I
am new to blogging so please forgive any mistakes I may make, technical or
otherwise. I live on Dartmoor with my partner, son and dog Snippet. My pony,
Trigger, lives about a mile away as the crow flies and last August 22nd,
after over a year of working with him to resolve a lot of behavioural issues, a
freak accident out on the moors resulted in me breaking my neck, my back in
three places and nearly all my ribs. Amazingly, I had a mobile signal and was
able to phone for help; I had no feeling from the waist down at that stage. To
cut a long story short, I was air ambulanced out and operated on the following
day. The feeling in my legs had come back after half an hour or so, which was
miraculous and after twelve days in hospital, I was sent home to begin the
recovery which is still ongoing. Trigger was fine and galloped home but is not
going to be ridden by me again. After seven months of doing very little, a lot
of his behaviour has reverted to when he first arrived so, once I’m able, I
want to get back doing groundwork with him, and train him to carry panniers of
gorse for our kindling if possible. The fantastic Anna Bonnage helped me get to
the stage we were at before the accident and I would love to get her to help me
again. Her web site is really worth a visit (see the link below) and I can’t recommend her highly enough. She has made me look at all aspects of horsemanship in a totally new and inspiring way. I
need money to pay for it so I thought I would at last get round to selling my
drawings if I can. I’ve meant to do so for twenty years but there has always
been a reason not to; usually time. So, now is the moment and I was advised
that writing a blog would be helpful.
As well as general observations, I want
to follow Trigger’s progress and also a Dartmoor mare who I think will give birth nearby. I’ve called her Betty and she
is utterly gorgeous. She will allow me to get pretty close to photograph her at
the moment and is never further than about a mile from here. She runs with a
small herd and I try and check on her every day if I can find her. I will start
drawing her soon and I just hope I can catch her beauty on paper. I think we
live in the most beautiful place on earth but obviously I’m heavily biased. I love
it so much I am always pleased to get back from holiday. I’m hoping to share a
little of its magic through photography and drawing.
Betty
Grazing on a hazy early morning at the beginning of March
Trigger
Trigger
is 13 years old by a show pony stallion out of a Welsh section C mare. He is
13.3hh and most adults wouldn’t be seen dead on him. I, however, didn’t mind
looking ridiculous at 5’9”. He is not a suitable ride for a child, being very
unpredictable and flighty. He goes like a bomb which was very appealing until I
found what coming off at that speed can do to your bones! Something went wrong
and he came out looking a bit like a chestnut seahorse. His head is too small
and he was considered ‘wild’ and un-trainable as a youngster. Details are
sketchy but it is clear something bad happened to him at some point. He is very
nervous, particularly around his hind legs, which he picks up before asking. He
was backed at the age of 7 and used in a riding school environment. He was
rescued from this life by the very kind friend who, after having him for a
couple of years, gave him to me after the breadth of his problems transpired
during my having him for a trial period. Despite what happened last year, I
adore him and am looking forward to having a large equine dog to exercise with our
dog Snippet, along with training him to carry panniers. He does need to work
for his keep.
Trigger
Snippet
Snippet
will be three at the end of August and is a Lakeland/Patterdale terrier cross. We
thought he was going to be short haired but every winter when the snow comes,
his coat seems to gain an inch in length. He is lovely but does tend to get
very over-excited with humans. He is very obedient generally but refuses to
stop jumping up at people, particularly when they encourage it!
Snippet
Sitting on his favourite rock
