here next week for another shared story...
Click here to view their Instagram and meet us back here next week for another shared story...
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