A celebration of memories - what are yours?

[Mrs B]

It seems to me that so many HHOers have lost horses this year (I guess that, sadly, it is true every year, but this is my first on this forum) and poor Vizslak has lost two of hers today by making a decision that, although the right one for her and her horses, is a horribly hard one to make.

So.

What are your best/funniest memories of your beloved horses who are gone from this life but will (if there is a Heaven in the true sense of the word) be there to meet us?

One of mine is from when I was little. I looked after a wonderful rocking horse spotty called Inky. I was allowed to take him to my first ever show and entered the potato race. I had spent hours and hours making him look his best (I think I was 8) - imagine saddle-pad of foam covered in purple nylon, blue and yellow plastic browband, pancake saddle with brass polished studs and me in my school cardigan over rubber boots and baggy breeches ......and trotted into the arena with the others.

I was sooooo mortified when he wandered down to the post, where you picked up your potato (leopard spots gleaming)





... and ate it.

 

[indiat]

Ha! Good one! Small moments come back to me - Velvet walking to x and standing there yawning while I shut the gate to the arena. People used to think it was hilarious but after 10 years of starting and finishing on x it was a habit for her. Sunshine, my daughter's little shetland, craning her head over the field gate so she could see me walking up the lane and then neighing like a loon with excitment. The way she looked like she bounced everywhere. The way Velvet used to put her head against my back after we had finished riding.

 

[NWalker]

This is a video my daughter made for her first pony Hazard who had retired and sadly was put to sleep earlier this year. Lots of memories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guitBOj-Jhk

 

[Enfys]

My lovely arab mare Stella ever so gently taking one blade of hay from my year old daughters hand, even though E was sitting in a huge pile of hay and the mare could have taken as much as she liked.

 

[[69117]]

I've lost too many in my life to give you memories of all... but my two special boys are the ones that stick in my mind...

Solo - 13.2hh new forest x dartmoor, my jumping demon.

The day we went hunting and someone said "out of the way, that fence is too big for kids like you on ponies like that", I kicked, Solly flew over a five barred gate, I nearly pooed myself with fear, but the look on that awful mans face made it worth it.
The day we went camping in the orchard and he decided he wanted to join the party, so he ripped a hole in the tent and came in to steal our marshmallows.
His habit of breaking into cars to see if there were any crisps inside...
The fact that I ALWAYS won when doing mounted games, whether I knew the rules or not, because he knew what he was doing inside out and back to front.
The day I had to call WHW because the people we sold him to sold him on to someone who was neglecting him... the phonecall I got two weeks later saying the field officer had called the vet straight out to end his suffering. My little bear, jumping clouds now.

Cadbury - 18.2hh hanoverian x belgian warmblood, my dream horse.

The feeling of jumping a big fence on him - like I was going to be sick and my heart had jumped up into my throat.
The way nobody but me could walk past his stable without getting attacked.
The day I fell off a friends pony whilst hooning around in the field, when Cabs came belting over to see if I was alright.
The whinny I got when I got out of bed and opened my bedroom window to tell him I would be there in a minute. The frantic banging of the door if I dared to try and have breakfast before him.
The day Russell died, and he let me lie on the floor of his stable with him, arms round his neck, sobbing my heart out.
The day I did a spectacular flying dismount for no apparent reason, and landed running beside him holding the reins - then he slammed on the breaks and I sat down at his feet. I have never seen a horse look so confused
His ability to make me feel like the most special person in the world.
His hatred of anyone that wasn't me.
The fact that he let me learn to clip on him, sitting on a bucket under his tummy, pulling bits of skin about trying to get the awkward bits between his back legs.
The fact that he let me plait daisy chains into his mane and tail.
Hacking him up to the summer fields bareback, in the evening sun.
The day we got the only 9 I ever have and probably ever will get, in a dressage test.
The day he tried his heart out for me, and couldn't do it. He died doing what he loved. I hope you're happy where you are my darling boy.

 

[ChwaraeTeg]

I Remember - 1972 -