Once I'd made the decision to sell Tech, we started my new unicorn hunt. At no stage did I ever think this was going to be easy... We were looking for a horse that ticked all of my "essential" boxes: Sensible, Good walk, Easy to handle on the ground, 16-16.2hh, Wide build, Dressage training/experience, Located in the North Island, Within my (relatively small!) budget, and the owner willing to let me have the horse on trial at my property.
Over the course of the next 12 months I had a few different horses on trial who weren't quite right, had amazing friends lend me their horses so I could keep riding and keep my fitness/strength up while horse-less, and bought a mare that unfortunately didn't work out so had to sell her.
At this point I thought I was never going to find a horse, and was seriously second-guessing my decision to sell Tech. But then in early May Rosie responded to ANOTHER "unicorn-hunt" post that Jody put out on Facebook, and offered us to try her gelding... all 16.3hh of him!!
Rosie dropped Ira Hayes at Jody's property on Sunday and Jody and Bec rode him. I had the most excited phonecall and videos sent from Jody the same day Ira was dropped off at hers, telling me to book a day off work and get my arse over to Raglan - I needed to try this horse! So Thursday rolled around, Mum and I hitched up the float and off to Raglan we went. When Jody pulled Ira in from the paddock and bought him over to meet us, both Mum and I gasped at how big he was!! He felt like a giant! But he was so gentle and put his head in my lap so I could scratch his forehead and feed him Big Red's cookies :) I was a bit excited...
He was tacked up, Bec gave him a quick warm up/demo and it was my turn to get on. Ira stood still at the block and took all my weird mounting techniques in his stride. TICK! Jody led me out of the block and into the arena. Wow... I've never ridden such a huge horse! But Ira felt amazing - responsive, super comfy, and just lovely to ride. I don't think there could have been any bigger smiles on all of our faces! I didn't want to get off haha!
After they finally managed to prize me out of the saddle, we loaded Ira up in my float and headed home. EXCITING!!!!!
Ira has been with me for 5 months now - we've spent the winter getting to know each other, figure out each other's quirks and have been on a few outings to local practice days, dressage rallies and the indoor arena at RDA. We're building confidence in each other and I've totally gotten used to his size now! I just feel sorry for my poor crew who have to catch me when I dismount - it's a lot further to the ground than it was on Tech hehe!
Ira has a super cheeky personality which I love! Leave anything in his reach and he'll pick it up and throw it on the ground... think rugs, grooming kit, bridle, towels... even my saddle one day!! We've learned to Ira-proof his surroundings now :) He loves Big Red's cookies and will put his head in through the car window and give me a big "kiss" on the cheek to get one. He has a fab walk that I'm getting used to riding, and takes up my leg so well - he makes me sit much straighter and securely too - who knew I needed a 16.3hh giant Irish sporthorse after all!
I can't thank Rosie enough for giving me the incredible opportunity to ride, compete and have a lot of fun with her gorgeous boy. I also want to send out HUGE thanks to Jody - I know it seemed like a hopeless task at some points, and you had to sift through A LOT of horses and phonecalls/messages throughout my unicorn hunt, but finding Ira has made it all worthwhile! I hope we can do you both proud out in front of the judges!
I'm so excited to get our season started and see what we can do in the arena together! Our first competition is Bay of Plenty Champs in Taupo over Labour weekend... bring it on!!!