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Letters From Horse Owners Around The World

I asked my school friend Jo, who lives in Catalunya, in the Priorat region of N.E Spain, at the feet of the Montsant, Serra de Prades and Siurana mountains, to write us a word or two about horse ownership there. This is something Jo knows plenty about, having looked after upwards of 10 horses in her own livery yard in Spain for over a decade now. As she says however, thanks to the weather, there is little activity to write about in the summer in Catalunya...

Sara, rather than write about a typical summers day, beacause on a typical summers day I don't do anything with the horses due to heat and lots and lots of flies, I've put down a few general points about being around horses in Spain.

I started my horsey life with 15 horses here in Catalunya. A horse is a horse in any country but differences soon became apparent. HAY! What's hay ? Horses here eat straw I was told, which explained why my lovely deep beds were lasting only 2 or 3 days. I quickly changed to using wood shavings.

Muck out every day ? Oh no. When the beds build up so high that your horse is banging his head, then it's time to call a tractor to clear everything out. Wear a hard hat in this heat? It's not good for your hair. No shouting, cursing and kicking at my horses? How on earth will they respect me and behave?

Despite my insistance on having a daily routine, on mucking out everyday, on wearing hard hats and on going on quiet controlled hacks, I managed to run a successful stables with 15 happy, healthy and fit horses with happy customers - who took a little adjusting to this crazy englishwoman but who in the end decided that there was method in my madness.

Having horses here is certainly different, but as I said at the beginning, a horse is a horse in any country and although there are things I miss like rolling soft green fields, there are also very few days when you can't ride due to bad weather and the relationship between horse and rider overcomes any language or cultural barrier.

I hope we'll hear more from Jo later in the year. Meanwhile, if any of you out there would like to become Cox the Saddlers Own Correspondent from your part of the world, simply email me some seasonal copy or anything you like with some interesting photos to accompany the article.

Email Sara at webmaster@saddler.co.uk