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Ridiculously late (how did I miss this?) 
To you & lovely pony!
Look at him, all BTDT! 
& What a beeyooteefull barn to have a sleepover 
Will you drive him as well as ride?
Seeing him makes me wish Iād kept up with restarting my now-24yo Hackney in harness.
Though he was never broke to ride & both of us are too old for that rodeo now 
ETA:
Ooops. I re-read & saw you mentioned linedriving him.
For future: Drive On!
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He is so cute! If he goes missing, definitely donāt come looking hereā¦
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Iām in love as much as you! And yeah, thatās one nice resort heās staying in.
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We got back from our āresortā late last night. Topper was a star every time I went to ride him, we were there for 4 days and I was able to ride 3 of those days. I even stopped lunging him after the first day as he was so ho hum and doesnāt have the stamina yet, so I didnāt want to overdo it or overwhelm him when he was being so good. I even changed the game the last day and brought him in after an hour of turnout to see what he would be like getting ready in the barn alone and then being ridden in the indoor with horses still outside. Not a peep or look out of him. Quiet and brave the whole time even when the sun started to stream in and create light/shadows on the ground and on the jumps, he took a little look but no spooking.
I was really shocked on how well he behaved there and settled in so quickly - he was a stallion up until last September and he literally lived in a paddock his whole life alone. Very minimal handling and when we got him in November, he was so scared of everything and was learning how to go in a stall for the nights and how to handle a group turnout at almost 4 years old. So I was expecting some sort of nervousness or retaliation of going back to individual turnout and coming back into a stall from 3pm to 7am. Plus he was in an area by himself in his stall and could just barley see the other horses, but not one peep from him, and he settled right away like heās been there his whole life. He did run around like a mad man for the first hour of his turnout, but settled after that and never ran around again.
He has been living out 24/7 at our place as the weather so far is nice (for the summer months) with my 3 other ponies. I usually start to bring in at night as soon as it becomes muddy and theres no good place for them to sleep/stay out of the mud. So far we have been lucky and no mud, so he is back to living out for now, but I will start to bring in at the end of this month no matter what. I hope to bring him to an indoor from Dec-April so I want to make sure he used to that routine again.
Our plan is to drive him but I hate saying this (its not usually something I EVER say) but heās almost too nice of a pony to drive. My husband always retaliates with a ādriving people need nice ponies too!!ā - (which I donāt disagree with) and Iām sure thats the reason that BRPās are not usually driving ponies in the UK (in fact I donāt know of any pure BRPās that drive - but Iām not sure if its that they donāt have the mind for it or the $ is too high for most to drive them). They are super fancy and tend to be kids ridden ponies, and they are quite the high $ amount to purchase. But only time will tell as we are still very early in the game. He is just learning the idea of what a leg means, how to steer and just learned some new tricks of trot poles (even colourful striped ones!) and cavaletti poles this past weekend. Lots to learn still! Only 8 rides in nowā¦
I must say Iāve started about 20 ponies/horses and so far he has been my favourite and most surprising one so far (donāt tell the others!). I really thought I would have had more issues/spooking considering his background and with the in hand work Iāve done with him (he sure likes to snort and spook at many things when Iām beside him). But heās been super quiet and brave under saddle, 100% opposite than I thought he would be! Such a nice and pleasant surprise. I really enjoy riding him which is a good thing when I donāt have a ton of motivation since I ride alone at home all of the time. No one here to push me to go and rideā¦
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I just moved Topper to an indoor arena for the winter so I can continue our training. I brought him there on the weekend and lunged him the other day. He is settling in well, is in individual turnout right now but will go in a small group of 2 other boys soon. The barn has radiant heating so it stays nice and warm through our cold winters. Itās time to bathe and body clip him this weekend as heās just a tad too hairy and sweaty!
Here is our first time in the indoor and after the initial shock, snorts and spooks, he worked really well for me. Iām back up today and will hop on him to see what he thinks.
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This was at my place just before we left for the indoor. He was happily napping and I disturbed him! Harley was a tad concerned and was whining and trying to get him up 
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I just love him. Stunning stunning pony!
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what a BEAUTY of a pony <3 just really really nice. keep us aunties updated we love him already
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We have settled in, lunged and now ridden a couple of times solo in the indoor. Lots to see and work on, snorts and small spooks about things in the corners, but its sooooo good for him! Heās really learning to put his ābig boy pantsā on and is trying really hard. He was getting really warm so I decided to bathe him (not his favourite thing so he was introduced to the wash stall) and then was given a high trace clip/blanket clip the next morning. He was quite good for his very first time being clipped. A little annoyed near the end, but stood quite well and I was quite happy with him.
I donāt have any vidoes yet as I have been riding alone until I can at least get him trotting in a straight line (greenies sure have a way of humbling you as a rider lol!) but I hope to at least get in the ring this weekend with another border. Even if we just hang out in there.
I canāt wait to see him in a couple of months fitted up and hopefully going w/t/c under saddle (we are still just keeping it to w/t under saddle and w/t/c on the lunge). Iām just waiting for a bit more relaxation to canter. We have added lots of trot poles and even some with risers to get him to work through his back. He was quite impressed with them ha ha! But we did them. Lots of pats and praise. I must say when he is going around relaxed and forward, wow, he is quite the mover. He has it in him, he just needs some confidence which is slowly coming 
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Lord a-mighty, he is just gorgeous. I just love him. I like that clip, too. My trainer and I were joking the other day that weāre going large pony for my next one (hopefully about 10 years from now). I hope it looks just like Topper!
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Itās been a month now and things have been going slowly but we are getting there! He is quite visual and spooks over the small things that I never would even think about, so he keeps me on my toes! But he is getting more confident and Iām able to add more things to the arena for him to trot and canter over.
The weather has been off and on cold to quite mild, so I have been able to work him 3-5 times a week, depending on how cold it it (-10c is my cut off point).
Here are a few pictures from the other day where I added some flower boxes and raised trot poles. The week before he was terrified of the pink boxes and wouldnāt even come 100ft to them. The following week he was lunging in between them and even hopped over them without even taking a glance at them. I was very proud of him! Baby steps but heās very much worth it and is so nice once he relaxed and moving forward (he likes to suck back at the spooky stuff from time to time, but itās getting less and less now).
I donāt have any video of me riding yet as Iām always alone. I plan on taking lessons with him soon as we are now w/t/c and starting to move around things like jump standards, going past scary boxes etc.
Even though he will be 5 this year, I consider him more like a yearling in the mind since he lived in a field for the first 3.5 years of his life. He really hasnāt seen much and heās a tad suspicious in nature, but heās starting to gain trust and conference. Heās a good boy. Even with the snow sliding off the roof, he stands like an old pro. Noises donāt seem to bother him much and heās great alone or in company. He doesnāt care if a horse joins us or leaves, heās the same all the time. No stress and no calling which I love. Even when his pasture mate screams for him the whole time Iām riding, he never makes a peep or gets tense 
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What a nice dude!! Looks like heās coming along super!
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Heās gorgeous!
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The weather has been the pits here in Ontario the past few weeks. With temps below -20c for days at a time and snow here and there, I missed some riding time but we are getting there. I have mostly been working on the walk and trot for relaxation and straightness. Lots of pole and raised pole work and putting objects like boxes and flowers in different spots every time I ride (he gets quite impressed with boxes).
Iāve cantered him maybe 15 times under saddle but he has great rhythm, especially to the right as he is more balanced that way. Popped him over a cavaletti for the first time on Friday as I was to have a lesson, but my coach was sick and my husband prepared to come to watch, so I had him take some video of me finally. He hasnāt seen us go since we left our farm back in December and he was very happy with our progress. Lots to work on, but considering we couldnāt trot a straight line or not spook on the far corner mid December, things are starting to come together. I have a lesson scheduled for today and Iām really looking forward to it!
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Gah! I love him even more!
Wow! He is handsome and youāve been doing an absolutely fantastic job training him. Talk about a million dollar ride 
Absolutely lovely! You are doing an amazing job with him.
. Thank you all! I have lots to work on myself, but it sure helps to have a nice, willing partner. Iām by no means a good rider, but I do try my best!
I had my first lesson today and lots to work on. Straightness, especially to the left, not pulling on the inside rein to turn, and it did improve as we went on. I have some great feedback and things to work on before my next lesson.
We popped over a small jump and she put some flowers under it and he never even blinked which is HUGE for him as heās such a looky lou. He even gave me a perfect change right after one of them. What a good boy!! And with snow sliding off the roof half of the time even ha ha!
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This is my 2.5 yr old Connemara cross that Iāve just backed and lightly started. I think you can see from his expression that he is quite proud of himself. I canāt be more pleased with him. The first few rides he worked almost entirely off of voice commands. Heās a good boy, but he is so mischievous. He will try to steal the reins or your whip. He has a great whoa and seems to be pretty happy with this new adventure.
Iām trying not to over work him but itās hard to ignore him when heās the first at the gate, saying āpick me, pick meā.
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Oh I love it!!! What a good baby <3
