Ginny was my pony. Choc was my sisters pony. Today they both died. I'm always scared of getting a phonecall from Australia with bad news. Today was the first time it happened. My poor mother who has been looking after them both had to make the difficult decision to put them down today. Choc was in his late 20's which is a pretty good age to live to for a horse. He had been a champion show horse, won an arabian horse race, bucked his first owner off, and eventually came to my sister when he was in his late teens. Caroline learnt much of her riding on Choc. He took her through pony club winning competitions every time they entered. I don't have a photo of him in Austria, but he was a beautiful liver chestnut with white socks and a blaze down his face. My sister seems to attract a certain personality in animals. Her long time cat companion had a similar personality to Choc, and that is strong headed, strong willed, won't do anything they don't want to, but also amazingly strong creatures that can achieve so much. Yesterday something happened to Choc. My mother went to feed the horses and Choc didn't seem well. She went back this morning before work and he was worse. The vet came. She said he either had a stroke or was bitten by a snake and it was too late to save him.
Ginny was my pony for the last seven odd years. I can't believe it was that long! I loved horses for a long time and had been riding for years. Many times I had bad experiences, and lost a lot of confidence with my first horse as a teenager after a nasty fall. My aunty who was training horses in those years happened to buy Ginny at a market. She was badly trained or at least had learnt many bad habits, and my aunty trained her for the next few years, attending shows (photo above), pony club and dressage events. Mostly they went trail riding. At one point my aunty set me upon Ginny's back. I was petrified! I had seen her antics, most of the time she looked like a hyped up games pony jogging or cantering on the spot with neck arched, always ready to gallop. But to my surpise she was comfortable to ride with a very soft mouth and very responsive. I learnt to trust her, more than I ever trusted any horse. Eventually I came to own her. I brought her closer to where I lived and we began our own relationship of horse and rider without outside interference. I never competed with her, we just rode out on trails or worked in an arena. I fell off her one time. I was riding her bareback in summer and her bay coat was so shiny I just slipped right off! Ginny was a very sensitive pony. My heels never touched her. Slight pressure from my calves or thighs was more than enough for her to understand to step up the pace. Actually most of the time I was telling her to slow down a bit! For all her crazy antics, I would never trust a horse to be more sensible than her either. One road we always had to ride along had a very narrow edge next to a deep ditch. There was just room for us to fit. Huge semi-trailer trucks would drive at 100km per hour speeding past us. Ginny would tense her muscles as they swept past but she never stepped off our path. A truly brave pony that can never be replaced for me. She taught me trust, gave me confidence and I was always and still am so proud to have known her.
Ginny was retired when I left Australia. I had only been riding her very occassionaly anyway, and had every intention of returning to Australia after one year of travel and to continue weekend riding. Choc and Ginny were kept together for longer than six years. They were close companions even if Choc was the boss when Ginny wanted to be. They were living in a field alone for the past few years until today. My mother had to make the decision for Ginny. Her leg was only getting worse, she stood my Choc the whole time and as we know from previous errors, she frets when a horse is taken away from her(she will gallop around a paddock neighing for 2 or 3 days and won't eat). As there was nowhere else for her to go, the decision was made to put her down at the same time. That means she never has to have any trauma again, no leg pain and not panicking at the loss of Choc. My mum said they were both peaceful and relaxed as they died. I know in my heart that it was the right decision, but I can't stop feeling regret at her loss. If horses could talk, would she have chosen this? Certainly her arthritis can be treated until a certain point, but her quality of life would have gone well below average in my mind. She would have developed more pain in her knee making it hard for this active spirit to move, and she would have been utterly alone. If I was in a situation like that, I would have wanted it that way.
Six days until christmas but who feels like celebrating. I've lit two candles today for their spirits and I'm trying not to cry too much because I'm 14 weeks pregnant, but I will never forget those two ponies who are my memories of many happy days.
