So the weekend after I last wrote was an eventful one, to say the least. I woke up with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. I was hyper. I skipped down to the post office in Vauxhall (well, I didn't skip, but it ads to the drama of the story) and collected my 5,600,357th package of the year. I've been getting tack delivered bit by bit...scuse the pun, if you get it. Work have NOT been impressed with the amount of stuff I'm getting delivered to work. Items included:
- 3 Rugs, one heavyweight outdoor, one heavyweight stable and a fleece
- Lunge whip (that gathered a lot of interest on the trading floor)
- Travel boots (again, a few of the traders had these on and were marching up and down the office with them on)
- A bridle
- And amongst many other things, a WRP (weird random package)
This was a TONNE weight and the box was the size of my living room. Not hard. I was informed by the post room downstairs that a saddle had arrived for me. Pretty good seeing as I didn't order a saddle. It was NOT a saddle however, it was iron dressage markers which had to be brought up on a special trolly because they were too heavy for anyone to carry, cue angry faced delivery man. I had to send them back, via the angry faced delivery man, and since then have been careful to not order anything else to work.
So, where was I....ah yes. Vauxhall. Delightful place. So I was skipping along with my plaited hair and checked dress (please note, some of what you read may be exaggerated for dramatic effect) minding my own business when up cycled two ruffians and grabbed my phone off me with an evil smile on their ugly faces. I won't go into the full details of the story but it involved me chasing said muggers and biting them to get my phone back. I then chased them around Vauxhall until the police told me to get a grip or get stabbed and then I went home. Quite the Saturday morning. And I won't lie, I thought I was the bees knees. DONT MUG THIS IRISH GIRL....SHE BITES.
Off I went to view the first of 3 horses I was to view that weekend. Rolo. 9 year old branded Hessan by Ruben Star N (Rubinstein). I was told he was skinny and in poor condition because he had been left in a field for 6 months without any exercise or extra hay. I got to the yard and he was already tied up, waiting for me, accompanied by the lovely Anna. And yes, he was in poor condition. His hind quarters had literally no muscle and his bones were poking out all over the place. But what a face. I got his background from the owner and then watched him being ridden by the yard manager. I loved him. I was trying to hold on to my knickers in case they shot off with excitement and I had not yet ridden him so I had to keep my cool. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. And OF COURSE there was another lady coming for a second viewing later that day so I HAD to make a decision pretty much straight away. Whether or not I'm the most gullable person on the face of the planet or not, it worked.
Then it was my turn to ride him. And I instantly liked him.VERY willing. There were dogs having a spaz attack in the field outside and he wasn't paying attention to them. We did have a bit of a problem with his canter transition but I put it down to him being tired and unfit at that stage (his canter was a dream but GETTING him to canter was NOT a dream). The owner told me to try spurs but at that stage I had a good idea that he was the one. I dismounted, had a few more chats with the owner about his breeding and previous vet reports and then went up to Anna's yard to think about it. I couldn't NOT think about it. I had been so upset when I didn't get Harry and I didn't want to have that feeling again. Apart from him having a nice face and being nice to ride and being a sensible age and his experience, I wanted to get something that if I got into financial difficulty in the future....MEEEEE, NEVER!....that I could sell him on. Like I would EVER sell him on. He was going for such a good price because of his poor condition so I would definitely be able to sell him on for more if it ever came to that. Sob. So I put in an offer and held onto my knickers. I told the other horse owners that I'd found The One....if only I had the time and money to have them all.....
Then came the day of the vetting. Gulp. Gulp. Mini heart attack. Gulp. I waiting until 4pm that day to hear the news....HE PAAAAAASSSSSEEED!!! So that's when my shopping really went on overdrive. I'd admitted that I couldn't go crazy shopping for myself anymore but it's totally fine because the shopping obsession still gets fed as long as I'm shopping, even if it's for a horse! I booked time off to get him settled in, got his stable ready, got last minute bits and pieces for him and after a brief melt down when I found out that Rolo was being delivered when I wasn't there he was finally in his stable. I melted. He wasn't a Rolo though. To me, Rolo is the name of a little pony who's owner is a snotty nosed kid that gets told what to do by it's overly controlling mother so I did the unthinkable. I changed his name. GASP (for those who don't know, it's apparently bad luck to change a horses name but people in the horse industry are crazy. They also believe hedgehogs are bad luck. Or good luck. Craziness either way). I wanted something that sounded a little like Rolo so Beau fit the bill, plus he looked like a Beau to me.
beau
/boʊ/ Show Spelled [boh] Show IPA noun, plural beaus, beaux /boʊz/ Show Spelled[bohz] Show IPA, verb
noun
1.
a frequent and attentive male companion.
2.
a male escort for a girl or woman.
3.
a dandy; fop.
My little dandyboy. It suited him perfectly I think so Beau he is. Here is the first weekend I bought him. You can see his condition in the fourth photo so I'll put similar photos up to show his progress, the wee poppet.
Since arriving on the yard Beau has:
- Had his face squirted by the mare he is stabled beside...and yes, that means what you think it means
- Realised (finally) that straw is for lying on and not for eating
- That when I arrive if he nuzzles my head for long enough I'll give him treats
- Let Joel ride him
- Gone on his first ride out (I don't like downhill mum, but I can take on a pitbull)
- Does not like mirrors. This resulted in "Beau the Rodeo Pony" and he literally kacked himself and it ended in me hitting the deck. Shit the bed. He did come back to me after I landed on my bum and I'm SURE I heard him whisper "I'm sorry". So all is forgiven. I take it that he hasn't seen mirrors before so there was a lot of leading up to the mirror, headbutting it (scarlet for him), walking back to it, headbutting it and that carried on for a while until he was soooooo over it. Since then I haven't had any problems with him and I'm HOPING that was a once off.
Week 3:
I will be keeping a record of his updates and have already noticed a difference in his condition. He's starting to get a bit more confident but is still a laid back horsey that loves company and cuddles. I'm in love. I'm considering entering him in a prelim class at the end of February but it's only a couple of weeks away so I'll see. He's leaning massively on the right rein so I have to do a lot of circle and flexion work to get that muscle strong again......it's all very technical really ;-)
Keep an eye out for updates on our first outing, and keep your fingers crossed for me that he doesn't kack himself again. Everything's fine...la la laaaaah...fingers in ears.....
