Gallops no more......

So the two mares were off loaded from the horse box....respectfully named "Rosie" and "McCloud". Grace and I being eager beavers as we always were in our pony days were dying to get the girls to work but to be fair we gave them the day and night to settle in. In our little yard we have a new block of stables and a more mature set of stable called "The Barn Stables". When the ladies arrived the new block was full and they were sent to the Barn stables with Rosie being in the last stable (that didn't last long).
Then the fun began, the following morning we ran to stables to pull out and test the new purchases. Off we went to the sand arena where Grace was galloping non stop around the ring and I was at the other end on a bucking bronco......what had we done! The girls were wondering when the hell were they heading to the gallops. Being stubborn and determined and after picking ourselves up off the the ground (only a small number of times ;)) we decided the girls were ready for the showing jumping arena (or were they??)
Galway Equestrian Centre were holding their normal winter league and being next door neighbours we trotted off up the road with our new rides. Into the warm up ring we went where I noticed Rosie was quite the mover as she thought a half pass across the ring in front of jumps and horses was way more fun than passing the PA speaker whilst screeching at McCloud. So the main event, to bring the racehorse who had just come home from a race in the UK into a colourful set of fences....times like this when you reflect on situations you question your sanity. In we went, judge announced our names and gave the bell to begin a course of 14 show jumps.....was quite the round giving Rosie possibly gave 20 bucks to finish the class while I cried. Of course she went clear as there was no way she was going to touch these monsters I was facing her into!!!! After that experience and a good hard think.....what was one to do.....what any sane horse person would do......lets do it again! Rosie and I argued and fought for the entire league while Grace and McCloud galloped around their course in record timings. Then along came the league final where the girls were turned out to the highest standard. Grace returned to her usual glory winning best turned out of the league and my God Rosie decided she actually liked this showjumping craic and won her class....maybe this retraining was going to work.
Although Rosie was a lovely young age of 4, we had to keep reminding ourselves that this was a racehorse and racing since a 2 year old. For example, on a Monday she would be a sweet little pea working so hard to impress and jump the top of the wings over a little cross pole whereas on a Tuesday it could be oh wait I never saw a pole before and I am a racehorse this should be a hurdle so I am going to dump you on the ground when I land. To count how many times Rosie successfully left me on the floor from bucking would be a hard exercise to complete but we persisted until we finally got to know one another and then it was love. McCloud was of exceptional racing pedigree and a super jumper but her heart lay with racing so after a long hard battle Grace decided it was time McCloud moved on to do what she loved. Rosie slowly forgot she was a racehorse and we went on to do cross country, charity rides (she may have thought we were on a gallop at times) and loads of showjumping. Many a success and rosette she won in the jumping world and she had the sweetest nature and temperament you could ask for. As Rosie proved her place in the yard she came second in command to the Queen (Mary's hunter Lydie) and was given her own personal stable in the new block right beside the tack room where she could hear all the chatting and feeding going on.
August 2009 came along and that means one thing in the horse calendar.....Dublin Horse Show. I was never a showing fan simply for the fact I hadn't the first clue about it. When I passed Ring 1 & 2 I always thought what a waste of arenas. However, that soon changed. On a the Saturday afternoon I was passing Ring 1 where I heard famous names over the PA such as Beef or Salmon, Moscow Flyer, Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca. The crowd was enormous so I managed to squeeze my way in and have a look. There were 30 exracehorses in the ring all dolled up and now known as Riding Horses. I watched with amazement and awe, of course thinking of Rosie all the time. The majority of them were hot and anxious with the atmosphere. As I watched the class I thought Rosie would be such a saint in there. Back home to Galway I went, showed Mary the pictures of the class and we both said it.....will we bring Rosie to Dublin?????