Post by flee on Apr 10, 2014 21:42:32 GMT
Totally out of the blue on Wednesday . . Absolutely devastated.
I bought Mistletoe as a yearling from his breeder , as a companion for a filly I bought at the same time .The filly was beautiful , graceful , mannerly and eager to please . Miz was plain ( and that's being kind ) , dumpy , pushy , and obstinate with a huge white star ( not allowed ) and the colouring and disposition of a mule .His breeder more or less gave him to me .
Once he got his hooves under the trough at our place , his mission in life seemed to be to demonstrate his total disrespect for anyone or anything and he would shove any human , horse or object out of his way with out a second thought .He never went round anything and once managed to get all four feet in a wheelbarrow when he decided to walk over it , it tipped over like a see-saw and he stepped out of it and continued calmly on his way .
By the time they were four the filly had grown even more beautiful and Mistletoe's star had grown a stripe .They were both broken in and Miz took a back seat to his sister .She was a star , he was a lazy obstinate lump .
In an effort to find him a job I decided to try some dressage , I thought he might find it interesting . And I could wear spurs .
He fell asleep in the prelim , registered mild interest at Novice , came alive at Elemetary . He did his first BD Elemantary test at 6yo and came 2nd .He was placed in every E test he entered and won all his BD points at that level .
He attracted much interest at these events and one day somebody asked me what colour he was . Mouse Dun I replied . But then I looked again , no - he'd changed colour , gone lighter as he got older , he was more a dappley yellow dun with a dapple grey head and ..... bl**dy hell ..... where had his blaze gone ? Blended into his now grey head , that's where . Mistletoe was going showing .
That year , as a 6yo , he won the Novice Ridden Large Breeds at Cheshire County ,and went on to have numerous wins and championships including Royal Lancs , BSPS Summer Champs , HP Ridden Champion at the SHPS , Festival of Champions, NCPA and many more .
He was always a stubbourn sh*t and many's the time I stood in front of the judge , put my leg on and .....nothing happened . It was like sitting on a lump of wood . He just had to stand there for that extra , very long , second .He had to make you wait , just give you time to panic , before he sprang into life and did the job . He didn't do it every time , but he did it often enough to let you know who was in charge .
For the last 18 months he has been in charge of one of our foster children . She is very clumsy and jerky and can alarm the other ponies but Miz tolerated her and they developed a ( very unequal ) partenership . She would lead him out to the field , he walking behind her and shoving her along with his head because she wasn't moving fast enough , he taught her to move her toes out of the way if he decided he was going somewhere and many the time they came back from the field walking side by side , he loose , because she couldn't get his head collar on and he , losing patience with her efforts had simply shoved her out the way and made his own way in .He tolerated her flapping legs and jerky hands and would plod amiably around the sand paddock , occasionally treating her to a canter if he was in the mood , and then presenting himself at the gate when he'd had enough ,resting his chin on the top bar and closing his eyes whilst she kicked and tugged and then finally gave in and put him away .
I've told the children he's at the vets getting his leg fixed and then he's going to a retirement home .I can't bear to tell them the truth .
RIP Miz - you were a lazy , stubbourn sod to the end and I miss you with all my heart .
I bought Mistletoe as a yearling from his breeder , as a companion for a filly I bought at the same time .The filly was beautiful , graceful , mannerly and eager to please . Miz was plain ( and that's being kind ) , dumpy , pushy , and obstinate with a huge white star ( not allowed ) and the colouring and disposition of a mule .His breeder more or less gave him to me .
Once he got his hooves under the trough at our place , his mission in life seemed to be to demonstrate his total disrespect for anyone or anything and he would shove any human , horse or object out of his way with out a second thought .He never went round anything and once managed to get all four feet in a wheelbarrow when he decided to walk over it , it tipped over like a see-saw and he stepped out of it and continued calmly on his way .
By the time they were four the filly had grown even more beautiful and Mistletoe's star had grown a stripe .They were both broken in and Miz took a back seat to his sister .She was a star , he was a lazy obstinate lump .
In an effort to find him a job I decided to try some dressage , I thought he might find it interesting . And I could wear spurs .
He fell asleep in the prelim , registered mild interest at Novice , came alive at Elemetary . He did his first BD Elemantary test at 6yo and came 2nd .He was placed in every E test he entered and won all his BD points at that level .
He attracted much interest at these events and one day somebody asked me what colour he was . Mouse Dun I replied . But then I looked again , no - he'd changed colour , gone lighter as he got older , he was more a dappley yellow dun with a dapple grey head and ..... bl**dy hell ..... where had his blaze gone ? Blended into his now grey head , that's where . Mistletoe was going showing .
That year , as a 6yo , he won the Novice Ridden Large Breeds at Cheshire County ,and went on to have numerous wins and championships including Royal Lancs , BSPS Summer Champs , HP Ridden Champion at the SHPS , Festival of Champions, NCPA and many more .
He was always a stubbourn sh*t and many's the time I stood in front of the judge , put my leg on and .....nothing happened . It was like sitting on a lump of wood . He just had to stand there for that extra , very long , second .He had to make you wait , just give you time to panic , before he sprang into life and did the job . He didn't do it every time , but he did it often enough to let you know who was in charge .
For the last 18 months he has been in charge of one of our foster children . She is very clumsy and jerky and can alarm the other ponies but Miz tolerated her and they developed a ( very unequal ) partenership . She would lead him out to the field , he walking behind her and shoving her along with his head because she wasn't moving fast enough , he taught her to move her toes out of the way if he decided he was going somewhere and many the time they came back from the field walking side by side , he loose , because she couldn't get his head collar on and he , losing patience with her efforts had simply shoved her out the way and made his own way in .He tolerated her flapping legs and jerky hands and would plod amiably around the sand paddock , occasionally treating her to a canter if he was in the mood , and then presenting himself at the gate when he'd had enough ,resting his chin on the top bar and closing his eyes whilst she kicked and tugged and then finally gave in and put him away .
I've told the children he's at the vets getting his leg fixed and then he's going to a retirement home .I can't bear to tell them the truth .
RIP Miz - you were a lazy , stubbourn sod to the end and I miss you with all my heart .
x
