Pony Patrol

I started riding when I was eight years old but I only got my first pony at the age of eleven.  Every single day, I would ask my mom "Can I have a pony?" to which she would always reply "No".  Three years later, my persistence payed off and I was surprised to walk into the barn for a lesson and see a pony with a ribbon around her neck and a sign outside her door that said "Happy Birthday Layla!".  At first I couldn't understand why there was such a sign outside of my favorite pony's stall, so I went inside to say hello to her.  Everyone was standing around smiling and I only realized what was happening when my dad said "she's yours Layla!".  I burst out crying and couldn't believe my luck that Daisy was mine!

Mirage (aka Daisy or Crazy Daisy)

Daisy was a bay Boerperd pony and boy!, was she a handful!  She was an extremely hot pony and I wasn't the best rider - more often than not, all I could do was steer and try to stay on.  Before I owned and loved her, she was on the children's provincial eventing team, and although I came nowhere close to being chosen for a provincial team, we did quite well in the jumping ring, and sometimes beat adults in combined classes.

She taught me a lot, took care of me and helped me to improve my riding skills for many years.

She was a great little teacher and among many things, she taught me bravery

When I was about 13 I moved to a barn whose owner had a bunch of Arabian horses.  I became a working student for Delite Scruggs, the new barn manager and riding instructor, and started to learn about the art of dressage.

When I first arrived at this barn, there was an Arabian Stallion who I fell in love with.  Soon after taking over management of the barn, Delite had him gelded and a few months later I started riding Al Rakab.

Xara Al Rakab (aka Al Rakab, Al or Taxi)

When I started riding Al Rakab, he was very green.  He had been backed and ridden around on the lunge line a handful of times.  Through many months of hard work and lesson upon lesson, we started to learn about dressage and later how to jump.  It was a hard work, mainly because we were both learning, but the knowledge I gained from this experience is priceless.  Although I had been riding for a while before and knew my fair share about jumping, my only experience with dressage had been a few dressage tests in the eventing competitions I took part in as a youngster.  I soon fell in love with dressage and even more in love with Al Rakab.  He was the cutest horse in the world with tons of personality!  I loved him to bits and connected with him better than I have ever connected with another horse.  I still remember him insisting on getting kisses on the nose and if you didn't, he wouldn't stop nudging you until you gave him at least one kiss! :) (And he had the cutest nose! It was impossible to only give him one!)

He taught me patience, responsibility and how much I could trust a horse.

I could never express my gratitude towards Delite and Al Rakab's former owner for allowing me to ride, get to know and love this amazing horse!

At the age of 16, my family moved to the North West province of South Africa.  I started riding at Harties Riding Club, where I started to lease Sabena, a warmblood x thoroughbred mare.

Sabena (aka Bena girl or Girly)

Sabena was another amazing horse!  And once again, I could never thank her owners enough for letting me ride and compete on her!

She is by a well-known South African warmblood stallion, Sabastian.  While I was very much into dressage, this was her weak spot.  In the almost two years I rode her, we never made it past Novice level dressage.  She was, however, an amazing jumper and show horse.  With Sabena, I learned to compromise.  Although I wanted to spend hour after hour in the dressage arena, she really wasn't up to it.  Instead, we spent our schooling time in the large grass showing arena working on our flat work (which obviously benefits the jumping), only riding in the dressage arena once a week for lessons and then at competitions.  With Sabena I found my love for both Showing and Equitation.  I found that Equitation was a great compromise for us, because I got to focus on schooling movements and trying to perfect my position, which I loved, and still do some jumping, which she loved.

In terms of her personality, Sabena was the sweetest horse, a real angel.  She was kind, always willing and would never hurt a fly (well...maybe a fly).  I still love her and miss her dearly, but I know that she is very happy and very loved by her owners :)

Pony Patrol