Equine Communication and Confidence
through Groundwork
by Iris R Males
Obituary – Oakley bubbling up
To my teacher and best friend
My dream of owning my own horse / pony came true a couple of years after I arrived in Hampshire. Not at all what I had imagined, but there you go… Of course, he was a ‘project’, my little ‘lotus elan’, as I used to call him affectionately, who had far more ‘go’ than ‘whoa’. At 13.2 hh he was a perfect miniature horse, beautifully bred, great confirmation, bags of character and highly intelligent, Welsh section C show pony with far too much power for his size.
Oakley was around 7 years old when I first met him. I answered an advertisement for 'looking for help with exercising my horse and pony’. I was naturally thinking about the horse, but as it turned out the horse was an armchair, yet nobody was brave enough to get on the pony twice in a row. I rode him for 2 years for the owners who subsequently sold him to the local riding school. Not surprisingly, he only lasted 6 months, before he was sent off to a local dealer overnight, destined to go for meat at Reading market. Word got to me about his sad decline, so I followed the trail of the ‘maliciously dangerous chestnut’, picked up the pieces and started with him all over again. The poor thing had sunken about as low as a horse can get emotionally and was physically in very poor condition, too.
Sure, I had managed to pick up lots of bits of knowledge over the years, observing and riding horses on an almost daily basis for about 10 years by then, but this little fellow taught me countless new lessons and pushed the boundaries daily. Not a dull moment! It was almost like: you want to know about horses….? Come right in…I hope you have lots of time, patience & stamina… If you don’t…. I have!!! He was the one horse in a lifetime some lucky people get to meet, which seem to have been born just to train YOU.
Due to his size (13.2 hh) and mine (5 foot 6 inches) we really struggled to get the right balance in the saddle department. After 3 different saddles and a whopping great accident, where I nearly lost my head in a freshly ploughed field. I kept the saddle on the rack and just rode him bareback from then on. This was before my time as a saddler, however by now, being a Saddler, I fully understand why we had just such a challenging time. Luckily I had grown up riding bare back on many ponies and was not particularly phased by the prospect. In addition to that, Oakley’s wither was not hugely prominent or bony and a leather covered saddle pad without stirrups gave me plenty of grip. Due to lack of funds we mainly hacked out for hours, exploring the countryside together. We grew to be a real team, until we almost felt as one during our rides.
Aged 13 I took Oakley to Bill Hundley to introduce him to the art of carriage driving. This was a needs must decision, as I had developed a femoral hernia, which stemmed from a previous riding accident, when I was 17. It finally had caught up with me to the point where I had to submit to an operation, which sadly stopped me riding for many years to come. I needed to find a way to keep my workaholic friend occupied and myself sane. Thank God he took to driving like a duck to water and off we went exploring the countryside yet again together! Even better, we could now share our experience with many more people who loved coming out with us.
Oakley retired from carriage driving in his mid twenties due to an injury to his shoulder, which happened in the field. By then, he had taught both my boys to ride bare back and even continued to do a little of this work during the first few years of his retirement. Oakley deserves the medal of the ‘best pony in the world’ and will be in our hearts forever.
What Oakley taught me during our many years together, has borne much fruit in helping other horses and ponies to get along in life again. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING my dear friend!
Oakley passed away August 2015 aged 32, after many years of happy retirement, whilst still being an integral part of our herd. May you gallop on forever in your new 'hunting grounds'!
with all my love and devotion
Your best friend and partner in crime, Iris xxx
Oakley in his prime, 9 years old.
Oakley and me during a cross country event.
Oakley in his retirement, as part of the herd.