Stasia was a beautiful rescue grey arab mare that taught me so much during the 7 years that we had together. She had been irresponsively bred and so had a hereditary cateract problem which meant that she was partially blind in one eye. This made her even more flighty and wary than a stereotypical arabian! We didnt know a lot about her history but she didnt like most people and had clearly been mistreated at some point in her life. She was sound to be ridden but that was out of the question for the first few years, which I spent gaining her trust. We got to the point where she would happily follow me around the field and had learnt to be lunged. Despite seeing them nearly everyday, she still clacked her teeth at my parents if they got too close(although she never did bite, she used to make some awful faces and scare people that didnt know her!).
At 14, I was relatively inexperienced and had never backed a horse, but decided to have a go at re-backing her. She was indcredibly trusting and it went well. It took a very long time to find a her a bit that she got along with, despite her tiny mouth, the only thing that she seemed to accept was a big mullen happy mouth. We were soon schooling in the field and I managed to inadvertently teach her to leg yield and do a few other bits of lateral work. She still had her ears back moments: she hated the girth being done up and didnt like being asked to walk when she would rather trot and canter, but she was never nasty and really looked after me. She helped me through a lot of rough patches when I was younger and was always so kind when I wasnt feeling 100%.
She was incredibly sensitive both on the ground and to be ridden, and insisted that my seat and hands were light. What she taught me has become invaluable to helping me be a careful and considerate dressage rider and I am so grateful to her for that.
Sadly when I went to uni in 2014 I could no longer look after her so she went back into the care of the animal sanctuary that she came from. I am so sad I didnt have the financial means to keep her, it broke my heart to leave her. I still visited her during the summer and she always remembered me, and called to me whenever I walked past her field.
In April 2016, she developed an extremely severe abcess that wouldnt heal after many draining attempts/rounds of antibiotics and was causing infection up her leg. This, alongside a respiratory issue measnt that the vets advised she was put to sleep. I went to see her the day before with a bag of carrots and minty treats. The instant she saw the treats she pawed (something I had taught her to do about 6 years before when I didnt realise it was a bad habit to teach!). Her willingness to please even when she was in so much pain made it even more difficult to say goodbye.
She was the absolute horse of a lifetime and I will never forget the friendship that she gave me. My parents had a necklace made by Tail End Jewellery as a 21st present for me, and it is the most beautiful way of remembering the special bond that me and Stasia had.
Yarrow, June 2017
