THE HORSES CAME FIRST

So it was now July in our first year at Chateau Roche Hue. We had set out our plans, see previous post, and wanted our business to be up and running by late Spring the following year i.e. 1990.
As a riding establishment for the customers had been one of our agreed facilities, I was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of horses, and keen to put that plan into motion. Since early childhood I had adored horses and lots of birthday presents came in the form of riding lessons. Alex and I had ridden a bit early into our marriage, but just hacking really. When our daughters were growing up we had invested in a small horse and a pony for them and so we had experience of all the work that goes along with the pleasure. I ' put the word around ' and met lots of horsey people and started the long business of choosing. For myself I need a quiet well behaved ride as it had been a long time since I had ridden and I needed to regain my confidence. Then along came my dream horse Hortensia.

Hortensia , in spite of his name, was a gelding, a Selle Francaise. He was originally from ' le Cadre Noir' at Saumur , and beautifully dressaged. Apparently they retire their display horses at the age of 12 yrs ? and at this age he was bought by Danielle, a good rider who entered him for shows and jumping etc. By the time he was 16 she decided that he needed a quieter life, and thought he would be perfect for me as he was virtually ' bomb-proof' ! I would be perfect for him, as I wanted to ride but not jump him. So began a long love affair. Sadly I heard that he passed away two years ago.

Next choice was Black mischief, here he is on the right of Hortensia in their stalls....

Black mischief was an ex- race horse . I was told that he had been raced too young and had suffered ' clacked tendons ', so could never race again- but -with a 4 month rest, and with daily

' argyle vert ' dressings and hosings on his tendons he might well recover enough to make a good riding horse. He was part arab and very beautiful so I decided to take the chance as there was plenty of time before he would be needed. This worked out well and he did recover .

Next we decided that we needed a couple of gentle ponies for the children, and we found Fantasia, pictured here with my daughter Victoria.....

She was and is a lovely pony as gentle and willing as can be! I heard this week that she is still alive , and still grazing in her pastures at la Roche Hue. She must be 31 years old this year -- quite remarkable. The other pony I bought was a barrow-load of trouble and miscief, a little shetland called U.S.A. Can't you just tell he is a tinker looking at him?

Finally, the last buy that year was Pivoine, an ex trotter, who was such an amazing ride, because she had been trained never to go into a canter or gallop, so you could ride her at gallop-speed whilst she was trotting -- really bizarre!

And so this is me! On Pivoine outside our lovely Chateau. à demain......