ZEUS – grey Connemara

Now our alphabetical tour of the trekking centre stable yard is coming to an end. We have reached Z and centre stage this week is Zeus.

This super fun and reliable boy came to me from a good friend who I had already bought a couple of our gorgeous trekking centre horses from in the past.

My friend’s daughter contacted me to say they were overstocked and were thinking about parting with a couple of ponies. Would I be interested in either of them?

Zeus out trekking

In particular they had a little lad about 14.2hh called Zeus, who could jump, had done a bit of cross country and was generally a forward going and enthusiastic character.

He was kept locally so I went to have a look and decided to give him a trial. Zeus was quite lively on his first day out on the Chase, but he settled in nicely for our clients and now has an important role here as he can take rider’s from beginners up to the any ability level.

His first outings in the arena were very funny because he kept returning to our instructor Karen for a little bit of love! He still occasionally grabs the chance for a quick cuddle, but not nearly as much as he used to.

He loves jumping and is quick but very safe, so has excelled in our summer cross country lessons.

Zeus jumping our cross country clinic

Zeus is such a fun pony. Both our instructors, Karen and Lucy, love having him in lessons and I use him in all my cross country sessions and bareback clinics. He is very versatile because of his size, he can carry both children and lightweight adults.

And he is confident enough to lead the way out on the Chase, so my staff often use him as one of their guide horses.

Zeus at the Lichfield Sheriffs Ride

Its great to hear so many of you are really enjoying our blogs, once we have finished with the horse blogs we still have plenty more talk about 🙂

Toby’s official name is Tobias Jug – it brings a smile to my face every time I think of it.

And Toby makes me smile a lot too, because he is such a good and reliable boy here at the trekking centre.

We seem to have a theme going of horses I have found through friends and Toby is another one.

Toby out on Cannock Chase

I had already bought several horses – including Chase and Splash – from this particular friend, who has a very good eye for a nice horse.

She had moved to Loughborough when she contacted me to see if I would be interested in a great little straightforward 14.3hh coloured Cob. Lucy, a long term member of my staff whose judgement I totally trust, was at the time living in Nottingham, where she had a horse transport business.

Lucy went to see him on my behalf and liked him so much she didn’t even try him! She just popped him on her horse box and brought him to me.

As soon as he arrived we kitted him out with tack, jumped on him and took him out on the Chase. Toby is one of the few horses I have ever bought who really needed nothing at all from me, he just went straight into work.

And he has never looked back. I don’t think we have ever had a problem with him.

Toby showing off his winter Tash

He is a happy and relaxed pony whose forte is teaching lots of novices. Because of his size he can carry both children and light adults, so he is very versatile.

He makes us laugh every autumn. As his winter coat arrives he grows a fabulous moustache! I always say he grows it for Movember and he becomes Colonel Toby.

This year was lovely as Pam, a member of my staff, is one of his biggest fans and she took him on his first ever Sheriff of Lichfield’s Ride.

Toby & Pam in the Lichfield Sheriff’s Ride 2018

The two preparation days were really hard work for her as Toby has a very thick mane and tail and long and dense feathers on his legs. She had to scrub and scrub but it was well worth her efforts.

He looked immaculate and it was fabulous to see him so beautifully turned out and enjoying every minute of his big day out.

This is day two of our half term pony fun and today we are getting to know GEORGIE and LADY.

Georgie

Georgie, whose real name is Farmer George, is the newest addition to our tiny pony line-up and we came across him when he was a companion in a field for our retired little chap Tommy Tucker.

His family had bought him for their children but they had lost interest in riding and a good home was the priority.

Georgie poses for the camera

I went to a take a look and loved him as soon as I saw him. I went next day with the trailer to fetch him and we soon hit a problem. He really did not like loading and quickly became quite distressed.

I decided not to put him through the ordeal and as he was only on the other side of the Chase, his owners very kindly walked him all the way to me.

Since joining us last year he has become more and more confident, even to the extent of loading on a horse box without any problems!

I call him Georgie Porgie because he loves to kiss the girls – although he never makes anyone cry! He is a really affectionate little lad and he loves kisses and cuddles from his children when they have finished their lessons.

Lady

The third member of our little gang is our gorgeous and very cheeky LADY.

Lady, with one of our young riders

She came to me after someone I knew of had bought her for his grandchildren. Unfortunately, it ended up with the common scenario of the children losing interest and the pony ending up as a lawn mower.  My friend was looking for a good home for Lady as she was getting very fat and starting with laminitis due to lack of exercise.

I went to see her and found she had a really cheeky personality.  I had to have her – I loved her quirkiness. And when I got her Welsh Section A papers I found she had the same birthday as me, so it was clearly meant to be.

She arrived at the centre and has never looked back. Lady is super in the school and is brilliant at taking our young riders for their first treks on the Chase.

The only problem I have with her is that she is still a greedy girl! She would eat constantly if we let her. She never knows when to stop, so we have to keep her on a restricted diet.

SPIRIT – Welsh Section D

Our beautiful Spirit with his chestnut coat and flaxen mane and tail is a very handsome Welsh Section D Cob with a registered name to match his looks – Elvirra Miracle.

When I bought him he was called Travis but he reminded us of the Disney character horse Spirit and so his name was changed. I think it really suits him. He was an unbroken three-year-old but was a lovely straightforward, problem free little horse to train.

As readers of my blog know, I think Welsh Section D’s can often be tricky in the early stages but Spirit was the exception. I had no facilities at the time, so I trained him in the field and we had no difficulties at all.

I backed him quite early and my most vivid memory is my first canter on him. I have always said he is one of the fastest horses I have owned. I had tears in my eyes when I pulled up that first time,he was quick!

I soon had him riding out but he was still too young for clients. Lucy, one of my senior staff members, was heading to university to study equine psychology, and he went off to college with her so she could continue his education .

When he came home I trained him for Western riding and I also taught him to bow! These days he can be ridden both Western and English and I keep saying that I am going to switch him back to full time Western. He is the centre’s cowboy horse!

As the years have passed he has found his place in the middle of the ability range. He excels at giving experienced clients a fast paced ride, but he is also safe and sensible enough for the less capable. Confident novices do really well with him.

My yard manager Sonia recently took him on the Sheriff of Lichfield Ride and was seriously impressed by him. He went like a dream for her all day.

We had a brilliant surprise a couple of years ago when his very first owner managed to track him down and contacted us to find out how he was. She was so thrilled to find that he was here, happy, healthy and loving his life.