http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/ Horse forums for discussing horses, horse riding, equine care and equestrian sports. en Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:15:16 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/ http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37980&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:52:37 GMT And when I said it was the mother of all Holly threads - I meant it! On the plus side you'll see some ridden pictures of Holly (a rarity!) a few videos too and some brilliant results! But this is a thread of 4 shows in one so you’ve been warned (I don’t expect many of you to actually read my dribble - replies on the forum are hitty missy anyway)

Holly and I have been up to loads recently (well, in saying that, the past two weeks she's had a little holiday as reward for all her hard work!). I would do mini threads to update you all, but we've done so much I just can't, and chances of getting replies to all of them is minimal so here's a massive thread to bore you with (skip to the pictures if you like!).

As a general update Holly's catching has improved 10 fold since my thread about toying with selling her. Thank god I love her to bits and don't make rash decisions because she's been a complete super star since that 3 hour catching episode. I've changed my method a bit too, I've visited her field as much as I can, gone to give her an apple and scratch and walked away. Sometimes that's meant adding an hour onto my journey to places (the bus only runs every hour so I have to leave an hour earlier than planned for work etc) but it's been worth it. I've even put a leadrope on her, then let it hang there whilst feeding her treats, then unclipped and walked away. Usually Holly would run away if you don't get her straight away. This has meant when I bring only Abbi in, Holly's came over for a treat as she doesn't know if she's coming in or not. Of course this has turned Abbi into a right pest (she never had a catching issue!) but she gets the same treatment as Holly of a scratch and a treat. My horses have never been so happy to see me - food bribery all the way! So I've been able to take a load of photos that are something like this:



Holly would have usually ran at the sight of my camera in the field! So I'm mega chuffed on that part.

We've been having weekly lessons now with a ODE/Dressage instructor who is a BHSAI too. These lessons are only 30 minutes but I cannot believe how far Holly has came in that space of time, or me for that matter! We've had a consistent outline from her and great improvement on our canter lead (something we always struggle with). I've also had a couple of lessons off a friend who works for a training yard for competitive sports horses. Okay, Holly's no sports horse, but we've done our lessons in walk only and WOW have I used muscles I didn't know about (and WOW does Holly feel way taller when she's actually using herself!) The benefit of having my friend give me lessons is she can directly say "Kelly you're cr@p at this" and so she knows already what I need to improve on, the BHSAI is still "getting to know" Holly and I but my friend has known us for years (and me since I was little!). In my second lesson she got on board, walk only, to get a real feel for Holly. The work she got out of Hols was brilliant but I must warn you my friend is about 5ft 8 and so there was a far bit of pony squishing (but only for around 5 minutes). It's a lot easier to have a lesson from someone who's ridden your horse before - here's a pic:



Anyway, our lessons were all in prep for consecutive weeks of outings. Starting with dressage.
We've already done dressage once before, and this was the same location ran by the same riding club. We were doing Intro B again, same test as before, but I booked us for prelim 13 too as with our lessons I really wanted to push ourselves. In the last intro we did we came 6th out of 9, percentage was like 61% and we got some good comments to improve upon. This time round we aimed to beat it. I didn’t take Abbi to the dressage this time - Holly had a lot of shows ahead so I wanted to really prep her for it and focus on her. I didn’t do much of a warm up, I’ve always been under the impression Holly goes better with less of a warm up, plus the intro wasn’t very testing so that was, technically, the warmup.
Our Intro went really well I felt. I had a caller, but I knew the test off by heart so that helped too. Holly was great, we had a very long trot around the outside of the ring which worked in our favour as it settled Holly down. However, Holly kept napping at the entrance, but no where near as bad as she would have years ago - she’s come on so much. The intro is very simple. but nonetheless I could have made silly mistakes. Thankfully I didn’t! Holly was a superstar and things went really well. They announced the results straight after all the horses had been (there were 11 in the class and I’d been the 8th rider so I didn’t have long to wait). I couldn’t believe our results! We came 3rd out of 11 with a percentage of *I think* 62% (or 144 out of 230) . This percentage isn’t much of an improvement from before, but it was a different judge and she seemed to mark a lot more harshly than the judge from last time. I was super duper proud of my pony. In fact I was so proud that I ended up being late for my prelim (SO TYPICAL!) - I thought there were loads of people ahead of me - apparently not!
So our prelim started off very rocky. We didn’t get a warm up at all, I got to canter over to the entrance (the indoor dressage arena is entered through the warmup arena) like some form of pony club child, Holly didn’t really know what to make of it. Annoyingly I had to wait 5 minutes to enter the ring as they’d called me just as the girl infront of me had started her test, so I was waiting when I could have been warming up. But that’s no ones fault but my own! Naturally, the prelim wasn’t the best. We’ve ridden it A LOT better at home and in our lessons. My instructor had given me tips to cover up our weak points and I was just dwelling on getting the right canter lead. Annoyingly Holly was completely great and picked up the right canter lead on both reins, but I thought she was on the wrong lead on the right rein and brought her back down to trot to try again. On the video it looks like Hols broke into trot, and on our comments it says she did but admittedly she got the blame for me idiotic misread of her canter lead! Oh well, life goes on I hope Holly can forgive me for that! Holly motorbiked around the arena in canter, but I definitely had fun (I think Holly did a little bit!). I was very surprised with the scoring, we got 63%, but sadly came last out of the class of 8. But I think she was extremely fair, and I know where to improve (notably with an actual warmup!). Interestingly the judge for my prelim was the same judge for my intro last time, so she seems to be a very lenient judge.

Overall the dressage went great, I was super proud of little one and we had a great time. I definitely want to try more dressage with both my horses - it’s so much less faffy than showing! I and love that you can go in and then leave (no waiting around!). The dressage was a great set up for our first show of May.

This show was an Equifest and Royal London qualifier, but that’s not why we entered. We were intrigued to go to a new venue, and this was the first grass show of the year. I spent ages getting Holly ready and she was the whitest she’s ever been, but I put a snuggy hood on to make sure!:
Before:

After:





At the wagon:


I entered a whopping amount of classes for me, poor Holly was EVERYWHERE that day (I usually only enter 3 classes max at big shows). My little sister had a shot as well and I had her in a lot of stuff (I think I spent nearly £50 on entries).

We entered:
- Ridden Coloured native/traditional/cob
- In-hand Coloured native/traditional/cob
- Tack and Turnout under 12.2hh (they’re not going to notice that Hols is 12.2hh)
- Young Handler

My little sister’s stuff was first, and oh my gosh was she so cute! We borrowed a tweed off a lady at the yard with matching bows for her hair - she looked completely the part! Our first class was the tack and turnout - my sister’s favourite as she just sits there being a lead rein kid whilst I lead her majesty around! Annoyingly we’d forgotten my sisters kid stirrups so had to do twists in my stirrups. Not exactly ideal, but my little sister explained very cutely to the judge about how “my sister forgot to bring my stirrups”. The judge was very thorough, and in all honesty I hadn’t really pushed the boat out as much as I usually would as I’d spent HOURS cleaning Holly (I didn’t get in until like 10pm from bathing!) The judge even picked up Holly’s feet! Tack and Turnout really is one of those parent scarers as the kid just has to sit there and it all is a question as to whether the parent (or in this case the sibling) cleaned the tack well - I was more nervous than my sis. There was only 3 in this class though so it wasn’t too bad, I knew my sister would be very disappointed to not get a rosette (she’s never NOT got a rosette before and frankly I don’t want to deal with the day where she doesn’t get one!) We came 2nd out of the class, beaten by an immaculate Welsh A who was being lead reined by a mother with ALL the in-hand gear on. Very fairly placed - and we had qualified for the junior championships (which we were a bit indifferent about as there were so many classes before hand to wait for!)



Then it was straight back in the ring for the young handler. We whipped Holly’s saddle off gave her a quick brush and wished my little 7 year old sister luck - it was a very big class as it was a Royal London Qualifier. A lot of the young handlers had adults with them which was a first for me to have seen. After all if the kid can’t deal with the horse they’re handling then if an adult interferes surely that detracts from the kid being a young handler? Anyway, it was just as well an adult was with one of the kids as his little shetland pony, despite being a complete angel until that point, decided to rear up full height and box with his front legs during the line up. The child’s dad hunched over the boy to protect him and took 3 or 4 nasty boxes in the back by the little shetland. The pony had caught the boy on the arm, the paramedics gave it a look but it was just bruised. The shetland, of course, remained perfectly calm and unapologetic about the whole thing and stood like a darling after that exposure. The little boy continued with the class and didn’t leave the ring after being checked. Whilst all this was going on my little sister produced an IMMACULATE trot up for the judge. The judge made them work very hard, my sister had to trot Holly from the front to the back of the group, as well as do a group trot and then later had to walk Holly and trot her away all the way around the arena. She dealt with it all really well - it’s very difficult to tell a kid that they have to do these certain things but that the judge may ask them to do extra things as well but my sister coped fine. Holly wasn’t easy for her either, at every given opportunity she was trying to eat grass but my sister just kept turning her in circles when she did so (clever sis!). Then it came to calling out the placings, my Mum and I were a bundle of nerves (and tears!). Emotions raised further when my sister wasn’t called first and there was a massive wait until...... she was called SECOND! I couldn’t believe it! It was a well deserved placing and we were ecstatic! Not to mention the fact that my sister had then qualified for the championship AGAIN but also for bloomin Royal London Show! I couldn’t believe it! Neither could my sister! Here’s the photos, note the naughty shetland in the first picture getting held by an outsider whilst the little boy was being checked by the paramedics:









Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTfQAQ9mrvo
(note my pushy parent voice in this one!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-RQAUkXhV4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2LizqgdUzY

Classes were running very slowly in the adult rings, which worked out quite well. We got the kids championship out the way before my classes. We were faced with a slight dilemma though, as my sister had qualified for the championship in both a ridden and in-hand class which were we to do? And because she had got the same placing both and it was just a “junior championship” which wasn’t split in-hand or ridden. We asked the organisers and they told us to do the one with the higher placing - not helpful as they were both 2nd placings! Anyway my little sister being lazy really wanted me to lead her on the lead rein, whereas me, being competitive, knew she’d have a better chance at the championship if she did it in hand. Sadly my sister won the argument after saying she didn’t care if she won the championship so the saddle went back on and Holly was lead about for a bit. Of course the competition was high, and we didn’t get any championship placings. Annoyingly, the girl who won reserve did so in-hand, I could have sworn my sister would have been in her shoes had she bothered to do in-hand!




So after a long wait back at the wagon, I listened out to the tannoy for the coloured classes. My ridden wasn’t too long away so I made my way down after a 10 minute warning from the tannoy and went into the warmup ring. I have always been under the impression Holly goes better with a short warm-up, I’ll later conclude that this is infact incorrect, but for this show I did a very short walk trot canter on both reins. It was very tight in the warmup ring and people were stood on their horses nattering so it was quite tight.
It wasn’t long until the ridden native/traditional/cob class was called for and I went in the ring expecting the competition to be really high - this class was a Royal London and Equifest Qualifer. I was shocked to find that there were 3 of us in total in this class. I was completely amazed to be honest, the show itself was a really great turnout but not one for the coloureds it seems! So it was Holly and I against another native (large native) and one traditional. Natives are “rarer” than traditionals in the coloured showing world, and I wasn’t quite sure how the judge would react - they tend to favour traditionals. The other native was lovely, a show pro, brilliant canter transition and picked up off her leg brilliantly. The traditional had a hairy individual show where she struggled to get a canter out of her but did manage, although on the wrong leg.
My round wasn’t my best.. After seeing this back I think Holly and I definitely need more practice, and I feel I clung to Holly a bit and made the overall picture look a bit rubbish. For our first canter, Holly struck off on the wrong leg but I only allowed her to do it a couple of strides and then I corrected her. Nonetheless it did look slightly messy. Overall however, I don’t feel we did too bad a round! (constructive criticism welcome):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbdZKhneNzM

I had no idea how we’d place. The large native did the best individual show but judges do favour traditionals.... the traditional did one rein of canter on the wrong leg without correction and wasn’t really “tidy”. But I mean, with there only being 3 of us, I didn’t really feel like placings meant much. I’ve been against a lot higher caliber of horses and a lot stricter judges (don’t get me started on CHAPS!). Nonetheless, I was super chuffed with our placing - we came 2nd :)
In honesty though, my placing was met with mixed feelings. Although the 1st placed horse was nice, I felt Holly was flashier and if only we’d got that right strike off we may have come 1st, but I know what I need to improve on! Mind you, I was overwhelmed with the fact that I’d then qualified for Equifest AND Royal London! I have shed a fair few tears over that! My little pony is a superstar! Who cares if the class was small?! I’d also qualified for the ridden championship too which I thought we’d attend just for the novelty of riding alongside big hunters!












We had a massive break between the ridden and the in hand. I was completely sweating in my tweed - it was over 15 degrees and complete blue skies! Holly was getting a bit bored too, but bless her she doesn’t complain too much. The in-hand class was a disappointment, Holly and I didn’t get placed and I don’t really remember what happened (I was a bit fed up by this point, my first class had been 9am and the inhand’s didn’t start until 4pm so it had been a long, hot day). I do, however, remember my class having a black traditional yearling in it - yes black. The only thing it had was white stockings, no markings or anything, the judge quickly identified this and told the male handler that that wasn’t a coloured gypsy cob and that it was, in fact, a black gypsy cob. The man seemed confused, but he wasn’t exactly there to be serious (he was dressed in tracksuit bottoms and nike trainers). He did the whole class nonetheless but didn’t get placed. I remember being disappointed that we didn’t get placed and my Mum was surprised we didn’t as the competition wasn’t exactly brilliant but oh well, life goes on and you can’t moan much!

Then Holly and I find us in a catch 22 situation where we’d been waiting around so long for the ridden championship that we didn’t want to head home now. The championship didn’t happen until half five! It was a very long day! Holly and I stuck out like a sore thumb! But I was very proud of her as she had as much right to be there as anyone else and despite everyones funny looks we had earned our place there - and plus we had much fun in the group canter!
Of course, we didn’t get placed. But it was refreshing to see a Welsh D to be placed as champion as opposed to a Hunter-type! It was VERY well deserved!

So that was the end of our Equifest and Royal London Qualifier show! We had an absolute BALL but there is no way I’m ever doing that many classes again. Holly and I were completely knackered we couldn’t have got on the box quick enough. Of course I went home with these!!!


I still don’t think it’s sunk in yet - a month on! I cannot believe it! And if we have even a little chance of getting there I’ll be happy to do my one class and go. Very exciting stuff! We’ll see what we can do anyway, no promises we’ll be able to go, but if so I’m sure you guys will all know about it!

Holly didn’t stay clean for long. This is her 10 minutes after being let out in the field - my hard work completely undone!



So we had some cooling off time from that show, and a chance to get our barings and do a bit of hacking in between. I took Abbie on a trail ride the following weekend and then another show quickly crept up on us the following weekend. This show was to be our second grass show, and it was in aid of the Grass Sickness charity but the standard was exceptionally high as it was a prestigious native pony show.
The Large M&M class had 16 entrants alone and that knocked the whole show behind schedule but it was very fun to watch - some complete beauties in that one. This was Autumn’s first ridden show so here is a video of her completing her first ridden show, for those who are interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OuuPAghL1o

I’d entered Holly into in-hand and ridden coloured, in-hand coloured 4 years and over and Young handler (but this time for both my sisters as it was split in ages) and I entered the open ridden just because I could ride with everyone on our shared wagon - so all five of us from the wagon were in the same class.

This show didn’t run as smoothly as the last. I got my riddens out the way fine, but there was no warmup ring so I had to warmup where the wagons were parked in a very small area. Subsequently my warmup consisted of a few trots and an attempt at canter.
The coloured class went quite well, not as well as the previous show though. Holly wasn’t was forward going and my first canter was quite messy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZW3E4Yw9UM

Our competition was quite high, 2 traditionals and 2 natives and they all did good shows bar one of the natives who cantered on the wrong leg throughout and the girl was generally struggling with (the girl is circling it in my video). They were only awarding up to 4th place annoyingly, so the judge awarded two 4ths to prevent people missing out. I came 4th out of 5, and the girl who was struggling came 5th (but the judge awarded her a 4th). The judge said it was very close between the two of us and she “couldn’t choose the best”. I think she thought I was younger than I am as the other girl was around 12 so she took pity on us a bit. I still maintain that I was called first so I came 4th! :lol:
The ridden open took AAAAGES to start. We were all walking around the ring for ages together talking as the judge announced “I’m not starting the class yet” (she’d been instructed by a pushy mother that her daughter must be in the class so we had to wait for her to finish her class before starting ours. We waited around 30 minutes for her it was disgraceful- and she didn’t even get placed!
When it did start I was very happy, Holly was more forward going. She still wasn’t going as well as at the previous show, but I was happy. I lost my stirrup in this class, so that knocked me a bit and a ballsed up my show. I still think it went okay though.
Holly and I didn’t get placed though - the standard was very high.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B57jtegHno8

Then it was the in-hand classes. The junior ring had also started to open up so I had to keep an eye on my ring. The ring I was in was dragging on forever and my littlest sister’s class was about to start so I started to panic. I didn’t do the best of round due to this - ended up turning Holly toward me in one of the classes as I wanted to be out of the show (I’d been waiting for ONE horse for ages to come in the class). They continued to award only up to 4th, and to be honest my lack of concentration meant we didn’t get placed in both of them - Holly was a superstar. Thankfully, they held my sister’s class up for me so it wasn’t too bad.

My sister’s entered young handler. It was split into ages, 4-11 and 12-16 year olds. My sister’s are aged 7 and 12 so for the first time ever they could do similar classes with the same pony! It was great to watch. It was little sister’s go first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqG4vsxl9pc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY9l7tJd_nQ

She did so well! It was a large class, and she came 4th!! :D Very chuffed with them!
I personally think she should have been placed higher but I am very biased. In truth I’m trying to turn my sister and Holly into some form of showing partnership (and kinda live my childhood through her!) but it isn’t working as my sister isn’t one to be overly enthusiastic about anything so she likes to make minimal effort with most things.

Then it was my middle sister’s go. It was great to get her involved. She hasn’t done a show since her first ever show, CHAPS, in March. She’s never actually shown Holly before as I tend to think they look odd together since my 12 year old sister is a good few inches taller than me! However she looked very smart and they did really well. The class was quite big and my sister was one of the few “young ones” of the group, the class was 12-16 year olds and most of them averaged at around 15-16 years old so my sister had her work cut out. She held her own though. It was such a shame though, due to lack of practice, and the fact that my sister was called out first to do her individual trot up, she turned Holly the wrong way (towards herself) and was the only one in the whole class to do this. Massive shame as the whole thing had gone brilliantly until then, you can hear my frustration on my video. I kinda blamed myself, I’d not given her any time to practice. Such a shame. She came last out of the whole class based on that, even though Holly was a complete darling and she handled her well. Luckily my sister was clever enough to lie to the judge when asked “is this your first show” so she didn’t look too bad when the judge kindly explained you should turn your horse away from you. She was just chuffed to be involved to be honest as she is usually our groom since we’ve given Abbi a break from showing. The show was good in providing all young handlers with rosettes so she didn’t walk away empty handed, which was great :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Fc07GUmy4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnTyJWbFqUA

So it was quite a disappointing result, overall. I think our previous show had put us in such a buzz that we thought we were getting somewhere with showing, that maybe we were capable of doing things we’d thought were impossible. But then again showing is so subjective you can’t take a huge amount away from it. I guess it’s annoying that in one minute you can qualify for Equifest and Royal London and then next minute you struggle to get placed whatsoever. I was mostly disappointed for my sisters, notably the youngest one, who received her lowest placing yet. But as I say showing isn’t very clear cut and it’s as much down to who your competition are as it is to how well you do yourself. I did get a sense that it would have been helped if we knew more people, but I’ll not go down to the bias of judges and the who-knows-who theme of the horse world! It was annoying that it only placed up to 4th place, and it was frustrating that in the ridden coloured there were two 4th places as not to leave people out. I guess it makes me sound like a trophy hunter but it’s nice to come back with a rosette regardless and placing up to 4th makes it very hard to get one. I cannot fault the turnout though, the native classes were PACKED as it was very much a native show as opposed to a general show. So many lovely examples of different breeds it really was a delight to be in a show that wasn’t filled with smart hunters! But yes, we came back with two 4ths and a special rosette, which we were chuffed with. Little Holly had been a superstar once again, and her holiday has been well deserved!

We’re back to being ridden now though, with the aim of doing loads a week on Saturday. We have the option of going cross-country schooling, doing a charity dressage and doing some showing! Still no idea which to choose, but I think we’ll be taking big sister Abbi to both too!

So yes, that’s everything Holly related up to date. I’ll be very surprised if anyone has read all of my blabber but for anyone who has, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the update.

Lots of love,
Kelly, Holly and Abbi

]]> Horse Pictures CautionToTheWind http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37980 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37979&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:50:28 GMT My friend took Billy to a show a couple of weeks ago. She thought you might like to see him how he looks now. He came second, would have been first... My friend took Billy to a show a couple of weeks ago. She thought you might like to see him how he looks now. He came second, would have been first but he reared in the ring.

]]> Horse Pictures micki http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37979 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37978&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:30:59 GMT I'm currently with E&L insurance. I've been meaning to change for a while, I've made no claims but they're constantly making 'little' changes that I have to ring up about to cancel so they won't charge me more. The icing on the cake came from an email I got today - in great big letters 'We've got this brilliant offer including 10% off your excess and 5% off for over 50's :D' Last I looked I wasn't over 50. Sounds fine, until I realised in absolutely miniscule writing underneath (to the point I had to squint), for this wonderful and fantastic service they're upping my insurance from £21 to £30 a month from July and I can't cancel it :rant:!!!!
On top of this, I've had multiple people tell me since I got it that it's not worth the paper it's written on, including hints from my vet!

So once I've got rid of these *******, I need myself some insurance! I'm having a look at petplan, but not sure how expensive they are.

Really all I'm looking for is vet's fees, public liability and insurance for my tack - anything else is a bonus. I'm hoping not to pay too much, but then I'd muchb rather spend a bit more on an insurance that aren't as money laundering and badly reputed as these people. I feel like I'm throwing my money down a well with them! ]]> General Equestrian Chat sazzy925 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37978 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37977&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:05:53 GMT As you may or may not have read I was considering finding a new home for Uva as I was struggling time wise and OH and I really want to look at... As you may or may not have read I was considering finding a new home for Uva as I was struggling time wise and OH and I really want to look at setting foot on the property ladder and generally being a bit more financially stable.

I was really tossing and turning as I couldn't bear to be without her but equally I was not enjoying her anymore as any time with her is rushed and compromised and I just felt guilty for even having her.

THEN

The perfect solution happened!

One of my old, and very brilliant sharers was contemplating getting a horse of her own (had horses in the past but sold up to start a family and sort career but is now in a position to own again).. And she is going to have Uva! On full loan to start with a view to buying down the line. It's ideal as not only do I know her well, Uva knows her and she knows (and adores) Uva quirks and all! And to top it off she loves the yard she is at so much that she intends on keeping her there!

And the icing on the cake is I am going to start sharing a little Irish cob called Soldier a coule of days a week and he is at the same yard. So not only will I not be without horses I will also be able to see Uva whenever I like and hack out regularly with her new owner.

So I plan on getting lots of pics of 'my' new boy this weekend (thing big dark bay with tree trunk legs- totally different to Uva!!) the official 'handover' won't be for a couple more weeks but She is 'sharing' Uva between now and then and I have got Soldier. This means we can sort everything out, get contract in place and just sew up the final details :)

I am over the moon with this solution and I can get over in this post quite how perfectly it has worked out. Uva's new owner is everything I could have ever wanted and I have the benefit of knowing her for a couple of years first!!! ]]> General Equestrian Chat loubylou http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37977 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37975&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:39:04 GMT I actually got Ava's groomed up and roped a helper in to stand her up nicely for some photos as all the pictures I have of her so far are just wandering in the field :D Really pleased with how she is looking now so thought i'd share. She turned 1 year at the end of May so is definitely in the gangly yearling phase but I am loving her :D She has her one and only show this year planned for September. She was due to go to Cheltenham Show as her first one as its very local for us but they went and cancelled it :rolleyes: So, just the one planned. I need to get some practice in as we have tried trotting inhand yet!!!


Here she is, taken at the weekend :)







Shows her new roan colouring a bit better:

]]> Horse Pictures Jessica http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37975 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37974&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:29:00 GMT Ok so ive heard people raving about the furminators for removing winter fluff, but are they really any better than the good old shed n blades? Im... Ok so ive heard people raving about the furminators for removing winter fluff, but are they really any better than the good old shed n blades? Im debating wether to invest in one or not to bother? ]]> General Equestrian Chat Abz http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37974 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37972&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:04:59 GMT as soon as you post on most forums, not so much here, people suddenly think your horse is in need of a vet, Amos is being an idle *** he just is he... as soon as you post on most forums, not so much here, people suddenly think your horse is in need of a vet, Amos is being an idle *** he just is he is that type of horse, he is fit healthy sound and happy but the second you ask for advice suddenly he has ulcers, and kissing spines, and navicular and suspensory issues......

so according to these people before I can even think about riding my horse and working through an issue I need to xray his back, scan his front legs, xray his hooves, and have him scoped....im not being funny but sometimes horses are just ****!

even after I theoretically throw what would be probably 5k worth of vets bills at him he probably is still going to be the same horse! Just because we can diagnose these things doesn't mean every horse has them ]]> General Equestrian Chat CityLights http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37972 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37971&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:41:35 GMT This is a pointless post really I just wanted somewhere to vent so sorry in advance.

I'm getting a bit fed up of people looking down on my ponies. When asked what I ride as soon as I mention ponies rather than horses people have been getting all snooty with me and acting like they can't do anything. Just because I choose not to brag about what they have been doing all over facebook doesn't mean they are incapable of anything! Grr.

My niece has a 13.2. He has been out of action recently (I was unaware of this until last night). Her mum mentioned they were going to have to buy a new horse to replace their pony to my husband. My husband said he was sure niece could borrow one or both of mine if she wanted to compete in the meantime only to be snootily put down by her saying they weren't up to scratch! What does she know! She has only seen one of them ridden once (we hacked around the block in a walk and my girl was perfectly well behaved)! I've offered several times if they want to ride but they have always said no. Normally I just ignore comments about my ponies but this just really annoyed me. Try to be nice and get it thrown back in your face.

Oh well won't offer in the future and will just get on with things in our own quiet way and go back to ignoring the rudeness from everyone else.

On the plus side my neighbour who I occasionally hack with has said she is going to a local show with her little boy and has a space in trailer for one of mine, so that should be fun (although may prove my ponies aren't up to scratch after all haha!). ]]> General Equestrian Chat moose http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37971 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37969&goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:53:06 GMT Just the one from Beyton... Image:... Just the one from Beyton...


And... Breathe... :) ]]> Horse Pictures Madnellie http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37969 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37968&goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:45:15 GMT Pfffffffffffffft So we went to our local dressage comp again on Saturday. I had entered the elementary thinking it was E42, but realised on... Pfffffffffffffft


So we went to our local dressage comp again on Saturday. I had entered the elementary thinking it was E42, but realised on Thursday it was E50. Looked at the test and fell about laughing. 10m circles in collected canter, simple changes on half 10m circles....our working canter is just about passable on a good day :lol: Anyway, was doing the novice too and the ele looked like a fun test, if a tad impossible for us, so went along with it. I tried it once on Friday evening and she was great, so that buoyed me quite a bit.

The grass was quite wet on Saturday but the land drains well so we were alright with me taking it steady. She warmed up nicely and we went in for the elementary (that was first, novice 2nd..hmm). She was SUCH a sweetheart. She really listened and did everything I asked. Yes there were times when she could've been more through and round, yes some of our transitions could've been clearer, but 10m circles on wet grass are a bit squeaky at the best of times! I was thrilled to bits with her as we came out :D










We then had 15mins to warm up for the novice, so I let her walk around on a loose rein for 10mins before having a quick trot and canter. We were cantering along no problem, turned slightly at the top of the warm up area and wham...back end went from under her and we both went crashing to the floor :( I leapt into the air and dived on her to check on her, shaking like a leaf (me, not her!). She was shocked, but fine. No scrapes, no sore bits, thank goodness. Not a single steward came to see if we were ok. I'm disgusted with the venue to be honest. If a horse falls, you go see if they're ok. You don't stand and stare from the other side of the field. Thankfully, Saffy and I are used to doing things by ourselves, so we were ok. I walked her around for a bit and then trotted her up. She was fine. I decided to take her in for the novice and if she felt at all hesitant or unbalanced I'd pull up.

Again, she did a lovely job. I rode very carefully, not pushing the canter on the circles etc and just generally nannying her around. I was still very pleased with her, she was so obedient and sweet.















It was a bit rainy :lol:

I went to see our scores and we got 57 in the elementary and 58 in the novice. To say I was gutted is an understatement. I really felt like we had both improved and done, on the whole, decent tests. They are 2 of our lowest ever marks. Was so let down. We've been working so hard and she has been doing such a good job, yet we get awful marks. It seems the better and more 'correct' she is working, the lower our marks get!!

AND!! The horse before me in the novice went wrong at least 4 times, so should've been eliminated. She didn't even finish the test. She got 56%!!! To only get 2% higher than a horse that didn't even finish the test is just insulting. And no, the moves it *did* do weren't worthy of Valegro or anything.

So I've made the decision to let dressage take a back seat for a bit. It's soul destroying continuing the way we are. I love schooling her and seeing her improve, but getting marks like that just takes all the enjoyment away. Having to hire transport too makes it a very expensive way to get upset. I'm not throwing in the towel, just taking a good break. I want to do something else with her, something where she won't be at a disadvantage because of her build etc. I'm thinking maybe TREC or some low-level endurance? I know very little about both of those things, so any advice anyone could give me on getting into either would be very much appreciated!

Haven't got much to offer, shopping is tomorrow! Have Bran Flakes though if anyone made it all the way through my rambling :) ]]> Horse Pictures gem http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37968 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37967&goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:29:16 GMT Hi Everyone Need a bit of advice about an injury my horse has recently had to her fetlock Some History: My horse came in slighty lame 5 weeks... Hi Everyone

Need a bit of advice about an injury my horse has recently had to her fetlock

Some History: My horse came in slighty lame 5 weeks ago and noticed when I tried to pick her legs up to pick out she was struggling and snatching out, if I kept tying she would do a little dance...... The was no heat and only a slight bit of swelling which I hose piped regulary.....I called the vet out and she put her on box rest for two weeks with bute twice a day. secand visit there was improvement but she had to stay on box rest with short time paddock turnout while I mucked out with bute once a day.... vet was out last Thursday and said she can go out on full turn out and slowly come back into work her suggestion was 3 days in walk then three weeks in walk and trot.

Can anyone tell me what should I do next I don't want torush things and the riding is,nt that important but I would like to canter at some point..

How long roughly will it take and can anyone give me instuctions what I should do after the 3 weeks in walk and trot some sort ol like time wise to ride and what I can and should,nt do

all advice will be very gratefull ]]> Horse Health angelfire http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37967 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37966&goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:18:22 GMT For some reason I nearly always ride about an hour before dusk. Winter and summer, that's just the way it is. Probably because I LOVE it! I'm really lucky to have the hill on my doorstep so no need for roadwork, and I quite often mis-time my ride and come back in the dark.

Last night I went beyond my normal hill and onto the next one, had a fantastic gallop, winged it in the half-dark down the 200yds of main road into the village (met my hero and talked trotting and got told off for riding my horse so late) then back onto my hill. It was drizzling and you couldn't see a lot. The 7 trotters who live up there joined me for the last section and there was a bit of faffing around at the gate because they wanted to follow me. I got home at 10 o'clock. It was amazing, one of the best rides I've had in ages.

Nearly as good as one I did by moonlight on the darling little stallion I trained over the winter, perfect conditions on the hill even though it was December. I was only going to take him out for 15 minutes because it was almost dark when I left, but I found I could see enough with the moon, so we did the normal 4 mile route. He'd never been up there before but I felt as safe as a king on him.

When I was a kid, if my mum went out to pick up my dad and left us home alone, I used to get the pony out of his stable and ride him round the block by moonlight.

Does anybody else do it? ]]> General Equestrian Chat eeek http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37966 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37965&goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:51:31 GMT I've decided it's time Hasty and Kilo tried their hooves at dressage. The problem is that I haven't the faintest idea what it is going to involve, or where to begin, or anything!

Obviously I have to learn a test. Where do I get the tests from? Do I have to buy them? I had a look on the internet but couldn't find any downloadable tests - maybe I'm being thick?!

What do we wear? Obviously we are going to start at a very low level but all the same I'm aware that trackie bottoms / driving bridles / bareback pads could be frowned upon... Kilo could wear Hasty's tack which is obviously not ideal but I'd rather ride him in the bareback pad as that's what we're both used to. Will this be allowed?

What's the deal with bits? Kilo has a driving bit so that probably won't do!

I am quite looking forward to this :). I don't think Hasty's dressage skills are going to set the world alight (unfortunately one stride of canter is equivalent to the entire width of a standard school and that does make things a little tricky) but Kilo is surprisingly good. I schooled him bareback today and he was fab! I had to stop after about 7 minutes because he had done two things brilliantly in the space of a minute and I didn't think we were going to get any better than that for our second ever schooling session :).

Also, is there any reason why an almost-beginner can't enter a walk-trot test on a nice quiet horse? ]]> General Equestrian Chat eeek http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37965 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37964&goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:50:31 GMT I had my first canter out and about in a field yesterday :D (well my first controlled one not on the roads and not involving a slightly white... I had my first canter out and about in a field yesterday :D

(well my first controlled one not on the roads and not involving a slightly white eyed, nose tickling warmblood :rolleyes: ).

It was on Max (the one I help out with on a Sunday). I wasnt going to ride (the yard has been a bit off with me), but OH said he wanted me to, and he would walk with me if we went out for 20 mins or so. So we did.

We went a completly different way, and ended up on a bridalway bit with a field to one side and a lane to another. We werent quite sure if we could get back to where we had come going down either route, so whilst OH googled us, he said for me to take Max for a canter "or whatever it is horses do" down the field. After a bit of muttering that I had never done it before, OH pointed out only minutes before I had said I felt safe on Max :rolleyes:

Off we went....

Max was an absolute star. He trotted first, and when I asked for canter it was like he couldnt believe it, and he got very excited, but not in a horrible way. I asked him to slow and he did, straight away, and then we walked for a about 10 seconds. I turned him around to go back and he waited for me to say, and I asked for canter and we were off again. It was fantastic. I had such a massive grin on my face as I was heading towards my OH. And Max was just so brilliant. He slowed again and stopped and we praised him and decided to head back. He was very pleased with himself and had a spring in his step all the way back :D ]]> General Equestrian Chat Mousey http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37964 http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37963&goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:05:13 GMT I dont actually want to start a debate, I just wanted some info really. How can you work out roughly how much a horse can carry (as in rider... I dont actually want to start a debate, I just wanted some info really.

How can you work out roughly how much a horse can carry (as in rider weight)?

I'm asking as my OH said he would like to try riding, especially as in his words "I'm going to be coming up with you all the time" :D

He is 6ft 5 and 20 stone (roughly) (ex rugby player). He doesnt look fat, but he is tall a heavy built (wide shoulders etc.).

Thanks

x ]]> General Equestrian Chat Mousey http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse-forums/showthread.php?t=37963