Learning to share

Since been offered Sofie as my own I have been desperately trying to find a way of affording her. Fact of the matter is my salary only goes so far, and with a mortgage, a wedding, and a poorly Mr T to pay for already Sofie is a bit of a stretch.

On top of this the betrothed is not too delighted to hear that I want to get another horse – the first one has been an expensive pet for the last two years so I can understand where he is coming from.

So I have compromised, I will take Sof on full loan (with view to ‘buy’ when Mr T pops his clogs) and I will get a sharer for half the week to help with her running costs. It seems to be the most pragmatic thing I can do given my circumstances.

This does mean I have to share my princess, but it is in her best interests. More riding would help our slimming world efforts. I was a bit nervous about finding the right sharer though. I have put a lot of effort into turning Sof into a lovely horse. It would be horrid to have that undone. On top of this I have to find someone who has the patience to persevere with barefoot.

As luck would have it the perfect sharer arrived almost instantaneously. Emma was looking for a horse to share so she could ride with her daughter who has a little pony at the yard. I’ve known Emma for years, we used to ride together back in the days when Tonto had working legs and she owned a welsh D. Emma is a good rider, perfectly capable of dealing with Sofies strops but not unkind in any way. And as they are mainly going for gentle hacks around the estate there is no real need to put boots on Sofie. Her feet are pretty good now anyway.

Emma is also happy to help me feed Mr T his meds – and she knows all of his quirks which helps. I can have 3 guilt free pony days off a week. Sharing seems positively beneficial in fact.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth

So a very exciting thing happened at the weekend, Sofie’s owners offered me Sofie – for free! This is exceptionally generous of them and I am really touched. Of course I would be delighted to be Sofie’s official mum – but I will be honest I am a little nervous of the commitment.

I realise, I have never actively chosen or sought to buy a horse, except for when I was 11 and campaigned for Frodo – but I’m not sure that counts. Now I am older I am well aware of the commitment I am making.

To me horses are like marriage – better for worse, for richer or poorer (inevitably poorer), in sickness and in health, till death do us part. If I accept this kind offer, I will be paying for Sofie for the rest of her life (the next 16/20 years most likely). I will forsake the bigger house, the nicer clothes, the better car. I will not be able to stop work or work part time because I will have livery to pay. I will always have the responsibility of her welfare, getting cover when I am away, paying extortionate vet fees, being at the yard in dark winter nights freezing my tits off to ensure she is warm and comfortable. Sneaking out at Christmass dinner to give her a carrot.

The timing is a bit pants, wedding next year, lodger moving out, mortgage needing re-negotiating, kids in the near future. Loaning is far more practical and low risk for my current circumstances. I had always planned on loaning after Tonto because of the freedom it affords you.

And yet…

 

 

Look at her, she is my little princess, I can’t just let her go. If I do not take her, her owners will sell her on. She just is not the right horse for them and it does not make sense to keep paying for a horse that you are not using. They are reluctant to do this as they do not want her to continue passing hands – she isn’t for everyone – but they have practical considerations of their own.

Sofie seems to be a bit unlucky with owners. She has been passed from Belgium to the UK, to the RSPCA, to a girl in Manchester, to Adrian and then to me. She is only 9! I’d hate for her to continue this nomadic existence.

But most of all I just want her. If I were to describe my next dream horse after Mr T it would be:

·         Just enough spark to be interesting but not dangerous in any way

·         Cute and cuddly but more independent than Mr T

·         Tough as old boots and happy out in the field so cheap to keep

·         Loves to jump and nice and straight forward comfortable ride

·         Good bone but pretty to look at

That is Sofie! I really could not find a better horse. If I let her go I will be back to riding free horses – who tend to be free for a reason - or paying for shares that I don’t really like. If I wanted to buy later down the line you never really know what you are getting. And lets face it, I would not be me without my horses. Tonto is not going to last forever, having Sofie would make that whole awful process much easier to bare.

Of course I have to think of when I have kids. But Sofie would be easy to put out on full loan should I need to. And if she went permanently lame she would still have value as a brood mare. And basically, I want her to be part of my family.

So I am off to re-mortgage the house, I got livery to pay.

Slipping saddles and soundness issues

Sof and her wonky saddle

Today we had Louise out the check Sofs saddle. Amazingly her back is very similar to her February measurements, but her GP rides all wrong. The saddle constantly slips to the left, it always has, and when I ride in it I get a sore back. Experience tells me that if my back is sore most likely my horses back is as well. I just don't think it is comfortable for us.

I brought Sofie out to show Louise and she was fairly horrified to see how much it sat to the left. After checking the tree and the flocking Louise felt that Sofie was the one causing it to go left. I really respect Louise's opinion, she was the first to spot Tonto's arthritis in his hocks and has always given sound advice. She said she didn't want to alarm me but often saddle slips are caused by underlying mild lameness.

This makes a lot of sense.  Sof takes forever to warm up, does not like to bend or extend, and spent last summer notify uneven. Her right shoulder is much bigger than her left and she holds tension in her neck. I think the problem is in her left hind. Louise pointed out that she tends to stand with it tucked under her body, and thinking about it she is more snatch with her right hind, as if she does not want to stand on the left hind.

So what to do? Well of course I will let her owners know, but I think it is so slight it would not come up on a vet check. She seems fine at the level of work I am asking of her at but might limit what do in the future. Still we were never planning on eventing so probably not really an issue. I guess all I can do is monitor her. Most horses are ever-so-slightly lame, I don't think this is a massive problem but worth being aware of.

Louise is going to see what she can do with the flocking and straps to counter the saddle slip. Just as well we have her flexed in the mean time.

On a different note I was very touched to see Sof refused to be lead away from me today. Yay she does love me after all 😊

Sofie strop on video

A film of Sofie stropping last march, makes me realise how much calmer she now is

Escape and lead tour of the estate

Little Video of my freind Sarah having a try on Sofie

Summer Update

Been a while since I last posted so thought I would do a quick update. Things have been a bit quite on the horse front of late, pesky work has been getting in the way of pony time.

Net result is I have a fat pony. I feel a bit deflated that Sofie has once again returned to sofa status. All that dieting for nothing but I am determined to get her slim again. I suppose the only real positive is that she has not turned lamanitic as I had feared, though she does seem more footy that she did over the winter months. 

Her feet are expanding as fast as her waist line. I have bought her yet another pair of shoes, 2WW but she is already growing out of these. Next stop is the floating boots. She is going to cost me a fortune in foot wear. Still every lady needs a shoe collection.

Her behaviour on the yard is near perfect now. She will happily wait in stables and on the yard with minimal protest. I can leave her untied for short periods and she stays put. A million times better than last summer. Riding wise she is better, less spinning and tantrums but still not perfect. June saw a very overexcited Haffy, with her pulling my arms out of their sockets if we even suggested canter. As soon as she sees a jump she is nearly beside herself with excitement. I’ve been working on the canter in the school since, and the training alongside the extra weight has slowed her down a little. I don’t think we will go drag hunting anytime soon though.

Future plans; well I plan on continuing with the EE lessons, they are going really well, we are getting a lot of nice comments from people at the yard and she feels so much more responsive now that I am stiller. I’m getting her GP saddle re-fitted to fat mode on Monday in the hope that we can then start jumping properly. If I can get some jump lessons over August then we should be ready for some rounds in early September. There is also a team chase and some sponsored rides in September that I would like to have a crack at. I dream of us jumping the big fences.

Tonto seems to be OK, though not very sure of his feet downhill. I find it very difficult to assess how much pain he is in. I’m worried because he is not fat as he normally is in the summer which makes me paranoid something is wrong. Still he strides out up the hills on walks with Sofie (having failed at ride and lead we now opt for the escape and follow method) and seems relatively happy when raising his feet for them to be picked out.

 

So generally very happy with princess Sofie. I fall in love with her a little more each day.