I was fifteen when I first convinced my parents I could get a horse. A lease I said! That way we can give him back if it doesn’t work out!!! Owner was pregnant couldn’t ride and the lease was for a year. Haha I thought, my foot in the door at last.
So Mum and I went off to look at this horse. Eldorado was his name. A stunning chestnut with a big head and neck, large shoulders and a tiny butt. 1/4 Arab and the rest thoroughbred which I later found out meant smart as all hell! I don’t remember too much about the first time I saw him except he bucked me off twice and Mum still let me have him.
This horse taught me so much. It was my first taste of freedom since leaving a lesson or a borrowed horse scenario. I loved to ride him all over the property exploring new areas. I remember blackberry bushes, stopping to eat them with Eldy and he would eat them too, prickles and all!
There was a tiny tyre marked arena, not flat but the flattest patch we had at that stage. I remember having lessons there with Pat Hutchens.
There was a lot of hooning around the 300acres at Blacks Road roundabout, which is now sadly mostly covered in houses. There were camp outs at the paddock. I even remember staying there overnight with friends in a tent and ordering pizzas to the paddock but when they rocked up at a locked gate to 300 acres they thought we were a hoax 😂
It was here that my fear of agistments began. As you can imagine there were lots of horses here and a huge bunch of bitches. If people weren’t your friends they were bitching about you, even your friends could turn at any moment. I received a lot of help and advice from some but from others a lot of back stabbing as they went snitching to my horse’s owner.
Eldorado got a bladder infection, the vets seemed to think it was from not enough water (but here I am testing my memory from 20 years ago so it might be a little tainted) I think it was from one water trough for 30 horses in a 300 acre paddock. I’m guessing they just didn’t drink enough.
Somehow it got turned into a story that I wasn’t looking after my horse and the owner decided to cease the lease at the end of the period (I think it was around 6months). I was heartbroken because I knew I loved and cared for this horse and couldn’t believe that others couldn’t see it. The lack of control and sense of powerlessness when the horse wasn’t truly mine is something I’ll never do again.
As you can imagine at 15 I was more attached to this horse than anything else in my life and this broke my heart. My Dad offered the lady $3000 to buy this horse (a lot of money 20 years ago) but she declined.
Sadness followed, but I eventually convinced my parents that I was responsible enough to buy my own. It was then that the hunt for a horse began.
My memories of this time are of course a little foggy but I think it’s why now I find it so important to be encouraging to those up and coming riders. To help those with less experienced than myself. Not to criticise them but to teach them things that I’ve learnt along the way and make a difference in their horse lives.
I’ve tried to keep out of horse agistment drama and keep my head low, at other times I’m far more open and encouraging to others, trying to help people find the happiness that I find in these gorgeous animals. I don’t claim to know it all but if I do know it and can help you I’d like to do so!
Happiness in horses isn’t just built around the horse itself but the environment in which you keep your horse can hugely dictate how you feel about it all. I’m grateful everyday for the place I’m at now. It’s a wonderful space right next to the forest with facilities that work well for me.
I want you to think about the horse people that surround you. Do you help them and build them up? Do you encourage the next generation of young riders? Do you offer support where needed or respect where it’s deserved? If not, perhaps rethink how you go about your horse lives. You may have the power to make or break someone’s spirit!
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A fair few years later, trolling the internet for horse ads and reading all sorts of things, I did a double take to see Eldorado listed for sale from someone else, not the owner who had him before me.
I did what any normal horse girl would do.
I bought him back 😍