My Horses
I count myself lucky to have so many fabulous horses in my life. Some I have bred, others I have bought. I am also fortunate (although my other half wouldn't describe it like that!) in that I have enough space here on our small farm to keep those that are injured or retired.
My serious bay addiction
Here are my current horses - all individuals but they all run together as a herd here in Fife, Scotland. Mares, geldings, youngsters, competition horses and oldies. They all know where they fit in and it gives me huge amounts of pleasure to know that they have the most amazing, as near to natural life as I can give them.
His Lordship - my giant gentleman
His Lordship is known affectionately as The BFG as in Roald Dahl's large giant. I bought him in 2018 to bring on as a show jumper fit for a middle aged lady. Due to his huge size he was very slow to mature. As he matured it became clear that there were problems he had grown by the age of 9 to a massive 18hh and he started struggling. He had various treatments for his sacroiliac, ulcers and teeth but sadly he also has three vertebrae which although not at kissing spine level are heading that way. I decided after his treatments were not entirely successful to opt to leave him for a year - so he is currently the world's largest field ornament and I will occasionally pop him in the school to see where I think we are. He just really got too big to be athletic. But there is always hope! Pic Adrian Sinclair Photography
Amelie - my ugly duckling who turned into a swan...
Don't tell the others but she is my favourite horse, I bred her years ago (she is now 18) The year she was born I also bred the most beautiful filly, Alisha who popped out pretty much a perfect modern sports horse foal. Poor Amelie in comparison, looked like a large carthorse - with a huge head, massive knees and hipster beard. I kept Amelie as there was something about her I just loved. By the well-know stallion Secundus she morphed into a handsome horse with an amazing temperament.
She has possibly the most fantastic jump out of any of the youngsters that I bred around that time. We went on to jump up to Newcomers but sadly a kick that she got to her hock meant an early retirement but she has gone on to breed some wonderful foals for me and will be with me for life.
Malcolm - my stunning Caretino Glory youngster
Malcolm is by Brendon Stud's Caretino Glory, he is tall, elegant and floaty. He was broken by the fantastic Alastair Grey at the backend of 2021 as a 4-yr-old and is now rising 6. He is still pretty immature body-wise so we will take things slowly as I would like to give him time to mature properly. I hope to keep and jump him - this old bird would love a last hurrah before hanging up her boots!
Scarlett - the mare I almost didn't buy....
This fabulous, quirky little mare has been a much loved part of my life now for over 8 years. I went to see her for sale as a 12-yr-old project and very nearly didn't buy her. I struggled to get her to move anywhere - she appeared pretty stiff. As my friend and I had driven a fair way to see her I decided that we would pop a fence then leave it at that and head home. Well Scarlett just ballooned it for the sheer hell and fun of it - it was as if she came to life. I decided to take a punt on her, didn't bother vetting her, picked her up and brought her home. With help from my vet we rehabbed a very sore back and I have had a ton of fun first jumping her, then she bred me a fab little filly Arianna in the same year Malcolm was born.
I then tried bringing her back into work but as she was became a worse and worse traveller and obviously very stressed about it all for no reason I could fathom I decided to just give her a happy retirement. She is now 20 and is just the best old lady.
Arianna - otherwise known as Tank Girl.....
Arianna is my smashing rising 6-yr-old by Corraghoe Storm. A very nice, clean jumping modern stamp of an Irish Sports Horse. From the day she popped out she had Scarlett's intelligence and best of all, her inherent bravery.
Standing around 15.2 as a four year old I thought she might be too small for me but she is pretty solid and I think she will hit 16hh finally - just the perfect height for me! She was also broken by Alastair mid summer 21, got used to life in 2022 and I now hope to compete her a bit more in 2023. Fun, brave and sassy.
Mardi - The sassy project mare who has become a keeper.....
I saw Mardi on a facebook post and bought her unseen. I did this in the full knowledge that there would be quirks somewhere as she appeared to be a nice looking mare who jumped but was very cheap (always a red flag).
The coloured mare who arrived looked nothing like the photo that I had been sent of a well built mare in good condition. She was scrawny thin and unfit, however even as she traipsed off the lorry there was something about her so she stayed and I am so glad she did we have sure had a journey!
She actually had a brilliant freaky jump for a heavier mare but also a bad habit of dumping me after a fence with a well practiced move.
After getting her completely checked including X-rays and scans which found nothing - enter Jay Johnson of Pro horse Breaking. He came for four days and over that time he transformed this mare. You can read the story of Jay's visit in my blog post.
Suffice to say Mardi stayed and we got to the point of just starting to compete when circumstances went against us - she had a crashing fall that I witnessed in the field and then corona hit so I decided to put her in foal to Jumped Up Z. The result was a stunning coloured filly Blue. Mardi proved to be a gentle and wonderful broodmare.
At the end of 2022 I decided to get her fit and see if I could ride her again and there the plot thickened - find out more in my blog.
Silas and Blue
Silas and Blue are both by the talented young Balcormo stallion Jumped Up Z who is by Jos Van D'abdijoeve and boasts Caretino, Diamant De Semilly and Furioso II in his bloodlines. I love both these youngsters - they will be 2 year olds in 2023. They are straight, correct and have fabulous temperament. Silas was really seriously ill not long after he was born and ended up in the Dick Vet with a life-threatening blood borne infection which apparently very few foals survive. But survive he did and he and Blue are now stunning enjoying growing up here in the Airdits herd.
Zamio - The brave ex-eventer, who now enjoys life on loan...
Zamio is an older horse as well (17), I bought him a few years ago as an ex-2*-eventer who had no love for cross country anymore but still enjoyed his show jumping. It became clear not long after I bought him that the reason he didn't enjoy cross country was that he was in pain and found going down-hill in particular difficult. Veterinary investigations found that he had some serious problems in his front fetlocks. A decision was made to operate and remove damaged folds (plica) explained in this link
The operation was a huge success many thanks to the great vets, in particular Hugh at Loch Leven Equine Practice and Zamio and I went on to have some fun times show jumping.
He is now on loan to a super young rider who is enjoying learning lots from this wonderful horse who still enjoys some jumping and remembers all his fancy dressage moves. One day he will come home to enjoy a happy retirement.