From the beginning

After 2 years of trying various treatments and vets I finally had to admit defeat with Bentley and decide to move on.  I just could not keep him sound enough to do any amount of work and jumping him was a total no-no.  The final straw came when he ruptured the DDFT and I was never sure he would come back to full work again.

I started looking at horses to buy, a pass time I hate and detest.  After a couple of false starts and failed vettings by a stroke of absolute fate Tequila came available.  She had been offered to me earlier in the year but at that time I wasn't looking.  Then when I was she had gone out on loan.  Luckily for me and for Aimee her loaner she got pregnant and so Sarah her owner decided to sell her and offered me first refusal.  Rather stupidly considering all the trials and tribulations I have previously been through with buying horses I bought her without even seeing her.  I watched a couple of videos of her trotting in a circle and one of her playing with a rubber ball and decided to go for it.

She arrived here with me in France on 9th Nov 2012.  I had quite a shock when she came off the lorry as she was a lot smaller than I had been expecting.  The problem is that after Bentley anything looks like a Shetland.  My first impressions were that she was ignorant and bargy, she dragged me around on the end of the headcollar rope, she was too small and she was too long in the back.  Apart from that she was fine!!!

I gave her a day to settle in before I did anything with her and then bit the bullet and tacked her up.  We went up in the sand school and after an initial lunge I got on.  I was surprised at just how green and wobbly she was.  She couldn't walk in a straight line and after my wonderfully schooled Bentley who knows what I want just by my thinking it I suddenly was riding a horse who had no idea what I wanted.  What had I done?