Live To Event

Shocking....Please share with all your contacts.

2012-01-29T21:38:00.002Z

If you know anyone in these area's who owns horses please pass this around let try to catch these bastards. @@@TO ALL HORSE PEOPLE PLEASE READ URGENT@@@ POLICE hunting the killer of a mare after the latest in a string of sexual assaults on horses fear some may be the work of 'copycat' attackers. Over the weekend Mountbatten, a 10-year-old Irish mare, became the first horse to be killed outright in more than 30 attacks that have terrorised Hampshire and neighbouring counties. The attacks seem to be gathered roughly into two clusters 40 miles apart, one in Hampshire, the other in Buckinghamshire. Their frequency is increasing. Mountbatten was found by her owner with her head lying against the stable door, a large gash on her neck, and her genitals and hindquarters cut. Fiona Broderick, daughter of the owner, Robert Broderick, said: 'How anyone could do this to a horse is beyond me. My father loved her tremendously. He is absolutely distraught.' In the past nine months, more than 30 horses - 22 in Hampshire - have suffered mutilation and sexual assault. Some have had to be put down. Horses and ponies have been cut with Stanley knives, had broomstick handles and posts inserted in their vaginas and had battery acid thrown over them. Police believe there may be a sexual motive for the attacks but are remaining open-minded. They say they are linking the attacks, but have no idea whether the same person or people are responsible. 'It could be a pervert, a psychopath, an animal hater, a hunt saboteur or someone with a grudge,' said a spokesman, adding that there appeared to be no clear pattern to the attacks. 'The only pattern is the inconsistency. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, no pattern of time or places, no consistency of victims. Sometimes he attacks mares, sometimes it is geldings or stallions,' he said. A reward of pounds 1,000 for the capture and conviction of the attacker, dubbed the 'horse ripper', has been offered by the International League for the Protection of Horses. Two days before Mountbatten was killed, Bluey, a five-year-old mare kept at Speen, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, received a 6in wound to her genitals after a knife attack. Earlier last week another mare had part of her foot hacked off with an axe at Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire. Police in Hampshire, have asked experts at Leicester University to draw up a psychological profile of potential suspects.Please Repost this and catch these horible people!!

What a day!!!!!!!!! Never want to experience this again....

2012-01-28T18:32:00.000Z

Thursday morning saw Jack, Stan and I all go off to my first job of the day down near Pilling. I look after a friends horses twice a week This is a picture of Stan in 'work' mode....waiting for any mice that may want to put in an appearance. Thursday afternoon I went out massaging and then teaching at Ribby Hall Equestrian Centre. When I got home I put the jackets on the boyz although Stan hates his and went to bring the horses in. As I walked up the field I realised that Millie look a little odd and on further investigation realised that she had her off fore stuck in the gate to the babies field shelter. I was unable to free her so rang Peter to ask him if he could come home. Luckily the babies haynets were ready in the field shelter so I gave the three girls a pile each to keep them happy and Millie quiet. I massaged her leg and shoulder while I was standing with her but she was very calm about it all.
I then shouted for the boyz but only Jack appeared......I noticed a car stopping on the road over our wall and heard Jack woofing but no Stan.......Panic started to set in and I left the girls munching and ran to the gate but I was too late and the car had gone and so had Stan. I ran round screaming for him but he did not appear and then Peter turned up and thought Millie must have broken her leg or something as I was so hysterical by this point that I could barely speak. He went to save Millie whilst I ran up and down the round shouting for Stan. We put the horses in the barn and just left them in which ever stable they ended up in, which they thought was great, Millie was a little lame but ok.
I told Peter about the car stopping and we thought that we had seen the last of Stan......I was completely beside myself when Ros arrived to say that a lady had just rung the pub to say that she had picked a little dog up and did anyone know who it belonged to. Ros downed her drink in one and raced over as she knew I would be completely frantic by now to give us the number of the lady. Peter rang the lady up and she brought Stan back........I was a mess all night when I thought about what might have been. Stan was completely non plussed and thought he'd been on an adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He now has flashing lights round his neck and I am paranoid about where he is at all times of the day!!!!!!

For Sale. Coloured Cob 15.1hh 5 years old. Complete Softie :)

2012-01-26T21:31:00.000Z

Sunny is a very handsome, five year old traditional medium weight coloured cob gelding.
He currently measures 15.1 hh but he is still bum high and has some growing to do.
He was backed as a four year old and has been ridden lightly since. He loves hacking out and will happily go out on his own or in company with us. Although he has hardly done any schooling, he loves pole work and I think he may love jumping when he is older. He has not put a hoof wrong, although in our village we don't really get heavy traffic. He is not ploddy but has not been silly either. He is ridden in a neue schule snaffle.
He is vaccinated, microchipped and up to date with worming. He is great with the farrier and has his solid feet trimmed regularly.
He is a big softie and loves being brushed. He has my dogs running round him all the time and has lived with sheep and a goat! He gets on with mares and geldings.
We have had him since a yearling and shown him lightly in hand and he was always placed. His best to date is winning an in hand cob class of 13 horses. He took it all in his stride.
I have been told that he would not look out of place at a county level show if someone was into showing, but equally, he would be just as happy going on a lovely hack over some fells somewhere.
This is a heartbreaking sale so please only enquire if you can prove to me you have a five star home on offer.
Price may be negotiable to the right home

Who's the Daddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-24T10:39:00.000Z

Stan thought all his birthday's had come at once on Saturday when his 'wife' came to visit! He is a true professional and certainly knew what his job was without anyone needing to explain!!! He had a great time and his wife is one of the loveliest border terriers we have met. She is very blonde and had a wonderful temperament. He did spend the rest of the day flat out recovering though!! So now fingers and paws crossed that we will be hearing the sound of little paws in a few weeks.......

My first sit on Maisey and a saddle for Kirkby!!!!

2012-01-22T21:04:00.001Z

Wow......look at this....would you believe it???? Kirkby has a saddle on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bless his cotton socks!
Today the babies came into the barn and we groomed and played with them. I then had this fab idea of tacking Maisey up to get her used to her tack again as it was June the last time she had any on. So we trundled down to the stables and popped the saddle on her. She was not bothered at all so I asked Peter to leg me up so I could lean over her...again no response from her apart form annoying Peter! So I then got the mounting block and stood up on it next to her, put my foot in the stirrup and just leant over her she moved a little bit so I bobbed down again. I waited for a moment and then did the same again before popping my right leg over and sitting on her!!!! I just stayed down low and she did not seem too concerned at all. We patted her and made a fuss and then I dismounted again. It was such a special moment...sitting on my baby!
It took me back to when she was a foal and I used to lean over her neck and pretend I was riding her...I would whisper in her ear as if we were going round the XC at Badminton!!! I'm not sure if she remembered or not though!!!
So Kirkby was feeling left out and as we were on a roll I decided to have a go at putting the saddle on him. I popped the numnah on first and then gently put the saddle on before very slowly doing the girth up. Peter let him have the garlic lick to keep hm occupied but he was not bothered at all.

A very successful day all round really! Before you know it they will both be broken in and hacking out!!!!!

Jumping and Humping!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-20T07:59:00.000Z

So on Wednesday we decided that the time had come to move Tilly's rehabilitation up a level and try her over some jumps again. We had a family outing to Helen's to run the lorry and use her lovely school...Helen checked it to make sure that it had defrosted as I did want to make sure that if it came to it I would have a soft landing!!!!
I had not ridden Tilly since Saturday and she has not been in Helen's school before so I was expecting her to be a little lively ..... going off past experience! So I went armed with the lunge line and body protector just incase. I set off by just walking round and she was fine and then we moved onto trot where again she was not naughty. She tends to chomp at the bit and shorten her neck when I am trying to do flatwork which makes it hard work as I have to concentrate for every single stride. If she is not chomping then she will back off so then I put my leg on and she speeds up, then she chomps and now is trying to get her tongue over the bit too, then when she decides she has no more tricks up her sleeves she has a paddy!!!!
So I asked for canter and I must have given her the wrong aids as she thought I meant humpy humpy!!!! After three attempts I decided to lunge her first. She had quite a buck and hump round before calming down, so I got back on and cantered her round. Then Peter put a pole on the ground at B, just in from the track and I cantered towards it she decided to take it at flat out!!!! By this point I was starting to think that I was never going to get over a fence in one piece! I trotted over it a few times and then cantered again all in a bit more control and we then progressed to three poles in trot and canter on both reins.
I decided to jump on the left rein first as I was getting a better stride to the poles that way and made Peter put the smallest cross pole you have ever seen in your life up. I trotted towards it expecting to be catapulted into next week and she didn't even jump it....just trotted over it!! Obviously it was an insult to her.....
So then Peter gradually increased the size each time I came round and she shortened and lengthened when I asked her and jumped it really well.
We changed the rein to finish and did a smaller one this way as was struggling to just get her right at the poles. This is her worst rein anyway so I did not want to over face her and ruin all our good work or risk her injuring herself. As you can see from the video below we could have been a bit closer to the pole but I just put my leg on and she lengthens and I remember how fantastic she is and how much she loves jumping!!!
My next plans are to see if Richard Barton is at Osbaldeston any time soon and if not we will hire the school with a course of jumps. Once I have practised in private we may do some unaff jumping at Myerscough College. We also plan to hire Somerford and go and have a play over some smaller XC jumps........

Paddies, nightmare hacks, the beach and bye bye Paj......

2012-01-18T08:42:00.000Z

This picture was taken on our lovely quiet hack early on Saturday morning. Mez has been such a good girl out hacking recently....however it no where near resembled today's hack!!!! Today the term 'pleasure ride' couldn't be further from the truth...nightmare hack describes it to a T!!
I set off with Mez who began to spook at things we pass every time we go out and it eventually dawned on me that she was in season!!! By the time I got to Dolphinholme bottoms I wanted to get off and cry!!! Oh and if I knew what was about to come I would have turned round and run for home!!!!
After a bit of a trot and some piaffe she settled down a bit to just spooky mode which is fine....all was ok until we got back onto the road back upto the Fleece. We were just approaching the 'wiggly bit' of road (very narrow with big hedges on each side and blind bends too) when a tractor and trailer piled high with big bales of straw came towards us.....anyway he stopped and she squeezed past and was a good girl! Next was the car and trailer with a roof in the back followed by a trot up the hill out of the wiggly bit onto the better road.....As I got onto the straight (in trot) she began to get strong so we had a little chat about flexion and staying soft and did a little leg yield to get my nice Mez back. Good job as when I looked behind us there was this MASSIVE wagon with a double trailer filled with freshly chopped trees!!! That on it's own would have been fine but it had a long line of traffic behind it including a tractor and trailer, motorbike, three white vans and a council lorry!!! I asked her to halt and bless her, you should have seen her face when the massive wagon came past....at about van three she had a bit of a dance so I let her walk on whilst everything else came past.......just as we were recovering from this another HGV came up behind us. I trotted to the junction and he followed only to be met by a tractor and sheep trailer on the back! I turned to come back up the hill.....my house was in sight...to discover the man who owns the fields across from us was training his sheepdog to round up the sheep next to the road! He was hiding in the hedge blowing his whistle.....just as another HGV feed wagon tried to race past....he did slow down when I asked him to though. With home a few yards away I was starting to breathe again only to have a pheasant fly out of the hedge next to our gate and send her into orbit again!!! I got off as soon as I could! I think we were both in a state of shock!!!!!!!!!!! Blimey.....usually we have nice quiet hacks! I was mentally and physically drained by the time we got home! She can definitely have the rest of the week off!!!!!!!

This week I have hacked Tilly but on Tuesday I took her to the school up the road. She has begun to get her tongue over the bit now so I put the cheek pieces up so she couldn't manage to. She got VERY cross and had a few paddies! She tried to tell me that she couldn't canter and kept becoming disunited then tried to get her head in the air and then decided to get strong and go fast...it went on and on...the hack home was not good as she was really cross by then and even the builder up the road asked me what was wrong with my horse!!!

On Wednesday we took her to the beach for another canter and she did behave herself. She was very strong on the way home but I did not want to let her go just yet so I held onto her and by the time I cantered back to Peter my arms no longer had any strength left in them!!! She was then in a paddy as she had been at the school, the bridle was not the same one and I had not altered the cheek pieces on it so I decided that it was either caused by the fact that she was in pain somewhere and the more I did the more it hurt her or that she was just being ginger! So I schooled her for ten minutes and she calmed down but she was still a little argumentative as you can see in the video above. My legs were jelly when I got off!!!!
I wanted to ride her today but after my experience with Mez I just couldn't do it but we are hopefully going to my friend Helen's tomorrow to use the school and have a small jump........shall I wear my air jacket?????

Millie and Tilly went for a hack on Saturday together and Tilly enjoyed having a friend but I think Millie was in a state of shock as Alex has not hacked her that far for a while!!! Anyway it was a lovely day and she seems fine now but Barry my farrier is due this week so I'll have to see how she goes. I was very wary of turning her out on the grass this week as it has been frozen but I gave them all hay to eat before turning out and she seems to be fine. Keep everything crossed!

The babies are well and came in on Wednesday to be wormed and hosed off! We planned to bring them into the barn again on Sunday but they had wandered off into their other field when we went to get them! They are quite happy in their cosy field shelters each night with their big nets of haylage and their comfy beds! Kirkby is hardly kicking at all now we are using the rape straw.

Hay is becoming increasingly difficult to find. The local farmer has none left and we have just had the last four big bales from another farmer. If anyone knows where I can get some big bales from please please can they let me know. We are using about one a week at the moment. I do not want to put Tilly back onto haylage!!!!

Supplements 4 Horses is currently on page two of google. I have been working hard on promoting the webiste and making it search engine friendly so it looks like it is starting to pay off. I am just learning about marketing so things will be changing a bit on the website etc.

On a VERY sad note.....the Pajero has revved it's last rev!! It conked out on the way to work on Thursday morning and unfortunately can not be fixed.....well it can but it will cost more than the car is worth!! I am very sad and Peter says 'It's just lump of metal and it doesn't have feelings' but he doesn't know it like I do...:(((

We attended a Wyre Parish Council meeting about the planning development at Wyreside Hall On Thursday. It seems that most people are for the renervating of the old building but the traffic is the biggest issue. We wait to see if it can be resolved or we may be looking for other routes to hack round.

So that's about all for this week.......let's see what the jumping brings tomorrow and whether I inflate or not!!!

Hacking into the abyss!!!!

2012-01-08T14:28:00.001Z

This morning we had a family outing around the block. It was just raining a little bit when we set off and that soon stopped but then the cloud desended on us and we could not see where we were going! This picture was taken in the woods by the old ammunition bunkers from World War 2. We then found a little track just up to the left and went for a little explore...Jack and Stan loved it and Tilly got a bit giddy as I think it reminded her of XC! Not holding out much chance of staying onboard the first time we go eventing!!!!

I have hacked Tilly twice this week and did some trotting on Friday but I did not want to make Peter run this morning so we stayed in walk or jump around mode! I also hacked Mez on Friday morning and she was a little star. We went round Lower Dolphinholme and past Wyreside Hall which is a lovely quiet road and I didn't meet any traffic. However they have put planning in to change Wyreside Hall into a hotel which could produce 27 more vehicles an hour!!!!!! A great idea to keep the building in good repair but not so good for hacking especially with the babies!!

Alex came and rode Millie for the first time since her laminitis yesterday. She went for a little hack round the block in the knee boots that Santa brought and she has gone in the field today with the leg guard on that Santa also dropped off. Mez got a lovely knew Frank Baines girth with a sheepskin lining off Santa and the others got some licks to share.

My 'plans' for the next week or so, weather permitting, are to keep Tilly in work and maybe get to the beach again on Wednesday before heading up to Helen's to do some pole work and maybe a small jump!! I nearly entered Mez for the dressage on the 18th but if the weather is bad then I really won't have ridden her so I am going to wait until the next competition. I will hack her out and take her round to Ros's to give her a school and get back into the swing of things. I watched the video of my Stephen Clarke lesson again yesterday and am going to practice and perfect what he taught me.

Hopes and Dreams for 2012

2012-01-05T18:00:00.000Z

Tilly at Bradwall BE100 2010

Where shall I begin.....I have lots of hopes for this year and my main one is to event Tilly again. She is sound now and is continuing with her canter work, although not quite as much as I would have liked but the weather has been so awful that I have not been able to do much riding at all. My next step with her is to up the canter work and begin a little jumping. If all goes well and she stands up to the work then we will aim to go to the BE80 at Stafford on 30th March. I would like to have a lesson with Richard Barton at Osbaldeston sometime before then and if at all possible go and do a little XC schooling. Make no mistakes as excited as I will be I will also be bricking myself!!!! Once I have got over the 'is she going to be so excited she bucks me off ' bit then I will be fine and love every minute of it again. After Stafford is Kelsall Hill BE80 and then we will have to see how she is. I would like to do some BE90 and maybe even finish on a BE100 but I am probably just getting carried away with myself....the main thing is that Tilly stays sound.

Mez in our one and only lesson Jan 2010 with Stephen Clarke.

My hopes for Mez.....well I am in two minds whether I should sell her....Peter refuses to be drawn into this conversation as I always change my mind!!!! I know it makes sense and I am going to be overrun with horses this year but I do not know if I can bring myself to do it. The thought of her being someone else's makes me want to cry and I would be completely heart broken....but how does Mez feel??? Would she prefer to be an only child instead of having 4 siblings? Selling aside I would like to try and qualify her for the Prelim nationals and by the end of the year have had a go at some Elementary tests. She has 27 BD points now so I would like to add a few more to the count and start getting around 65% consistently in the Novice classes. I am also being persuaded to enter her in the Search for a Star competition this year but I am not convinced yet and it won't have to clash with my eventing! OHHH what to do???

Maisey summer 2008

I can not believe that this little foal is turning four this July! Maisey will be going to my friends up the road with the school for a few weeks this spring whilst I break her in. We are planning to spend the year having fun and getting her out and about doing a little bit of xc schooling, clear round jumping and some dressage. Depending on how things go then she may go eventing next year.


Kirkby brand new!

Kirkby turns three in April. He is now about 16.1hh ish and is starting to mature a little bit. He is still very special and can not be treated in the same manner as other horses. If you tell him off he just gets worse so he has taught me a lot about patience in the last three years. Sometimes he gets to the hysterical point and then you need to shout at him to bring him back to the present!! I may take him round to my friends after Maisey comes home but I think he will be quite hard work! He really needs backing this year or he will be to big and strong by the time he turns four.

How I am going to manage with three if not four horses in work is really starting to worry me now. I don't want to do them all half heartedly but am not sure what alternative there is at the moment. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to get in touch!

Out with the old.............

2012-01-01T21:24:00.000Z

So 2011 is over and we are all looking forward into 2012. I have a good feeling about this year and it is definitely starting out better than the last few!

A little recap on 2011:

Peter and I have moved from that hell hole at Nateby into a lovely house with some land for my five horses. Those of you that know us will know that the move itself had huge problems with us losing the yard and house we were meant to be moving into three days before our contract ran out at Nateby!! However we LOVE where we are now and things definitely worked out for the best. Albeit I lost my business and times were hard over summer but things are on the up again now.

Tilly had a year of rehabilitation, recovering and re strengthening her suspensory injury and also balancing her feet in the process with help from her xrays and the farrier, Barry Morton. She has now started canter work and we have had a trip to the beach and survived!!!
She has become very lively out hacking and really needs to be in more work but we are dependant on the weather at the moment so I am not getting stressed about it. I am just glad she is sound.

I began the breaking in process with Maisey at Nateby and we got as far as leaning over her before we left but due to us having no school here at home she has had the rest of the year off!!

Kirkby has just been learning about life! He has grown up alot in both senses of the word this year although he is still funny with strangers and does not like you touching his ears...but only when he realises you are doing it!

Millie has been diagnosed with Cushings and has had two bouts of laminitis. She went on a hunger strike this summer and refused her medicine but I am managing half a tablet a day in her feed at the moment. Alex is riding her when ever the weather permits!

Mez had summer off then got dragged to the Pet Plan Dressage Festivals at the end of October where she was placed 7th. I have done a couple more dressage competitions on her since then and she now has 27 BD points. We had our one and only lesson of the year in January with Stephen Clarke. He really liked her and said he thought she could go a long way in the dressage world.....just needs someone to ride her occasionally!!!

I have set up a new business www.supplements4horses.co.uk and many thanks go to those of you that have supported me in the early days. Orders are building up now and I have lots of plans for next year. Please have a look if you have time and if you need anything that is not on the website please just ask. I stock NAF, Top Spec, Baileys, Feedmark, Animal Life, Blue Chip, Maxavita, Hilton Herbs, Equimins and many more.

Equestrian Massage has a new website and facebook page and is doing well too. Find us at www.equestrianmassage.co.uk or on our facebook page If you need me to come and check your horse or just want to discuss any problems you may have please just get in touch with me.

So Happy New Year to you all and I'll let you know all about my plans for 2012 in my next post.....I need a bath and bed now!!!

WANTED......can you help?

2011-12-31T17:13:00.000Z

OK....The search has started to find a friend of mine a horse.
It must be 15.3+ and must be wide if it's 15.3 as my friend is 5ft 11inches. Aged between 8-12 years. Mare or Gelding. Any colour except dark bay although would consider if everything else was suitable.
Wanted to do dressage (Intro and Prelim to begin with) on, so it needs to be reasonably schooled and must hack out alone and in company and be safe in traffic etc.
Required to pop over small jumps for fun.
She has a reasonable price range as she wants something with sanity and reasonably schooling although the priority is that it is safe & sound.
She has lessons but is mainly a weekend 1 hour rider and therefore needs something to bring her on as well.

If you think you may know of anything that could be suitable please get in contact with me and I will pass your details on.

Many thanks in advance.

Gotta watch this....amazing....well done Jazz

2011-12-30T20:59:00.000Z

Christmas, New Year and big babies.......

2011-12-28T11:52:00.000Z

Well Christmas is now over and most people are back to work! We are two of the lucky ones and Peter and I are going to see our best friends for our very own Christmas tonight! I hope everyone has had a fantastic time. Father Christmas excelled himself this year at Latham House and we got lots of wonderful pressies
!
Riding has been suspended over Christmas due to the weather and I have not been firing on all cylinders due to a cold I picked up last week. We have been living off Turkey sarnies and chocolate....probably like most of the UK!

Kirkby (left) & Maisey (right)

This morning we brought the babies in, hosed them off, did their feet and put Kill Itch on Kirkby's hind legs. This seems to have really helped him and he hardly kicking at all now. We have also changed him to rape straw and he seems to tolerate this better than the wheat straw. I have never used it before and it is very short and spiky with a lot of stalks in it. My first reaction was that I didn't like it but it does make a very good deep bed and helped with his lordship so I think I will stick with it for now. Its scary to think that this year my babies are three and four! Where does the time go to.....

We cancelled our trip to Somerford on the 20th as the ground had been too frozen to get Tilly out and I had not ridden her since the Thursday before.....I at least want a fighting chance of staying on her!! We are going to re schedule for sometime soon, I have registered with British Eventing to take advantage of their four monthly instalment plan so that hopefully, fingers crossed, Tilly and I will be ready to go eventing this spring....
.
The last time I rode was the Tuesday before Christmas and I hacked Mez and then Tilly round the block. Both were very well behaved and I was so pleased with Mez as she has not done a lot of hacking alone and she even managed to hold it together when we met the pigs!!!

I am pleased to say that Supplements 4 Horses is still receiving orders throughout the Christmas period and I would like to thank all my customers. Please go to www.supplements4horses.co.uk and check out our products and blog.

So everyone will hopefully be looking forward to the New Year and planning what they want to do with their horses....I know I am and getting quite excited if not over whelmed by the fact that I could have four horses in work....

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a

No plaits and pulled muscles.....

2011-12-11T20:12:00.000Z

I had entered Mez for the BD at Myerscough on Wednesday so when Tuesday came around I thought I had better take her up to the school at least to ride through my test if nothing else!!! Half way there I felt an itch on my head and reached up to itch it ..... only to discover I could.....NO HAT!!!!!! So I swiftly dismounted and lead her to the school and borrowed a hat from Ros. Mez was quite strong which was not surprising as I had not ridden her since our last outing ten days previous!!
I borrowed the lunge line and let her have a canter round before leading her back home. So Wednesday came and the weather was so pants that I could not be bothered to plait up in the wind and rain etc.
I always plait up. Two years ago I took Tilly eventing and had to get up really early, Maisey had hurt her hock badly and it was very serious so I had to deal with that and the person who was supposed to be helping me let me down so I was in such a rush that I did not plait up. I did my dressage test and at the end the judge got out of the car and told me off for not plaiting up. Then she wrote on my sheet 'Good test...shame it was spoilt by your pony looking like it had just been dragged in from the field'!! I was SOOOOO mad. I lead all day and got beaten by the last young girl on a very expensive horse bought from a prof! I was so mad that I could not stay to get my second prize and rosette in case the judge said something else......I knew I would not be able to keep my mouth shut!!!!
ANYWAY we arrived at Myerscough...only to discover that it was the same judge and I was not plaited up!!!! Oh it put me in a right old dither.....Peter gave me a good talking to and so I got on Mez and tried to concentrate on the task in hand.

As you can see Mez pulled it out of the bag and we got 64.84% and came 4th which I was very pleased with as the people who beat me were mainly warming up for the Elementary class!
So that is our last dressage competition until after Christmas. She now has 27 BD points and has just over taken Millie!!
I have been giving her physio this week as she was struggling to canter properly on the left rein and this was much improved and I even managed counter canter but she is not 100%. Last week I got a 3 for my counter canter as she really couldn't manage it. Hopefully a bit more massage and some hacking over Christmas will help everything get back to normal again.

A normal Friday night. Hahahahahahahaha!!!!

2011-12-08T18:42:00.002Z

Tilly in action.....

2011-12-04T19:07:00.000Z

WOOOOHOOOOO........Tilly's Back!!!!!

2011-12-01T16:50:00.000Z

So, 15 months after the event that tweaked Tilly's suspensory ligaments we have made it back to the beach. It has been a very long journey and at times I did think we would never make it back but our patience and help from Joe and Barry have paid off.
On Monday I took Tilly to the school up the road. This was the first time I had ridden her in the school since she went lame and she was a little on her toes so I thought it may be a good idea to bob her round on the lunge first......hahahahahaha ...... thank goodness for lunge lines!!!!!!
She went mental, turned herself inside out and you would have thought that she had never had a saddle on by the amount of humping she was doing! Eventually I got on and just walked round with a little trot at the end but she was very spooky and jumpy! So I took her back on Tuesday and lunged her again. She was calmer and Ross stayed with me while I rode, just to be on the safe side! She was much more relaxed and after trotting round on both reins I tentatively asked for canter. She was fab and we cantered round and round...she did not want to stop. It was a lovely balanced canter, in an outline and she was light in my hand.

So Wednesday saw us on the beach!!!! Peter, Jack and Stan came along too and we all set off together. There was no humping but Peter did hold onto me down the ramp as this is where she usually humps and she was really relaxed throughout. I went off and trotted to the gully as normal and then picked up canter, maintaining a good contact and a short rein!! Stan accompanied us and Jack stayed with Peter and we cantered a big loop and headed back up the beach to Peter. A couple of times I could tell she was thinking humpy bumpy but I growled at her and she was fine. We cantered a few circles round Peter at the end and then walked back to the wagon. What a star!!

And to cap it all off nicely we came home via Bradshaws farm shop and bought our Christmas tree!!!!!!
We are hopefully aiming to go to Somerfords Winter Ride the week before Christmas if all goes to plan.........

Dressage, Stropps, Rosettes and Jumping.

2011-11-28T17:56:00.000Z

This week I have been up to my best friends to use her lovely outdoor school. A good run out for the wagon and something a bit different for Mez. I wanted to practice my medium trot, counter canter and riding in spurs in Helen's school but Mez had an agenda of her own! She can get quite strong with me when I ride in spurs and although some of the work is of better quality she tends to get her little knickers in a knot! So we began our schooling and sure enough she began to get cross and strong in the canter so I took off my spurs and continued. However the canter was horrendous and she was strong and rushing so I eventually asked Helen if I could borrow her draw reins for 5 minutes. I then had a canter round on both reins before taking them off and having a much improved canter. Sometimes she becomes so strong that I am unable to hold her together and keep her forward so the draw reins mean that Mez pulls against herself for a few minutes and gets her stropp out of her system!

As you can see in this last one she is getting cross!!! Anyway she worked very hard and we did a lot of canter although she was finding it hard to canter across the diagonal on the left rein...I thought she was just being stroppy at first but I think she may have tweaked something as I had problems with it in my dressage tests on Saturday.
So on Wednesday Peter, Jack, Stan, Mez and I went out in howling gales for a hack and she was so well behaved. Probably one of the best hacks we have ever had together! Thursday I reclipped her as she had got really fluffy! Friday morning I took her round to the school and her canter was so lovely! I just wanted to keep cantering, she came up in front instead of pulling onto her forehand and my transitions were infront of the leg. I ran through both tests without practising the rein back otherwise she will not halt properly in my test as she is anticipating and halts are not our strong point at the best of times!!!

We took her to the British Dressage on Saturday at Myerscough and she was fantastic. We were 2nd with 70% in the Prelim and got 61.07% in the Novice. She was struggling with the left canter and this showed up in both tests as she broke early in the prelim when I cantered across the diagonal and in the novice I couldn't get the counter canter on that rein. I know there is something not right as she was the model pony otherwise and she was not being naughty. So we headed home with a blue rosette and some prize money!!! Result!!!

On Sunday we went back to Myerscough to help Helen with Tolly. He is her new horse and this was the first time she had been out jumping with him. He was such a good boy and you can see them below in the jump off. They make a great team and ended up in forth place.....big smiles all round! I need to apologise for the videoing as it was done on my dinosaur phone!!!!

Naughty hacks, Supplements4horses, bbq's & nice farmers!!

2011-11-18T19:26:00.000Z

Ok so it is such a long time since I blogged that I thought we'd better play a bit of catch up!! As you can see from the above picture, Alex is still coming to ride Millie and this picture was taken before she went off on her first hack alone. I am glad to say that the pair of them were both very well behaved and now hack out regularly alone. Alex is becoming all grown up now and has a proper job and lots of college work to fit in around Millie. The dark nights have put paid to later hacks in the week but we still manage to get Millie out at a weekend.

Mez has been periodically ridden over the last few months...mainly when I have entered for a dressage competition and thought I had better pull my finger out!!! She was 7th in the Pet Plan Prelim Festival and 12th in the Novice at Myerscough at the end of October. Not bad for a bog pony....I think it was the dressage shoes that really made a difference that I asked Barry to put on!! This is us in the school we are allowed to use just 10 mins up the road. We have made some good friends since moving to Dolphinholme. I have entered us for dressage next Saturday and will be doing the prelim and the novice.

Tilly has been very naughty recently during our hacks!!!! She has been having temper tantrums on the road and stopped the poor road workers at one point!! So I have changed the fields round so they are in a bigger one and also put her back onto just hay. So no haylage for Tilly now.......I hacked her today and she was a bit better but she is still ginger and feisty!!!! We are aiming to go to Somerford Park the week before Christmas with Helen and Tolly to do the winter farmride which is six miles long. There are jumps on it but I am not meant to be jumping until the new year so Tilly and I will just be having a canter.....hopefully together.....
I am going to take her to the beach in the next couple of weeks and have asked Peter to come with me in case he needs to catch her and leg me back on!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to now start her canter work and make sure that she stays sound before going to Somerford in December. If all goes according to plan then I will start jumping after Christmas and aim to start eventing again next year.......I'm excited already!

Kirkby and Maisey have been having a summer of fun!

They have been very well behaved since we moved and we have now got a mains electric fence and at last Maisey has a healthy respect for it!! The field shelter is split into two stables and they have a haynet in there each night. I have just rugged them up this week and I did think that Kirkby would have something to say about it but he acted like he couldn't care less....maybe he will be sensible after all!!!!!!!!
Kirkby started kicking the stable before we moved and was injected with steroids which did not seem to help...I have narrowed it down to the straw so I changed him onto barley straw to see if that made a difference. It has improved things but he is still kicking and something is really irritating his feet so I am going to have to put him on shavings this week. Fingers crossed please!

Supplements 4 Horses is going really well and had just started it's own blog this week. Please be sure to ask if you can not find the product you are after and I will do my best to source it for you get the best price available.

All in all, life in Dolphinholme is very good and Nateby is just a distant memory. Peter and I have learnt how to BBQ and the farmer even stopped by to let us know when they would be shooting so the horses would be ok!!! That's a first.....at Nateby we just used to find them in the field!!!

WANTED - Safe, Sensible Horse

2011-11-10T20:33:00.000Z

WANTED SAFE AND SENSIBLE HORSE

For mature lady rider. Wanted for hacking (must hack alone), dressage and all RC activities. 15.1hh - 15.3hh, aged between 7 - 12. Middleweight type, non spooky and not too forward going. Gelding preferred. Must be easy to do and have no vices or bad habits such as rearing, bucking etc.

5 STAR private home for life for the right horse.

Please contact me if you know of anything that might be suitable.

Tel: 07757697902 or text for email address.

Many thanks in advance

The bog pony pulls it out of the bag!!!!!!!!!!

2011-11-04T13:02:00.000Z

It was the Pet Plan Festivals at Myerscough College last weekend. Mez and I had qualified for the Novice and the Prelim classes but unfortunately the Novice was on Saturday and the Prelim was on Sunday! I had intended to school three times in the week but I was not very well so we only made it to the school on Thursday afternoon for one session! I had only practiced my medium trot once, not tried medium canter as she is a little on the forehand at the moment and I wanted to work on her collection and engagement. She worked well on the Thursday, I'm sure the go faster full clip helps!, and I was pleased with her. I didn't have time to school on Friday and we bathed her much to her disgust and tried to make her look like a shiny dressage pony!!!
Saturday I plaited and set off, my time was 12.47pm. I went on my own so I left plenty of time for faffing around and it was raining by the time I arrived. It was truly horrid weather so I was very pleased to see Margo who ended up being my groom and carrying rugs etc! Poor Margo!! Anyway she worked in well, just a little tense but we have not been out very much at all this year. However, the arena was full of plant pots and trees and banners and the judges had a huge white box each (there were two judges). She was better than I expected her to be as she can be spooky but the test was very tense. The centre line was a little wobbly, I think we had both forgotten how long it seems when you enter at A!! In my first canter she spooked at a flower pot and broke behind but apart from that she was good, a little strong in places, but just tense not silly. As the test progressed she relaxed and the second half was definitely better than the first half!!
We came away with 61.92% and ended up in 12th place. So off we went back up the hill with a stop at the garage so Mez could explain to daddy why there was no rosette!!!!

Sunday I was on at 4.53pm so we had a normal day and I went to get her in about 2pm. As I got to the field I could see her careering around with her tail in the air going flat out and trying her hardest to pull off her shoes!!! By the time she had stopped she could barely breathe so was so exhausted!!! So we hosed her within an inch of her life and re plaited and sponged the white lather off her! She worked in really well and I wore my spurs for the prelim in an attempt to have a little more say if she decided to spook at anything. She was a lot more settled in the arena and only spooked at P when I was doing my free walk which I think lost me about 3 marks. Apart from that I was very pleased with the test considering the amount of practice we had managed! There was only 3 to go after me so I stayed on her until we found out my score as the prize giving is mounted and they place to 10th. Sure enough I had 65.45% and came 7th. We had our rosette put on and then had to go back into the arena for a lap of honor which made me worry more than the dressage!!! However she was such a good girl even with the pony next to us rearing up and messing around!
So it just goes to show that my little bog pony can pull it out of the bag when she needs to.......although next year I want a big sash as well as a rosette!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Supplements4horses October Newsletter

2011-10-04T08:35:00.000+01:00

Well it's all go here at Supplements 4 Horses with orders flooding in and I would like to thank you all for making us a success. The weather is fantastic at the moment and all thoughts of those cold rainy days have drifted off...at least for a while! Winter will be here before we know it though and the nights are drawing in quickly now. The dreaded Mud Fever will be creeping up on us and lack of turn out will be a nightmare for some people.

Have you relented and clipped your horse yet? New on the market from Blue Chip are two
Instant Calmers -
These have FREE Postage on at the moment so area very good offer. They may help if your horse is a little nervous of clipping.

With less field turnout many have to turn to sand paddocks so care needs to be taken that sand is not digested. Equimins Sand-Ex Pellets are an all natural dietary pelleted fibre product Psyllium (Plantago ovata) combined with Probiotics and Prebiotics. For use when sand is in the intestinal canal, as a natural fibre and microbial supplement to greatly assist the natural flow of food through the intestinal tract. Equimins have developed this product to help keep your horse's digestive system healthy.

With Christmas just around the corner look out for the Chirstmas Competition on Horsemart, Lots of fantastic prizes to be won, including one from Supplements 4 Horses.

Well enjoy the rest of this Indian summer because I'm sure by the next newsletter things will be very different and once again thank you for your business.

Jeni

Does your horse need a Hair Cut?? Clipping Service Available

2011-10-02T19:31:00.000+01:00

Is your horse getting a little hot when you're riding him? Would he like a hair cut? I can clip your horse for you. Very reasonable rates and discount for second clip on the same horse. Just give me a ring or message me and I'll come over and get the job done. 07810281226

First Prize and Christmas Competitions!

2011-09-30T08:41:00.000+01:00

Wednesday came around quickly and bearing in mind that I have only schooled Mez twice in the last few months I felt a little unprepared for the British Dressage at Myerscough that afternoon! Peter and I had taken her up to my best friends school on Sunday where I was very pleased with her work so I hoped that she would go as well for me in the arena as she had there. The weather was fantastic and was so hot we were allowed to ride without our jackets, although after gaining 5lbs I was not altogether sure this was a good look!
We worked in outside and she went as well as could be expected, a little on the forehand, as you can see above and not quite as soft as she has been, but all things considered I was happy. The test itself was in the smaller indoor which Mez finds very scary! I really needed a good trot round first so she could see the mirror and the gallery etc. After managing to get down the scary passage we trotted across the arena only to find that we could not possibly get anywhere near the gallery and had to pretend we were a banana! Then the bell went and we started! All I can say is that the bits that went well, went well and the other bits were awful! She wouldn't go near the door, the gallery and she didn't like A as the light was shining in through the gap so I just kept smiling and continued to ride forward, we did everything we needed to, albeit not with the correct bend or on the track in places but hey ho.....we stayed in the arena this time!!!
So with a score of 63.42% and this was only Prelim, we loaded up and went home via Sainsburys for some sausages and had a BBQ in the garden. It was about 8.30pm when we went into the house and I looked at the results on Myerscough's webpage......we had WON our section!!!! So Peter, bless him, took me back down to get my sheet and rosette!!

So now we need to up our game as we have now qualified for the Prelim and Novice sections of the Pet Plan Area Festivals at Myerscough at the end of October. I need to find a school I can hack to and practice!

Supplements 4 Horses is getting busy now with online orders coming in. Please check out my site www.supplements4horses.co.uk and let me know what you think. I am involved with a very exciting Christmas competition run by Horsemart this year so make sure you all enter as the prizes sound very good. If you can not find the supplement you need or you can get it cheaper else where let me know and I will try and match it. Many thanks is advance.

FOR SALE / LOAN - LOVELY TRI COLOURED MARE

2011-09-29T20:15:00.002+01:00