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Welcome Carrie to the blog!

It’s time to introduce you all to my little team of horses, most of you probably know the most about Ron who is just a superstar in his own right but here’s a little background into how I came across my 4 horses. 

The one

We begin with Pierre who I bought in 2013 as a 5-year-old. He had been imported over from Ireland as a 4-year-old and was bought locally to me so I had seen him out and about a few times before he became mine.

I remember going to try him out clear as anything, he was the first horse I tried when looking for a new one to move on from ponies. My mum was so skeptical about going to see him as she thought he was going to be too big, he stood at 16.1hh (although continued to grow to 16.3hh over the years!).

He was 5 minutes down the road from us so we couldn’t really turn it down. As soon as I sat on him I knew he was for me, we just clicked and as soon as I popped him over a jump I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat and turned to Mum and said ‘he’s the one’.

Little did we know that over the years he would teach me all I could know about eventing. He took me to my first National Championships ODE where he won overall, my first 3DE, my first BE and so much more. He had some amazing results over the years and we progressed up to Novice together.

Sadly he is now retired and is thoroughly enjoying his new life in the field with my Mum’s horse Skip. He loves being out with Skip, he was always turned out on his own but Skip keeps him firmly in place and makes sure he doesn’t get up to anything he shouldn’t! 

A quick intro

Meet Skip, who as I said is actually my Mum’s horse. He’s 25 now and also retired, he was meant to be my first horse after ponies, which was always the plan, right from when he was bought in 2003. Unfortunately, I just didn’t get on with him and he was a tricky ride who wasn’t particularly consistent in his work! 

My team mate

Moving on to Ronald who is just so many peoples favourite. I came across him in late 2016 when Pierre had an injury so he was in the middle of rehab work. I contacted the lady I bought Pierre from as she owns a big yard in my area (where I currently keep Ron and formerly Pierre) asking if she knew of anything that needed riding; even if it was just to hack out. The next day she rung me and said she was off to Portugal show jumping with her horses but Ron wasn’t going with them, so did I want to keep him ticking over while she was away for a month?

Of course I said yes and 2 months later I ended up buying him. I had no intention of buying him but I saw his advert when it was first posted and rung his owner and said ‘take it down, I’ll find the money!’. My parents thought I was crazy, tried to put me off but I wasn’t going to let him go anywhere.

Moving onto 2020 and we have done so many things I didn’t think were possible; including riding for England and representing the country at the BD Home International and Inter Regionals with fantastic results. We had our first 2* planned for May this year, although COVID-19 has put that on for hold for now. It’s safe to say Ron is not going anywhere and he is now a big part of the family.

The babies

Lastly, it’s time to introduce the newest members, two yearlings named Mickey and Captain. My other half and I bought these in late 2019, I hadn’t actually seen them but he knew them as had trimmed them a couple of times and shod for the owners (having a farrier as your other half definitely has its perks!). Let’s just say he made a good choice and they are such characters.

I had initially planned on getting them out in hand this year but again COVID-19 has put a stop to this so they are getting lots of groundwork and attention while I’ve been furloughed from work! The plan with Mickey is for him to hopefully be my next eventer, fingers crossed, he is very bold, brave and independent and will take anything in his stride. Captain, on the other hand, will be a project and once he is backed and seen the world he will be sold unless I can persuade my other half otherwise! 
So there’s a quick lowdown on my team and what they all get up to. Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for more updates on our day to day life, the ups and downs, tricky situations that mean we have to adjust things and how we’re all coping with the new way of life in lockdown. 

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