Oh my kid is hating us

So Maeve never showed any interest in riding until the last two years. We put her on the King, Uncle Leo, who has exercised some considerable smarts keeping the kid safe and confident. She's w-t-c, jumped around a little bit, never more than a line. She's gotten to the point that she's a hair cocky, which frankly, she needed, so I let it go.

My sister, however, decided it was time to keep her grounded before she did something stupid like try jumping around when one of us wasn't there. So she has assigned Maeve to the Kipper pony.

Let me tell you, I loath riding that Kipper pony. He is unbelievably uncomfortable. The only way I can make it work with him is to hunt him around like a hack. Flap the reins and go along in a little half seat. I didn't buy this thing to win in a dressage ring, there's no reason to even try. He is what he is, safe for the kids, a bullet train when I want a little fun. Right? Anyway...what that translates is I tend to pull him out of the field on Saturday, hop him around a few courses, then turn him out for the rest of the week and ignore him, except that he does get ridden by one of the lesson kids.

So my sister announces that Kipper needs a regular jock and Maeve is appointed. You should have seen the kid's face. She was horrified. Demoted from the King to Fatboy. (Not really demoted, she can of course keep riding Leo.)

She took her father down to the ring with her, I was definetly persona non grata.

Oh she is mad.

I am so glad we opted to make my sister her trainer and not me. : )

ETA: The Kipper pony is really, really, hard to ride. Just doesn't have a bend in him. Steering is done by brute force. Elegance is not his forte. Safe as houses but a muscley little uneducated beast. So he's not fun and lovely and floaty and elegant. It's like going from a Lexus to a Yugo. Where one gently held breath could launch Leo into a canter, Kipper you have to hammer as iff you want your feet to fall off.



This message was edited Oct 30, 2006 7:06 PM