By Robbyn Wilmot
On January 2016 I went into work as normal, only to be called into the office at 10 a.m. to be told the company was closing and I was being made redundant. I spent a whole month at home looking for a new job. I live in a small town where there’s not really much going on and I couldn’t even afford to put fuel in my car to visit family. All this time spent alone was very depressing, watching TV shows on repeat and attending the odd interview. It made me think back to four years ago when I still had a horse, and all the time I spent with him before he had an accident and passed away. After he died, I found I had lost my nerve and I hadn’t been near a horse since.
So, I decided it was time to get back into riding. I began looking for a horse. I called up an old stable near where I used to live and explained I was looking for an older horse to give me my confidence back. They remembered me and suggested I should come by on the weekend to meet an older mare that they couldn’t use in the trekking center anymore.
A white horse named Ghost stood in the stable looking a bit chubby, hairy, and scruffy after being turned out since loosing her eye six months prior, but I loved her!
The stable advised me to stick to her ‘good side’ when tacking up or mounting, and as I hopped on my legs started to shake, but after thirty minutes I was desperate to canter!
Suffice to say, on the first day of my new job, Ghost was delivered. I’ve made her a hard wearing eye patch that attaches to her bridle to protect her and she always wears a fly mask when turned out. Since bringing her home, we have continuously progressed as a team. We’ve been away at horse camps, done beach rides, handy pony competitions, dressage, mounted games and everything in between. I often ride her bareback and sometimes even bridleless. Our latest success was at a two day Le TREC camp where we placed 8th of 17. She was amazing and even though she is blind in one eye, Ghost was in the top 5 for the obstacles phase.
Since the beginning of this year I have been transitioning Ghost to bitless and barefoot, which is working great. We are both a lot happier for it. Ghost is currently ridden in a double scawbrig bitless bridle and wears Cavallo Trek boots on the front, with Simple Boots on her hinds. My equine podiatrist recommended Cavallo hoof boots to me because they are the best boots to use extra padding with and are hard wearing. So far, I have been really impressed and am planning to do a full review on our blog www.facebook.com/adventuresofghost.
Wearing boots with the gel padding inside is great for Ghost as she has arthritis. The boots really help limit concussion and prevent her from over reaching and clipping the back of her legs as she did previously. On a bad day, she struggles to lift her hind legs very high, so the Cavallo design means I can still put them on easily.
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Photo by Millie Hart of “Something of the Hart” Photography
