Never give up

I was just 18 when I bought my first horse, Jilly, a lovely Irish Draft/Thoroughbred mare. She had the loveliest temperament and I was smitten. I’d seen and tried so many horses, but the first time I saw Jilly in a field in Beaconsfield I knew she was the one. I come from a non-horsey family, but we were lucky enough to have a small paddock at home and my parents built a stable and tack room for me. I gave Jilly three weeks to settle in and took time getting to know her. Then I carried on lungeing and doing lots of things on the ground with her. It wasn’t until three months later that I tacked her up for our first ride. I walked her up to the mounting block, carefully put my foot in the stirrup and gently eased myself into the saddle. No sooner had I sat down when she leapt forward and bucked (several times). I landed in a thistle patch. I was devastated, but with help from friends we started again from scratch. I lunged Jilly with the stirrups down, which desensitised her to flapping, and walked her in hand a lot. It took six months to retrain her, but by the end we were hacking out alone and started jumping. Jilly became my horse of a lifetime. We’ve had so much fun together over the years and shared many, many firsts together. We’ve laughed together, felt nervous together, been terrified together, and mopped up each other’s tears (especially after losing Millie, her companion pony). Jilly has been my rock for my entire adult life. She has been there for so many of my own firsts: graduating from university, getting my first job, buying a house, getting married and having children. She has been there every step of the way. We even appeared together in Your Horse magazine’s first ‘Perfect Moments’ way back in 2001. Jilly is 25 this year and enjoying a well-earned retirement living out on amazing grazing at a farm near my house, while ensuring that my other mare (a giant cob called Rio) is kept in check and doesn’t step out of line. During the last 21 years, Jilly’s amazing temperament has never faltered. She is so kind and gentle and amazing with my children. I can’t explain how special this mare is to me. Lucy Hodgins, by email

As our Star Letter writer, Lucy will receive the FURminator’s deShedding tool. The tool’s high-quality, stainless steel edge gently and easily removes moulting undercoat, helping to reduce shedding and keep unwanted hair off your riding gear. Loose hair can be removed from the tool using the FURejector button, allowing for simple, one-handed use. For more details see furminator.net/en-eu.

Jilly a nd h er friend RioLETTER PRIZE

There’s nothing quite l ike a h orse who g rows with you through the years