I found a horse, finally (long)

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <gabbani@starnet.com.eg>]

Well, after getting fairly distressed looking at some pretty miserable
creatures for the past month, my vet called and said that actually he knew
of a horse that he thought would be perfect. The horse in question, Bunduq
(hazelnut...actually a name used for almost any little brown creature) is a
solid little 7 yr old gelding that has been a school horse in a stable near
Cairo for the last 4 years. The owner of the stable is a guy who collects
horses that have been abused and neglected and nurses them back to health,
and on the side gives lessons. Bunduq has been doing 6 or 7 lessons a day
(at 30-45 min each) for the last four years and has never been lame or
unsound. Dr. Emad has been his vet all this time. His feet are lovely with
nice cupped soles, great legs with the long forearm and solid cannons. He's
a mongrel Arab and maybe 15', bay with 3 white socks. The amazing thing is
to get a horse that is 7 and sane and sound and not green. This guy has been
doing flat work for 4 years. He's a real school horse, as we get them here,
meaning that his first reaction to a new rider is to stand there with the
intention of doing only as much as you can convincingly ask him to do (ahh,
I know it well, it's Nimbus' finest quality as a child's mount), but once he
realises that you are serious, it's business as usual.  Well, he did have to
make a couple of rather abrupt stops to see if I'd go over his neck, but
when I didn't that was the end of that.

What I got a kick out of was the way that he tested me while I was testing
him. He's got a sense of humor, and is extremely careful where he puts his
feet. I worked him over a bunch of caveletti poles pretty much at random and
he never ticked one. Mohamed, his ex-owner, was always really impressed by
the way that Bunduq would do all the lesson work asked of him, but when he
got a bit tired would just change the pace a bit for a breather. He's used
to a lot of work and has learned to pace himself.  Apparently he loves the
desert and hates to hang back in a pack if horses are racing. Altogether, a
satisfactory personality. Oh, and lovely ground manners. I suspect that once
he finds out he's not going to be ridden by any number of random riders,
that personality will blossom. And the nice thing is that this guy has the
basic fitness that means I'm not starting from scratch.

Wish me luck. I'm really delighted.
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
gabbani@starnet.com.eg


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