[Epona]

Ooops, my last post in the cafe thread to LB was so long that a new one got started while I was typing!

Here's my post again, so LB can see it!

LB, I never had the pleasure of owning my own horse, but I was lucky enough to find an old woman who couldn't ride any more - she had 3 horses that needed exercising, so I used to go out with my dad (who used to be a jockey) and usually a friend to ride them.

I used to ride a pony called Michelle, a palomino New Forest pony, my dad used to ride Amber, a red-bay New Forest, and the friend would ride Bluey, a grey cob, really big and hairy and always daydreaming!

Michelle was very young, I started riding her straight after she had been broken in - I loved her to bits, but she was really nervous and flighty. She then got tetanus (old woman didn't realise she ought to have been vaccinated, duh), which I spotted in the early stages. Although the vet had never seen it in a horse before, he fortunately took my word for it because I was adamant and so he treated her anyway, so she recovered, but unfortunately the damage to her brain left her quite insane and vicious.

After her illness, she actually killed 2 goats and a cat in the time I knew her, by kicking them to death. She couldn't bear to be touched around her tail or hindquarters, she really did go nuts. The accident happened when she was spooked by a pheasant and reared - I fell off onto a grass bank at the side of the bridlepath and slipped under her back legs, which was disaster. Alas she didn't run off, but stood there and kicked me black and blue for a good 10 minutes with my dad trying to pull her off me.

I couldn't walk for a week, I had been kicked in the knee, shoulder and head (the kicking had dislodged my hard hat, fortunately she only got me in the head once), and I still have joint problems, and occassional pain where I was kicked in the head, 16 years later as a result. Fortunately because we only ever rode on soft tracks, and because of her kicking tendencies, she wasn't shod - otherwise I would probably be dead.

The old woman gave all 3 horses to a friend who was very experienced. I understand that Michelle was going to be rehabilitated, which is good, I'm sure a lot of people would have just had her shot