Horses that have made an impression on you..

[Damnation]

A few weeks back I posted about horses of a lifetime and today I decided to ask the lovely people of HHO if they have ever known a horse/owned a horse that left a lasting impression in their minds??

I will go first. I owned a 15.2 ex racer. Bought her as a 4 year old.
She was the sweetest most trusting mare I ever knew. After about a year of ownership, she was rising 5, I thought right I can ask a bit more from her, queue th e bucking and she did a rodeo display and dumped me .. against a wall..

She was awfully nappy on the road in company. Alone.. well you had a hope in hell of getting her off the yard on her own! Then about a year and a half later when she was in full work, mid winter, she rodeo'd me off twice in 2 weeks.

I decided, this isn't like this mare there is something wrong here. Myself and other liveries didn't think she was moving right behind, very short. Had all the checks done, got the vet out for £500 worth of call outs to be told I was being paranoid.

Moved to Cumbria and went for a hack, a dog spooked the two horses so they had a bit of a canter down the road.. for literally 20meters or so. She napped the whole way around and was crippled for days.

Got the vet over here out. MAre had a slipped disk in her back and 2 vets agreed that judging by her behaviour patterns she had been like this for years.

What a bloody honest horse!!! She let me ride her, hack her, let other people jump her. And she had been in constant pain for years.. She certainly made an impression on my mind, what an honest creature!

She was PTS 4th September 2011 at 8.45am.

Tell me about horses you have known who have made an impression in your mind Either by their stupidness ( ) or their bravery!

D

 

[Upskyc]

Mine was an Anglo arab palomino mare 15.1hh Kandy. I had a darling little coloured pony that though she was my first not really a first pony, she taught me a lot. by 12 I was wearing rollerskates with her, so my mums friend said, I have a broodmare you can have, broken at 3 turned away to have a foal, then had such lovely foals never came back into work, she was then just left as an expensive lawnmower untill she was 12 and I got her on loan, I went to try her she jogged constantly and she reared at the sight of 2 goats, and would bite, mum said NO I said, I'll scream and scream and scream untill I make myself sick if I can't have her.
I won and Kandy was a dream we won everything we done from handy pony to XC, she was the fasted thing I have ever rode, and I loved her from the very bottom of my heart, one day she had had enough, she had been clipped then rode, then shod all in one day (stupid of us) she grabbed me by the throat and dragged me over her stable door, with my throat bleeding I trudged home wondering how I could explain away this the 2nd time she had really gone for me, the first time I said I was in her way when she went for another horse, at the hospital I was told how very lucky I was any deeper and I may have bled to death before I made it home, she went back to my mums friend and sadly died of cancer very soon after, she has always been in my heart, she taught me how to do so many things, my 1st pony was great but Kandy really taught me how to ride, not just be a rider. This was all when I was 14 I am 40 now and she is still in my heart, I still have my horse that was bought as a replacement from her and I have my DWB, I love them dearly too, but she was a WOW in my life and made the biggest impression on me that has made my life a horsey life.

 

[Bigginge]

I didn't own him, but when I was liveried at a riding school in my teens this horse came in from a dealer. Chestnut and white, I can still remember him as he came off the lorry, with the longest forelock. He seemed huge to me at the time, but probably didn't reach 15hh. He was 5 and entire but one of the gentlest horses I've ever met. Heaven knows where he'd been but he was blind in one eye, terrified of brooms and was covered in scars including a tell tale lump on his nose. He didn't have a name so we called him Harvey. I nearly cried the day when as kids do we were messing about in the yard, calling each other names and at the sound of the name "s******d" our beautiful Harvey came to his door and whinnied, he thought that was his name.

Although I had my own pony I spent hours in his stable grooming him, his mane was soon tidied up and there was the most handsome boy under there. I skived off school early to help my instructor reback him and was the first (after her) to be allowed to ride him.

Sadly his stallion status didn't make him ideal for the riding school and he only stayed a couple of months before I was told he was being traded in for another horse. We were told he was going to be a showjumper, but I never really knew if that was true. I wish I'd had the money to buy him, he stole my heart nearly 20 years ago and I'll never forget him.

 

[gugglebum]

I'll never forget Sovereign, a 15.2hh chocolate palomino I loaned for 2 years. When I took on the ride I was warned of a shopping list of bad traits and told he napped, he reared, he bit, he tanked being led, he bucked, refused etc etc.
His owner called him Sod and didn't have a good word to say about him.
In the 2 years I did him I didn't see a single one of these bad behaviours, he was perfect. His only fault was that he wouldn't go in a stable.
Sov taught me that each horse is different, and responds to different people in different ways. Although you should heed warnings you should also keep an open mind. Often having faith in a horse is rewarded many times over.

 

[Hedwards]

well, as in the 'horse of a lifetime' post, my old girl Betty, she was my first horse, bought when i was 14, we did a bit of this and a bit of that, she came to university with me, and i loved her to peices, sadly pts aged 21 after damaging her DDFT.

Another one was a pony i rode at my 'riding school' (I went to Kenneth Clawson's yard from age 6 - it was never really a proper riding school) Henry was the pony i used to ride, he was an ex-jumping pony (he jumped like a stag). Little grey with a pink and grey nose! little bugger, used to lead perfectly out of the stable, through the yard, and as soon as you got to the track to the school he'd literally tow you towards the road and his fields! However i loved 'Henners' totally and utterly, jumping him was the best fun. We started the 'Hazel & Henry Sudden Death Turn' (I'm Hazel by the way!) - if doing gymkhana games we'd canter to one end of the school, he'd rear up, spin and we'd canter back - we always won! although it did cause trouble when he did it to other clients who would fall off the back while Henry would come back to the end of the school on his own!

 

[Ginger Bear]

I had a 16'2 Trotter on loan for a few years..he was 24 when I began loaning him...we had soo much fun together, he loved to bomb about & as soon as I'd ask him he'd stop..never ever put a foot wrong.. i was told that he bit other people who had loaned him but he never bit me..he was really straggly, a really long dipped back where he was backed too young, a massive head & twisty back legs where he'd been raced as a youngster in a cart on the road..(I'll let you guess who owned him previously!) I loved him so much, tidied him up got some weight on him & he was a star..a few years later his legs eventually gave way & he had to be pts..will never forget him!! x

 

[horsey mad matt]

ine is, the horse i have now, jack (my third horse). a friend of my mums phoned us up after we sold my second pony to tell us that a friend of hers has a load of family cobs coming ovver from ireland, so we went up to his yard to meet them. when we got there they hadn't turned up but he did have 2 left from the last lot. so we looked at the first one, which we decided was a bit big and a bit sharp for me then we looked at the other one and i fell in love. mum thought he was a tad small but as soon as he came out of the foot of straw, she was reasured. i had a ride on him in the school and really liked him. but mum still wasn't convinced so we organised to come back the next day. that night we decided if we was to have him we would call him cracker jack or jack for short. so mum, yard owmer and me went out for a hack and he was great. we decided to have him so i went over to his stable as mum was sorting the arrangements. i gave him a hug and said that his name was to be jack and he was going to be mine!!!!

a week later he went to mums friends yard on a weeks trial and it was the best week of my life. at the end of the week he was moved to my yard and he was paid for. we have had some bad times but many more great. he has tought me so much and made me alot more confident!!! he is the best horse in the world and has a home for life.

sorry for long winded story!!

 

[Kenzo]

Mr M of course, although to be fair everyone pony and horse I've had has a little place in my heart.

But him, well I love the bones of him, he's taught things not only about him as an equine but about myself, he's kept me going through some pretty tough times, he's been there keeping me on my toes....bloody thing!

but it has to be said he's my soul mate and he knows it.

 

[Kellys Heroes]

My previous part loan - a cheeky 13.2hh pony called Rebel, who lived up to his name!!!! and my part loan now - rescued from the travellers, a complete wreck basically, her owner was told she was dangerous etc etc. She did all the work and put the time in with her and now, even though she is still a bolshy so and so at times, she's the best horse ever!!
Another was a mare at the RS I learnt at called Saffron. About 13.2hh, chestnut, used to trot with her front legs and canter with her back at the same time (very odd!) but I loved her. She came down with colic and a twisted gut and sadly had to be PTS - must have been 11 years ago now but I still have a picture of me and her in my room.
K x

 

[noblesteed]

My current horse has made a lasting impression on my ARM - he chucked me off, I dislocated it and it will never be able to fully straighten again!!!!!
I love him to bits tho. We have been to rock bottom and back and he has taught me so much.

 

[Karran]

There's two riding school ponies that I'll always remember. One Equus, a leopard-spot appy. She knew her job, and was the perfect 14hh kids pony. I loved her but out-grew her ability-wise. This was when I was 8. Then at 16 I was practicing for a prelim dressage. My instructor brought her out in a head collar and reins and told me to do the test bareback. I'm a nervous rider but was so used to her and she was in her early 30's then agreed. She proceeded to do the whole test in a rather sedate canter with me and my instructor laughing our heads off. I think she had a twinkle in her eye when I jumped off. She was pts

 

[missyme10]

For me it was 20 years ago when I went on a riding holiday in the black mountains in Wales.
I was given an 8 year old Welsh Section D Mare called Bonny to ride and she was the most beautiful horse, and took great care of me the whole holiday. She left such a positive impression on me its still with me 19 years later and I still remember her with great fondness.
I've always wanted a Welsh cob ever since and swore one day I'd have my own, took 18 years to get her and it was her birthday today, she's now 2 and growing into an equally beautiful mare x

 

[kovu]

At the beginning of March I began looking for a loan horse, I've ridden 15 years, and am finally in a place where I can afford it. I looked through pages and pages, spent hours every night, chasing up phonecalls, trying out but not one was right. Cue this one mare, up for permenant loan with a view to buy! Only problem was I lived too far away for the owner to want to move her.

Cue me with a few months of moaning and moaning about how much I want her, how much promise I can see in her, and a very sympathic OH and kind words from HH members, I went to see her. And she's soon to be mine and moving next week. She's the only horse i have ever gone on about so much, she's the only one I would consider to buy (even when I was window shopping so to say), and the only one who has managed to get me off her back the first time I rode her (my fault not hers, she spooked, I wasnt ready), but yet she's got something. And I think I knew it from the ad.

Oh and it helps that non horsey OH fell in love with her too.

 

[babymare]

my beautiful babymare - no we havent graced the show fields(though how many times i have been told you should) or done x country but given her awful past and her sight now, in 41 years of horses i have found my horse of lifetime - she is an inspiration on how you can trust again,her eyes have given me the hope to keep going, her trust and her heart is priceless - now i am trusting a man again and she is part of our lives - doomed for the meatman but she has given me the hope & the dreams to carry on - baby my soulmate xxxx

 

[Kat]

A little coloured riding school pony called capri, she was bombproof, with a hugely scopey jump and a heck of a buck! She taught me so much, mainly to sit up and keep my heels down, she was one of a kind and I loved her despite falling off her more times than all the other horses I have ridden put together!

 

[fitzaud2]

Well, I've had 2. First was Mannix, a big, bold blue and white horse, that was slightly bonkers. I had him on loan for 4 years, sj him, hunter trialed him, won all round on him, but nearly got killed off him many times out hunting, once he heard the horn, he was gone at about 150 miles an hour, and if you put a chainsaw in his mouth, you wouldnt stop him. Best horse I ever had though, and would give anything to have a horse like him today. I cried for 4 months solid when he was sold on me, my dad even went to uk to find him, but guy that bought him had sent him back, couldnt hold him. He was re-sold to meath foxhounds, as i tracked him down last year, really wanted to know where he had ended up. Spoke to dealer, who gave me number for guy who bought him, ( that'll tell you what he was like, dealer remembered him after 12 years), huntsman who bought him really didn't believe me that i had ever hunted him, as he was a little "touched" when hunting, had to be up front( I learned that the first day I hunted him), but as we got talking about him, he said that is def the same horse. Turns out they broke his wind, had him hobdayed and shipped to the us to ranch cattle, through a cousin of the secretary. They sent me photos of him hunting with them and ranching cattle in us. WOW!!!
Cooper was my other special one, he was nothing like Mannix, a complete gentleman, real confidence giver, and the best horse I've ever owned. He gave me back my confidence when I thought it would never come back. Just wish he wasnt taken from me so early in his life, we would have had years of fun to come. RIP Cooper!!!
Thanks for this post, it isn't often I get to rant about my fav horses!!!!!!

 

[Damnation]

Aaah I do love hearing stories like these.

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

I didn't own him, but when I was liveried at a riding school in my teens this horse came in from a dealer. Chestnut and white, I can still remember him as he came off the lorry, with the longest forelock. He seemed huge to me at the time, but probably didn't reach 15hh. He was 5 and entire but one of the gentlest horses I've ever met. Heaven knows where he'd been but he was blind in one eye, terrified of brooms and was covered in scars including a tell tale lump on his nose. He didn't have a name so we called him Harvey. I nearly cried the day when as kids do we were messing about in the yard, calling each other names and at the sound of the name "s******d" our beautiful Harvey came to his door and whinnied, he thought that was his name.

Although I had my own pony I spent hours in his stable grooming him, his mane was soon tidied up and there was the most handsome boy under there. I skived off school early to help my instructor reback him and was the first (after her) to be allowed to ride him.

Sadly his stallion status didn't make him ideal for the riding school and he only stayed a couple of months before I was told he was being traded in for another horse. We were told he was going to be a showjumper, but I never really knew if that was true. I wish I'd had the money to buy him, he stole my heart nearly 20 years ago and I'll never forget him.

Awwwww you have made me cry, that horse really took a piece of your heart with him xxxxx

 

[Elsbells]

From a child till 17 I rode other peoples horses when they were to scared to ride them. Then one day I was offered this big dapple grey TB type mare who although lived on a bombsite and was owned by the local swill man, looked like, she had just stepped off a film set.

I tacked her up in her Indian leather and took her straight out onto the lane. She moved like a dream and I had never ridden anything like that, or had even come close to it, she was pure quality and I felt it for the very first time.

On the way home though, she bolted, took the bit in her jaws and hiked it full pelt up the lanes. I had nothing, we were gone and were heading for a main road! OH came rushing out from a gateway waveing his arms and screaming. A rein snapped like paper and I held the loose ring snaffle in my fingers. As she slowed I swung over my leg and hit the ground on my feet(thankyou Lord).

Yeah, she made an impression all right!!

 

[PingPongPony]

One horse that will always be in my heart is my friends horse Lottie. I loaned her last year and even though i wanted to do alot more than she was capable of at the grand age of 30, she always tried her hardest to please me.
One day we went for a ride to the pub, on our way back we had a steady canter down a grass verdge when Lottie put her front foot wrong and off we went flying through the air, me landing on my back and Lottie rolling straight on top of me and landing in a ditch. Suprisingly i wasn't hurt, jumped to my feet and the first thing i said was ''was it my fault... i'm so sorry!'', friend getting off her horse assured me it wasnt my fault. Lottie wouldn't get up even though we tried to help her up, she was just lying there breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and put her head on the ground. We took her saddle off and called the vet and sat there on the side of a road, crying. Lottie ofcourse didn't miss the opportunity to munch in some grass with her head still on the ground. The second she saw the vet coming towards us with a syringe, she went ''hell no!'', shot up to her feet and tried to bolt but was still very unsteady on her feet so her plan didn't quite work the way she planned. We rang a friend to pick us up with a lorry, and took Lottie home. The next morning Lottie was happily standing in her stable eating her hay and demanding her breakfast. Vet came to check up on her and examine her thoroughly. Lottie was diagnosed with pyometra and estmated 3 weeks of life left.
Well...
1 year on, Lottie is still with all her friends running around the field like a lunatic and demanding breakfast. Having the odd potter down the lane and acting as a 12.2hh for little kids to play with. She's not looking like she's going anywhere anytime soon.
I admire this horses determination to live and enjoy life. I admire her will to fight even though she's not as strong as she used to be. I admire the love she has for everyone around her and never has a bad day, always has a time for a cuddle. This horse is something special and will stay in my heart forever, she might not be mine and i might have only known her for a year and a bit but she has a special place in my heart and i will never forget this beautifull mare.

I love you Lottie <3

 

[Pampered Ponies]

Luckily for me, I am still talking in the present tense.

An ex-racer who is absolutely adored by me. He is kind, intelligent, trustworthy and fun in any situation that I have managed to throw at him. Gives 110% to anything asked of him, no matter what, but manages to let you know there is 120% available for things he really loves.

I hope I have many more years with him yet but I still dread the day we will part company - however far in the future that may be.

 

[Chavhorse]

I am blessed to have had two horses in my life that have made an impression on me and they both deserve their own post.

The first is Martini the horse i owned in Cyprus. I had moved over there with my Ex Husband as he wanted to retire there giving up job, friends and family and found it really hard to settle. When we split up after 18 months there my first instinct was to come straight back to the UK but my wise old mum persuaded me to stay for at least 6 months to give it a go on my own.

I had bought Martini to give me something to do with myself out there with my free time shortly before my OH and I split up. When I split from my OH I moved down to rent a cottage on the farm where he was kept. And so started the best 3 years of my life. Marti was an ex Cyprus Racehorse who had been re-trained as a dressage horse, but who I discovered loved hacking out! We spent hours going off on our own up into the mountains, he taught me to be fearless and to love speed. My god that horse could run he had what I called his "turbo mode" where his arse would go right down and he would launch off.

Because of him I met some great friends, was able to relax and enjoy life on my own and after 6 months living alone I had never been happier (so no I did not go back to the UK!) , I used to love taking my morning coffee out to my veranda and the first thing I would see would be my horse, I would be dressed and riding him out in the morning sun by 5.30 am where we would have a wonderful gallop through breathtaking countryside before coming home to shower and go to work.

He was like a donkey with me to handle but would react badly to anyone who showed any amount of nervousness around him, my 6 year old nephew had his first ever ride on my boy who behaved like a complete dope on a rope even when I turned my back then turned back to see my tiny nephew walking this huge horse around like a big dog.

He was a spooky bugger at times his particular nemesis being the lovely old farmer who we passed most days (never sure if it was his bright colored sweater or his pipe that got him going) and sheep but he could be as brave as a lion, one memorable day a group of us went out for a ride up to the quarry, it had rained heavily and as we cantered round a corner we found ourselves up to our horses bellies in a sea of mud that was moving backwards down the steep hill, whilst all the other horse panicked and the riders jumped off, Marti calmly swam forwards and round then swam out of the quagmire, the other horses followed him out and everyone was commenting on "what a brave and cool horse" he was. Unfortunately as we came down the hill leading the bedraggled group he had a major spook at a sofa someone had abandoned lol. He was however the only horse at the yard who was happy to use the path that ran behind the gun club, we used to love galloping along that path watching the jaws of the people shooting there dropping open.

He was ultimately responsible for me meeting the love of my life James, I had struck up a very close friendship with one of the other liveries and she invited me to a party for some people coming over from the UK to look at properties and James was one of them, we spent all night talking at the party then every night talking on the phone until 6 months later i moved to Holland to be with him.

Very very bittersweet as at 16 Marti was not up to taking the 10 day journey to Holland, he was sold to a girl on the yard who had always wanted him with a "first Refusal" to come back to me if she ever sold him.

I went back to Cyprus 4 months after leaving to discover she had sold him and not told me and he had been moved. I could quite easily have comitted murder that morning when i went up to the yard to be told "he is sold he went this week, we thought you knew". I tracked him down and offered the new owner twice what she paid for him but she refused, again I have told her that if she ever needs to sell him then to contact me he deserves his retirement back at the old yard which i will happily pay for for the rest of his days.

Martini Chilling out under the Olive Tree in his Paddock

Stoically Putting up with his Rather Drunk Mother Making him look an Arse (Christmas Day 2006)

 

[SavingGrace]

My current horse... I NEVER wanted a mare EVER but there just something about the first time I met her... My trainer had bought her with my dream horse (black, gelding, 4 white socks and a big white blaze) with a view to me doing groundwork with them both whilst they were backed and ridden away... I was pretty adament that I didn't want anything to do with Holly (although she was Monica then) so I concentrated on the gelding... I am not sure why or how she done it but each day she wormed her way into my heart a little more... So I gave in and started doing lots of ground work with her - grooming, leading, cuddling and to my trainers surprise I soon told her that I wanted that one lol

I am 100% certain that she is my forever horse and if I am ever in a position to buy another I will definitely not turn my back on a mare

 

[Elsbells]

I am blessed to have had two horses in my life that have made an impression on me and they both deserve their own post.

The first is Martini the horse i owned in Cyprus. I had moved over there with my Ex Husband as he wanted to retire there giving up job, friends and family and found it really hard to settle. When we split up after 18 months there my first instinct was to come straight back to the UK but my wise old mum persuaded me to stay for at least 6 months to give it a go on my own.

I had bought Martini to give me something to do with myself out there with my free time shortly before my OH and I split up. When I split from my OH I moved down to rent a cottage on the farm where he was kept. And so started the best 3 years of my life. Marti was an ex Cyprus Racehorse who had been re-trained as a dressage horse, but who I discovered loved hacking out! We spent hours going off on our own up into the mountains, he taught me to be fearless and to love speed. My god that horse could run he had what I called his "turbo mode" where his arse would go right down and he would launch off.

Because of him I met some great friends, was able to relax and enjoy life on my own and after 6 months living alone I had never been happier (so no I did not go back to the UK!) , I used to love taking my morning coffee out to my veranda and the first thing I would see would be my horse, I would be dressed and riding him out in the morning sun by 5.30 am where we would have a wonderful gallop through breathtaking countryside before coming home to shower and go to work.

He was like a donkey with me to handle but would react badly to anyone who showed any amount of nervousness around him, my 6 year old nephew had his first ever ride on my boy who behaved like a complete dope on a rope even when I turned my back then turned back to see my tiny nephew walking this huge horse around like a big dog.

He was a spooky bugger at times his particular nemesis being the lovely old farmer who we passed most days (never sure if it was his bright colored sweater or his pipe that got him going) and sheep but he could be as brave as a lion, one memorable day a group of us went out for a ride up to the quarry, it had rained heavily and as we cantered round a corner we found ourselves up to our horses bellies in a sea of mud that was moving backwards down the steep hill, whilst all the other horse panicked and the riders jumped off, Marti calmly swam forwards and round then swam out of the quagmire, the other horses followed him out and everyone was commenting on "what a brave and cool horse" he was. Unfortunately as we came down the hill leading the bedraggled group he had a major spook at a sofa someone had abandoned lol. He was however the only horse at the yard who was happy to use the path that ran behind the gun club, we used to love galloping along that path watching the jaws of the people shooting there dropping open.

He was ultimately responsible for me meeting the love of my life James, I had struck up a very close friendship with one of the other liveries and she invited me to a party for some people coming over from the UK to look at properties and James was one of them, we spent all night talking at the party then every night talking on the phone until 6 months later i moved to Holland to be with him.

Very very bittersweet as at 16 Marti was not up to taking the 10 day journey to Holland, he was sold to a girl on the yard who had always wanted him with a "first Refusal" to come back to me if she ever sold him.

I went back to Cyprus 4 months after leaving to discover she had sold him and not told me and he had been moved. I could quite easily have comitted murder that morning when i went up to the yard to be told "he is sold he went this week, we thought you knew". I tracked him down and offered the new owner twice what she paid for him but she refused, again I have told her that if she ever needs to sell him then to contact me he deserves his retirement back at the old yard which i will happily pay for for the rest of his days.

Martini Chilling out under the Olive Tree in his Paddock

Stoically Putting up with his Rather Drunk Mother Making him look an Arse (Christmas Day 2006)

What a horse! What a life lived! How lucky were you to of found him.

 

[Chavhorse]

The second of my Memorable horses is the one I own and am proud to call mine, Nevada or vardi as he is know on his yard.

Let me start off by saying I did not choose Vardi nor even see him before he was delivered to me.

I had been in Holland for 10 months and was in the process of recovering from a crash I had had on a loan horse who I had taken on 6 months previously. He was another OTTB and a confirmed bolter and rearer, being very gung ho and very stupid I had had a very exciting but so far accident free 6 months. However all that changed on the day he decided that he was going to jump a canal in panic and I decided that being underneath half a ton of horse as it inevitably fell in the water was not how I wanted to go so I bailed out.

I was left with a broken shoulder, fractured pelvis, broken knee and broken foot as well as a head injury that had me blind in one eye for a month, all the injuries were on my right side as I had carried out a kind of Barnes Wallace Bouncing Bomb dismount.

My non horsey OH realising that horses were a huge part of my life and taking the advice of my insane YO decided that what I needed was a youngster to bring on myself in my own way.

I was taken down to the yard on the pretence of a coffee and a trailer drew up with the ugliest youngester on the back, he was an Appaloosa x warm blood ( I have always disliked spotty horses and never really liked warm bloods either!) he was 3.5 years old, very recently backed, bum high and with a head that was totally out of any proportion to his body in short he was totally fugly! Imagine my delight at being told this is your new horse!

Verdi - Bum High, Spotty and only 3.5 Eeek!

The next few months were joyous! I was on crutches, weak as a kitten with a cast on my arm and leg, I spent my entire time trying to stop this baby horse realising that he could totally take the mick and there was nothing I could do to stop him. He was being ridden by a friend of the YO but I was unhappy with the way she was basically bringing him on to be be Anky’s next best thing and hated him being hot housed so after 6 months I moved him to another yard to be re-started and where I could play a large part as I was by now pretty much recovered.

All went brilliantly well and we were on our way to becoming a partnership, two days before I brought him home I received a phone call telling me had had been cast, had been down most of the night and was very badly injured.

To say he looked a mess was an understatement, he had an eye the size of a duck egg, a hole in his near hind just under his fetlock where he had had it trapped between two bars of his stable all night, and was covered in cuts and abrasions where he had been hanging and scrabbling all down the off side of his body, he was also totally tied up due to the exhaustion and the vet was convinced that he would colic from the shock.

The day of the Casting

Two days later the hole on his leg had blown out and was now 6 cms wide by 5 deep (later investigation would show that he had missed his tendon by a fag paper!) and all the skin on the off side had bubbled up and was flaying off, it was at this point I really thought he had given up and even my vet who came to see him on that day will now admit that she drove away fully expecting a “please come and put him to sleep its enough” call later in the day.

I really thought I was going to lose him

I effectively moved into the yard, he needed his wounds cleaning and dressing 6 times a day such was the amount of skin he had lost and the worry of infection, god he was a brave boy, he was in so much pain but seemed to realise that we only wanted to help him he got to the stage where when you went near his leg he would his foot up to your head height so you could clean and dress it as easily as possible (something that took over a year to stop him doing a freaked out the new farrier on the first time he saw him).

We very slowly eased him off the pain killers and so started 6 months of pure paddock rest. He was given the all clear to start ground work only in walk in November that year and the vet also told me that he doubted he would ever be fully mobile again and quite frankly if I wanted to do any form of dressage with him to have him pts and use the insurance money to buy a new horse. After we had spend 7 months fighting to get him better you can imagine that you response to that is not suitable for a family forum!

Scars after 6 months

So the time had come to move him back nearer to home, the original yard that I had in mind would not be suitable so I started to cast about for a new one and quite by chance came across a western livery and training stable which was only 8 kilometers from my home. It is here that I met Jan and Bri who own the yard and to whom both I and Varid owe so much for their patience, support and constant new ideas of how to deal with this horse that needed a lot of remedial training and therapy.

Jan suggested that we start him from scratch again and take it really slowly giving him time to build up his strength in his back and leg and also to get his confidence back, Jan realised that a horse who has been totally immobilised for such a long period and has given up struggling (although it saved his life) has in fact given up to die which fundamentally changes them and he would need a lot of very careful treatment if we wanted him to come out the other side both physically and just as importantly mentally.

For 4 months everything was done from the ground in walk, circles were very difficult any stretching exercises were difficult and anything at all that meant he had to use his near hind caused him to have a panic that it would hurt. We then repeated the whole process in Jog (trot) it was a great day when we cantered him for the first time since the accident, it wasn’t pretty but he was sound.

We had setbacks many of them when we reverted back a few steps, everything was taken painfully slowly to ensure the leg was strong enough to take the workload, the worst moment when the vet suggested a full set of x-ray as he could not be convinced that he had not fractured something in his spine when he was tristed over…..the amount of whiskey that was drunk that evening when we came back with both the horse and a full set of totally clear x-rays was unbelievable.

In July jan rode him for the first time in September I cantered my horse around the round pen for the very fist time since owning him in nearly two years.

Vardi is now a fully converted Western riding horse the set him up tell him what to do and leave him alone suits him well. He is fit and strong to the point that the original vet who saw him following his accident recently for an insurance check over said she would never has recognised him had it not been for the loud colour! We have spend the last few month taking back a few steps to let him have some maturing time, following the accident he seemed to have mentally stuck at 4 years old, but allowing him the time to go back over some old work which he knows well and also putting in a paddock with some youngsters in it to allow him to try his herd leader jacket on for size has increased his confidence greatly and he is now mentally caught up with his big strong six year old body.

This summer we are intending to get him out and about and his first visit to the forest and the beach are scheduled I am certain my cool Dude of a horse will cope brilliantly as he has coped with everything in his short life.

A Western Riding Horse with Jan on top

Me and My Boy

 

[VickieB]

well, as in the 'horse of a lifetime' post, my old girl Betty, she was my first horse, bought when i was 14, we did a bit of this and a bit of that, she came to university with me, and i loved her to peices, sadly pts aged 21 after damaging her DDFT.

Stalker alert - I remember you and Betty from Leire! I was one of the ones that used to INFURATE JP and refuse to ride her becuase she was to sharp for me in those days. GUtted she was PTS, she was a cracking mare.