Laura, you may remember that I rode from two yards - lessons at one and hacking from another. My fav. mare hacking mare with whom I fell in love when she arrived in 2004, had arrived injured from show jumping and was regularly rested off work.
My other ride was a grumpy lesson mare whom I eventually shared and who died last winter. The grey mare was also so unwell last autumn that I was unable to buy her, and it looked like she too would not survive. Amazingly tho, she did -and was carefully brought back into work in June.
This was the mare who taught me to ride and to whom I in turn taught much over happy hours - none of which is forgotten by either of us.