Lower Wall Yard 2002 - 2004
Where It All Began
A girl we knew, called Sam came to see her a couple of weeks later and had a ride in the school. Mojo was her usual cheeky self and began chucking out the occasional buck! We said to Sam, "so what do you think of her Sam?"
and the reply was "erm well she’s very sweet Pennie, but I wouldn’t have got her for a first pony".
The First Ride
I still remember our first hack out. Dave took us up on the zoo ride, which went through Port Lympne and we rode past wild ponies, zebras and elephants. Little Mo was so good. She had a lovely comfy trot and walk and it was so exciting! Boy did I ache the next day though. I hadn’t ridden for years and that was nearly a two hour ride!
On weekends, days off and holidays, the three of us, Richard (my husband), Tash and me, would ride out together and then I would ride Mo out once during the week. I got much fitter and lost lots of weight so that made it more comfy for her.
The problem was that Mo really did want to kick other horses. She didn’t like being around them, not even her field buddy Major, at times. In fact one morning we found that Mo had kicked down the entire partition wall between them both. She was standing in the corner looking as sweet as ever, as if to say ‘What? I didn’t do it’. She also tried to kick another horse, Buster, when he got too close, kicked my leg instead and I ended up with a haematoma the size of a golf ball on my ankle!
Hacking Out
We had some wonderful rides round the country lanes, up the hills, in the daytime and sometimes the evenings. Dave took us on some good long pub rides too. Sometimes they would go on for hours, crossing bridges, going along dual carriageways, along country lanes, through fields and woods and taking little jumps along the way. We had such great times together.
I learnt how to long rein and lunge and how to jump over barrels and jumps on Mojo, although Tash often had to run up behind her to get her to go over them. After a while I even enjoyed the thrill of jumping Mo over larger fallen trees through the woods. Once, when I took her on her own, we jumped the logs through there together. It really is one of the most memorable moments ever, in my entire life. It’s a special one that we shared, which I will keep close to my heart, always....
Tash took her over jumps at a show, even though she said she was terrified. Mojo was quite a pickle, not wanting to do the jumps and trying to kick other ponies but Tash managed to get a clear round with her and they both looked fabulous....
Naughty Mo
Mojo was often extremely naughty. Once when she was out on a hack going down Lympne Hill, which is extremely steep, something spooked her and the next thing Richard saw was Mojo, overtaking him at a great speed, whilst going down the hill!
Her favourite trick in the school, was riding like a crab. She would go sideways trying to get out of whatever we were asking her to do, often nearly bringing us to tears, she really was so cheeky. She could of course also be very adorable and sweet. She loved being groomed so long as there was something nice to eat, but she didn’t like her mane being pulled so I just cut that, well what half of it she had left. Mojo quite liked to hack out, so long as it wasn’t on her own, and she enjoyed jumping. After a long hack, we would often find her sleeping in her stable and sit next to her on the floor...
When Mo went on one of Dave’s hacks up to the beach, she decided that she would be the only one who wouldn’t go down onto the sand from the sea wall. She was a right so and so and very determined! We finally managed
to coax her down after a great deal of time and she joined the others for a lovely ride...
Moving On
We left Dave’s yard in 2004 so that Richard’s big black mare Parry, could have separate grazing as she used to kick other horses in the field and so had very limited turnout which made her a bit nutty on our hacks out!
In 2015 however, we went back to Lower Wall, with Little Mo, for a lovely visit with Dave. I rode her there and she stood eating hay in a stable watching us meet all of Dave's new dogs and listening to us reminisce about the old times. It was really lovely...
