Arthur's first test

Er....so I need to try being less cocky in the future! Clever Arthur took home first place and a score of 71.4% in his prelim test and 72.2% in his Novice test! Not bad for a horse who has only been back in work for 2 months!

So now, on to the winters.....come on little Arthur, you can do it! Please Baby Jesus keep his footsie from falling off, Amen.

Helfie

Warmup

Pretty Arthur

A new chapter

So I feel like every time I write in this blog it always starts with ‘Phew, so much has happened since I last wrote’…but this time it really, really has.

But first..........

 

So when I last wrote, I was getting ready to do our first medium test. And I had planned on writing straight away about the test, how amazing it was and how we walked out of there to fanfares and banners and people screaming our names. Alas, this was not to be. And it was my own fault. I was tense and uptight and stupidly changed his tack last minute and to cut a long story short it wasn’t the best test I’ve ever done – BUT we came 6^th and we were the only medium riders in the mixed group of elementary and medium tests. Deep breath, and move on.

 

Beau was going really well. He started to learn flying changes and was doing half passes in his sleep – such a great boy. But lots was going on with me, my life and I think we were getting to a stage that it just wasn’t working for us both anymore. I HATE that I am so goddamn competitive but I wanted to move up the levels quickly. I wanted to have a horse that could help me to reach my goal of number 1 dressage rider of all time, AKA Carl Hesters muse, AKA Olympic dressage star of the future. But Beau needs someone who is patient. So, I decided to sell him. Gasp. And the plan was to go to Holland and get a slightly younger, more advanced horse-of-amazingness. Double Gasp.

The last ride

 

But then life got in the way.

 

Work got crazy, life got crazy and it actually made more sense to sell Beau but actually to try NOT owning a horse for a while (please note, anyone thinking of doing this….don’t do it. It sucks). I thought I should probably spend SOME amount of time with my boyfriend for a change…he had been hanging in for the last 6 years after all so I guess giving him a couple of evenings a week wouldn’t be so bad…would it? So a few people came to see Beau, I had quite a bit of interest in him (of course I did – he’s freaking gorgeous….biased much???). But the day that Tracy and her family and instructor came down to try him changed both mine and Beau’s lives forever. I just knew. They were perfect. The yard sounded perfect. Everything was perfect. And Beau now resides near the pretty south coast of the UK, I’m sure getting fatter than a pregnant mare and enjoying life.
 

I can’t even talk about the amount of tears I cried when he left though. Everywhere I turned I saw his name. Every song on the radio seemed to be about Beau and I. Somewhere amidst the tears I remember declaring ‘I want babies’, to which my boyfriend softly responded ‘we need to get you another horse my darling’. Who would have thought my boyfriend, of all people, would be an advocate of my addiction.  

So I decided to look for a horse to share, or loan. Which brought me to Arthur. A 16.3 Dutch by London who has had a lot of work done to his hoof lately – basically blood started spurting out of the middle of it, and therefore has had some time off. So was unfit but adorable.

 

I accepted Arthur into my life like an addict taking a hit of their poison after being denied it for a long time. I felt the eyes rolling back in my head and the feeling of panic starting to subside. There is life after Beau.

 

I’m not sure how long I will keep sharing for but for now it is the right thing for me. I don’t know how long Arthur will be in my life for but right now he’s perfect. I plan on taking him out to our first test next Sunday and after the last competition, I promise to be slightly less cocky and will be happy if we manage to stay inside the dressage markers.

 

Until next time,

Victoria (and Arthur) xx

Arthur (aka Hannibal Lecter) and his Irish friend, Jimmy