Tell me about your 'one in a million'

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alwaysbroke

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Today I have been lucky enough to compete a little mare that I have known for the past 8 years. Unfortunately she doesn't belong to me, but to a very good friend who has allowed my girl and I to ride Abs as often as we can.
Abs is a little unconventional, she is 14.2 but takes 6'3-6'6 rugs and a full size bridle, more of a horse but with pony legs! I don't think I have come across a horse or pony who has such a good attitude, nothing fazes her, she always gives 110% and will give everything a go. I have happy memories of daughter aged 10 riding Abs and lead reining Mini D_K aged 2 1/2 on his 11hh pony through an Intro water jump, older daughter winning jumping classes galore and me hunting and jumping about 40 stone walls right up with the Huntsman on the last meet of the season.
For one reason or another Abs hasn't been to any comps or parties for over 3 years, she had a lovely foal last year (who will be kept by his owner for life as will Abs)When she started to come back into work it was discovered she has slight arthritis in her hocks. Under vets guidance Abs has been brought back into work, again she hasn't put a foot wrong but we can tell she is a little bored with rehab work.
So today I took her to do a walk and trot test, just to see how she was doing and to give her a change of scenery. She has never been a 'dressage diva', really much more of a jumping machine. She was more than happy to be out and about again, lively but very sensible, did a nice rhythmical test and owner and I were very happy with her.
Couldn't believe it when D_K came across to tell me we had won on a score of 67.8:) Haven't stopped grinning all day, this little mare gives her all and means the world to me.

Would love to hear about your one in a million:)
 
We got my girl 3 years ago when I was a quivering nervous wreck, with a lot of baggage, but a desire to get somewhere eventually.
Shes a 15hh fairly quirky little welshy, but she has a heart of gold and I knew she was something special. She was so obese when we got her she puffed just walking, but I could see something in her.
She has taken me from a quivering wreck to happily popping her round a 2ft6 course of SJs, we xc schooling and I started too scared to even pop a tiny log, and by the end we were jumping 3ft. We go on fun rides, we have even hunted. She is still sharp, but I can laugh at her and I love her with all my heart.
She has mended me aswell along the way and I owe my little horse so much. She is the kindest, nicest natured horse you could ever deal with. She will be with me forever and I will never find another who means what she does to me.
 
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wow, Abs sounds amazing, and well done on a great %age!
nice idea for a thread. :) :)
it's quite a tough call for me to decide which of mine was my real 'one in a million', but i guess i'll have to pick the one who went the furthest. the grey in my pic, Doris (Skylarker, by Skyboy, lucky me!) had only showjumped when I bought her as a 6 yr old, but she loved her xc and was absolutely awesome. she relished going on a flier, was silly-brave, had oodles of scope, and enough attitude for 5. we flew around quite a few Advanced tracks, i think the only Adv jumping penalties we ever incurred were down to Moments of Extreme Muppetry on my behalf. flew around a LF 3* too, she made it feel easy. she retired sound and still loving it (DC at her last run) due to developing a cataract & going nearly blind in 1 eye. utterly gutting.
she had all sorts of quirks, and required extreme levels of tact... (was fully capable of downing tools in the middle of a test and doing stroppy levades until i stopped asking for anything, very embarrassing!) i'm sure she taught me as much as i taught her. i still miss her, and occasionally dream about taking her xc, even though she's been gone for years now. she was a funny one, she wasn't cuddly (unlike all my others) but every so often she'd enjoy it, then 1/2 way through realise it was a human daring to cuddle her, and i'd feel her tense up like a board at the insult to her dignity and grimace at me. she was a real one-off.
i considered sending her to a top rider because her dressage was SO difficult (for my trainers too tbf, both of which were real dressage aces) but was told that she was so mardy and complicated that she really might not cope in a big yard, she had to be the absolute Number 1 horse, she was that sort.
it was a genuine privilege to produce such a horse. i've never sat on another one as good as her. she should have gone 4* and with a bit more luck and time she would have. oh well.
 
I think my one in a million is my horse Handy, I bought him as a 21st birthday present for me, from Melton Mowbray sales, he never went through the ring (thank goodness!). He's taught me so much, and he's proved to be the most amazing horse. Last year was rubbish, he was diagnosed with Navicular, which started off a whole host of other things.
He's gone from 'dangerous' and 'unrideable' to being a fun hack, confidence giver to both me and other horses, and now we're looking to venture out this year. He's a real gentleman, and I owe so much to him.
Before I got him I was a nervous wreck when it came to hacking out, now with Handy we're out nearly every weekend, in groups and he's perfect. Even in his 'hyped up' moments, which result in going sideways, jogging and chucking his head up and down, he's always controllable. He's built my confidence no-end. To me, he's my one in a million, never in a million years did I think I'd end up with a horse like him, and he's found his forever home.
 
all of mine have been one in a million in different ways. If I had to pick one it would be my first horse Dan who I got when I was 19. He introduced me to competing and to winning! He was a prolific rosette machine. We did a bit of everything, but most importantly he took me to the BD Area Festival Finals and came 4th. He also took me to doing my first Medium test. He retired a few wks after the Champs due to injury but aged 26 now he's still hacking out several times a week. He taught me a huge huge amount and owes me nothing.

My little Welsh Cob I got aged 5 and he's now nearly 10. Unfortunately broken now but he introduced me to hunting and gave me my confidence back jumping. I did my first hedge on him and I also schooled him on from nothing to knowing half pass, flying changes etc. He just wasn't much good at competing as hates white boards!

And my current boy has introduced me to the world of eventing and given me back my confidence show-jumping after Dan destroyed it. So they really all have been very very special in their own ways.
 
Millie was certainly a 'one in a million horse'! I bought her from the meat man, as a 15hh failed racehorse. A this point I had lost all confidence jumping on a not so genuine horse and had decided I was going to 'do' dressage. We bought Millie for my mum to hack, as my horse was really denting my confidence as she was a nutter to hack :rolleyes:. From day 1 Millie didn't put a foot wrong, and very quickly I started to steal her off my mum :o. Together (Millie never having jumped before) we started jumping again, and as my confidence with Millie grew, so did my confidence in my other horse. By the end of the first year owning Millie I was jumping round BE Intros on both horses and getting placed :D. In that first year Millie won every unaffilliated ODE she did, and came 2nd at Milton Keynes unaff 3DE. Then moved up to BE and came 2nd! 3 years later Millie and I completed Weston Park 1* with a clear XC. I all this time she had never once stopped at a fence, and was 100% at everything. The next season I brought her out at Novice, she jumped well at Oasby and Lincolnshire (and getting placed), but I could tell she wasn't right. Turned out she had injured her sacro-illiac area. So following advice form the vet we decided to out her in foal. In 2010 she had a beautiful little filly who gained a first premium at the Futurity. Millie is currently in foal again to Future Illusion.

Here is a picture of her from her last ever event, where despite her her injury causing her discomfort she still jumped a foot perfect XC clear.

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Having said that I do think Jem is turning into a bit of a 'one in a million' purely down to her versitility, she can be hunting one day, eventing the next, and doing dressage with my mother the day after that. The plan is to move her up to BE Novice this season, after being placed in most of her BE100 runs last year.

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Hi kerilli, you grey mare not being cuddly sounds very much like mine.... :) she is also my horse of a lifetime, she too has endless scope and sometimes is just too brave..... She has the temperament for dressage, the conscience for SJ and the courage for XC, but sadly she doesnt appear to be tough enough to event... People tell me to sell her and get something tougher, but when she's right, I wouldn't swop her for anything, so I stick with her and we do what we can. :)
Today for example I went to school her in our hay field to find a clay pigeon shoot going on very close next door, she was a bit bright but worked, then half way thru she was chased by a Rhodesian ridgeback that, once we were happy wasnt going to attack us, she faced and stood up to and we pushed him back to his house, a bit later the same thing happened, but with a collie joining in as well, she still faced them both and backed them up again and then continued working with the shooting still going on.... I was so proud of her at today. :))
 
I feel ridiculously lucky to have two 'one in a million' horse, but the most special one is Henry as without him, there would be no Mally.

When we went to view Henry, I was looking for a hack, I had zero confidence about jumping and just wanted something I could pootle about on and maybe do a wee bit of schooling. It started well when on my first viewing he decked me, but something about him just drew me back and when he hacked out all by himself down a main road without the batting of an eyelid I knew he was perfect. Although I did wonder what I'd done when, as I loaded him up to take him home, they told me how he had decked everyone that had tried him and I was the only one who had come back :D
He gave me so much confidence, to the point I outgrew what he was capable of and was desperate to do more, however I wouldn't part with him for all the tea in China. He is my best friend, he got me through some horrible times and always tried his heart out for me. When he broke, I was devestated. Now he is 100% sound and happy, he gets out for the odd hack and even a wander down the lane on him is guaranteed to put a huge grin on my face.

And then there is Mally, and everyone know just how wonderful she is, the perfect continuation to Henry's legacy :D If you'd have told me last year I'd have spent the winter hunting over huge post and rail and 5ft hedges I'd have had you committed and then gone to sit in a dark room to recover from the very thought. If you'd have told me I was planning my first proper season eventing and planning it at BE100 I'd have laughed in your face. But when I sit on Mally, I honestly believe anything is possible. She gives me so much confidence, which is even more amusing as she is a sharp little bugger at times, strong, forward going to the point of hot at times, and a difficult little sod on the flat - the complete opposite of my 'type' of horse!! :D
 
Well, after Wibble's performances this week it definately isn't going to be him :p

In all seriousness though, Bronts will always be my one in a million. He was an absolute b***** on the flat and on the ground - used to spin and leg it when led, quite 'standoffish' (not grumpy, just wasn't bothered about coming in for a cuddle!), had his own opinion on EVERYTHING - including that dressage was much more interesting when carried out at either lightspeed or on just his back legs :cool:
But to hack out he was brilliant - absolutely bombproof - he could round up the sheep, was foot perfect everytime I hunted him, and just so much fun to jump - brave, but clever enough to get us out of trouble, especially useful considering I had no idea what I was doing at first :o He took me from cross poles and no confidence to happily XC schooling over fences that have since been on 1*/BE novice courses, and SJing up to 1.10m (Our record was around 1.30m in the warm up ring at Arena UK - just because someone was giving me a dirty look!)
I just wish we'd had longer together. He was 15 when we got him and 20 when he died. It wasn't his time to go, and there's not a day that goes by when I don't wish that he was still here :(
 
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We had a 'one in a million' Supersonic Soz. A friend bought him as a foal from Stow Fair for £75. She called him Sorrow as he looked so sad.
I met my friend when Soz was 10 years old and all he had done was hacking, she wanted to do dressage and contacted me for lessons. He was never going to be a dressage horse he hurried his walk and had a cross between trot and canter as his next pace and then gallop,lol.
My daughter was also 10 years old and started to ride him, he was about 14.3 hands. She started jumping at local shows and after a few falls as he was completely mad, he started to win.
He was reg. as a horse BSJA as my friend couldn't afford to see if he would measure as a pony. He was a super star. He hated touching a jump and was so fast and could turn on a sixpence. He jumped up to Foxhunter second round and was so well known locally. He jumped until his 20's but then got injured in her field and was pts
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charlimouse said:
Millie was certainly a 'one in a million horse'! I bought her from the meat man, as a 15hh failed racehorse. A this point I had lost all confidence jumping on a not so genuine horse and had decided I was going to 'do' dressage. We bought Millie for my mum to hack, as my horse was really denting my confidence as she was a nutter to hack :rolleyes:. From day 1 Millie didn't put a foot wrong, and very quickly I started to steal her off my mum :o. Together (Millie never having jumped before) we started jumping again, and as my confidence with Millie grew, so did my confidence in my other horse. By the end of the first year owning Millie I was jumping round BE Intros on both horses and getting placed :D. In that first year Millie won every unaffilliated ODE she did, and came 2nd at Milton Keynes unaff 3DE. Then moved up to BE and came 2nd! 3 years later Millie and I completed Weston Park 1* with a clear XC. I all this time she had never once stopped at a fence, and was 100% at everything. The next season I brought her out at Novice, she jumped well at Oasby and Lincolnshire (and getting placed), but I could tell she wasn't right. Turned out she had injured her sacro-illiac area. So following advice form the vet we decided to out her in foal. In 2010 she had a beautiful little filly who gained a first premium at the Futurity. Millie is currently in foal again to Future Illusion.

Here is a picture of her from her last ever event, where despite her her injury causing her discomfort she still jumped a foot perfect XC clear.

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More of her in action at weston and Henbury:)
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oh and for all button pushers i took them and I have given myself permission to post:p
 
I am also lucky enough to have two.

The first one was a little Russian WB called Horo. Chestnut with a blaze. It was around 1995, and my then trainer (who was almost a father figure for me in my teen years) let me have him, his top horse, on loan. ('Top' for our riding-school-in-the-middle-of-nowhere standards... nothing too fancy by modern standards! But he had nice paces, and was trained to Advanced). We only ever competed up to Medium, which was fairly big stuff at county level back then (this was in Italy, and in the 90s, in Italy, the very highest level even at the Regionals was Adv Med as there weren't enough Advanced combinations! :rolleyes:). We did quite well at shows, he was really sharp but he would invariably get me 8s for his walk, his extensions, etc. He had the most amazing walk. This horse qualified us to represent our county at the National championships, which meant the world to me. He let me ride a Kur to music for the first time, and gave me the kind of 'success' that can be easily dismissed now, but which, to a sixteen-year-old girl from a totally non-horsey family, meant the world.
Because of him I totally fell in love with dressage as a discipline. I still remember perfectly well the feeling I had the first time I tried an extended trot, the first time I did a flying change and the very first steps of piaffe (which were probably only three or four half steps, but to me they felt like the world had ended and begun again). We would go hacking once a week, and we'd ride past this huge, flat field, and I wouldn't resist the temptation and we'd start doing tempi changes in the middle of the field. It was our 'little secret' (I never told anyone, not even my trainer!). I drove past that field this summer and discovered it's now part of a golf course. I cried!
I never, ever felt anything like that when jumping or galloping -- he is actually the only reason why I chose dressage as a discipline.
It was just amazing, he was my soulmate and no horse will ever be like him. He was sold when my trainer experienced some financial difficulties and had to accept an offer on him from an amateur rider who couldn't even ride one side of him. He came back to us a couple of years later in terrible condition (my trainer cried when he got off the trailer), really really thin, neglected feet etc. He slowly got better, and was retired -- I still rode him once or twice every now and then, in walk, mainly to make him happy! -- and he passed away one summer in the early 2000s. I was in Germany at the time and I still remember I woke up crying one night, for absolutely no reason. I got a phone call from my former trainer the morning after, to say that he had passed away peacefully in his field.

My other one in a million was soon after Horo. He was called Pascal, was a former showjumper (he was 16 when he came to us), liver chestnut Belgian WB with a big star. He came to our yard because his owner (a very talented young showjumper, who's now my therapist - life is strange!) had several other horses she wanted to concentrate on, so I got him on loan. It was love at first sight -- if Horo was my soulmate, Pascal was the love of my life -- and it was very reciprocated, too! I have never felt *so* loved by anyone; I don't think I ever will. He was the most intelligent horse I've ever met, had completely human eyes, and always gave me these unforgettable looks when I could totally read his mind in a way that I've never had with anybody else, human or equine. He wasn't a jealous horse generally but he absolutely *hated* my OH, whom I had started going out with around then. This was my OH's first experience with horses and he was really confused, Pascal's antipathy was so visible --even to him!-- that he felt really uncomfortable in his presence! It was so funny to see. We also really clicked riding-wise, of course. Again he was a very sharp horse (he could bolt, actually!) but I was never scared with him. I left him to move to the UK to study at University, and even now I sometimes regret it.
 
Monty was/is definitely my one in a million!! (chestnut at the right hand side of my signature)

i came off a very slow 13.2hh pony that didn't really move... and i wasn't the most confident of riders but wanted to showjump. so when i was 14 my mum bought me Monty, a big strapping 16.3hh hannoverian x warmblood so was a big step up for me!! he had previously competed upto 1m25 BSJA and done PN eventing and hunted for years. bravest most honest horse ever.

we bought him when he was 17years old, and he took me from jumping 50cm to 1m40 single fences and 1m10 BS courses :D when i look back at how i used to ride him to fences i cringe - but he never stopped!!! such a confidence giver.

amazing horse. i BSJA-ed him until he was 21 and then decided to give him a quiet life of hunting and the odd hunter trial - the turns in BSJA got a bit much for him, but he is still very fit (and too full of himself) so he still enjoys his galloping accross country jumping things :p

will never forget this horse, i want him to live forever!! dread the day when he gets too old :(
 
photo_jo said:
More of her in action at weston and Henbury:)
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oh and for all button pushers i took them and I have given myself permission to post:p
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Oh My God Photo_Jo those pictures are amazing :D. Particularly love the one over that decent trailer table thingy at Henbury! She was such an incredible horse, I really hope she passes her temperament onto her foals, as she was a seriously lucky find!
 
Abs sounds lovely Alwaysbroke.

My one in a million is the pony I have now. He is 14.2hh full of attitude. I bought him when he was a 5 year old, and he was a horror. He must have tried every evasion under the sun. I came so close to selling him so many times as he was such a little *****! However a yard move helped me to turn him around, and finding our current instructor two years ago has been the making of him. Instead of napping, bucking and being sullen he has become a dressage superstar (well he is a superstar in my eyes anyway) and last year we had our first season of BD. By the end of the year we had 8 points, not bad for a small hairy one especially as we only did about 10 novice classes and I spent most of them crippled with nerves. We'd just about managed to become more confident and consistent by the end of November last year, and had great hopes for this year. Then he got kicked in the field, fractured a leg, and is now going to be spending most of this year in his stable. Gutted. I've been lucky enough to ride a couple of others since he's been off, but nothing measures up to him.
 
Mine was my ex-racer, Stan. My aunt was going out with the head groom from a stud/training yard in sussex, who mentioned that one of their biggest owners had lost a horse during a race and had been so horrified that she was giving her entire string away. One of them was a 'nasty tempered big *******' by Be My Native, who had sold for a six-figure sum as a yearling and had won quite a bit for her (although some of his write-ups on the racing post website made interesting reading - particularly the bits about his characteristic unseating of the jockeys on the way to the start). We drove to the stud, saw him in a stable, checked he had the requisite number of legs and agreed to take him. He was 17.2, bright bay and was really a giant pony on long legs. He only wore 6 ft rugs and I never felt small on him despite being 8 stone soaking wet!

He was insanely protective of me and was furiously jealous if I ever saw to my husband's horse before him. He looked after me, tried his heart out for me and made me feel I could jump the moon. We hunted (quite terrifying, he was insanely quick and always knew best!) and he looked after me whilst I was pregnant, I rode him right up to the day before my baby was born.

I never, ever should have sold him, I miss him terribly and it breaks my heart that I sold him. Ill hate myself forever for that, and Ive been unable to trace him.
 
about 6 years ago i got given my yard managers horse on full loan and he was beautiful! 15.2 blue and white ISH, she had won the coloured champs on him at RIHS years before. He taught me everything!!! He was truely amazing and don't think i will ever find another horse as special as him! sadly he passed away around 3years ago as he got cushings induced laminitis very badly and then everything else went a bit down hill but he is the best horse i have ever had the plessure to look after!
 
I currently have my 'one in a million' horse.
My mum bought him out of a knackers yard as a 4year old, he had raced once in a bumper and twice over hurdles always finishing in the last 3 or pulling up!! I remember he came off our lorry and moved into the yard an abolsute nervous wreck. He was so worried he wouldnt even look out over his stable door for fear of what might happen, he was petrified of you putting rugs on him and mucking him out when he was in the stable was an absolute no. He didnt eat a single mouthful for the first week and when we turned him out he bolted to the other side of the field and stood in the corner scared for the afternoon!
Anyways we really did wonder what we had let ourselves in for as the other 3 on the yard are all lovely characters so we knew he was going to be a challenge. W got the back man out to him where we realised that underneath there was more things in the wrong place than the right so with quite a bit of work be got him all fixed with greatly improved his eating and his condition.
I moved away to uni so mum spent the whole winter very slowly reschooling and hacking him out which he seemed to really enjoy. As mum isnt much of a jumper i slowly taught him the correct way of jumping and that it wasnt just about how fast you could crash through the poles! Slowly but surely he settled in and began to realise that life wasnt as scary as he originally thought. We continued to slowly re-educate him and mum and I could see that underneath his wary attitude he had alot of potential.
The next winter I took him hunting which really gave him a new lease of life, infact as a 5 year old hunting was very very exciting however the novelty wore off after about 5 days and he settled to the job in hand having quiet days out with mum and some more fun days out jumping with me.
As a 6 year old we introduced him to eventing and he moved up from BE90 to novice in a season as he found 90 & 100 far to easy gaining some very nice top 5 placings and a few wins.
As a 7 year last year old he continued at novice before moving up to intermediate level and competing at a CCI*.
In 2012 I would love to take him Intermediate and ** as he made the Blair * feel like a dream!
I cant believe how lucky we have been with him and how he has transformed from a total nervous freak into a fantastic intermediate schoolmaster. Nobody knows to this day what happened to him in life before we got him and we probably never will. He is now one of the most loving horses you will ever find and I cant believe how lucky we were finding him.
 
FrodoBeutlin said:
Big hug Mildred :(
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Thank you - only have myself to blame though! His new owner loved him, he was teaching her how to be brave hacking out alone (to be fair you really only ever needed brave pants hacking in company, he was fiercely competitive and extremely hot to ride!). No other horse has ever come close to him :)
 
My horse in a million is the truely amazing freak of a horse i bought from the field as a 4yo. Unable to touch the top of his head and his ears, spending literally years trying to break him in and eventually 10 years later riding him around blenheim. Im sure I will never come across another horse like him ever again - its been such an experience and an amazing journey. :D
 
Well, I'd like to say it was my own boy Kali . . . don't get me wrong, I love him to pieces . . . but for me my one in a million horse was the RS horse who gave me confidence, taught me the aids for leg yield and gave me the feel of flying changes and just all round gave me the feeling that anything was possible. He died this week . . . had a heart attack in his field . . . and I felt like my heart broke . . . but he was a senior citizen and had been a good servant. His owners loved him, his riders loved him, his handlers loved him and I loved him. He was a very special boy . . . and if I hadn't had my time with him, I would never have bought my own lovely horse. I owe Rocky alot . . . and so do countless others. And he owed us nothing. RIP beautiful boy.

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I also have been lucky enough to have some truly amazing horses, each one really has been one in a million!

A couple have stood out though..

My 14.2hh Rosie. She was also more like a horse, 6ft3 rugs and a full size bridle. She was a Heinz 57 chestnut mare, 17yrs old, stiff, White rolling eye and a 'not novice ride' reputation. It took us 2 hours to load her when we went to pick her up. I was a nervous skinny 12yr old who really was totally overhorsed by her.
However we clicked. By god she was brilliant! She made me brave and she won everything. She got me onto all the PC teams, she never refused a fence and was tough, smart, an old cow but totally genuine and I loved her. My confidence even now is down to her. Unfortunatly her stiffness got worse the further she took me which in the end meant she had to be rehomed, I swear she loved me that horse.

The next one was Herbie, darling Herbs. An utter Gentleman, with a stunning face, awful conformation and the most fabulous jump. His phenomenal ability taught me what effortless felt like. Didn't matter how big the jump and what stride we were on, he could do it. He was a PC team stalwart. We always went last as he was a double clear machine. He was every teenagers dream horse, I was very lucky. However he could be a spooky little so and so!

Vayamos taught me patience and tact, my little tricky dicky but she had a heart of gold, we were only getting going when she was taken from me but as my first youngster she taught me so much she deserves a mention.

Then my cheeky Jae. A charmer with the face of an angel, inside he is one tough cookie. His massive personality verges on precocious and I have to stamp on every naughty little thing that he thinks is funny. He has the biggest character of every horse I've known and is far to clever for his own good. He is all heart and often acts before he thinks. However he is a very good horse. Like Kirstyhens Mally he makes me feel like anything is possible. He simply will not say No, he will give everything a go. He has the heart of a lion and he just adores working and being the best!
He won't ever say die and his constant cheery, optimistic and enthusiastic personality makes him totally addictive. He just adores people, life, his job! It's like he has been here before. He can be a sharp little poo at times but he really makes me feel like
I'm capable of anything!
The most exciting part is that this is just the beginning! I felt like I had known him forever the very first time I saw him, I can't wait to see how it feels in 5,10,15 years time :).
 
Finn! He's not the most talented of my horses, in fact he wasn't even bought for me! He was for my sister.

Somehow this common little grey wormed his way into all our hearts and what he lacks in talent, he more than makes up for in spirit and generosity.

He came from a dealer and had clearly landed on hard times. He was introverted and scared but you'd never recognise him these days!

He's fat, pampered, spoilt and hugely loved by everyone! He has a wardrobe to die for and very much enjoys looking the part as we trundle round BD prelims!

He's a terrific schoolmaster and is used by Mr Worried to teach on, he's also a nanny, escort, companion and lead rein pony.

He's the only horse who has ever truly connected to me. I talk to him about everything, I scold him and tell him not to roll in the mud (sometimes he listens ;)) he will whinny whenever he sees me and never to anyone else.

On paper he's unsuitable... He's a bit small and he's a bit spooky and sharp, which usually would unnerve me but with Finn somehow it doesn't matter.

I like to think Finn realised he'd got a second chance in a forever home with us. So he's happy to do a trade off and puts up with being mauled by the mini-worried, he'll even do a nice test in return for the finer things in life... Who'd have thought the little Irish bog pony would be so at home with his Solariam, magnetic rugs, leg wraps, equilibrium massager and of course hay on tap and late night cuddles on lates :)
 
Aw, what a lovely post, been really lovely reading about everyone's special horses/ponies.
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I've only owned one horse, but my gosh has she been a one in a million for me. In Dec 2008 we jumped our first ever round of competitive SJ at 75cm (and won!!- very much thanks to her, I was almost sick with nerves and rode like a muppet! :o ), we then jumped the next class, 85cm, and won it too! :D She then gave me the opportunity to experience XC for the first time ever in March 2009;
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We did a couple of 75cm HTs in the spring- the below photo (also my avatar) is us crossing the finish line of our first ever HT;
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We spent the summer doing unaff SJ, RC stuff and getting XC lessons with "St" David Gatherer who I credit (along with Hopalong of course!) for giving me so much confidence. We did our first ever ODE in July '09 and our first ever BE intro Aug '09 at Strathallan, going double clear (let's not talk about the dressage...! :p ), I was SO thrilled with her and couldn't believe I'd done it, I'd never thought I'd be brave enough.
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We then spent 2010 enjoying BE again- qualified for an intro RF and moved up to PN in the May, another thing I never thought I'd be brave enough to ever do, never mind 18 months after my first ever competitive experience.
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Hopalong must take full credit though as she is such a clever wee horse who thinks for herself and helps me out when I get carried away or panic, I really wish she was younger and I know I will never find a Hopalong II. :(

Me and my one-in-a-million chilling out after our first ODE.
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PS- apologies for the ramble, I just started gushing and couldn't stop! :o
 
My 14.2 pony has ben my one in a million so far. She was bought in 2008 as a school mistress for me. Previously she had jumped round PN's and done pony trials BE and foxhunters BS.
I had just come off what was basically a very sweet little riding school pony who I couldn't get round a 70cm and a terrifying little weshie who would tank off, spin, drop her shoulder, stop,just generally misbehave all the time!
I was completely and utterly over horsed by her but when I went to try her out I can still remember the exact feeling she gave me over 90cm, pretty much the biggest I had ever jumped!
To begin with I didn't know what had hit me. The first time I jumped her at home we spent 10 minutes galloping around the arena until I could eventually stop. There is a very cringy video of me cantering endless circles in a lesson, completely out of control and bombing into tiny fences like there was no tomorrow.
Out hacking I was terrified to go on grass as she was an xc machine and very much knew what grass meant. On our first hack she bolted up a grassy hill with me and onto a road which we cantered along until I could finally stop. I though I would have to sell her as I just wasn't used to riding ponies like that. Despite everything I have never fallen off her and always felt like she knew I was nervous and looked after me.
After 6 months she had an accident in the trailer and ended up with a duffed suspensory. I had to walk her three times day and my mum picked her huge buckets of grass which she couldn't do with out. Her stable also stank permanently of swedes and turnips which she soon got the measure if and learnt how to corner!
 
Continued!
Her leg got a little better and she was allowed out again where, somehow, she managed to break her pedal bone. I had a choice between PTS or more box rest, and I decided noto give up on her and keep her rested. Being a horrible little teenager I completely neglected her, something I will never forgive myself for. She got horrible thrush which really gave me a wake up call and taught me a good lesson. After that I was up to see to her everyday and she got better slowly.
At the end of 2010 she came back into work like a duck to water. I literally threw her tack on and hopped on and she was foot perfect, despite not being sat on in over a year. She really is a saint of a pony.
My instructor encouraged us to start jumping again with the rational that we were already on borrowed time; she was going to break down again someday and she could.just as easily do it out hacking or hooling about in the field than jumping.
We began to address the issues with rushing that I had create when I was younger and she felt like a different pony. She is the most honest, bravest and scopiest animal that I have ever sat on. She took me from cross poles to jumping 1m30 courses at home and at our last show we jumped my first newcomers with a near clear round.
Heartbreakingly she did break down at the end of the summer and with further investigation at the vet school she turned out to have a hidden conformational defect inside her hoof which had caused strain on her tendons all her life. I still have her though and all the memories and rosettes she won me. I am literally crying writing this.as I know that I will never find such a trier, right until the very end when she must have been in pain. She was truly the pony of my dreams despite her awful flat work, occasional rearing and downright refusal to acknowledge anyone's precence when she is occupied with eating. I owe my confidence and courage to my girl and the least I can give her in return is a peaceful, pampered retirement.
Heres to Daisy.
 
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