The One

We’ve all heard of The One, and I’m not talking about your significant other. I mean that one horse who gave you everything and taught you everything; how to trot and canter, taking you over your first fence, to your first pony club rally and to your first competition. The One is your horse of a lifetime.

Lizzie was that horse for me, and where my love of Welsh Sections Ds began. She was a troubled soul who first arrived on our yard in 2003. My instructor, who also rented the stables, bought her to give lessons on with the plan to eventually sell her on. Lizzie’s previous owners had been out-horsed; they were new to horses and Lizzie (being a stubborn and cantankerous mare) walked all over them.

After riding her a few times, I fell in love. She was perfect – albeit rough around the edges, but that’s how I like them, ‘a bit of a challenge’. I rode Lizzie for my instructor and, after just a few weeks, even my parents didn’t want to part with her and, as an early birthday present six weeks before I turned twelve, she was ours.

As I previously alluded to, Lizzie had a lot of problems. She was bolshy, stubborn and had no regard for personal space. She seemed to struggle with separation anxiety and we couldn’t get her out of the field without another horse. She wouldn’t hack out alone without rearing and spinning around on her hind legs before setting off home. My parents probably wondered what an earth they had bought but I loved her!

I started leading her out, just part way at first then turning back. Each day we went a little further and a little further, until one day we walked all the way around the block – a loop around the farm less than a mile long.

Next was to ride her. To begin I lead her out as I had been doing then mounted en route home. The following day I did the same but mounted half way around the block and continued each day until eventually I was able to ride her away from the yard. It took two weeks of hard work and perseverance but we got there!

Our next challenge; loading. Lizzie absolutely hated travelling (we later found out she had previously been in a trailer when it fell on it’s side). As soon as she heard/saw the trailer, she would set that hefty Welsh neck of hers and drag you back down to the paddock. Mum and dad took some advice and eventually came up with a technique to get her to load. The main issue was getting her close enough to the trailer to feed her without her doing a runner. We couldn’t exactly have her dragging us around the yard every time we wanted to go off somewhere! More patience, perseverance and a ridiculous amount of feed later – I’m sure she put on 100kg that year – we got her loading without much fuss.

Again, we took things slowly, driving down to the village and straight back, then a little farther each time, feeding her on the trailer before we unloaded her. She still didn’t enjoy travelling but we made it a comfortable and pleasant journey for her so she didn’t become stressed. She loved her job though and couldn’t wait to get on with it when we arrived at a competition!

We had so much fun together, she loved to jump and we won several show jumping championships. She even took me around my first team chase! I’m not quite sure mum and dad knew what team chasing was because when we set off mum dropped the camera and videoed grass for the full round. As the ‘pony’ of the group and the youngest member we were put at the back and I probably didn’t have a hope in hell of stopping her even if I wanted to as she was going whether I liked it or not! I learnt a lot from Lizzie; how to ride cross country, how to sit a rear and how to build a horse’s trust.

Unfortunately, after several years together, Lizzie pulled her suspensory ligament and, after some investigations, we were told her tendons had also been damaged in the past. Following the vet’s advice we turned her away for a year.

The year-long break allowed the suspensory to heal and we slowly brought Lizzie back into work, however she didn’t quite feel the same. She clearly had a lot of underlying issues with her legs and we just couldn’t quite get her back to where she was. The winter months were the best for her as the ground was soft but she struggled with the hard ground in summer. We just had to take each day as it came. Mum began riding her and Lizzie loved it when she saw mum put her hat on! Mum has always said she rides with a bit of a cowboy style; one hand on the reins, the other resting on her leg, and I think Lizzie enjoyed the relaxing hacks.

Sound for the most part and enjoying hacking out we thought she was ready for more regular work. When a livery introduced us to her friend Cath who was looking to get back into riding, we decided to give it a go. Cath and Lizzie hit it off straight away; Cath would ride and pamper Lizzie when she came down and Lizzie certainly looked well on it!

A couple of years later Cath bought my sister’s pony, Bridget, from us and started up a Pony Club, where children who didn’t have their own ponies could come to learn all about them and how to ride. Lizzie loved all the attention and even behaved herself both on the ground and when being ridden – most of the time!

One of the girls in particular had a soft spot for Lizzie and began loaning her two days a week. Faye looked after Lizzie as if she were her own and we enjoyed many weekends with Faye and her family. Lizzie looked after everyone who rode her; she seemed to have a sixth sense if you weren’t feeling your usual self and would somehow manage to cheer you up! The difference from when she first arrived was quite remarkable. She had matured a lot and trusted us much more.

Sadly, Lizzie’s intermittent lameness became more regular and, despite tests and supplements, she was struggling. In April 2018, with the support of our vet, we decided it was time to let her go. She was our horse of a lifetime and owed us nothing so the kindest, and hardest, thing to do was say goodbye. We have many wonderful memories and I hope she enjoyed her time with us as much as we did with her!

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