A year with Melisse

All I can think of to say is that how lucky we have been to have such a special mare land into our lives last year! ❤️ In case you don't remember, in May 2018 the day after I finished my Master's Thesis I went with my dad to go pick up this little firecracker from Helsinki and brought her home with us. As she's more my mum's horse, she doesn't feature that often on the blog but you might have seen her on my Instagram page or stories!

As a yearling! Photo from Sukuposti.fi

Last week we celebrated her sweet 16th and this made me want to write a blog post about how wonderful Melisse is and what a brilliant addition to our herd she is. Although some people might think we're crazy for having a fifth horse, to us she is perfect. Our boys needed a matriarch to rule the group and my mum needed a second horse to ride as Rama is not getting any younger - even though he's not anywhere near ready for retirement, he's the naughtiest one to turn out! But the boys all respect her and she just fits in well. It's nice to have a mare in the herd again!

 Riding her has taught me the true value of hard work. The boys have always made me work hard, but riding a mare has shown me that sometimes it can take even months to perfect one a certain movement. With a mare you may spend hours and hours thinking that you'll never get the perfect movement, but if you keep training and pushing then when you finally hit a break through it all really pays off. Melisse has also taught me that nothing works ALL the time - riding her is so much about balance and feel, I can't just ask for the same thing one way all the time. It's all about patience, and if I get even the tiniest bit frustrated or upset, she will react. She has enhanced my emotional skills to another level and she has just been an incredible teacher to me.

From an event in 2012. Photo from Sukuposti.fi

At home with us in March 2019