What shall we call her?

Sorry for the long delay with this one, I've been waiting for us to come to a conclusion on this:-

Girl? Red? Mare? Pretty?

These are the most common names for horses in the Alpujarras you know?!
Yes, 'Blanca' (white), 'Torda' (grey), 'Chica/o' (girl/boy), 'Guapa/o' (pretty) & 'Yegua' (mare) are the norm..'Tio' Mark's horse means 'Uncle' and 'Rayo' my boy has a super corny name that sounds fine if you're English, means lightening!

So, we've been through the lot here and she is beginning to get confused! Starting with 'Rosie', 'Africa' &  'Savanna', then various goddesses of various things, most appropriately 'Juno' or 'Hera'  being the Roman/Greek goddesses of marriage! 

We then thought about how we actually got the money to buy her and Mark proposed 'Lorna', being the name of his Nana who sadly passed away last year...So yes, I like it, it suits her.

May the spirit of Nana live on, she was a strong, hard working lady and was always beautifully turned out.

'Tio'

As Wynkyn de Worde said in his fifteen points of a good horse (1496)...

A good horse sholde have three propyrtees of a man, three of a woman, three of a foxe, three of a hare, and three of an Asse.
Of a man. Bolde, Proude, and Hardye.
Of a woman. Fayre-breasted, Faire of haire, and easy to move. (!!)
Of a foxe. A fair taylle, short eers, with a good trotte.
Of a hare. A grate eye, a dry head, and well rennynge.
Of an asse. A bygge chynn, a flat legge, and a good hoof.

My Tio has sixteen, along with the above, he has one propyrtee of a Scotch!
He was born in Scotland but is of Spanish blood..

13 years young, 15.2hh, grey gelding..

Past winner of the Lobrasan Stakes and the Alpujarran Raid.

'Rayo'

So, let me tell you about my fab boy - the horse of course!

'Rayo' is a 9 year old bay 'Tres sangres' (3 blood - arab/spanish/thoroughbred), so basically a mongrel of very good source!

He is bonkers! But in a very predictable way - LETS GO FASTER! 

I have never ridden a horse with such go and stamina, quite astounding.

I love him dearly but he's not an affectionate horse, sadly my love often feels unrequited...but the special times are all the more special for their rarity!

Here's a fab photo...

This photo, by the way, was taken (by my good friend and fellow trekker Nadia P Wilson) at 'Siete Lagunas', just below the summit of Mulhacen, the highest mountain in Spain.

See how he is looking upwards in anticipation - that's my boy!