The adventures of Black Beauty
OK, I know it is a famous novel written by the amazing Anna Sewell, who saw an end to the dreadful bearing rein that made horses carry their heads unnaturally high! But this is my blog and I have my very own Black Beauty, so this one is all about me - well and Beauty and, perhaps, a few other people, too.
I watched the Olympic dressage coverage a million times - no exaggeration - and cried with pride over the success of our dressage riders. Afterwards I was all geared up to go and find my very own Valegro, but money and certain situations were somewhat standing in my way.
So after riding a lot of horses for other people in Wiltshire and very much enjoying it, I was doing a lot of window shopping - you know looking for a Valegro type for around £1,000. Somehow I came across a three-year-old black Welsh Section D mare for sale on a Facebook page. There was no picture and not much information, but something about it caught my attention.
I have been working for The Native Pony magazine a day or two a week, so clearly I am a total expert on Native ponies, and this was meant to be right? I phoned my friend Jo (Handman) and told her about this black Welsh Section D, which was all I knew about her at the time. "She's a black Welsh D mare and needs a home," I told her. I thought Jo was going to say "Get a grip Nicky, you want a dressage horse" but instead she said: "Well go and see her then and tell me what you think! I have always wanted a black horse!"
To cut a long story short, Brambleberry Beautiful aka Beauty belongs to Jo but is now in my (hopefully) capable hands. She is gorgeous! I had forgotten how much I miss mucking out and putting down a lovely fresh bed for a horse - well OK pony.
She arrived on Sunday 5th Jan and today is Tuesday the 7th, so we have had two full days to get to know each other. She is very nervous and still thinks I am going to kill her with the rope that my favourite trainer Michael Peace gave me for Christmas, but I am gradually building up her trust and hope that we are on an upward journey.
Today the plan was to do some work getting her to pick her feet up for when the farrier might visit, but Beauty had other ideas. She decided she wanted to do lungeing, so off she went around the arena, while I admired her black beautifulness (not a word) and said things like: 'whoa girl' and 'steady on now lass' in a not very effective manner.
She's well bred from what I can gather (thanks Abbi Austin) and so far hasn't put a hoof wrong. I am so excited about getting stuck into this mare and seeing whether I can make her into something good. So if you are interested, follow my blogs on the adventures of Black Beauty as there is definitely more to come.