Can horses choose us?

So, I thought it would be fitting, whilst I am remembering this beautiful girl passing 4 years ago, to reflect on our time together and give a little insight into just how amazing equine sports therapy truly is. 

It was the summer of 2004, and I’d not long lost a beautiful grey 16.2hh Irish Draught, Rwffys, to Navicular, his striking appearance and athletic paces made it possible for him to clear anything I pointed him at meaning we always did extremely well in the ribbons no matter where I took him. I was devastated to say the least to lose him at such a young age of 8, we had an amazing albeit sadly a short partnership of 4 years together and I will never forget him. Maybe I should have taken some time out but not going to the yard morning and night was a killer and something that just came as alien when you’ve been doing it for so many years, I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I set about looking for my next best friend.  

I obviously knew India was different from the first moment I saw her at 18 months old, you can’t help but see how conformationally challenged she was and how her life was not going to be easy for her. A mare out of The Humerist VII and Maddison VII, you could definitely see where she got her striking black beauty appearance from. I left after my viewing of her to go and see some other horses that weekend, whom were all lovely and not as conformationally challenged as India, but my mind couldn’t help but keep going back to this little black mare time and time again. My gut was just telling me to go and get her, I had people, for obvious reasons, trying to persuade me otherwise and to get something ‘easier’ and ‘get something I would get more enjoyment from’, but nothing could persuade me, I just thought I had to help her and hated to think of her in the wrong hands who wouldn’t be sympathetic to her needs. I knew as soon as I brought her back there would be whispers and sniggers of ‘what has she done’ but I didn’t care, I wanted to help this mare. I spent my days grooming and doing in hand work and built up and amazing partnership so when the day came for me to get on, she never batted an eyelid. 

To say fitting a saddle was challenging was an understatement, I had saddlers come and snigger and patronise me and put down her worth, tell me I would never get anything to fit and just leave. I then found somebody that did help us, and we got a saddle to fit, however regular checking of the fit was obviously vital for her to continually check she was comfortable. 

Throughout my life with horses and before India I had met some knowledgeable people along the way and I had tried different therapists throughout the years who had all different techniques but by far the most effective for us was a therapist who has now retired and became a good friend, and I’m sure she won’t mind me telling this little story, as I will never forget our first meeting with one of my other horses many years earlier when I was about 20, she walked into the stable and said in a very stern voice “what’s that?!!”, and I’m thinking what’s what? what’s this woman referring to?, there was nothing in the stable apart from my horse, it became apparent after her repeating herself and gesturing to the wall with her eyes,  that she indeed meant the haynet that was tied up “if horses were meant to eat out of haynets they would have been made like giraffes?!” She then educated me in the importance of feeding from the floor, so quickly I took it out and let her get on with her assessment and treatment. Before she even touched him she got on a little milk crate at the back of him and looked down at his spine, she then got down and asked me to go and look, to my amazement his spine was not straight and my stomach sank, my poor boy no wonder he was displaying so many behaviours, he was trying to tell me how much he was hurting. I stood in awe of her techniques and very sceptical i wondered how on earth she was going to help him, about an hour later after his treatment of various massage, bodywork techniques, and stretches she told me to get back on the milk crate and tell her what I saw, to my amazement his spine was straight. She left me with a programme of exercises to do until her next follow up visit, which I committed to following and getting my boy back to his happy self. 

Anyway, I feel I have digressed here a little, I didn’t realise it at the time but it was this encounter that changed and scoped my whole equestrian life and career after it. The journey from the very beginning wasn’t easy with India, which I knew in the back of my mind it wouldn’t be, she was different, she had challenging conformation and a high spirit to go with it. But this mare taught me so much, not only just how regular beneficial equine therapy can be, but to think outside of the box, the physical challenges she faced taught me so much with my life with her.  I obviously wasn’t qualified myself yet when I bought India but felt reasonably equipped to help her the best way I could with the support of knowledgeable friends and contacts I had made in the last 20 years. I knew how to prepare her back before riding and treat her back after riding from the great help of my therapist, how to be sympathetic to her stabling needs, her stable floor was slanted so it was imperative to feed her uphill rather than downhill so as to not create anymore unnecessary extension through her spine. I learnt to take things slow and at her pace, if she wasn’t feeling quite right then she was rested, received a therapy treatment and then we progressed again. Amongst a lot of other factors, such as the importance of balance, proprioception and flexibility, I learnt how important symmetry was, not just to her but all horses, leading from both sides, even learning to mount on both sides from a mounting block. So, as to not put uneven pressure on her, to protect her soft tissues and bones from uneven strain and hopefully keep any tension and arthritic changes to a minimum.   

We had some truly amazing times and adventures together and too many stories to share here but I’m pleased to say that apart from the few illnesses and injuries she did have, some headshaking that was successfully treated with immunotherapy treatment, a pulled tendon, colic surgery and standing on a 2" nail was one that i will never forget! She lived an easy, and i would like to think, happy life until the age of 18, whereby a severe and challenging sinus infection which resulted in several trips to Leahurst and a molar tooth removal really did seem to take its toll on her both physically and mentally, followed then very shortly after by a sudden and severe lameness, pushed me into making the heart breaking decision of letting her go. Seeing her go and being by her side when her 500 kilo body fell to the floor in that arena and then eventually take her last breath was something that I will never ever forget or get over, it was truly horrific. 

A few equine professionals commented later how, given her challenging conformation they didn’t think she’d live until that age, so I like to hope and think I did a pretty good job and gave her the best life possible. 

Putting that sad parting moment from her aside, I will be forever thankful for the huge positive impact India had on my life and all the countless learning and experience she gave me, all the amazing people I met and how she inspired me to take the career path that I now follow in treating horses myself. Every time I get a message from a client saying “I feel like I have got my old horse back”, telling me how much happier and much more comfortable their horses are, the behavioural issues have gone and seeing them do so well and enjoying life with their horses, will always make me think of her and it gives me so much pleasure to hear,  I will be forever grateful and thankful to her for coming into my life all the challenges she gave me, and above all it taught me to always trust my gut 💓

 A special thanks also thanks to Buster the thoroughbred with all the behavioural problems that led me to discovering my equine therapist and friend now enjoying her life in France 😊with thanks to you ‘B’ for challenging me to think differently and the tools you equipped me with to start my therapy and healing journey.  

 And not forgetting Rwffys the beautiful and talented grey for letting me live out a few dreams of competing in the fast lane!