Re: to all RS kids
Thats sad, i often wonder about some of the older ones from my old riding school, especcially around this time of year. I must say all of the oldies at my old place were spoiled rotten on the whole although they were taken for granted sometimes and they were the same, a novice on them and a bomb could go off under their feet and they wouldnt move put someone experienced on and usually, though they would sometimes take the mick with some of the helpers for some reason whenever i rode two of them in particular they would do anything for me and behave like a 5yo! One was called paco and he sounds a lot like sparky but he used to do dressage to a high standard and another of my favourites was peppe, a tb who used to showjump, he had quite bad arthritis and i was the only one that rode him in the last year before he was retired, just dandered round in the woods though sometimes he could be really fresh and so long as the ground was good id let him have a canter, id have loved to have ridden him in his younger days because he must have really been something, his owner moved him away from the yard with another livery a couple of years ago which at the time i thought was awful because he had been in with davey for more than 20years and they were best buds but he did really well and was looking better than he had in years when his new companiion suddenly died from colic and after that he went downhill so fast, his owner said he was heartbroken so she had him pts, he was 35 i think. Davey was another and he was amazing, he was an 17hh advanced medium dressage horse who did some eventing too, he was my instructors pride and joy and there were photos of them everywhere, i brought him back in to work after he had been out of work for a while, he was 28 or so at the time i think and i felt really privileged, he taught me absolutely loads. So anyways, yes i think its really important to appreciate the old plods because in a riding school they put up with a lot and many of them were amazing in their younger days - lets face it they dont owe us anything, i think its easy when youre moving onwards and upwards with youre riding to forget how good they actually are but im sure they are hugely appreciated by the beginners who ride them at the time, im sure everyone here learned on one just the same as sparky and im sure that they have a special place in their hearts for them, riding school ponies have hearts of gold so i think after so many years of loyalty sparky deserved a little more respect in the end, i cant believe no one had anything nice to say about him!