Emrys

Now we have reached E and there is just one – the elegant Emrys. He is special to me as he is the last of my original trekking centre horses and he is still bursting with life and vitality.

Only today I watched him trotting ahead, leading the whole herd down from the field. He was showing off, high stepping with that lovely elegant stride and I thought: “That’s still my young Emrys.”

He was the very first horse I bought for the trekking centre, back in 1994, before I had even opened. He came from the Yswain Cob Stud and his full name is Yswain Emrys.

He was just nine months old, a Welsh Section D, and I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. I have always loved black horses and he was the first I ever bought.

Emrys was a shining, handsome colt who had won three times in the show ring, including at The Royal Show. His movement and conformation were jaw dropping.

He was going to be the stallion I had always wanted and I was determined to keep him as an entire and show him. He was an expensive indulgence and I couldn’t resist his four white feet and his star.

But Welsh Section D’s can be a handful as entires and by two he was a naughty nuisance, so I ended up having him gelded.

I usually break in at four, but he was so mischievous I started working with him at three. Welsh Section D’s are among the trickiest to break, they can be very willful and opinionated, and Emrys was no different. I had to be very patient and think out of the box.

He used to buck quite a lot – some clients loved it for the excitement, others were terrified! Bugsy was his brother and the two of them were like a pair of gangsters.

But eventually Emrys grew up and I look at him now and can’t believe he carries riders of such varied abilities.

The fact that he is the last of the originals makes him very special to us here. And I have an extra emotional attachment to him.

I lost my Dad in 1995 and Emrys was the only one of all my trekking horses that he saw. I often wonder what my Dad would think of my trekking centre and all the horses I have bought, so I am glad he saw Emrys.

Dad knew his horses and he advised me to get Emrys gelded as he looked as if he could be naughty. He was right!