Papillon 118
Out of the blue a few weeks ago I had a call from my friend Jane Glover who used to be in charge of the horses at Diamond RDA Centre. She was instrumental in me getting Brodie and has followed our progress with an obvious personal interest. She decided to give me a ring to keep in touch and the result was a little Diamond reunion the following Saturday. Jane and her colleague at the yard Melanie took great interest in hearing about my search for a dressage horse and - as many people have been doing - passed the word around - one person being Miranda Lambie, the lady who runs the beautiful yard with its fab facilities - Whitewood House Farm where Jane and Mel work and herself a successful dressage rider/trainer. You can tell this is not a short story so I will now try and jump ahead to the punch line... hearing my story and obviously fueled on by Jane and her background knowledge of me, Brodie, and our determination, Miranda had a word with a personal friend in Germany, Ivor Bonev. The outcome is that Ivor found a superb dressage horse that he felt could be suitable for me and para dressage and he sent him over from Germany for me to ride - I can hardly believe it myself so can only guess how crazy this all sounds to others! With the support of all the girls on the yard and my unsung hero in Germany - 'Papillon 118' - Pip for short - arrived on the 10th March for me to train and compete on.
Pip is a very tall horse - but not wide and has been owned and ridden by a "petite" amateur lady rider. He has competed up to Prix St George equivalent in Germany, is very affectionate and he has a superb attitude and tons of manners which makes dealing with his height not an issue. To be honest I have never ridden a horse so powerful and highly trained - it is an absolute privilege!
I have promised these friends that I am determined to put the work in to build a partnership with Pip but I can't tell you how excited I am and what a classy horse he is - much more than any of us imagined when there was vague talk of a horse from Germany coming over. I still have to pinch myself to make sure this is not all a dream.
Pip is a very tall horse - but not wide and has been owned and ridden by a "petite" amateur lady rider. He has competed up to Prix St George equivalent in Germany, is very affectionate and he has a superb attitude and tons of manners which makes dealing with his height not an issue. To be honest I have never ridden a horse so powerful and highly trained - it is an absolute privilege!
I have promised these friends that I am determined to put the work in to build a partnership with Pip but I can't tell you how excited I am and what a classy horse he is - much more than any of us imagined when there was vague talk of a horse from Germany coming over. I still have to pinch myself to make sure this is not all a dream.
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