How did we end up with 11 horses?
In the beginning, our plan was to have 4 horses and two smaller ponies. When we were settled in a place where the horses could move into, we started chatting to locals about where we could start looking for horses.
Pretty soon, we were standing in a field full of horses discussing buying a group of 8 mares.
That original group was;
Lua – a wildling baby, born in the field, completely unhandled and uncatchable
Paloma Faith – Luas mother, very suspicious about people, aggressive if aggravated
Lola Montez – uncatchable and shy
Zara – beautiful and friendly lusitano type mare with lots of visible wear and tear
Loretta Van Buuren – stunning PRE with a seriously dipped back
Bolinhas Pequenas – pretty like a picture lusitano mare, very friendly
And from another group, from
the same owner, we bought two more;
Tina Turner – a real scruffy looking palomino yearling, orphaned at a young age
Ellie Goulding – old gypsy cart mare, very friendly but very bruised, scarred and battered
Sounds like a great shopping list, right?? This is like a chapter from the book ’How NOT to buy horses’. I didn’t try any of the horses under saddle or have any intensive vet checks done.
After all I knew I was buying a bunch of gypsy horses, it only mattered what the horses showed me about their capabilities, not what the vet report would indicate.
Instead of checks and trials, we spent time hanging out and getting to know each other. At the end of it, I was sure that things would work out just fine.
Well, I also figured that since I only really needed 4 horses for light use, this lot would be great! Even if half turned out unusable, I’d still have horses to work. I just needed to retrain them, and we’d be well along the way! Easy peasy!
Later on, 3 more horses joined the gang;
Hakita – Daniels birthday present to Pia
Jennifer Lopez – a luso-arab who grew up in a barn with two sheep. Fearful, unpredictable and aggressive.
Severa – a rescued gypsy horse that was handed over because the owners couldn’t keep her anymore. Totally scarred from a car accident and very difficult to handle.
Now that our plan and vision has evolved and we don’t need the horses working for us as such, I have really come to appreciate what each of the horses bring to the table. They all have their stories and we are so lucky to have them all with us. These horses are with us for life, they are a totally irreplaceable part of the team.
