My Life With Horses
My name is Maria Kelson. Since leaving school in 1989 I have had a full and varied life with horses. Prior to going to college, I had a part time job in a small national hunt racing yard. It was here that I met my dear friend Lenny (Lothario) I worked with this dear old chap for 2 years before buying him in 1992. Despite serious injury and the occasional mud fever he was a very faithful friend to me. We competed in team chasing and show jumping at novice levels, we also hunted with the South Dorset and Essex and Suffolk hunts as well as going out with my sister following bloodhounds.
I studied Breeding and stud management at Writtle College and Cambridge College of Agriculture and Horticulture between 1990 & 1993. In 1992 I had to take a year of work experience. For the first half of the year I worked on a large thoroughbred stud in Newmarket where I gained valuable knowledge of breeding and foaling as well as handling the youngsters and sometimes even the stallions. At the end of the breeding season I moved on to a showing yard Nr Leighton Buzzard. I was responsible for looking after some very valuable show horses here. I was also responsible for getting them plaited up and ready for shows. I usually stayed at home when the horses went to shows. However, I was asked to attend HOYS in October 1992 to attend to the 8 horses that were going there throughout the week. A horse I had prepared qualified twice for the Saddle of Honour (then the groom’s prize) this for me was a great achievement as only 9 months prior to starting at the yard I could not plait a horse. The lightweight cob from our yard won his class and the rest of the horses were placed in the top 9. It was a real eye opener for me to have attended and a great experience of grooming at the highest level. I was also asked to attend the NH stallion parade at Stonleigh with Infantry and Paddy Egan. Two stallions standing at the stud yard
After completing my course in 1993 I only had 2 days to relax before having Lenny and myself shipped down to Dorset to start my new career with horses. I went to a showing/stud yard. It was here I learnt a great deal about breeding horses outside the affluent world of the thoroughbred industry. The yard had one stallion, a pure bred Irish draft horse called Rathdowney Fern. He was a sweetheart, very gentlemanly and adorable. I was mainly responsible for showing foals, occasionally showing other in hand horses and ponies for various clients. I also assisted with foaling and breaking of the 3 year olds for the following showing season. We also had a lightweight and a heavyweight show cob. These two cobs meant a trip to HOYS was inevitable as they were such stunning horses.
I sent lenny home to my sister for her to ride as her mare had gone lame. I had her mare delivered to me as I was going to use her for breeding. Unfortunately she had an accident in the field and died 3 days after arrival. We were all devastated but eventually my sister decided she would like another horse. She decided on Jeremy, the weaker of twins born at the yard I worked on. His sister, Jemima, was a big filly and liver chestnut whereas Jeremy was gangly (still a big chap) and steel grey. My sister bought him as a yearling. In the following 5 or 6 years he matured to 17.2hh and his sister is approx 16.2 or 3hh. After 2 seasons showing and stud work here I decided time had come for a change of scenery.
I went to work for a top show jumping rider in Essex. After 3 weeks I was promoted to head girl. I enjoyed a challenge and this job was certainly that! I would have 20 horses in stables at any one time and every week or so one of the owners would bring a lorry load of 3 year olds for try outs. My main tasks were to school the horses on the flat and get them started over small fences and to keep the jumping horses sound and healthy. I also dealt with paperwork when horses came in from abroad and the yard owner was away. This job taught me a LOT about riding young horses and also about myself. It was here that I discovered what my aim in life was. I wanted to make the whole world a better place for any horse I came into contact with.
I stayed only 6 months at the jumping yard before I decided to move on. I went to a small hunting and pony stud Nr Colchester in Essex. I started my job getting 3 ponies and one thoroughbred filly broken. Painting fencing/jumps etc with creosote. The ponies were adorable, a small, butty section A gelding, a hunter type section B gelding and a beautiful section B filly who went on to be a very successful lead rein show pony winning at HOYS on more than one occasion, also being supreme pony champion there. The thoroughbred filly was a nice type but had some attitude but broke well. From august onwards, my time was consumed by the four hunters that were placed in my charge. Clipping, plaiting, grooming, and exercising, in fact anything you can think of to do with looking after horses through the winter. I was even asked to go hunting with the owners on more than one occasion. The following spring, when the hunters had gone out, it was time to get more youngsters in. This time there were 5, all but one being geldings and one small hack type thoroughbred filly to start as well as bringing the previous years one back into work. The foals were also being born (the first one being in February) so there was a lot to do. I left prior to the following hunting season due to my family moving away from the area.
I ended up being a hunt servant’s groom at the Wynnstay. I had a great time riding exercise, using the horse walker, grooming, clipping, plaiting etc. on top of all this we had to take second horses out to the master and hunt servants It was a great experience and one I will never forget. We also went to a different hunt approx. 100 miles away, stayed overnight and had a great time riding wise and entertainment wise. But the end of the season came too quickly and again I moved on.
I looked locally for employment with the sole intention of going back to the hunting yard at the end of august. I found a dealer locally who wanted someone to bring on young horses for sale and help her and her daughter run the yard. There was a regular turnover of horses here and a lot of headway was made in my riding. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges as they were presented and leapt over hurdles as they came my way. Unfortunately, I became pregnant in the July of that year and was unable to continue doing what I loved most.
I went back to stay in S W Wales with my parents whilst I was pregnant. I started working in a nursing home kitchen department. I assisted in making staff lists and menus. But it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. I was soon back in the saddle after the birth of my first son, only this time I kept it as a hobby. Lenny was recovering from a serious accident the previous year and so I started riding my sisters horse Jeremy. I started schooling him and getting him responding more to the aids. Then I was offered a great opportunity to work with some people and rent stabling off them to do schooling and breaking etc. I had a friends horse in for breaking and selling
she was easy to break and was soon going very well, but the market was slow for a 3 year old so we kept her until the following autumn when she was sold to a client at a riding school where my sister was yard manager. I also had a nice Connemara X Thoroughbred for educating. She was a sharp little horse when you first got on her, but soon settled and would have gone a long way in the right hands. Soon after I got started on the yard I found out I was pregnant again, so had to take things slowly again. We moved the horses to a yard closer to home in South Wales and decided to take things easy for a while.
I hope this has explained a bit about me to whoever decides to find this web page.
If anyone has any comments or questions regarding anything on this website, please do not hesitate to contact me at the email address below.
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Thanks for visiting
Maria XXX
Email: heiress10@hotmail.com
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