I’m feeling reflective today. I’m five months into living the dream. I’ve got through the first winter, boy was that an eye opener and the ponies are still with me. What’s got me this far? The key ingredients include sheer grit, an “I can do it!”and “failure is not an option!” mindset with a good sprinkling of naivety (sometimes not having a clue makes you fearless). Most importantly this dream would never have happened without the support of good friends. So this post is about those individuals that have supported me right from the start. They don’t know it but I refer to them as The Oracles. Together they bring over 30 years of knowledge and experience on horse behaviour, care, handling and riding. Let me introduce you to Stephen, Carolyn and Kim.
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Jutland (Gallacher)
Competed: XC, TREC and Endurance
Trained: Both horses were trained at Westcourt stables in Pewsey and Stephen continued to train them following Gary Witheford’s method.
Carolyn Roberts
Started riding: 5 years old.
Owned horses: Loaned a pony (Mali) whilst in secondary school.
Competed: At small shows(working pony category) XC.
Training: Follows natural horsemanship.
Carolyn and Stephen were the first people barring Phil that I trusted enough to share my vision. For about a year I drip fed all my ideas (the sane and the wacky) to them. To their credit, they listened patiently to my ramblings. Once the fostering option became a reality I bombarded them with endless emails, lists of questions on how to care and handle the ponies. Even though they were busy running their own business they always took the time to reply and offered solutions when things didn’t go as planned.
What they bring to the table is an understanding of natural horsemanship, an approach I also favour. Fundamentally Carolyn and Stephen keep me grounded, they remind me that I need to enjoy the moment and to value just being with the ponies.
Kim Macleod
Kim is my rock. She continues to guide me through this project, showing me the practicalities of looking after horses and managing my field. Kim has a wonderful ability to adapt to whatever situation in a calm way but in the same breath she doesn’t take any nonsense from me when I’m being a scaredy cat or when the ponies are being cheeky. She is the first point of call in an emergency and is definitely someone you want on your side. What I really appreciate is her approach, she has only ever suggested options, she has never made me feel small even though I now realise that I’ve asked her so many silly questions. She doesn’t dictate or swamp me with her beliefs for which I’m grateful as it has allowed me to find my way and make decisions that work for me.
The Oracles and I share a common goal which is our love of animals and the desire to make the lives of the ponies that come to live with me and my family as happy and relax as can be. I’m so lucky to have people like this around me. If you find anyone that can get you through difficult times, hold on to them and most importantly let them know how wonderful they are and that they are appreciated. In the words of Yoda ” Long way, kind words go.” (I’ll apologise now for the many film references and quotes that will feature in my blog).
The Oracles continue to provide me with a great source of strength. I don’t think they will ever know how important their advice, help and kind word have been and continue to be in pursuing my dream. Here’s hoping I find some more Oracles along my journey.