Photography: Amy White Media

Khan, owned by Annie Palmer, is a Thoroughbred bred by Coup De Grace out of Dark Journey, who is by Black Minnaloushe.

In Annie’s words, “I had Blubby since he was four, and he passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly at 11 years old. I’d only ever had horses who had been old and became sick, so we’d euthanized them, but Blubby’s death was entirely unexpected. Blubby was going to come to Australia with us, and I had fantasies of my children riding him on the farm in Australia. So, when Blubby died, I went into a very deep depression and became very unwell. He really was my heart horse.

After a month of this, Laura Scruton called me. She loved Blubby, too. She said she couldn’t stand to see me in this state and that she was going to come to work with me. I work with racehorses, and she came to all the yards with me. She has a very, very good eye for Thoroughbreds as sporthorses. She takes it all into account – from conformation to temperament and everything in between. It was actually Laura who picked my Junior horse, with whom her daughter competed first. He was my top competitive horse and got me into the team. Anyway, we went to five different trainers, and she looked at various horses that were coming off the track. The last trainer we went to was Tony Rivalland, and I was treating a horse called Desolate Road, who is Khan’s brother and was stabled opposite him. Laura was sitting on a bag of shavings outside Khan’s stable, and he was loving her and giving her kisses. She told me she liked Khan, so she asked Tony to trot him out. She came back and told me that we were fetching him on Sunday, so that is how I came to have Khan.

Ultimately, I met Khan when I was in a very dark place, but having a horse in that stable in that barn again gave me a reason to go down there again and continue with the routine I’ve had since I was eight years old. I go down and check him in the morning, and I do the night check. Having a horse again has kept me motivated. It makes me want to get back to see him and earn good money to care for him in the way he needs to be looked after. Mandy Prince actually put it best when she said I needed something to love again and something to care for. And when you’ve had horses your whole life, you can’t just cut them out, especially when you’ve lost one so tragically. There’s just this huge hole that’s left in your life. My animals are like my children. Losing Blubby was probably the greatest heartache I’ve ever known, and Khan has brought me out of that deep, dark, ugly place. Just how gentle, sweet and forgiving he is makes me want to be a better person every day.

He’s also brought new things into my life. He’s opened my eyes to Liberty now, which he is so good at and loves. We also event, and he’s placed at all his shows and won two, and we’re doing SA Champs in November in the 70cm class.

There’s also a ten-year-old girl who has been riding him with me and won her first eventing show on him. My long-term goal is for Khan to come to Australia with me, but in the meantime, he has this little girl and family that will love him.

Everyone who meets him falls in love with him and his markings. I’ve never liked the flashy horses, and sure enough, I’ve ended up with the flashiest oke. A lot of kids ask me about his marking, and I tell them that he was a unicorn sent from heaven by Blubby and that his horn fell off when he landed on earth. The hair grew back dark in the scar because the opposite of what happens for horses happens for unicorns.

He is one of the biggest blessings in my life. He is a safe place. He is a friend. He’s my motivation.

I strive to be the person my animals think I am, and I think Khan thinks I’m pretty awesome. So yes, he’s just my perfect pony!”