Spike is my 29 year feisty, Irish sports horse and I made the crazy decision to bring him out of retirement!

He is a horse who has a great spirit and a strong character. He has always been a biter, but not only that, he will bite… and then laugh! I knew when I bought him that he’d never change. It is some sick, weird sense of humour that he has and why not!? I think that over the years he has bitten and bruised every part of my body, including my skull when he knocked me out. I remember having huge teeth marks across my belly and chest when he got me twice in the same week! There have been many more injuries than just bites though! I have fallen again and again and again! I have fallen in arenas, at competitions and my very favourite, when he has decided that it’s not a jumping day, so he has stopped, and I have kept going, landing in a crumpled heap IN the jump.

Despite the injuries, this horse is my best friend. He has helped me find courage, achieve dreams and experience the most exhilaration of my life! We have flown over a 1.50m jump, winning the puissance to a crowd cheering, we have jumped full tracks of 1.40 to the pride and amazement of my coach, and we have galloped cross country, flying over fences that felt like we were jumping over the moon.

He taught me to keep my ego in check when he’d eliminate us at the first fence; he taught me that I could achieve anything when he soared over a large park bench at a competition, and he taught me that I was trustworthy, I was worth loving and believing in!

This morning I sat on my boy for the first time in nearly ten years, and he was brilliant, feisty, exuberant and behaved like a 3-year-old!

This is my boy, and I love him.

Big Love Katy X