I suppose this is a little bit of background, of how I came to meet Sammy, my horse. If we go back 4 years, to when I was 15 years old, this is around the time I was fortunate enough to meet Sam.
Ever since I can remember I've been around horses - and I've always loved them. I grew up on a farm, and my family had a lot of horses and even did livery at on point. My mum and brother and sister all did horse riding, and at about 3-4 years old I was taken out for my first ride on my first pony - Lulu. She was the sweetest little Welsh pony, I loved her dearly, and I couldn't get enough of horse riding. After Lulu I rode Lily, another gorgeous little pony, who I rode for a number of years until I outgrew her and small ponies alike. At this time I was also going to pony club at a local riding centre on Saturdays, learning how to ride well, and how to handle ponies properly.
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| A photo of Lily, my second Pony |
Then it was time to ride my first larger pony. We had a pony on the farm who was given to us by a women who described her as "a perfect first- time pony". And she was anything but this. In fact, at times she could be a nightmare. My sister rode her for years before I did, and eventually they'd managed to get along. Now it was my turn to battle the "evil" pony - Jasmine.
This is a photo of Jas, she was a pretty pony, 13"2. She was always a little overweight, but she didn't suffer from it - she was just incredibly greedy!
I was only about 9 or 10 years old when I first rode Jas, and she really did give me a run for my money, with her it was make or break. She had a number of tricks up her sleeve from bucking fits to yanking her head for grass. I had a few moments with this pony where I wasn't sure if I would ever want to ride again, she made me scared and could make me cry, and she knew it all too well. After a year of riding her, we finally bonded and got over the issues we'd had. Jas stopped bucking and trying to kill me when I was tacking her up, with the help of grass-reins she'd stopped reaching down and pulling me out of the saddle.
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| Jasmine and I receiving a 3rd rosette |
It's incredible that a pony that I had originally hated had become my best friend. I adored her, she was a fantastic pony, and my first pony that I could take out alone. Over the years I realised how lucky I was to have such a fun, energetic pony, albeit a little chubby. We went through a lot together. I rode her to a Pony Show that I'd never been to before, where we'd managed to come 1st, 2nd, 3rd and then 5th in the pony gymkhana games, despite neither of us entering anything like that before (admittedly we got progressively worse).
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| Jasmine in the garden. |
She was the Pony that made me who I am today, she taught me so much and really was my favourite pony in the whole world.
But in 2010, Jasmine got ill. She wasn't that old, but these things happen. She came down with some strange flu where she got really sick, we called the vet out who gave her some medicine, but he didn't promise anything and the outlook looked bleak. The following morning she got a lot better, and seemed happier, but unfortunately that was the night she died. I was absolutely devastated. I thought I would have years left with Jas, and she was such a good pony. I'd never lost a horse or pony before (Lulu died when I was very young, but I wasn't affected by it much), and it was horrible to lose such a good pony, one that I'd worked with for so long and formed such a relationship with - it really is like losing a person from your life.
I still wanted to ride, so my mum and I started a search for a new pony or horse, as I was 15 at this time. A friend loaned us this ex-trotting pony, who was 14"2. His name was Sunny, and he'd been retired for a few years, and we thought he's enjoy hacking out. Unfortunately Sunny didn't like hacking out at all. He had such a strange mentality, he just wanted to zoom along, with or without his rider, he wouldn't stop to graze anywhere - he didn't enjoy it, and it wasn't much fun for me either. We decided Sunny had to go in early 2011.
My mum and I had been attending a riding school for the last 2 years where we'd regularly have lessons. A week or two after Sunny had left a women that I was vaguely familiar with approached me. She said, "I've got a horse that would be perfect for you". I was really surprised, given that I didn't know this women all that well. She explained that she'd been watching me ride on various occasions and thought that my style would be just what this horse needed. After a discussion with my mum, I decided to go and stay down at the centre for 3 days and have a go with this horse. We'd learned our lesson with Sunny and we weren't going to take another horse home without at least trying them out.
I went down for three days and met this horse who I soon found out was called Sammy. He's a 15"2 chestnut, who was bred to do trotting, but didn't get that far. The women who owned him, Mel, explained what Sammy was like and why she thought I should have him. Sammy, who we later found out has a full name 'Stonewall Sammy', was left at the riding school. His owners put him in livery there, and they never returned. When he was left there, he was severely underweight, so Mel got the vet out to him. Sammy had crack two of his back teeth, and they'd become infected. They were so sore that he couldn't even eat, which explained his weight. The vet said that it wouldn't be cheap to fix, as his teeth would have to be removed, and Mel was told by many people she should just have him put down, because he wasn't worth the money it would cost to fix him. Thankfully, Mel saw it another way, and had the vet fix his teeth, to the sum of £500. It was not just his teeth that were damaged though. Sammy had scars all along his back legs and back end, which the vet said were done with a penknife. According to the vet he had also been castrated with a penknife. So Sammy had had a rough time. Because of all this he was incredibly skittish and nervous. He hadn't been backed, either, and was 5 years old. He was so lovely though, that Mel couldn't put him down, even if she couldn't ride him. That's when she approached me.
The first time I met Sammy he was in a stable, munching happily on some hay. Explaining Sam is quite difficult, because he simply has this light about him, this sweet curiosity. I entered the stable with him, and I'd never met a horse so skittish before, so nervous. The pony I had was so bold and unshakeable, but when you took a step towards Sam he'd step back, watching you. He would let you touch his shoulder, and his neck, but he was incredibly head shy, and would move away if you tried to touch his head. His back end was a whole other story, he just wouldn't let you touch anywhere near there, and if you did, his back legs would quiver and shake. Despite these issues, I fell in love with him. To me, it was a miracle that this horse would let another human near him, but not only did he allow that, he had this kindness to his eyes, a trusting look.
As I mentioned before, Sam hadn't been broken in officially, the previous owners simply stuck a saddle on his back once and claimed he was "broken". I rode him around the school a few times, trotted him and even got him cantering at one point. He was incredible. Incredibly nervy, but incredibly none-the-less. He would spook at everything and anything, his own shadow would make him jump five feet in the air. But he still wanted to learn, and I wanted to learn with him, to teach him. After the three days I decided to take Sammy home. Mel was sad to see him go, but she was happy for us to have him.
This is how I met Sammy, and how Sammy met me. I think it's fair to say that both of us had had a rough time before we met (him more so), and we needed each other. It's been 3 years now, and Sammy's improvement is amazing - but that is for another post.
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| Me and Sam on a hack - stopping for grass. |
