Going solo...

We did it! After several hacking lessons, where Pip came with me first on foot, and later with her scooter, Bronson and I had a successful hack on our own. This is no small thing! Only 5 months ago, when Bronson went into full training livery because I couldn’t ride, he was very nappy and when Pip took him out on his own or away from other horses, if they’d gone out together, he would rear and jump about. For Pip to have brought him on to a place where it is safe for a novice rider like myself to ride him out solo is frankly a miracle!

Pip always sets her clients up for success and doesn’t take unnecessary risks and so the process of bringing us to the point where we could ride out alone has involved Pip riding Bronson out on his own to build his confidence and then coming with us to make sure that I have the requisite confidence and ability to take us around safely.

We had to stop for cars quite a few times, go back on ourselves to find a wide enough space for cars to pass and so on. At one point Bronson just stopped dead and was clearly considering his options for heading home! There were tons of flies so there was a moment where he became distracted and his attention wasn’t on me. The great thing was that I knew exactly how to respond to each of these eventualities as Pip had trained me in what to do on our previous hacks.

When I first came to Pippsway I said to Pip ‘I want to learn how to ride properly’ and I certainly feel like I did that today! I’m over the moon. Bronson and I have come a long way under Pip’s watchful eye and I can’t wait to see what adventures lie ahead.