FISBERRY

Fizz raced for 6 years before retiring in 2011 to a riding centre in Westbury, Wiltshire. In 2012 the riding centre was looking to sell him on and I was told he hadn’t raced for several years and was quiet enough to be a lead rein pony. Little did I know he’d last raced the year before I bought him, and once he was fed well and fit, he was a completely different horse!

At the time I was looking for a horse to ‘teach me to jump’, quite naively I thought that having had a racing career we’d be able to have some fun and go show jumping, I soon learnt that Fizz’s idea of jumping meant going at breakneck speed and taking off 19ft in front of the jumps, landing and bolting.

Fizz was quite thin when I bought him and very highly strung; he soon put on weight and started enjoying life as a ‘happy hacker’, but it took 18 months before I could even venture into a field without him trying his hardest to bolt. A few scary escapades later and Fizz started to realise that it was better to return to the yard with me intact after having had a good blast around the fields, than to scare the crap out of me and return solo. We’ve had many great times attending jumping clinics, show jumping events, practising cross country and fun rides.

Fizz is quick to take off and always ready for a canter or a gallop. He has learned to be extremely well behaved on the roads but this took patience and training. He has taught me the greatest lesson I have ever learned with horses: never assume that a horse will do as you ask or assume that your signals are correct, never set targets or goals and always work on your partnership with the horse. It’s a team effort.

Unfortunately, due to recurrent lameness in his hind left leg I had to retire Fizz as a companion horse, this was a hard pill to swallow but he gave me 5 great years and owed me nothing. I on the other hand owed him a lifetime of care, thanks and relaxation. Fizz spends his time with my other ex-racers and makes a great uncle to my shire foals until they outgrow him and begin to challenge his authority. I couldn’t ask for a more kind-hearted lad.