I was meant to write this sooner, BUT,But,but, I have been very poorly and laptop/signalness in the good ol' countryside that is my Dad's house..so I do apoligise. Oh and I've been busy reading the Hunger Games again and crying over Finnick's death AGAIN, but that's not quite as legitimate a reason...oops. So the final part of the current story-my baby pony. I've only owned him, what, a year and 6 months!?, so there isn't too much too fill you in I don't think, but he's had his fair share of moments that deserve a mention and is probably the best £500 I will ever spend, so here goes!
Ceridon Gold Dust/Jack
It's pretty simple really. Me and one of my best friends from school went up the yard to ride Sparkie and saw there was a new pony in the stable opposite! He was curled up asleep, was very babyish looking and had a long flazen mane and tail and as cheesey as this sounds, we just fell in love with him.
He was such an over friendly pony in the field, always following you around and playing with the other horses, it's hard not to love him really. Together we came up with about a million different plans on how we could buy Jack and share him between this, which is quite funny thinking about it now...we wanted him even then!
The second time I ever saw Jack however, was something I probably won't forget, haha! Me and a friend from the yard heard a horse whinnying and kicking, so went round the corner to check it out. Jack was in his stable, kicking the door and trotting round in circles scaling up the door...we were sure he wouldn't jump, it was about 3ft6ish right?But then I saw him turn to the back of the stable, take one canter stride towards the door and then he was over, slipped, fell on his side, jumped back up and trotted towards me looking rather pleased with himself! All Kayla said to me was "well you know it can jump now!" I remember another day going down the field and he was lying down next to Carling. I sat down, he put his head on my knee and fell back to sleep and (again cheeseyness, but I don't know how else to put this!) I knew there was something really special drawing me to this little pony. 2011 had been a really tough year, I'd lost what I knew to be the normal definition for 'family', two of my cats and sold a little pony that meant the world to me and I was starting to consider putting Sparkie on loan to get a bigger horse. I'm not scared to admit, I was an absolute mess and in a way, the right oppurtinity came along at the right time, something to say, 'do you know what, there is still something left out there'. Jack came up for sale and on the 11th October 2011, I collected his passport.
First challenge was teaching him the basics. Obviously he'd already been taught, but he'd been turned out all summer and I was a new person. It took six weeks before he'd even stand properly to have his feet done! And tying him up was a nightmare...as soon as I went round the corner, even if my mum was there with him, he'd simply pull back and rear up until the rope broke and then follow me around the yard! Put him in the stable and he'd dig every last part of the bed up and throw it against the wall, kick the door and try to climb the door, whinnying and screaming until someone took him out. A few times I did think, 'what have I brought!?'. But then suddenly he calmed down. Too suddenly. Even now I don't feel like going until full details, but I can you I will never, ever forgive myself for the mistake I made, for being just a few weeks late. It seemed like a week, even days that went from me having a cheeky little 2yo to a pony that looked like he was going to drop dead any moment. Because that's the reality-I thought he was going to die. He was skin and bones and it took him about an hour to eat one bucket of food. It was one of the most awful things I've ever been through, especially knowing it was my fault-I convinced myself I never deserved to own horses ever again.
But Jack wasn't giving up on us that easily and I am so, so grateful for that miracle. The first day I lead him in and he trotted off and jogged at the end of the lead rope, I cried with happiness-there was some life in him!
Slowly, but surely, I got my pony back. He went from being skin and bones, to very definitely 'plump' to put it politely, his coat shone and he began to grow again. He started to trust me again and I built a bond up with him, which even now seems to get stronger all the time. Every time he whinnies too me(which is about 5 times a day, he likes to make himself very clearly heard -_-) it brings a smile to my face! In May 2012, I sat on him for the first time. I've worked with a couple of youngsters and for me, there is honestly no better feeling than sitting on a young horse's back for the first time, it's such a sense of achievement and trust, especially after everything that happened when there were points in which I thought I'd never get that moment. He didn't even bat any eyelid! I do have a picture, but my Mum has banned it from the internet due to my lack of hat (#YOLO), woops... Seriously, I don't know why I didn't have a hat on, um!? After that, I started getting him used to tack and lunging etc...he was a star!! There were still moments when I doubted myself or others doubted me, which there's always going to be with young horses. Like when he came from the field crippled, on three legs, and then proceed to suddenly remember he had four legs actually and rear across the yard away from the vet. Or like when he wouldn't want forwards, just backwards, threatening to rear.
It seemed like I spent ages just trying to get him to take one little step..but then we he did, there was no stopping him, he was off! I was riding him in the indoor by myself one night(not the wisest idea, I know!) when suddenly a bird flew out at us across the school. He jumped into a canter, which was a shock seeing as we hadn't even mastered trot yet, and bronced, I felt myself slipping and fell onto his neck and then he just stopped and shoved his neck up, putting my back in the saddle-that moment defined to me just why I love this horse. I remember being SO excited when we had our first trot and telling my mum we were just going to walk and do the odd trot for a while until he could do everything really well...within the next week we were cantering, no bucks, no napping or anything!
The first time I ever took him in an open field (4/5 acres!) he did walk, trot and canter, no problem, minus the odd nap here and there. After that he seemed even better, although I didn't think that was possible! Riding in the field had made him more independent so he no longer clung to the arena walls and was doing circles, serpentines, figures of eight... By the end of summer 2012, he did walk, trot, canter on the correct leg, in any school or field on the yard, had walked over a motorway bridge, past a tractor, done trotting poles. On one of my last rides before turning him away at the summer, I took him to school in the field and at the end, let him gallop up the long side as a reward...as always he was fab and loved it! I honestly am so, so lucky to have such a lovely little horse to work with, he is amazing. Someone one day told me that 'I'd done a really good job with him' and that's when I started to realise that the whole process with Jack is the proudest thing I have ever achieved. The one thing that I can look back at and say 'hey, I didn't do too bad there'. Once again, he has given me something to hold on to, to keep me sane. Obviously part of it is the fact that he's a 3yo with the brain of a 30yo, but I like to think that some of it is my work!
Obviously it doesn't end there and it's no all happy happy, unicorns and rainbows. There's his first show, where he had a trailer accident, which was awful. But as usual, he did this thing he does, where he makes me smile no matter how dark the situation appears. I had a panic attack day after seeing him collapsed, helpless in the trailer, but he then went and behaved like an absolute star when we to lead him back. He has most definitely earned his nickname of 'Liability Pony'. A few weeks after the show, he put his leg through a gate and sliced his fetlock off..typical Jack eh! And he's not always an angel. He can be an absolute pain to catch one day, stand at the gate whinnying a greeting the next! But my Dad did point out just the other day how much calmer he is now... he'll stay in his stable all day and night without even thinking about kicking the door and stands quietly tied up outside to be tacked up or for the farrier or even..shock horror..to be left by himself for a minute! He even let us pull his mane the other, something that would have been a whole day job a year ago.. I can't believe how much he has grown up from a straggly pony, to a still-rather-scruffy-but-potentially-beautiful little horse, standing at 14.3hh and still growing... I don't know where the futures going to lead us, but if it's anything like last summer, then wow, bring it on!
so, it turned out there was a lot more to write than I ever imagined...I'm sorry for all that guys, hehe!
Beth, Sparkie, Jack & Carling xxx
