Wasima1

When she first arrived at the end of June '96 she was understandably nervous of her new surroundings, and we introduced her to our other Crabbet Arab horse and to our immense relief they have become firm friends. Wasima is the boss as Saraband is quite happy being second horse. Wasima is a watcher and is always peering into the distance and reacting to things that happen there. Our other horse stays in the immediate surroundings mentally and is much more laid back. To begin with I gently showed Wasima the world. At first she reacted at almost every crack in the road as if it was a snake and every shadow, big leaf and strange object had to be investigated. If something caught her by surprise she would leap vertically into the air in jump jet mode. In order to return from any ride we had to negotiate a small 18 inch grid. The first time we tried to cross it it took 1.5 hours. She tried desperately hard to cross it and buried her head into me, trod on it but it clanged and frightened her, put weight on it with one faltering leg but it moved slightly as well. Eventually she crossed it. Next time it took half an hour, and even now she is still wary and stops for a few seconds before stepping over it. After the first grid experience any manhole cover in the road which resembled a grid or had a grid pattern on it was scary. It took quite a while to show her that the world wasn't full of monsters. All Summer we met new things. Funnily enough she went straight into the sea the first time she encountered it and seems to relish the sensation.

The following is an account of how Al Wasima Bint El Aswad, our young and mostly Egyptian mare, has fared in her new home after our first year together. I'll give a chronological feel for her development and my impression of her as time went by. It's a heart searching and awesome task trying to find a horse as a companion and friend, but we are delighted with Wasima.

At the end of Annie and Wasima’s first novice endurance season having successfully completed 155 miles. I think this photo says it all, it captures the delightful spirit of Al Wasima.

Wasima had just put a stop in and shied at the photographer, hence the angle of the rider!
Since writing this in 1997 Wasima has been very successful and won several national awards, Bronze Buckle Cup, Silver Stirrup Cup and the Silver Championship and South West Region Silver Award in 1999 and 2000. They also came 5th in their first 60 mile endurance ride in 2000.