You don’t want to sound like a great big soppy git, but sometimes you miss your horse, even if you just have to go into town for the day. As for holidays, you’re at real risk of becoming one of those people who never leaves the country because you can’t bear to leave your horse behind.
Or perhaps you have to work abroad/in London or another major city, and it’s not practical to keep a horse at the moment — but man, you miss your old mare!
Here are 11 signs you’re suffering from ‘Horse Withdrawal Syndrome’…
1. The clip-clop of police horses on your local city high street makes you feel all homesick and nostalgic..
2. Someone at work offers you a Polo, and you almost break down in tears. (And not because you suspect they’re hinting at bad breath issues. Although that’s not great either.)
3. You see riders on Hyde Park and get really excited about the prospect of riding in central London, until you check out the prices of doing so online, and realise you’d have to re-mortgage your flat for a half-hour hack.
4. You’re addicted to the skinny jeans, flat knee-high boot and blazer look — in fact, it’s your signature style. It’s the closest you can get to wearing riding gear to work.
5. You can’t eat Bran Flakes or muesli for breakfast, because it reminds you too painfully of competition mix.
6. Yes, that is actually a stock pin you’re wearing, not a funky brooch.
7. Your horse is your computer screen-saver.
8. The H&H website is always open behind the document you’re working on.
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9. You see someone reading H&H on the Tube, and breach all normal London protocols (don’t make eye contact on public transport; don’t even THINK of speaking to anyone) in order to sit next to them and strike up a conversation about the last eventing season.
10. You get really excited when Topshop releases an equestrian-inspired collection of winter sweaters.
11. The smell of the latest designer fragrance really reminds you of freshly cut hay. You’re not sure whether you want to cry, or buy 10 bottles of the stuff.
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Amanda Vlietstra is a freelance writer and editor who’s worked for a number of national magazines and websites. Having thrown herself back rural living with gusto since moving from London to Buckinghamshire in 2012, she juggles her horsey life with work and two small children. She claims to do dressage, but really just potters about having fun on her 14.2hh Belgian Warmblood mare, Roxy. She also enjoys a good gossip over a coffee in the tackroom!
