By Samantha - Leah Tobias

I have to admit, since I have spent more time with different horses, I have begun to realize that some of the problems I am called on to sort out are not the horses’. They are rider, owner, and often something, which has happened to the horse in the past. I just have to watch the animal for a while in a given situation, and then ask the owner or rider to think back. It is amazing how many suddenly go, “Oh yes, I remember...”

I often stand with a new horse stroking it and massaging it as I chat away, and they sort of stand there, slowly dropping their heads and closing their eyes. At least I don't need a twitch.  It is remarkable what sort of horses can be calmed by being massaged in the right places, and what sort of vices slowly disappear if I can get their owners to do the same, even when they're riding.

Over the 16 years I had Ali, I learned so much, not just about riding and stable management, but to be able to read him like a book. To know sometimes what he was going to do before he did it; to know a few days in advance if he was going to be 'ill' or lively, these are things working with a young horse you need to know, and as the relationship develops, it really is like being one. We both know how far we could push the other before battle commenced and the routine was that I usually won.

I talked to Ali when we were out riding like a friend, which may sound weird, but it's better than my singing, although I have been known to do that also. I could put any rider on his back and knew how he would react. For a learner or novice he would just plod around. For someone who wrapped legs of iron around him he exploded and had been known to run off with them. He adored children. If he saw a child, or a pram (buggy) when we were out riding he just stopped. He was extremely inquisitive and he did have a sense of humour.

This horse took his bridle off just before we started a dressage test. Fortunately, I hadn't saluted and the judge fell out of the car laughing. He also had a reputation for decking me, although he never ran off. I have no idea why he did it. If I fell off, which has been known, he stayed by my side. Only once did he ever leave me and that was when he was very young, in a big park, but he was recovered and returned to me. From that day, he never left me again. 

We had a nasty accident when out in the woods near home. It was my fault really. Ali didn't want to go through this particular pathway, but I made him and we sank into the deepest and blackest bog you can imagine. He struggled for what seemed like ages, and got out, and as hard as this was to believe, he turned toward me and put his head down, sort of shook his neck so the reins slipped down and then pulled slowly back until I was out. We arrived at the top of a hill, Ali having to just follow me because I needed both hands to climb, filthy, wet and smelling. I let Ali take his own route home, he picked the shortest and we ended up going through farmers yards who hated horses, across fields that were out of bounds usually, and then once home, I washed him down, and he seemed fine. In fact, he actually looked like he had enjoyed himself. There have been so many incidents. I would have to go through my diaries to recall them, but he certainly was a real fun horse, despite his various ailments, I wouldn't have been without him.

He let me know when he was ready to summer out by totally ignoring any calls to get him in for supper, and in the winter, when he was ready to come in he was always standing at the gate looking bedraggled around 3:30ish. During the summer he had to wear his New Zealand rug, (this is a waterproof, wool lined rug which acts to keep the horse warm and dry) long after other horses had theirs removed, as we could not keep his temperature at a normal level. He felt the cold long before other horses. It didn’t matter if he was clipped or not. Sometimes if it was a pleasant night I would walk over after midnight and check him over, either putting on or taking off a rug as was needed. I also liked to watch the horses for an hour or so; they got up to some mischief. Ali did not seem to join in as such; he just trotted a fine passage; head swinging; another trait nobody could understand.

A creature of habit, he lay down for a nap after his morning feed, and generally I had to muck out around him. He was quite genuinely a very 'laid back' horse. If what Nicki (the animal communicator) said was true, and he took after me in an equine manner, then he must have been a very frustrated performer. He was the sort of horse that only got half way through a task, just failing to make the grade, which was often seen in his dressage results. At the last minute, something would go wrong.

Ali would nudge you with his nose just as you’d pick up a full skip of droppings, and if I was particularly late on the yard, I got a black bucket coming out of the stable, a bit like a Frisbee, as he made his protest.

Ali ate very slowly, but he loved his food. I warned people never to go near him, or into a field with a bucket of feed because he would go for them. I had seen him pin one idiot from our first yard, firmly against a tree trying to get the feed bucket from him, a bit like watching Custer’s last stand. That’s the only time I had known Ali to show the slightest aggression.

In the same field, a rather nasty gelding was introduced and it bullied all the horses. One morning when I took Ali to the field, he wouldn't go through the gate; he stood shaking from head to tail, absolutely terrified. I had no option, I walked in with him, and it felt dreadful watching him sort of 'sneak' in, turning round every few strides to look at me anxiously. He knew if the horse started on him I would sort it out, it was like watching your child go to its first school.

I often wonder if that horse bothered him so much, like Nicki said, if Ali made himself ill knowing I would keep him in, or he would go in the 'sick' pasture alone and unbothered.  Ali didn’t fight. He would defend himself by turning his back on a horse, maybe even nipping, but he never instigated any fight. He was the horse everyone wanted to borrow to try something new on, practice a dressage test on, be the one their new horse went out with, particularly the babies and youngsters. He was calm and so good, despite a lot of his faults; he was a very good schoolmaster. I loved it when he 'exploded' and we’d do the perfect Piaffe, into Passage, then into collected canter.

These movements would occur at traffic lights when he had to stop and wait. He terrified drivers and it was hard trying to explain he wasn't frightened of traffic, but downright impatient.

Another trick at traffic lights was for Ali to turn round and put his nose on the bonnet of the car behind us; he was a terror if the car had a sunroof or the windows were open. He’d head straight in. On one occasion he came out carrying a straw hat, which he had literally lifted off the lady’s head. Fortunately she had a sense of humour. These were genuine things he had done, amongst so many others. It made him the character he was. 

Sometimes he was timid. He knew I wouldn’t hurt him, so he would always try to do what I asked, but I had also learned that if Ali absolutely point blank, flatly refused to do something; there was a very good reason. If Ali did get frightened he was so quick it wasn’t always easy to get out of his way.

He panicked and despite my calming tones, he would often cause himself physical damage. It was the one part of him that I could not understand, as he genuinely was a calm horse 99.9% of the time.

I often threaten to write a book about him, but for the life of me wouldn't know where to start or end. Every day brought a new experience with him. As time moved on I dreaded the thought of losing him, but knew it would happen, and I vowed he would not be replaced. I couldn't find another horse like him, despite all the hassles. Ali had been a real friend. He was the one constant thing in my life. Ali helped me through illnesses and disasters, and like it or not, I had to get up out of a sick bed to look after him. I would not let anyone else do that job.

I had no holidays since I got him, just a very quick overnight stop to London, during the summer when he was living out. The reason I was over protective was because he was so amiable. He would always try to please, but some people abused that on our yard. Physical abuse was not uncommon when the owners weren't around. It just so happened that I spent a great deal of time on the yard, and I saw what went on.

I hated to think Ali was being hit just because he wouldn't stand totally still. He was a living creature not a statue. To sum up Ali, around these parts he and I were very well known. I was once sitting in the hairdressers when the lady next to me turned and asked, “Are you Ali's mum?” Not, 'do you own Ali ' or something similar. That just about summed up our relationship. As a friend of mine commented, “He was a typical Taurus”. Would you believe that there are three signs, earth signs that are compatible? Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. I am the Capricorn. I am also a firm believer in astrology; in fact I have a very open mind about most things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't but with Ali, every avenue had to be travelled.

Nicki was the nearest thing I had to a conversation with Ali, and I always used to say if he could talk, life would be easier... in fact he made life more confusing than ever. Ali truly was my teacher and my friend.

Published September 2003