There have been a few horses and ponies who have undoubtedly helped me along the road to achieving my goals. Some are gone and some still with us...here is a little about each one, and some pictures:

Magnum was my Mum's horse. She only got him when I was about 2 months old, and he was her first horse, as she had never been able to own a pony or horse before then. He came from a dealer, where my Mum's then boss used to source all her riding school horses. The dealer had phoned to tell them about him, and that he had come in and was cheap, because although a nice type, he kept bucking the owner off! My mum rode him, and realised that he was very cold backed...hence the bucking. She managed to persuade her boss to let her have him as she just loved the ride he gave. As long as he was walked before mounting, and the girth done up gradually, he was fine to ride and did not buck. They went from strength to strength and did Dressage to Advanced, and cross country at Novice level.

The thing was that Magnum was always the boss, but he was so gentle with me when I was still tiny. I would stand up and watch him feed by perring over his manger and he would never put his ears back. I could reach to his knees and brush his lower leg, and he would not move. My mum put me in the back-pack and we went hacking round the roads in Bushey...he would not spook. I rode him in from the fields,holding onto the top of his rug, as my Mum led in two horses, and he gently walked beside her.

I rode him at 18 months, trotting round the school, holding onto the saddle, and bouncing around....this the horse that no one could stay on........

When we moved to Hylands, he was a massive part of our family life, and I would ride him on the lunge and he would help me with my position as I got older. He always knew the time, and would inform everyone when it was getting close to tea time.....very loudly. He used to manage to open door bolts, and would regularly go walkabout if a bottom bolt had been forgotten. One night, not long after getting my pony Crackertoo, Magnum was in a barn stable that had a rail to keep him in. He would sometimes push the rail off... just because he could! We were all in bed and could hear the noise of dustbins. My Mum got up and found him by the bins, banging them with his front legs.....she could not work out why, but then realised that Cracker, who was in his pen, had rolled and slipped under the fence rails and was stuck upside down in a ditch beside it. Mags arrived at her side as if to say..."well do something woman!!!" We managed to rescue Cracker somehow, and he was completely unhurt, but we were certain that Mags had woken us deliberately.

Mags was in just in retirement at 27, when on a sunny morning in March, Mummy put him out with my horse at the time. Everyone was in a good mood, as it was a bright Saturday, with spring on the way. Suddenly my Mum heard a horrific cracking noise and ran out to the boys, to find that Magnum had been kicked in the jaw and was standing looking very sorry for himself. On vet's advice, she travelled him to Equine Hospital in Liphook - about a 2 1/2 hour drive. After x-rays, they saw that the jaw had been split right back and he had lost two front teeth. The vet said that they could operate but was not exactly sure what they would find, and he would be wired up for a good few weeks. My mum made the very hard decision to have him put to sleep. Although it absolutely broke her heart, she could not bear to see him suffer. She had to drive the lorry home without him. She had had him for 17 years. It left a big space in our yard for a long long time as he was a massive character with a huge heart and a great sense of humour. One of the things he loved to do was eat all the chocolates the customers would bring us at Christmas, another reason to let himself out!!!