Meet Miraed

Thought it was time for Miraed to be properly introduced to you. You may remember her from earlier posts ( May 23rd, March 31st ) - my 9-year old brown mare by Project Manager. Miraed has lots of funky moves ( half -rear, sideways leap, camel-race plunge, full spin ) but I'm afraid formal curtsey is not among them. You may, however, be lucky and catch her with her ears pricked ( when she looks really rather pretty.) Unless she spots you pointing a camera, in which case you will receive only her most disdainful scowl. All our best prizewinning moments are recorded in pictures of Miraed a-flutter with rosettes and looking murderously bored.

She is actually quite well bred, in racing terms. Through her dam, Cherry Country, her line goes back to the great Arkle. Like him she was bred in Ireland to race over fences. Sadly, though, Miraed did not quite have Arkle's talent for it, and as a five-year-old she was sold cheaply at Doncaster Bloodstock Sales. To me. I bought her as a schooling companion for Dara, with the intention of selling her on when she'd been re-trained as a pleasure horse. She's not very big - about 15.3hh - and I knew she would make an ideal Riding Club horse for someone. But, well .....

She's taken a very long time to re-school. She's ornery and stubborn and wilful, with a mind of her own and an eternal Why? in her head. As in - 'Why should I ?' The old saying, 'tell a gelding, ask a mare' should be re-worded for her to 'negotiate patiently with Miraed.' She's not stupid - she's too darn clever !

Our first attempts at in-hand showing were comedy-on-legs, with Miraed bouncing all over, jumping on the judge, and knocking me over and running loose more than once. Later on when we tried ridden classes, it was frankly hilarious. I got used to hearing ripples of laughter and cries of 'Well sat!' as we careered round the arena in our distinctive runaway-camel mode. As I've said, sense of humour is vital equipment for anyone involved with ex-racehorses, along with a well-stocked First Aid kit.

And yet ....last year Miraed won riding club championships for Ex-Racer In-hand, Ex-Racer Ridden, Working Ex-Racer , and Handsome Horse classes (despite the scowling. ) Ok, so we are talking local riding club stuff here, not County Show or anything. But, heck! - it's great progress to me ! (Even if it has taken four years.) We have a table full of trophies, a wall full of red and blue rosettes - and some lovely recollections of fun times together. We've done unaffiliated dressage ( and came first once !), charity fun rides, hunting, and ex-racehorse parades. Now we've started jumping, which Miraed loves. As a rider, my showjumping days are long-gone , so I've brought in my friend Becky to partner Miraed in what I hope will be a long and enjoyable career as a working hunter and showjumper.

Miraed is still ornery and wilful - but we've kind of got used to each other, and I love her dearly. So, it looks like she's staying. ( Oh well, I never was much good as a horse-dealer.)