Thank you to all of you who have looked at and shared my facebook page. I thought I would give you a little insight into my life so far with the horses that I have been lucky enough to know and tell you a bit about them.
Georgia was my first horse when I was 19, a beautiful black mare of about 15.2hh and middleweight hunter type. She was bought by my riding school with a few other horses but soon turned out to be a confirmed biter and rearer so was obviously no use to them. I was besotted with her though so to avoid her going,well…… who knows where, I bought her and nervously took her to her new home. She would not be your first choice to start you off as an owner but I am so grateful to her as she was the best teacher I ever had. With gentle, calm but assertive handling she soon became a very happy and compliant companion. Even my mum could feed and turn her out or bring her in when I had to work and she was not horsey at all! Georgia and I went on to have many happy hacks and even did a spot of cross country. Sadly she developed navicular and was not ridden for a few years before we had to part with her.
Maysflair was a beautiful 16.2hh Thoroughbred x Cleveland Bay mare and a gift for me from my husband due to not being able to ride Georgia. She was a brilliant mare who was good at all disciplines (better than me sometimes!) and very kind and easy to do. She could have excelled at anything but, due to me starting a family and then living abroad for a few years she was a happy hacker. However, she did have an excellent life which she enjoyed and that is most important.
Cochise was a 16hh Irish Draught x New Forest and was my husband’s horse when we first met.Co was very kind and willing but could be a bit strong when excited! My husband let me take Co round a local cross country course, which we did at a very decent speed, but Co looked after me the whole way round. An absolute gentleman.
Cochise and Flair lived together happily for over 20 years. They were separated for a few weeks, when I let Flair go on trial to another yard, but I wasn’t happy with her circumstances so brought her back. The joy from the two horses and the greeting they gave each other confirmed to me that they should not be apart again.
Puff was a 12h chestnut welsh pony and was given to me as a companion to Flair and Cochise as they were getting older and I feared one would be so lonely if we lost the other. I was told she could be a handful and definitely wouldn’t accept children riding her. She was very kind and calm towards myself and my children although, as she was a companion, she was never ridden. Sadly, due to her age, we lost Puff before Flair and Cochise so that didn’t work out as expected!
A short while later though my daughter, who was then 9 years old, asked for a pony of her own and after a little searching a rescue pony who needed a permanent home came to me. She was a 13.2hh welsh pony who’s name was Bronwyn, a name she seemed to dislike as she never responded to it! We ended up shortening it to Wynn which she was happy with. She was very headshy and manic when she first came and did everything at a gallop! She had a very kind nature though and soon calmed down to enjoy many nice adventures with myself and my daughter. She and my daughter enjoyed each others company immensly and they would often spend time in the field just sitting and chilling or having picnics! When we lost Maysflair she was a good friend to Cochise and kept him company.Sadly we lost her at the start of this year but at 27 years young she could still find ways of being naughty and escape from parts of the field she was meant to stay in!
Quest was a 17.2 hh chestnut medium weight hunter who came to me when the riding school I used to work at closed. Due to his quirky nature the owner knew he would be difficult to rehome. Despite his size he was very nervous and wouldn’t hack out on his own, he ran off when being led from stable to field or vice versa and he had a phobia about stepping on concrete. After a while he settled down and forgot about running off and walked quietly while being led. He also got used to hacking alone but you had to sit deep as most things were still very scary and he could do BIG spooks. He could also go from canter to stop in a stride! Rubber matting helped him to relax in his stable but he never got over his fear of concrete. I wondered whether he had in fact slipped on a concrete surface in the past which made him distrustful.
Quest,Wynn and Cochise lived together for years before old age got the better of Cochise and we had to say goodbye. That left little and large together for a few more years before we lost Quest.
We now had to look for a companion for Wynn as she was now alone and a bit lonely. We heard of a pony apparently left alone in a field for years when his owners just stopped coming to see to him. My daughter and I went to visit him and obviously he had to come home with us.. Sadly he was in a bad state when he arrived, bald raw patches due to sweet itch, an overgrown tooth that cut into his mouth and a few loose that needed to come out. He was also blind in one eye. He was a very feisty boy when he first arrived probably due to not being handled for such a long time and being unable to see well. Not to mention the pain his skin and teeth must have caused him. He very soon became a real sweety though who responded to his name more like a dog than a pony! He relied a lot on Wynn due to his poor eyesight and spent most of his time next to her when in the field.
The last pony I acquired came to me from France when a friend, who had moved there, became too ill to look after all of her horses. He was a 14.2hh Piebald pony who was called ‘pipon’ when he first arrived but quickly got used to the rather manly name of Fred! He was a very kind and forward going boy but could pop a spook in now and again. He found the white lines on the road especially exciting as the lanes he was used to in France had nothing but grass growing on them! Sadly,Fred developed COPD and although we managed to keep him for a couple more years on medication we eventually had to part with him.
For the first time in 40 years I am without an equine friend of my own although I still help look after a friends.
All of my horses have brought something unique with them and left me with something memorable. I am grateful to them for that and hope it will continue with new companions who may come along in the future.