“There’s nothing so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse.”

Lord Palmerston

I haven’t been the registered owner of a car for several years now since part exchanging my faithful and beloved Mazda for my wife’s new car – but since the end of last year I am the registered owner of a horse called Phacelia.

As a kid I couldn’t come within a few feet of any horse without my eyes puffing up and my nose running as they were, without doubt, the animals I was most allergic to.

So, the idea that I might own a horse, let alone spend time in its company, has never seemed a likely prospect. Even more unlikely is the idea that I would actually love this creature – but I do.

In fact, I will go as far as saying that owning and caring for this animal is one of the best things I have ever done. It’s not easy, it’s certainly not cheap but it is, in many ways, very therapeutic – particularly during a tough six months.

Up until now, I haven’t broadcast the fact that I ended up suddenly and unexpectedly in hospital during the early part of this year.

It’s the first time I’ve been admitted to hospital and hopefully the last – at least for many years to come I hope – and the aftermath has been challenging.

Back in early February, while helping my youngest daughter care for this new addition to our family at a local yard,  I noticed an unusual degree of breathlessness while pushing the wheelbarrow up the muck heap but dismissed it as being the effects of a winter cold. However, as it became harder and harder to get my breath after physical activity during the following few days it became clearer that something was not right.

To cut a long story short I got to Accident and Emergency at Southampton General Hospital at the point of total collapse and within the course of an hour or so diagnosed with significant acute bilateral pulmonary embolism, put on oxygen, injected with anti-coagulants and admitted to the Acute Medical Unit for further investigations and treatment.

Many blood tests, scans and injections later I was discharged from hospital after six days and signed unfit for work for two months.

Despite all the investigations there is, as yet, no definitive reason as to why this happened when it did, but I’m pretty sure ‘lifestyle’ played a part.

In the week prior to the symptoms starting I was immersed in a particularly challenging web project and spending hours on end sat at my desk. Although there was no obvious evidence of Deep Vein Thrombosis, sitting for such long periods of time would not have been helpful for blood circulation.

Having had this unexpected health scare my immediate reaction was to make some changes – the first of which was to keep active and the majority of this activity has been in the company of horses.

As my lung and heart functions began to recover I progressed from gentle yard sweeping duties to making it a personal goal to redistribute as much of the winter muck heap as possible to eager springtime gardeners. With 5 horses at this particular yard, the muck heap had grown so large it was in danger of bursting the retaining wall and during the course of March and early April 10 to 20 sacks of manure a day were being snapped up from the main yard gate by passing traffic. During the time I was spending at the yard watching and interacting with all of the horses my fascination with these magnificent creatures was growing.

At my 3 month follow up review with the pulmonary embolism specialist I got the news I was hoping for.  My heart, which had shown significant damage following the load put on it trying to pump blood around blocked lung arteries, had recovered fully without any signs of long term damage. Not so good was being told I had to remain on blood thinning drugs for the foreseeable future as for reasons as yet undetermined I have developed the delightfully described medical condition of ‘sticky blood’.

In May an opportunity arose to move the horse to a DIY livery yard closer to home – a 4 minute drive or 15 minute walk. It is under new ownership and quite run down at the moment but this has provided another chance to keep active. During the last couple of months I have been helping the new owners improve the facilities with the addition of a new office and toilet block that will at least provide some dry and well insulated protection to the livery customers during winter.

Getting to know the other horse owners has been fun and both my daughter and I have learned a lot. Come mid June there was an amazing atmosphere in the yard as the majority of owners got their horses ready for a big show at another yard just down the road