MEET THE HORSES!! | Voiceover | C. Dunc

Hi guys so this video - as you can see from the title - is going to be a meet the horses video, so I’m going to tell you a little bit about all the horses that I ride. I’m only doing the five main horses that I personally ride, but of course there’s cuddles who clearly I’m not going cantering around the countryside on, Dexter, Dodger, Beauty and Rosie who are all lovely ponies but who i don’t really ride that often. Also, important thing to note, I am getting a cold so my voice sounds like this. I’m sorry, deal with it! So yeah, without further ado let’s get into the video and anybody who goes to my yard, if I get any of these facts wrong please correct me! So first up is the lovely Smurf! Smurf is 16 years old and he is 13.2 chestnut new forest gelding. Smurf certainly has a lot of character, and he can test your patience with his rather annoying habit of stopping, but once he’s going he’s an absolute superstar pony.

Smurf was actually the main horse 01:03 - that I rode when I first came to the yard in 2016, so he taught me a lot as I transitioned from lazy riding school ponies to slightly trickier and quite a lot speedier ponies. Smurf is a very fun little boy and is capable of pretty much anything. He took me for my first beach ride, my first show, helped me massively in improving my jumping, and taught me a lot about sitting bucks and how to deal with pony tantrums! I’m now getting a bit big for Smurf, so I don’t ride him as often as I used to, but I still love him, even though he can be very testing ride at times! So next up is Lily! Lily is a 13.2 welsh section C who is now 20 years old, so she’s getting on a bit now! Lily is an absolute star - she’s quite a tricky ride in the school because she loves her jumping and will gallop at a jump as soon as she spots it, but once you’ve adjusted to her, she’s such a superstar and will jump pretty much anything. She’s also great on hacks and is often the horse that stays calm-ish while the others get excited, although she can leap and rear she gets told she can’t do something that she really wants to do! Lily is a brilliant pony and she’s currently refusing to let her age slow her down.

02:14 - She does take longer to get her breath back after canters, and struggles up some of the bigger hills on our hacking routes, but if you try to slow her down she won’t let you! She is still happily competing at pony club to this day, and I imagine will be doing so for a while longer yet! So next up is the ultimate schoolmaster: Misty! Misty is a 13.3 grey cob mare and she’s an absolute superstar - I know I’m saying this about literally every horse, but she is amazing! Misty has been doing pony club alongside Lily for a few years now, so she’s had lots of schooling and is very experienced at competitions and lessons, so she’s an amazing teacher. Misty can also be quite a challenge out on hacks as she can get quite strong, but ridden well, she will settle nicely and jumping is definitely her forte! I did my first cross-country sponsored ride on Misty, and she was great at showing me the ropes but also challenging me so i didn’t just sit there and let her get on with it! Misty is just a great all-rounder: she can teach less experienced riders safely, as well as being a bit of a challenge and fun for the more experienced riders! Next up is Smartie! Now Smartie’s actually not at the yard anymore, but I thought I’d include him in this video, just because I rode him so much while he was at the yard, and he was the main pony that was featured here on my channel. So, Smartie is a 15HH skewbald sport pony I believe. Smartie is just one of those horses who you can love one minute, and really not love the next.

Most of the time he was a star, and his jumping really developed 03:50 - while he was at our yard, and involved in lessons and everything. He was also amazing on the beach and on the vast majority of our hacks together, he was really nice to steady up and didn’t kick up too much of a fuss if you held him back from the others, or when he was waiting for the jumps. At the same time though, he could certainly throw a huge buck! He didn’t do this too often, but it was often when he got frustrated in the school if the horse in front went for a canter and he had to wait his turn, or if he got a bit over excited - a bit like at the Christmas games! Eventually the yard did sell him on because he was just one of those horses that doesn’t cope very well with all the different riders riding him, with different levels of experience and capabilities. He is now doing very well at his lovely new home and has discovered a talent for dressage! So, last but not least it’s the bubbly bean! Treasure is a 15.3 thoroughbred cross who is actually the biggest horse at the yard, but she is also the biggest wuss sometimes.

If there’s 04:48 - something to spook at, Treasure will probably be the one speaking at it, although she has got a million times better since she first got to the yard. Treasure can be quite a handful to ride and did take quite a bit of getting used to. She’s really quite sensitive to any sort of pressure from the reins and your seat but occasionally she’ll just decide that she does not want to go, and another horse will have to lead her, meaning that she will then get frustrated because she was being stubborn and now she’s not in front! Once you’ve gotten the hang of riding her though, Treasure is an absolute angel and is really responsive to your seat. She has a very adjustable canter, which is very nice if you feel like going slower, or just don’t want to gallop! From a ridden perspective, Treasure is a million times better than she used to be, thanks to schooling and consistent riding, and she is sure to improve even more as she starts doing pony club. So, those are all the horses and ponies that I will be speaking about in this video, I really hope you’ve enjoyed it and have learnt something about each of them.

05:48 - If you have any questions about the horses or ponies or anything, please leave them in the comments and I’ll try my best to answer them! Once again, I hope you enjoyed this video and if you did, feel free to like and subscribe if you haven’t done so already! Bye!.