Gone but not forgotten

Gone but not forgotten ...

Below are some tributes to horses and ponies that were owned by members of The Show Ring forum.

Cocum Fairytale 1995-2008 - Suzy Pound
Fairy really was my pony of a lifetime. She was the first pony that I bought myself back in 2002. I was sent a short video and some photographs of a beautiful 7 year old Connemara mare, and it was love at first sight. I bought her unseen, and a few weeks later she arrived, having travelled the long journey from Inverness to our home in Somerset. I will never forget the day she arived, she was breathtakingly beautiful, and so sweet and gentle, with an almost regal air about her.

She had not done much showing before, and never really took to life as a ridden pony in the ring. I lost count of the number of classes she threw away because of her naughty behaviour! One judge once commented to me that "this pony has the best head and front end I have ever seen, just a shame her manners dont match it!" She won a lot in hand, including being champion at the South West area breed show, winning at Mid Somerset and several NPS area shows. She even got her photo in Horse and Hound, being shown by my brother-in-law. We decided to give the ridden showing a miss and concentrate on jumping, which she adored. I am a very nervous jumper, but Fairy instilled so much confidence in me, and we won several show jumping and WHP classes. My highlight has to be going round the Badminton sponsored ride, and Fairy flying every fence that we met. At home, she was ridden by my sister, who had lost her confidence having a bad fall from a youngster. She was so safe and trustworthy, that she was the pony that all my friend's children rode when they visited the yard.

We decided when she was 10 to put her in foal, but alas it wasn't meant to be. She went to the stallion the next year too, but again, no joy. In the spring of 2007 she developed a breathing disorder, and despite many vet visits and unsuccessful treatments for allergies and asthma, her condition worsened. The vet had one last ditch attempt at diagnosing her condition, and it transpired that she had a dormant lung abscess that had burst. This really was her reprieve in the eleventh hour, and she started to improve after treatment. Several weeks later she relapsed, and we prepared ourselves for the worst. The vet swabbed her, and diagnosed E-Coli and another unidentified bacteria in her system. He explained that the bacteria had embedded itself in the deep tissue after the abscess had burst, and had now resurfaced. Again, she was given medication, which cleared up the infection, and after she had recovered, we sent her to the Blackthorn Stud once again to be a field companion to the Connemara Stallion John's Cuckoo.

Because of her two unsuccessful coverings we did not think for one minute she would get in foal, especially after recovering from such a serious illness, but lo and behold she took almost straight away. This was a dream come true for us, and on 11th June 2008 she gave birth to a gorgeous filly, Fairy Queen. Watching Queen come into the world was one of the most emotional days of my life, as we had been through so much with Fairy. She was the perfect Mum in every way, at last she had found her true vocation in life. Alas, our happiness was short lived. They day that Queen turned 4 months old, I arrived at the yard early one morning all set to go to a show. Fairy was in a terrible state with colic, and after battling to save her for 16 hours, there was nothing more we could do. She had gone into shock, and was lying down in her stable having already given up her fight for life.

We made the decision with our vet, and then almost as if Fairy knew, she made one last effort, got to her feet and nuzzled Queen to say her goodbyes. This pony gave us so much joy and happiness in the six years we'd owned her, and to lose her was a devastating blow which broke our hearts. We are eternally grateful that she left us her gift, her baby Queen, who I'm sure will follow in her mother's footsteps. Run free my precious girl, it was an honour to know you. I miss you so much. xx

Muscovado (Coco) - Hannah League
Coco was a 15.2 gelding, who successfully competed in Intermediates and Small Hunters. We sadly said goodbye to him this autumn.

Tyburn Demoiselle (Tilly) - Hannah League
Tilly was the first pony to get me in Horse and Hound, after winning the first Ridden class at Herts County. She taught many children to ride, she was great alrounder who did showing, jumping, pony club and regularly hunted.

Bright Question - Heather Harper
Bright Question was a lightweight hunter that I competed on for 6 very successful years in lightweight and ladies hunter. He qualified for HOYS and RIHS in both sections and after his showing career went hunting on Exmoor - he is sadly no longer with us but is still remembered very fondly.

Blade - Heather Harper
Blade was a middleweight hunter that we found as a unbroken wild thing in a field on Dartmoor - after a rather difficult breaking in process he eventually settled and took fifteen championships in his first season, along with two supreme championships. He also qualified for the HOYS, twice, but sadly was unable to compete in 2004 due to a fracture to his pedal bone which lead to him having to be sent to his resting place. A very sad day indeed as he was only 9 years old.