'Horse of a lifetime'

Bustalot

Bustalot

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So have decided that my next horse i am going to spend a lot of time looking for and really go looking for my 'horse of a lifetime'

So who has found theirs? How long did it take you in searching, how many horses did you own prior to finding 'the one'

Or maybe you are still looking?
 
I don't think you have just one. I had a show jumper PTS in '09, I'd say he was a horse of a lifetime, yet one of my polocrosse ponies I've got sat in the field who would be another horse of a lifetime.
Maybe I've just been lucky though :p
 
My mum had one, her fabulous late event horse. She had been riding since 16 and had owned two before she found him. She didn't go looking per-se but needed a horse on loan as the other one was injured. He was
offered, he was quirky and she didn't really like him but said yes. She had him 20 years and achieved things she never dreamt possible. She still can't talk about him or think of him without welling up. She admits she will never find another like him, he was her soul mate and 'the one'. She's had others since all VERY special and very much loved but there will never be another Murphy.

I've had lots of fabulous fabulous horses that I have loved to death. One of my teenage horses stands out as being a bit special but my current one is the one where everything seems to come easy. I just can't explain how I feel about him and how it's different. Together we are better then the sum of our parts if you know what I mean! It's early days but I hope he is my 'murphy'. I've already achieved more with him in a short space of time than I ever would.
I think it's hard to go looking for your 'one' as you can buy a horse that is perfect and maybe a wonderful horse but it's not it. I think these little diamonds find you and the horse may come in a guise that will totally throw you :).
 
You don't search for your horse of a lifetime, it is something that finds you and develops until you get to a point of realising that you have your horse of a lifetime.
My pony of a lifetime came my way by pure chance, if you had told me six months in she was my pony of a lifetime I would have called you mad but over time she just became it and I can't imagine loving another or having a bond like that ever again
 
I'm hoping I have found mine, although he's only 4 months bless him. I had my heart set on a Friesian and then saw his ad, he's a "sports horse" although really something of a Heinz 57 but will make 16.2. It's been almost three years since my main horse was PTS and I just didn't see anything I wanted to view until him.

He's also piebald which I wasn't particularly interested in... but something about his photo as a week old foal just grabbed me. On viewing, again something about him just seemed "the one" and even OH agreed - this is the man who didn't like horses before. He ended up buying me him for my birthday! He's so laid back and seems to learn quickly, every time I visit I love him even more. He's actually a bit Friesiany in build; tall and handsome, and holds himself very elegantly even now. So I'm hoping we will have many long years together :)
 
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I don't think you can search for one as it's a feeling that comes with time and I don't think it's instant.

I really think my current horse is my 'horse of a lifetime' as he has brought me back from the brink and I just feel such a connection with him.. Like firewell says, I can't really explain how it feels but I've had enough horses to know that he is a very special horse.
 
My one came my way by pure chance. I started working at the racing yard and about 4 months in I got sent away racing overnight to Huntingdon - only the 2nd time I had ever been racing and I had never been on my tod before - nothing like throwing me in at the deep end! The parting words from the head girl were - be careful with Jeff, he will probably kill you or at the very least do you serious harm when leading him up. Mucking Fagic! Jeff was a big 17.2hh highly strung bouncy ball who was keen as to gallop and a very busy horse in his head and I had never had anything at all to do with him on the yard before that as he was a "boys" horse. I don't who's idea it was to send the newbie racing with this thing but hey ho! They must have thought it funny!

To be fair to him he was a gem to lead up, the boss was on stand by to take hold of the other side of him should he put me through one too many railings but we were fine. Toddled along, out onto the track and that's where things went wrong. He fell 2 from home and being a big clumsy begger he landed ON one of his feet. Straight up into his chest. Pop. He got up and galloped back to me. In the vets box I was basically holding him upright as his blood was being pumped out of him - he had severed at least 1 artery to his heart. 3/4hour later, more blood than a abbatoir and 2 collapses later we had to leave him with the vets and head home. We left the poor beast there with a 2% survival rate but the owners were adament they were going to save him. He collapsed a further 3 times on route to Newmarket and had 8 hours of heart surgery - he hadn't just severed one artery, he had done both and a vein, his heart and his life was litterally hanging by a thread. He spent a total of 2 months at Newmarket before he was fit to travel back to Scotland.

A further month of box rest and then a month of field rest and he could come back into work. Because I had been there with him at Huntingdon and held onto this poor creature seeing sights that no 16yo newbie should ever see the boss gave me the chance to ride him. If we got on together I could keep the ride on him, if not - well there's no point in trying to train a horse with a work rider that can't ride it. Alot of people expected me to fail at holding him on the gallops but I rarely did. Yes there were days where he just took the mick and went with me but he always stopped at the top and bottom of the gallops. Tanking off in stubble fields was also a favourite trick of his. But for the next 4 years I rode that horse ever day. I took him racing, I groomed him and I spoilt him so it was only natural that when he retired from racing he would come home to me.

The highs and lows of racing. Twice I had to leave him to the mercy of vets with a slim chance of survival. Something I really do not wish upon anyone. But 5 times I lead him into the Winners spot and only a further 4 times did we fail to reach the top 4 in nearly 30 races. People say racing is cruel and that those who work in racing are heartless. I can assure you, we are not. We care more for our charges than you will ever even begin to guess.

Jeff is now back in a box after putting a hole in a tendon but he will out and about again soon enough. He is my show horse, my hack, my companion and most of all he is my best friend. I couldn't imagine life without the silly big Hocamaffe.

I don't know whether it was because we were both there at Huntingdon, the 2 newbies who had everything thrown at us and we had to learn to juggle pretty damned quickly, that we formed a bond whilst he was literally dying in front of me. Or if it was the months spent on rest that I looked after him every day on but the Hocamaffe really is the one horse in my whole life I will never, ever part with.
 
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I spent my life looking for and trying to breed my horse of a lifetime. Scared the cr@p out of myself on the wrong horses, trying to convince myself they were 'the one'.

I did breed my horse of a lifetime, by complete accident, never thought of him as a horse for me. He has proved himself to be a safe, funny boy, who has never put a foot wrong.
 
I've got my horse of a lifetime. :) Started riding him for my YO and fell in love with him, asked to buy him and still have him six years later. He is one in a million and I wouldn't swap him for the world! He is my first horse. :)
 
EKW , that is one hell of a story, he really is one special horse:)

When i was 17/18 i worked on a campsite and took out their pony treks, over the winter it was quiet so they bought me a 14hh mare from Cutcombe sales, 3 yrs old and by the looks of her straight off the hills. over that winter i taught her to be handled, haltered and eventually ridden:) She taught me about patience and unconditional love:o We had such a close bond because i was pretty much the only one who did anything with her, i still have a picture of me riding her on my shelf now:) i only stayed on the site for another year after that and then went on to college and even though i wanted to take her with me she was too good a trek horse for them to let me:( i used to go back and ride her once in a while but then i heard they had sold her on because she started misbehaving, even now i wonder what became of my sweet little Nutmeg:o
 
I was devastated when I suddenly lost my old beloved horse in 2009. I thought nothing could replace him and though I went to view a few horses with my friends' urging, I didn't really like any of them. I was contemplating giving up riding for a long while, maybe forever. Then I heard of another horse for sale nearby and said "Let's give this a chance, this will be my last try". So we went but I disliked the horse on sight. But as we kept them waiting until quite late, my OH agreed to ride him just out of courtesy. While he was riding the horse, another instructor that we know saw him, asked why we were there and told him there was another horse for sale. So they tacked him up and brought him to the school and, with just one look in his eyes, I knew there and then that I would have him no matter what (and I am not the romantic type who does believe in love at first sight at all).
Two and a half years on, he is my pride and joy and the "horse of a lifetime" for me.
 
I think mine found me :o
We have a very close bond and I love her to pieces couldn't deal with life without her. Had her 6 years now, when I went to her yard I was an 11 year old looking for my first pony. We originally went to see a big grey, not suitable so they brought out a gorgeous black pony but he was sensitive so they brought her out and said 'this is Nutmeg.'
She was lovely and we took her home, later I realised that when i went to have a look around the stables she came straight from the back of the box to me and nudged me and sniffed like 'hello, who are you ? talk to me.'
Took me a year and a half to click with her as she turned out to be a little monkey! But since then we've been thick as thieves. I love her <3 She is the only horse I could not be without.
This is her and me, both different years :o
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Only one special horse? I'm on my third :D and I've had some other nice ones.

You can't know from trying horses how things will turn out, but personally, I have to be a bit besotted on first impression to ever really love the horse, none have grown on me much. Of course, that isn't enough on its own, but for a horse to qualify as a "horse of a lifetime" to me, it has to have that something that makes me fall for it in the first place, then it has do a pretty good job when I get it home.
 
Like humans, some things just CLICK

I was looking for a big heavywight 'been there done that' for my OH to learn to ride on.

I happened to be up in Glasgow picking a car up and I thought to look in on a horse advertised in the area. He was a 6yo (too young) Thoroughbred (wrong breed) and he was also chesnut (wrong wrong colour!!) 18hh (hmmmm pretty big) but we both looked at each other and before I even sat on him I knew that I had to bring him home...all 300 miles of them :)

A year on and he is everything. My life, my love and my future. I genuinely believe that we understand each other and, even when he is frightened, he does his upmost to protect me. He IS my horse of a lifetime. Unfortunately for my OH we are still looking for his heavyweight 'been there done that' :D

I waited a whole year before I found him, my advice would be to hold out :)
 
EKW said:
My one came my way by pure chance. I started working at the racing yard and about 4 months in I got sent away racing overnight to Huntingdon - only the 2nd time I had ever been racing and I had never been on my tod before - nothing like throwing me in at the deep end! The parting words from the head girl were - be careful with Jeff, he will probably kill you or at the very least do you serious harm when leading him up. Mucking Fagic! Jeff was a big 17.2hh highly strung bouncy ball who was keen as to gallop and a very busy horse in his head and I had never had anything at all to do with him on the yard before that as he was a "boys" horse. I don't who's idea it was to send the newbie racing with this thing but hey ho! They must have thought it funny!

To be fair to him he was a gem to lead up, the boss was on stand by to take hold of the other side of him should he put me through one too many railings but we were fine. Toddled along, out onto the track and that's where things went wrong. He fell 2 from home and being a big clumsy begger he landed ON one of his feet. Straight up into his chest. Pop. He got up and galloped back to me. In the vets box I was basically holding him upright as his blood was being pumped out of him - he had severed at least 1 artery to his heart. 3/4hour later, more blood than a abbatoir and 2 collapses later we had to leave him with the vets and head home. We left the poor beast there with a 2% survival rate but the owners were adament they were going to save him. He collapsed a further 3 times on route to Newmarket and had 8 hours of heart surgery - he hadn't just severed one artery, he had done both and a vein, his heart and his life was litterally hanging by a thread. He spent a total of 2 months at Newmarket before he was fit to travel back to Scotland.

A further month of box rest and then a month of field rest and he could come back into work. Because I had been there with him at Huntingdon and held onto this poor creature seeing sights that no 16yo newbie should ever see the boss gave me the chance to ride him. If we got on together I could keep the ride on him, if not - well there's no point in trying to train a horse with a work rider that can't ride it. Alot of people expected me to fail at holding him on the gallops but I rarely did. Yes there were days where he just took the mick and went with me but he always stopped at the top and bottom of the gallops. Tanking off in stubble fields was also a favourite trick of his. But for the next 4 years I rode that horse ever day. I took him racing, I groomed him and I spoilt him so it was only natural that when he retired from racing he would come home to me.

The highs and lows of racing. Twice I had to leave him to the mercy of vets with a slim chance of survival. Something I really do not wish upon anyone. But 5 times I lead him into the Winners spot and only a further 4 times did we fail to reach the top 4 in nearly 30 races. People say racing is cruel and that those who work in racing are heartless. I can assure you, we are not. We care more for our charges than you will ever even begin to guess.

Jeff is now back in a box after putting a hole in a tendon but he will out and about again soon enough. He is my show horse, my hack, my companion and most of all he is my best friend. I couldn't imagine life without the silly big Hocamaffe.

I don't know whether it was because we were both there at Huntingdon, the 2 newbies who had everything thrown at us and we had to learn to juggle pretty damned quickly, that we formed a bond whilst he was literally dying in front of me. Or if it was the months spent on rest that I looked after him every day on but the Hocamaffe really is the one horse in my whole life I will never, ever part with.
Click to expand...

What a wonderful, heartwarming story. I hope Jeff's tendon heals soon and that you're out and about again.
 
I was so busy reading EKW's post, I forgot to put my own!
I would say my horse of a lifetime is my semi-retired ex-racer Rebel. Where I used to ride from, there was also a permit holder who had a couple of racers. One day, I went down and saw this big bright bay head looking over the door. I asked who he was and was told. He had done both superficial flexor tendons, and had been turned away to let them heal and would never race again. I was allowed to start work on him. I had ridden one of their ex racers before, but this one was special. He's a big lad - looks more like a TBxID than a TB. I took him out on the roads and he was just so good. Spooky and impatient, but traffic didn't bother him and I felt like I was so special riding him. After a few months, I asked if I could buy him and they let me buy him for £300.

Since then, I've done dressage on him, lots of hacking - he's dumped me jumping, dumped me on the gallops, bitten me more times than I can remember, and even now at the age of 21 won't let me brush his front legs - he just collapses on the floor if I try. But I have never ever felt so safe on a horse out hacking. He's had a fractured leg where we nearly had to have him PTS, has rubbish feet, but I wouldn't change him for the world. He is now retired - not fully, but almost and enjoying every day being the grandad of the field, looking after all the young whippersnappers. I feel honoured to have been allowed the privilege of owning this horse. He's taught me more than any other horse, has put up with my crap riding and I owe him a long, happy retirement.

Here's us at a dressage about 2 years ago. One of his last ones.

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Agree I don't think you necessarily can actively look for one, my mare is my horse of a lifetime, she came to me initially for breaking and schooling, so I got to know her very well over a time period. She was the most amazing horse to train. At a time when my previous horse had destroyed my confidence to jump, this mare having never jumped went over a pole so easily it was as if she'd done it all her life. When it came to the owner selling, I couldn't bare to part with her so bought her myself! She's been with me ever since, we've done county showing, SJ, XC, and qualified BD nationals! AND she is now at 16 teaching my 5 year old sons to ride! Not many horses you can do that with! She's also hopefully given me my next one in a million horse in giving me a son who is simply stunning!
 
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