After a busy month with lots of shows throughout August and September we decided not to get another horse until I would be busier teaching again. However a friend of ours needed to get rid of her son's horse who had sat in a field for months doing nothing, being wasted due to going in the army. We liked the sound of him and thought he would be good for teaching on being 17h and irish means that he will carry a lot of weight and hopefully be quite placid, but I may also be able to show jump him. So we decided to go and have a look at him, he was very laid back with everything we did, I took him over a few fences and he seemed to be very genuine and honest with quite a big jump, so we arranged to pick him up the following week.
When we got him home I spent a couple of weeks riding him before I used him to teach on, so I knew he was going to be safe. He hacked out alone and in company around strange roads, with no napping or spooking at all and proved to be the perfect horse (which I have never had in all my life!!).
Since then I have taught real novices/beginners & small children to big adults and more experienced riders on him and he adjusts to everybody.
I have also worked hard on getting him fit and schooling him, to hopefully show jump. In only a couple of months he now does flying changes, rein back, walk to canter, counter canter, leg yielding and shoulder in. He has also done his first ever double and treble & been 2 of his first ever shows (results can be found below) at the age of 8! A very late starter but he is learning very quickly and proving to be a great future prospect & is now working on jump offs and turning which he is finding quite difficult as most big horses do, but he still puts 100% effort in every time!