Myself and the lady who I loan Harry off, last night decided that it was time for him to retire.

For those of you that don't know, he's been with Christine now for almost 11 years, and I've had him on full loan for 5 of those. We had a fall 2 weeks ago at a show and he's not been right since. He's never taken this long to come sound again, and couple that with the fact that his tendon has never fully repaired from last year, his shivering has gotten worse and he's got a touch of cushings, we're letting him live his final years out as a pensioner!

We always said that the day he stopped jumping was the day we would put him to sleep, as he's such an anxious boy he can't hack out and flat work is, simply, pointless with him. He's an out and out show jumper, and that's why I took him on aged 20, so he could show me how to do it. (all be it not brilliantly)

I'm truly heartbroken as he taught me so much, but we decided last night it would be kinder to leave him be for the next few years than actually work him into the ground.

So for now I'll pop down every weekend, see how he is, with an apple and what not, but my partnership with Pinball Wizard is officially over.

I'm not going to look for another one just yet, to be perfectly honest, crap as it sounds, its come at the best time as I'm struggling to pay for the house, run car and him and I've dug into my savings for the last 4 months to pay his livery, so can't see myself being in a position to do so for at least another 6 months, possibly even a year. So I'll make do with popping on friends gee-gees once in a while, and treating myself to a lesson every other week.

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aww I'm sorry, thats always such a sad time. I had to retire my girl last year as she has navicular and although the vets said she could go for a few walks, unfortunately we couldn't explain this to her!