Ryan.

Chook's been testing out a new riding school over the summer. She'd hit a bit of a glass ceiling at her old school and had stopped learning anything apart from bad habits. Her new instructor is brilliant and has really brushed up her technique and basic skills and the school is on top of a beautiful hill in a nearby county - the Kingdom of Fife (I shit you not, foreign friends, you can totally google that!)

Anyways, last week Chook's designated ride, Marley, was having a bit of a bad morning.  He's quite young, doesn't like change and needs a light hand. Well it was super windy up on that hill (which horses generally hate), there were new jumps for a show lined along one fence and the change in the arena was making him super spooky. When Chook finally came a cropper and parted company with his saddle (only a matter of time with his prancing and eye-rolling mincing) the decision was made that he was only going to get more skittish now that SHE was spooked. So they swapped him out for another ride - first time in 4 years that's happened! But they didn't put her on a pony.

This is Ryan. He's a 17hh ex- showjumper who was retired due to injury.  Chook calls him her BFG because he really IS a big, friendly giant.  Emphasis on the big - he is huge!

She absolutely loved him! He was so solid feeling that even though she was over a foot higher up than normal she felt perfectly safe with him.


He's a cutie, right?  The spots on his back have the attractively named pattern "flea bitten" but they're actually really pretty in real life. New favourite ride? I think so!