Michen
Well-Known Member
I still can't really find the right words for how to write about Basil. But I have plenty of photos that say most of it 
.
In our time together we swam in the ocean, pinged around SJ courses, flew round BE tracks, roamed every inch of the countryside, danced around dressage arenas, jumped OUT of dressage arenas, galloped in the surf and even went on holiday. The pony I described as "it's got a big head", "not even a sporty looking Connemara", "looks like a mule", "not something I'd have in my stable" became the absolute love of my life. He is living proof that you don't have to look like an athletic sports horse to be great at this job, you just have to have an extra big heart. I don't think there are many horses that have never even evented or really competed before that are honest enough to get a very nervous rider from cross poles to BE90 and then thinking about BE100 in a matter of months. He always got us home safe and endlessly dug deep when I made (often gigantic!) mistakes going into fences, despite being just as green as me in reality.
But aside from the competing and more importantly was that we were inseparable partners. I had so many endless days of fun with him messing around at home and those memories of him I treasure above anything else. He was such an incredibly humorous horse who was always getting up to total mischief and he went from being (if I'm honest!) quite an uninspiring horse to ride to a total pocket rocket who woke up every morning wondering what his next adventure would be. And if there was no adventure to be found that day he would simply create one or imagine one.
I was always underestimating B, and maybe myself. Forever saying "he won't jump that" or he "won't do that" or "we are rubbish at this". He went from being last in his section at dressage to a respectable mid range score (and I'm still proud as punch that his dressage was 0.5 marks above Zara Phillips at his last BE!). His very last competition was two dressage tests, both of which he won by an absolute mile despite me going wrong in both tests. He had one XC fault to his name which was totally mine not his. He knew when it counted and he knew when to pull it out of the bag but most of all he knew when I was struggling and he always, without fail, had my back. I would have ridden that horse anywhere and trusted him to keep me safe.
Basil wasn't an overly affectionate horse. His emotions were all over his face all the time but he wasn't one to quietly nuzzle or "need" you. I always felt like I had earned his affection and I liked that. The days and weeks after I lost B were really pretty dark and still are. But what was amazing was the number of people that horse had touched. I think so many people somehow related to him and our journey as so many of us suffer from those horrible, crippling nerves. Basil was inspirational to me every day and also to others.
I find it very comforting that the wonderful yard/farm owners offered to lay Basil to rest, so he is buried right behind his old field at the top of the hill overlooking the yard. It is wonderful that he has a final resting place where we were both so happy together, I am so very grateful for that.
I always felt that Basil was meant to be, and that having to make that decision for Torres and go through the court clam with the misold mare lead me to my true soulmate. It would be untruthful if I said I wasn't extremely angry, sad, bitter and just generally quite broken about what happened with B. I have tried to find some reason and comfort in his death but it's very hard when you feel robbed of what should have been his entire lifetime together and more than anything, that he didn't get to live even if it wasn't with me. But... I HAD Basil. Some people never get to feel what I felt for that horse, or experience the things we did together, or have that partnership. Plenty go through their horsey life looking for "the one" and never quite find him or her. However I did and I feel extremely privileged to have had him in my life for the time that I did despite it being cut short so cruelly. I will never regret the time I had with either of my boys, and it is so worth feeling like this to have had them. I now know what it is like to have a true partnership with a horse and I had not found that before in 20 years of riding.
Here are some of the many, many photos of our time together. Including the beautiful plaque that my lovely friend Ahrena had made which is nailed to the fence behind where he is buried.
Ps all photos have relevant permission and no poor English should be commented on.
I had this made with both Basil and Torres' tail. What a lovely way to keep a part of both of them, together, with me.
Of course the sensible thing to do when you are hysterical, distraught, haven't eaten properly for weeks and days have blurred into a mass of work, cigarettes and far too much wine is to desperately browse horse adverts in some misplaced hope that it will make the pain go away just a little.
I swung from writing adverts for my lorry and all horsey kit to emailing about horses to writing more adverts to emailing about more horses. I had this frantic desperate need to rid myself of everything horse but an equally strong feeling to have something , anything in the stable to keep myself busy and focused. I went back to the yard finally and hacked out one of the horses, finding it extremely hard but also comforting to be there especially with Basil laid to rest.
Tbc...
. In our time together we swam in the ocean, pinged around SJ courses, flew round BE tracks, roamed every inch of the countryside, danced around dressage arenas, jumped OUT of dressage arenas, galloped in the surf and even went on holiday. The pony I described as "it's got a big head", "not even a sporty looking Connemara", "looks like a mule", "not something I'd have in my stable" became the absolute love of my life. He is living proof that you don't have to look like an athletic sports horse to be great at this job, you just have to have an extra big heart. I don't think there are many horses that have never even evented or really competed before that are honest enough to get a very nervous rider from cross poles to BE90 and then thinking about BE100 in a matter of months. He always got us home safe and endlessly dug deep when I made (often gigantic!) mistakes going into fences, despite being just as green as me in reality.
But aside from the competing and more importantly was that we were inseparable partners. I had so many endless days of fun with him messing around at home and those memories of him I treasure above anything else. He was such an incredibly humorous horse who was always getting up to total mischief and he went from being (if I'm honest!) quite an uninspiring horse to ride to a total pocket rocket who woke up every morning wondering what his next adventure would be. And if there was no adventure to be found that day he would simply create one or imagine one.
I was always underestimating B, and maybe myself. Forever saying "he won't jump that" or he "won't do that" or "we are rubbish at this". He went from being last in his section at dressage to a respectable mid range score (and I'm still proud as punch that his dressage was 0.5 marks above Zara Phillips at his last BE!). His very last competition was two dressage tests, both of which he won by an absolute mile despite me going wrong in both tests. He had one XC fault to his name which was totally mine not his. He knew when it counted and he knew when to pull it out of the bag but most of all he knew when I was struggling and he always, without fail, had my back. I would have ridden that horse anywhere and trusted him to keep me safe.
Basil wasn't an overly affectionate horse. His emotions were all over his face all the time but he wasn't one to quietly nuzzle or "need" you. I always felt like I had earned his affection and I liked that. The days and weeks after I lost B were really pretty dark and still are. But what was amazing was the number of people that horse had touched. I think so many people somehow related to him and our journey as so many of us suffer from those horrible, crippling nerves. Basil was inspirational to me every day and also to others.
I find it very comforting that the wonderful yard/farm owners offered to lay Basil to rest, so he is buried right behind his old field at the top of the hill overlooking the yard. It is wonderful that he has a final resting place where we were both so happy together, I am so very grateful for that.
I always felt that Basil was meant to be, and that having to make that decision for Torres and go through the court clam with the misold mare lead me to my true soulmate. It would be untruthful if I said I wasn't extremely angry, sad, bitter and just generally quite broken about what happened with B. I have tried to find some reason and comfort in his death but it's very hard when you feel robbed of what should have been his entire lifetime together and more than anything, that he didn't get to live even if it wasn't with me. But... I HAD Basil. Some people never get to feel what I felt for that horse, or experience the things we did together, or have that partnership. Plenty go through their horsey life looking for "the one" and never quite find him or her. However I did and I feel extremely privileged to have had him in my life for the time that I did despite it being cut short so cruelly. I will never regret the time I had with either of my boys, and it is so worth feeling like this to have had them. I now know what it is like to have a true partnership with a horse and I had not found that before in 20 years of riding.
Here are some of the many, many photos of our time together. Including the beautiful plaque that my lovely friend Ahrena had made which is nailed to the fence behind where he is buried.
Ps all photos have relevant permission and no poor English should be commented on.
I had this made with both Basil and Torres' tail. What a lovely way to keep a part of both of them, together, with me.
Of course the sensible thing to do when you are hysterical, distraught, haven't eaten properly for weeks and days have blurred into a mass of work, cigarettes and far too much wine is to desperately browse horse adverts in some misplaced hope that it will make the pain go away just a little.
I swung from writing adverts for my lorry and all horsey kit to emailing about horses to writing more adverts to emailing about more horses. I had this frantic desperate need to rid myself of everything horse but an equally strong feeling to have something , anything in the stable to keep myself busy and focused. I went back to the yard finally and hacked out one of the horses, finding it extremely hard but also comforting to be there especially with Basil laid to rest.
Tbc...
