To the best of my knowledge, he was given to a young girl who was a bit intimidated by his size & did nothing with him, he then found his way into the hands of an acquaintance of mine with a view to him becoming an eventer. She hadn't had him long when he had a panic attack in her wee truck & did some damage to himself. Despite having numerous reputable trainers work with him, she was advised that he would never be 100% reliable to truck. I met him shortly after his accident when I was there for something else. The owner jokingly asked if I would like another horse but I was in no position to take another horse at the time & I didn't think she was serious anyway, he seemed SO nice! Not much good if he couldn't leave the paddock though. He was happy to be floated but the owner was hardly going to sell her truck & get a float when she had other horses to consider as well, so instead he was passed on to another person I have come to know.
Manny was her dream horse! She absolutely adored him but didn't adore his episodes of grass staggers & the behaviour that goes with it; that worried her! She moved him to alternative grazing in an attempt to alleviate his symptoms but with this & other things going on her life, she was forced to part with Manny. She gave him away to a lady up north in the hope that the poorer soils & poorer quality grasses in the area might help to keep his staggers at bay.
I had moved north to Paparoa myself & just happened to know the lady who took Manny on, although at this stage, I had NO IDEA who Manny was or even remembered meeting him. My friend's 'forever' horse was out of action with a nasty stone bruise & she was itching for something else to ride so she jumped at the chance to give Manny a go on different pasture. This is where I met him.
When I first saw him, I thought he didn't look quite 'right' in his back end; sort of 'tight' through his loins. He was also quite snarky when you touched him; putting his ears back, throwing his head, swishing his tail, stamping & kicking at air... but that was all he ever did, it was 'just him'. I gave the owner the benefit of the doubt on that one (who GIVES away such a flash horse? There MUST be more to it!) & just thought to myself, "Get on it?! Rather you, than me!"
He looked to me, like a horse that was sore so I was VERY relieved to get an email with photos of the owner astride him & the pair of them looking quite relaxed. "Good!" I thought. "If he is sore, it's obviously not bad enough to cause a real reaction other than pulling faces at this stage. Maybe it really is 'just him?'"
I rode out with his new owner the first time she took him out on the road & he was an absolute trooper! I was astounded at what a cruisy dude he was, particularly for a Thoroughbred that had been sitting in the paddock for a couple of months! She was rapt with him but she wasn't really comfortable on something his size. She was also finding it difficult to get time for her other horses now that her main ride was back in work.
She soon realised that he wasn't particularly happy standing on a float (though she had no idea of his trucking history). She would feed him in the float & could 'feel' his heart pounding through the floor of the float. He would still walk on for her though...
Although she really liked him, she felt she couldn't spend the time he needed & after much thought, she passed Manny on. A young German dressage rider (who had worked for Isabel Werth for a few years), took him on after being impressed by his flashy movement & size. She hoped he might be her dressage star or at the very least, make a good profit with a little bit of work. All he needed was to build some muscle!
He developed a hoof abscess within days of arriving & was turned out for a month while it healed. Despite vast quantities of hard feed, like the owner before her, she couldn't get weight on him & he had no topline. He was brought into work but he was hating being ridden in circles in a small, uneven paddock. In an effort to have a happier ride, this owner decided he needed to go out. She called the farrier & had shoes put on & a couple of days later, she loaded him in the float. She got approx. 20 metres outside her gate & he went absolutely ballistic in the float!! He ripped off both back shoes & took little bits of skin off his legs. The whole incident rattled her SO MUCH that she wasn't keen to ever attempt loading him again. She just wanted him GONE! He was now a BIG, USELESS horse who was eating expensive feed & was a BIG liability!
Thankfully, she rang my friend, whom she got him from & asked if she would like him back. She declined but it just so happened that I'd begun looking for a horse suitable to lead the youngsters off & hopefully, quiet enough for the husband to ride. My friend, recalling this fact, texted me & asked if I would like Manny.
I had been looking for something suitable for a couple of months & had started advertising as I'd had no luck just trawling the classifieds. When I got that text, I was rapt!! YES!! Manny would be perfect for what I wanted! Super cruisy on the road & quiet to ride across the farm with other horses. It didn't matter that he'd had a floating accident. I could 'fix' that later (that's what I do for a job) & I could just truck him home...eh...??
It wasn't long before the grapevine caught up & I received an email from a friend regarding Manny. She was good friends with "trucking accident owner" & that's when I was made aware of our previous meeting & who he was. Of course, as soon as she said who had owned him & who he was, I remembered the "stunning grey" that I'd said no to, 3 years earlier. It was then too that I was made aware that I had a problem; he didn't truck AND he didn't float....BUGGER!!!
I figured it would take me a full day to ride him from where he was but he's good on the road & I'd only be crossing the main highways, not riding down them...well, except for 7km or so...but he's GOOD on the road! Everyone was convinced by that stage, that I was MAD & they got truly worried when I got shoes put on him in preparation of the journey. While I was there getting Manny shod, the owners came home, towing their float. Manny had been standing very quiet & relaxed until he spotted the float. At that point, he grew an extra few inches & got VERY agitated!
One of my neighbours (a VERY knowledgeable horseman & all round nice guy) owns a flash gooseneck & had transported Manny twice before; once when my friend first got him & then to take him to where I was getting him from. (Confused?!) When he heard of my plan, he insisted that I let him go & get him instead. However, I was under strict instructions to stay home & just wait for him to arrive. Given the diffculty I was having with getting access through some of the farms & with the doom mongers opinions ringing in my ears, I accepted & waited.
He was a little sweated up when he arrived & he began kicking the wall as soon as the door was opened. He'd travelled ok but he certainly wasn't happy! At least he was now home though, safe & sound!
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| Manny, the day he arrived. |
For a horse that doesn't travel, he's certainly been around in the last 3 years!! This is his LAST stop. I have promised him that this is his 'home'; he won't be moving on again unless we ALL do.
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