Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2016 | Page 88

Equestrian

SCOOBY
makes his mark

After losing her previous horse to colic four years ago, Heidi
Carden wasn’t really looking for a replacement – until something
about an ad in Horse and Hound captured her interest

She promptly took off on a road trip with her
instructors and trusted friends, Sue and Sarah
Holmes, to see the skewbald Irish Sports Horse
at Slough Farm Livery in Claygate, Surrey – and
that was it!
Heidi reckoned that Scooby, aka Billy the Kid,
had a good trainable temperament and she felt
‘safe as houses on him’, so on the good advice
of successful Event rider Sarah, she took the
plunge, and has never looked back.
Scooby has certainly made a name for himself
since arriving on the Island – and not just for
his competition successes in dressage and
jumping.
He’s also a quirky character, and in the
summer can be spotted sitting like a dog,
watching the world go by.
“He looks very comical and can sit for ages
like this!” laughs Heidi.
She confesses that he can also be a ‘miserable
so-and-so’ in the stable and even more so
when there is food around – but he turns into a
gentle giant with her niece and nephews.
Heidi, who works as a Special Needs Officer
for IW Council and is also Secretary of the
Island’s Riding for the Disabled group, says
she’s had some great times with Scooby – as
well as what she describes as ‘a couple of
memorable lows’.
“Looking back now they are very funny but at
the time they weren’t!” she says.
“The funniest, although not at the time, was
when I was out riding with Phil and Wendy

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