Forest Farmacy

Sam Penn finishes the season...

2010-11-01T04:21:00.000-07:00

To finish off the season we haded down to Somerset for what promised to be a pretty relaxing week at Aldon International with just one horse, Coevers Diamond Clover who was having his first attempt at a CCI*. After an incredibly cold first night, during which all the waters and taps froze as well as the door to our lorry things actually went rather well. I am begining to get acustomed to that dreaded feeling in the trot up when the ground jury send you to the holding box when I know there is nothing wrong with the horse, I am starting to think that the sadisic so-and-so's enjoy making me run repeatedly in my heels!! (I know I should probably wear 'sensible' shoes, but the last time I did the horse tripped me up so now I go with the heels....) Anyway, we got through the formalities in the end and by the time it came to the dressage I was feeling pretty confident. It has taken a very long time for Flynn to start working well in the dressage arens but (probably now that he is for sale) it is all starting to come together, so well in fact that I rode the test in a happy mouth snaffle. Flynn excelled himself and gave his best ever preformance to date, earning a mark of 48.8 to lie equal 15th.

With that bit out of the way we looked forwards to the fun bit, for all his youth and inexperience I always enjoy riding Flynn xc because he is so straightforward and easy and as yet he has never found any question too much. My only concern on this occassion was whether he would find the time a problem as the terrain was pretty tough with a long steep hill near the end. I need not have worried however, Flynn may not have the fastest gallop in the world but because he just keeps going to each fence without a great deal of 'setting up' he skipped round easily and galloped up the hill without any bother, finishing well inside the optimum time.

Fortunately after his exertions of the previous day Flynn trotted up well and giong into the final phase we had moved up to 12th place. Unfortunately we did not manage to finish on a clean sheet and 8 faults in the showjumping knocked us down to 20th place, although I believe he was still the highest placed 6yo.

Just to silence any criticism of his showjumping Flynn came out this weekend and won a 1.15 open class and was 2nd in the Foxhunter. It was also a chance for me to start getting to know the newest member of the squad, a 10yo chestnut mare named Kir Royale who has had some good form at BE100 level this year and will be hoping to move up to face some Novices in 2011. But for 2010 thats pretty much it, all the ponies will now have a bit of a holiday and the chance to go and get fat, hairy and dirty and generally take it easy for a while before we start to prepare for 2011....

Kerry Graw on 4 'faultitis' at Scope and a sad parting with Biggles...

2010-10-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

Picnic really enjoyed her trip to Scope festival and I had a great experience over the three days I was there. We arrived on the Wednesday night and got Picnic settled in as I wanted to be up early to walk the course on Thursday, I was quite surprised how wide the fences were and wished I had been round a few more courses at this height as we only moved up to Newcomers in June! It was a bit late to be worrying and we had a great round with only one pole down at the easiest fence that was there - Picnic managed all the combinations and got every stride spot on so I was delighted even though quite cross with myself for not keeping my concentration to jump the whole course clear! Unfortunately the next day we were still plagued by a 4 fault curse so missed out on qualifying for the championship but I was really pleased that she coped with the atmosphere and the jumps with ease. On returning we then headed off the attend the Blenheim Riding Club eventers challenge - something a bit different but thought a change is as good as a rest!!! Picnic absolutely loved the course and unfortunately jumped one of the brush fences so cleanly (and about 2 foot bigger than it was) that she jumped me out the saddle which meant on landing I had to add a circle to get back control and reapproach the next fence. She is now having a well deserved week off before we start back in training for the Blue Chip qualifiers.

I had to make the hard decision to sell Biggles as he is unlikely to withstand being a competition horse and I didn't want to take the chance when he could go on for years and have lots of fun as an allrounder and generally fun horse - very sad and also really frustrating as he is so talented! But its not all bad news as someone has got a fantastic horse to enjoy - I have found him a new home where he is being spoilt rotten and I am also getting regular updates on how he is getting on! Ze is enjoying life a bit too much and I wish he would tone down his exuberance a little as we parted company at the weekend during a schooling session when he decided monsters were hiding outside the school and sprung into action to escape unfortunately leaving me on the ground - he did return looking very confused as to what I was doing down there!!! Next on the agenda will be looking for my Biggles replacement horse as Picnic is getting lonely competing on her own, so hopefully next time I will be able to update you on how the search is going ....

A recap of the past few months from Anna Bailey

2010-10-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

My blogs have been delayed slightly because I have been busy finishing my Equine Sports Massage course work but I have now passed all my exams, woo hoo! And dare I say it I am still on target for this seasons eventing goals!

Firstly I’ll go back to July to the 1* at Brightling. After finding the course at Eridge very easy I was confident that Timmy would be fine with the cross country at Brightling. July is a lovely month for me as we have Eridge which is ten minutes away from me and Brightling which is half and hour away.

I had dressage on the Saturday and then jumping on the Sunday which is great because I can work Timmy for a long as needed for the dressage without making him too tired to jump. This turned out to be a blessing as I ended up working him for an hour and a half before the trot up to get rid of the anxiety. He was then still so excited and sweaty I had to wash him before the trot up and then work him for another hour before my test! It’s a good job he is awesome as I was shattered!

The dressage test went well, one judge loved him and the other was not so impressed so we ended up half way up the leader board, so at least we weren’t last…. His test was fairly accurate up still a little tense in places and rein back is something to be worked on all winter!!

The next day I went back for the jumping. Well I couldn’t have asked for more. A double clear around out first 1*! I went as fast as I could across country and only got 4 time penalties. We finished in 21st position in our first international event. Woo hoo!

The only problem with going so well around the 1* was that this meant I had no excuses to then take him to do the intermediate at Wilton….

After being thoroughly spoilt with the previous two events, I had the shock of my life in August. Wilton was three and a half hours away, Aston Le Walls was the same and Highclere was three hours….. not only was this exhausting it has also bankrupted me in diesel!!

Wilton was a lovely event. Everything is fairly close together and the arenas were nice and flat. Timmy is a fairly good dressage test for this level. He is getting better every time out. He then had two down show jumping, one of which was my fault and the other his. He then flew around the massive cross country course to gain his first clear at intermediate! The course at Wilton is quite complicated but half way around they have a huge drop into a quarry, then you have to jump up two big steps at the bottom to a skinny arrow head. I was so proud of him as he made nothing of it. That was definitely worth the trip.

Aston Le walls, however wasn’t…. I should know by now that if I get early times to an event far away I should either not bother going or go the night before. I do sometimes think I am super woman and try and do everything. This never goes well. A 3am start to leave the yard by 4am – drive 3.5 hours, walk the course and then ride….. sounds exhausting. By the dressage I had lost the will to live and coffee/red bull wasn’t even helping. We did an great dressage test to get 35.5 (maybe because both of us were so tired). I then went to show jump and not only were they running an hour late but the heavens opened. By the time I went in the arena we were both soaked and shivering. Needless to say we had SEVEN fences down!!! I have never in my life had this many fences down in one round. I wont even begin to explain how this happened as I think the explanation is earlier in this paragraph. We put this day down to a learning experience and a long road trip!

I had two weeks before Highclere so decided to take Timmy show jumping to make sure the Aston Le Walls trip was just a fluke. He jumped two super clear rounds so this put my mind at rest.

So not dwelling on the bad day, we headed out to Highclere. I had never been to Highclere before but I would definitely go back as the courses are amazing and it is a beautiful setting.

The day started well with a good dressage test in the pouring rain. Both my mum and Nina thought it was his best test all year but the judge gave me 41. Oh well, it is work in progress. We then had three down show jumping which was a little disappointing but it was a very big distracting arena with lots of people watching and walking around the stands. I will get this sorted over the winter! The cross country course was big and technical but jumpable. Again as I set off across country it started pouring with rain but this didn’t phase Timmy. He hopped and skipped around the course with only one slight wobble coming into the water as the rain was making circles but he jumped in so I was really happy. Another intermediate clear!

Our next trip will be fairly local again, thank god! South of England 2* - scary! The main aim of next weekend will be to complete and give Timmy a good educational run around the cross country course as it will be the biggest and most technical he has done.

Our dressage test on the Saturday went okay but he is very capable of doing a smart test when he’s more relaxed so this winter will be spent doing lots of dressage and show jumping. He actually warmed up very well but the movements do come up quite quickly and he has never competed at this level before. Apart from the tension our only major mistake was in the turn on the haunches to the right where Timmy decided it would be much easier to lift both front feet off the ground and spin to the right rather than just step around….. We have lots to work on but there is a definite improvement.

Sunday was jumping day. This competition was the first he had ever done where you go cross country and then show jump in reverse order on the Sunday afternoon. I must admit that as he is usually full of himself, I found this much easier!

The cross country course was the biggest we had ever tackled but it demanded bold riding which is exactly what I did. The first five fences were fairly straight forward with the first question coming at a huge trackhener over which he went vertical (this was the fence judges comment over the loud speaker). The next few fences were again bold but fairly straight forward until we came to the first water. This was an egg nest in the water with three forward strides to an arrow head to come out of the water. As I was warming up, I saw a horse flip over the nest so I came to this with a little caution but I need not have worried as he popped over it like a pro.

The second water was next with a massive drop into the water and then a curving line to the skinniest fence on the course which is unfortunately where we had a run out. I think this was just a green moment as he came back around and then jumped it fine. Poor boy just couldn’t get his brain to work quick enough. The rest of the course didn’t prove a problem as he stayed straight and when direct everywhere. I was so proud of him!

The show jumping course was not as big as I was expecting but still tricky enough. He jumped a good round but I think he was a little tired and had two down but he was much easier to ride! I think three day events may be better for him.

We did it!!!!! I am so proud of my little orange pony for completing his first 2*! Timmy will now have a well earned break as he has exceeded all expectations for this season. This will then give me time to work on the others – no rest for the wicked…..

I will keep you posted with show jumping news in October.

Katherine Begley reflects on her season

2010-10-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

2010 has been a bit of a rollercoaster year for me! There have been many highs thanks to my new ride Supplejack, but also many lows due to very little luck and a lots of injuries! I was hoping that my last two events of the season would finish on a high, but true to form they were both slight rollercoaster’s of emotions!!

Gatcombe was my first ever CIC** and I went into it feeling quite confident. Jack did a very pleasing test and definitely one of our better ones, however the judges disagreed slightly and we scored 64 which we felt was a bit on the harsh side! The Show jumping was quite big, but Jack is very strong in this phase so I wasn’t concerned. For the most part we did a nice round, but unfortunately picked up 8 faults which I was very disappointed with because we have never got more than 4 faults in competition before and I felt a clear was easily within our reach. I wasn’t overly worried about the XC but there was a tricky combination at 4 where many people took the longer alternative, and the duck into the water was also quite spooky. Jack flew around the course jumping all the direct routes until fence 18 which was a skinny log where the landing disappeared. I think I must have dropped him on takeoff because he suddenly stopped dead and we picked up 20 penalties! Needless to say I was pretty gutted about this as this is Jack’s first XC penalty in the UK! However, we didn’t disgrace ourselves and I was very pleased with his Dressage! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=368o8T435HA

Next up was my last event of the season – Weston Park CCIYR**. I was determined to make up for my mistakes at Gatcombe and get a 50’s dressage double clear! Unfortunately Jack was very tense in the dressage and although he didn’t do anything wrong we were understandably severely marked down and got 63.9. So had he been more relaxed like normal, we would have got that 50’s test – very annoying!! The cross country was very big and bold and I was a little nervous seeing as Gatcombe hadn’t gone quite to plan. But I needn’t have worried, he posted an amazing round, clear inside the time! He gave me an amazing feel and I am thrilled with him!! Unfortunately the event finished on a low because he didn’t trot up sound on the Sunday morning so we had to w/d before the Show Jumping. This was really gutting because not only did I therefore not manage to complete my first CCI** but had we show jumped (even with six down) we would have got 5 points. Hey ho, that’s horses for you, and nothing takes away how brilliant he was XC! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdUu_54ujnE

Next season I plan to campaign Jack at Open Intermediate/Advanced level and bring Belvedere back into work and competing successfully at novice level again.

Sam Penn winds down the season

2010-10-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

This week has seen a few new experiences for myself and some of the boys, last Wednesday here at Golden Cross we held ‘An Evening with Team Sam Penn’, a lecture/demo aiming to show how we start off our young event horses and what we look for as they progress up the ranks. It was also a chance for some of our supporters and sponsors to showcase themselves. I have to admit to being utterly terrified at the prospect of talking to a large crowd of people but at the same time I was also worried that no-one at all would turn up. In the end it all went really well and several people were kind enough to email me afterwards to tell me that they had enjoyed it, so thank you very much to you all for coming and also to Howard Newitt, Olivia Jones and Balanced Horse Feeds for their contributions to the evening and not forgetting Bill Cook our stuntman!!

This weekend we had a lovely sunny day out at Pulborough with Brockley Star, Tickeridge and Lite My Fire. Broccoli and Tigga were both having their fist attempt at Novice level and both acquitted themselves exceptionally well, Broccoli adding 2 time faults to his dressage mark of 31.4 to finish in 2nd place, Tigga got a bit rude in his showjumping round and unfortunately added 8 faults to a fabulous dressage mark of 24.3, he was clear and inside the time across country though and finished in 7th place. So a fantastic start at the higher level and a really good way for them both to finish the season. Lulu rounded the day off nicely in BE100 sec M with a very unlucky 4 faults in the showjumping to add to her dressage mark of 31, but she still finished in 3rd place. I was also really pleased with how much her jumping has come on since she had a short holiday mid-season, she feels so much stronger and is starting to feel like a ‘proper’ horse.

So that’s pretty much it now for the season, a little bit of showjumping and a week at Aldon with Flynn which will seem like a bit of a holiday after what we have been used to and then all the boys and girls can go out to get fat, hairy and muddy for a while!

Polly Tucker is finishing the season with ribbons!

2010-10-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

Since my last blog there have been a few changes, we did not take Wally to an ON as he was feeling a little tired towards the end of the season. We headed down at the end of August to deepest darkest Devon to Bicton Horse Trials, we had been so encouraged by Blue's return to competition work we ended up entering him in the open100. My nerves kicked in on the journey down, I had only schooled him once xc before the event and only showjumped him at our show jump lessons with Alex Peternell! We took a few de-tours on the way there but eventually arrived, it was a lovely warm day and the courses looked amazing a good decent track that was long and galloping.

We warmed up for our dressage, a little rusty but Blue was slowly remembering it and prehaps that was why our test was so tense with excitement. We scored an average 37.5, I was pleased with this as a first run and was all set for the rest of the day. I was keen to take on board all my tips from Alex for the showjumping and rode a very determined and positive round to go clear, I couldn't have been more pleased the big ginger giant had done me proud!

The xc was my worry, one xc schooling session... and I had to do a whole course on a horse who gets so excited by this phase he nearly climbs his way out of the start box. The helpers at Bicton were amazing and didn't count aloud so Blue remained nice and calm and went in the start box no problems. Blue ate up the course, half way around he took charge and really meant business with finish with a lovely clear and time faults for going too fast... whoops! Oh well, we finished 11th not bad for his first time back out.

After our exciting adventures in Devon we headed over the bridge to Monmouth with both Wally and Blue, we wanted to give Wally a let down run to end the season and take the bull by the horns next season and attack ON with both horses next year. We ran them both in the open100, Monmouth is a fab event and is always a good fun and friendly day. Wally was first in the section and did a very tense test, Blue on the other hand did his best test with me scoring 32.5.... even if in the warm up he was mainly stood on two legs or trying to jump the fencing! Both horses flew the sj with great clears, this was the point when I knew I was in with a chance of a placing. The pressure was on xc, a lovely flowing course however, it was very short striding at combination fences so I knew my horses would find this tricky.Wally set off like a rocket and at the first main combination a hexagon logroll to ditch and phesant feeder where the latter was on a one stride Wally bounced it!! We finished clear and one second over the optimum time so finished on our score of 43.4 to take 15th, next it was the ginger giant. Blue was rearing all the way to the start, for those of you have been to Monmouth being at the far end of the lorry park this was a long trek to be playing dancing horses! He started lovely however after his antics and flew the course to finish inside the time and that was taking the long routes to waste time.We finished 7th, elated we waited for the prize giving and recieved a lovely rosette and bottle of wine for being one of a handful of elusive people to finish on their dressage score.

Wally is now on his winter holidays and Blue now heads to Broadway, I can't wait after the season i've been having... BRING IT ON!!

Georgina Rose turns 18 and get's a very special birthday present!

2010-10-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

What a brilliant month for us! Despite the autumnal chill starting to roll in, Rose Equine enjoyed a very successful September. We kicked off with Honeys first show - she has never been out before, so we went only with the intention of walking her around the showground for experience. However when we arrived she was so well behaved that we decided to take the plunge and enter a class, In Hand Best Coloured Open. I'm proud to say she behaved impeccably and really showed herself off well, which resulted in first place! We couldnt be more pleased with the start of her competitive career.

Indy has also had a productive month, as she has now begun jumping. She is popping small coloured and rustic fences quietly, being totally unphased by everything so far, so we are delighted with her, she has always impressed us with her laid back nature at every turn.

Tia is looking well now she is getting her feed, although I think it may be going to her head a little! Bless her she's such a happy character day in day out and I can't wait to show her and back her when she turns 3 next year, as she is always a pleasure to work with.

Merlin Im sorry to say has not had such a good month. A few weeks ago he felt very awkward when being ridden, I couldn't put my finger on what wasn't right so we decided it was time for him to have a holiday and rest a bit. After 3 weeks off I brought him back into work gently and he was definitely better, and things were back on track. Unfortunately about 4 days later we brought him in from the field and he was very lame, poor chap he couldn't put weight on his leg at all. He came back better in the morning after a night in the stable, but still has a bit of recovering to do. Fingers crossed all will be well in a few days, he's got his Joint Power to help him through!

Merlin's problems have meant Penny has had to stay in too, as they are devoted to each other and where one goes the other must follow! So she is a bit touchy I think at being shut in, but is actually working brilliantly. Her jumping is superb, she has recently been popping grids of 3'3 happily.

My 18th birthday came at the end of the month which was lovely, but to top it off our planning permission application was granted! Rose Equine has the go ahead so the building work starts here! We have already put up my new 'office', and the fencing and everything else is booked in for October. Cant wait!

Jemma Harrison has a minor set back but is now back on track!

2010-10-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Sadly our August didn't start as planned. At our first competition of the month Piquet was flying and we got a 4th in the 1.05 but after walking the course for the 1.10 I noticed he was slightly lame in his front foot so we didn't jump and called the vet when we got back to the yard. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with his leg and there was no swelling or heat but he feared it could have been a splint starting up again. He checked his neck and back and found that part of his neck was out so that was clicked back into place. We trotted up again but still he was lame, so we were told to put him on stable rest and pain killers for a couple of days and he'd come visit again. The next visit he was still unsound so he checked him over again and finally found that he had pulled a muscle in his back that was causing him to go lame in order to ease the pain.

Luckily he didn't need to be on box rest but we had to start work lightly which meant only hacking the first week and then lunging the next along with many muscle exercises as well. Sadly it meant that I missed the Derby Show that I was looking forward to competing in but we were keeping our fingers crossed that he would be fit and ready for our trip to Guernsey to compete at the end of the month. Luckily we made it to Guernsey to compete but due to him having little winnings it meant that the highest we could jump was 95cm. This didnt really matter as it was the first time in 4 weeks he had jumped so I didn't want to jump big straight away. We managed to get two 9ths out of 40 competitors in the classes but annoyingly as the week went on Piquet decided that he didn't want to jump 95cm and decided it was much more fun to see how fast we could go round and not pick our feet up! I was still pleased that his muscle was recovered and that we didn't have any problems!

We now only have two showjumping competitions left in our BSJA season so will let you know how it all goes. To help his sore muscle I used 'Clean Limbs' before and after I rode to relieve the muscle and he kept getting better and better! I honestly believe without using this spray it would have taken him twice as long to recover and now I use it daily on his back as well as his legs after competing and would recommend it to anyone!

Oli Lawrence's blog: A different type of challenge!

2010-08-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

Sitting in a tent when it's minus 5 outside in the middle of summer with friends vomitting around you from altitude sickness at 10,000 feet. Long way from home.

With Dell having a mini mid season break I got offered a place on a budget expedition to Morocco - well I could hardly say no!... After stocking up on supplies in Marrakech we were off into the Atlas mountains to find a guide and pack ponies; leaving England, eventing and civilisation far far behind. We trekked from north to south over the Atlas mountains via Jebel M'Goun, one of the highest peaks in Africa and various gorges that wind their way through the mountains. The trip was totally accident free untill about 30 seconds passed in one of the gorges. We decided it would be alright to copy the Berber guides when they were diving head first into a waterfall pool. Albeit we didn't dive but we hadn't realised quite how shallow it would be, two near broken hands later and a twisted knee we just about got away with it. The second near miss was walking along an incredibly narrow path across a scree slope - think very large nasty looking cliffs below. A friend decided to look behind them and slipped, very nearly setting them off on the way down a kind of deadly playground slide.

After driving out of the mountains in a minibus that made a bus from slough on a saturday night look appealing we headed down to the Sahara. Now the trouble is in 50 degrees with no air conditioning is that you have to open the windows. This works fine until a sand storm passes through and you're in the window seat. Imagine 50 hairdryers on your face with sand being fired at you and you imagine what it felt like hiding under a roll mat wrapped round your face.... Upon arriving at the edge of the Sahara we managed to get a hotel room for the 13 of us without air conditioning - this is actually just a large scale frying pan. The plus side that cancelled any issues was that there was a pool. I'll never forget the look on a group of german sun bather's faces when 13 of us who hadn't washed for over a week dived in. The most common line was: "Where are you from?", "England", "Oh" as the nose turns up, they turn on their heel, flick the dirt and strut away. As if it was a crime to be English - Hey, God save the queen etc!

Morocco is something you'll never see anywhere else. In the mountains the scenery changes round every corner from plateus' at 10,000 feet to waterfalls falling from cliffs. The culture spills out totally unconfined full of colour and vibrancy. From the friendy Berber people in the mountains to the nomads of the dessert right through to the people of Maracesh who are slightly corrupted by western influence there's a plethora of stories and language. Language is an interesting one. Most of the guides speak 7 languages. That said, my Spanish and French from GCSE combined with some arabic picked up from the guides meant I could communicate in a very round about way but it's surprising how much meaning you can get across with sentences of 4 languages (plus a bit of acting)!

Landing in England was a strange sensation. Being able to drink the tap water, speak one language, see greenery and not have to guard against pick pockets constantly was bizarre. I'd hadn't forgotten home I'd just remembered the bits that mattered. Eventing, friends, school, windsurfing and a few other things mattered but it makes you realise that somethings aren't that important - who cares whether we have to walk a 100m to get a drink, does it really matter? It also made me see how much I love England, I'm not sure what it is but I love it and despite current issues like the recession I'm not going anywhere. Of course within a few hours of hitting the tarmac I was back in the saddle and grinning as I realised things were really beginning to look quite bright. Check out thehome page of my website and you can read all about my new sponsor, equishopping. Plus, check out this weeks Horse and Hound (12 August 2010) p76 as I'm into the final six of the Dodson and Horrell bursary. Next stop is Chilham Castle where they've got a stunning new novice track which should be fabulous - big bold and technical - right up my street!

Kerry Graw keeps us updated on the boys' progress!

2010-08-19T03:57:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I've still only got 1 out of my 3 horses out competing but the other 2 are getting there slowly. Having said that the one horse I have in work, Picnic, is going very well having moved up to Newcomers, over the last couple of months we have been concentrating on getting some mileage over 1.10m courses and I have been really pleased with how she has been jumping. Last weekend we went to Somerford Show and had our first double clear at Newcomers and to top it off won the class!!! I was over the moon with her as we have only been jumping at this height since June so Picnic is definately showing she has more in her yet! We also entered a Scope qualifier for the 1.05m Adventurer class last month and she jumped a great round to earn a qualifying place, our entry form is in the post so off to Scope we go first week in September.

As for the two boys they are still on the road to recovery. Biggles as you know has been touch and go as to whether he will come back to compete again but he started to look really good when he had another relapse and tweaked his front suspensory, aarrgghh. We think its due to the fact we have solved the original problem but he had been putting stress on other areas to compensate previously which made them weak. This is now the 3rd thing to go wrong so am hoping that means all our bad luck has been used up now... so after yet more time off, shock wave treatment and far too many vet vists for my liking I am back on board and so far we have made it to trot work, will we make it to canter?

Ze is still being treated for his sacrilliac injury and is on limited turnout and walking exercise in straight lines - this week we have started short bursts of trot and have a visit from the chiropractor for him later in the week. We think it will be six more weeks of walk and trot before we can start back to some normality with light schooling then if all goes well we might be out and about competing before Christmas.... fingers crossed!!!

September should be a busy month and will hopefully have lots to report back and also the boys may be doing a bit more than walking in straight lines!

Polly Tucker updates us on a busy and successful month

2010-08-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

What a month….. since my last post I have been very busy right to the very last day of July, what started as a very successful month also ended in one. Mr Winky has found a new home not too far from his home with us, when I was told the news of the sale of Winks I was delighted however what Mum didn’t tell me is I had been asked to break him in! I had my doubts as to how he would behave but he seemed to take to lunging and riding like a duck to water, after a couple of days he decided he had got the hang of it and wanted to trot off on his own but soon realised he wasn’t going to get to far with a rider on top.

Blue has been the highlight to the month proving us all wrong and lapping up and loving every minuet of being back in full time work. Previously he had been a lazy toad who much preferred jumping to stressage, this time around however he is a changed boy who is putting Dressage horse Percy to shame. After much deliberating we decided to take Blue to his first competition in two years! We pottered up to West Wilts for a combined training, the dressage (normally being our bug bearer) went smoothly and we awaited our turn to jump. I was shocked when the scores went up and Blue was in the lead, the pressure was on. Having not jumped competitively for two years we wondered how he would react, yet again Blue performed amazingly just knocking one fence to move us to second in a strong 20 competitor class. We have been so encouraged by his first competition we are prepping him in mind to enter our first BE 100open this year with him, Bicton looks a likely contender but we will let you know in the next blog where we aim to head next with him.

The last success of the month actually came on the first day of August, so I’m cheating a bit here. We took Wally to West Buckland For a BE100 open, this fielded a small amount of entries however lots of very classy and amazing horses were entered up. Wally was more chilled at this event posting a very good score for the test we performed, there was some odd marking and some fantastic moving horses had scores well behind me. Warming up for SJ Wally seemed a little tired than normal but we had done a lot with him in a short space of time up to the event, once in the arena he perked right up to post a fab clear even helping his rider out after completely missing a stride to the triple bar. The cross country course this year was much tougher than first looked at this year, last year it ran clock wise how ever this year it ran anti clock wise with some very substantial jumps for a BE100 open. Wally loved the course, maintaining a good pace all the way around the course. He really seemed to be enjoying himself, there were a few sque wiff moments but nothing to worry about. We posted a double clear inside the time, this meant we finished in top ten in 7th place. After this great run he is having a couple of weeks rest with light work before we attack a ON in September.

On wards and up wards.

Jo Barry on training with Carl and Stephen and getting engaged!

2010-08-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

Yikes the year is fast disappearing!?! Regionals are approaching and the Winter Championships seem a distant memory.

Rafa made a quick start into qualifiers after the Winter Championships before having a few weeks off. He won his first two qualifiers and so gained qualification by the end of April. He was asked to step in last minute when a guinea pig had to drop out from the Jennie Loriston Clarke demonstration that was held at Gleneagles at the beginning of May. Freddie was already going to perform his Elementary and Medium freestyle tests, so Rafa enjoyed a relaxed outing having to show what was looked for in a young horse. Freddie as ever enjoyed his 'public performance', it was his last for a while as I had decided to concentrate on his training.

I took Freddie and Hugo down to see Carl mid-May, it was Hugo's first ever training with Carl and the first time he was to see Carl's yard which even to older horses can be scary! I rode with my skull and body protector on each day hoping people would notice and give me a wide berth...not a chance! Hugo was fantastic he arrived a toddler and although he wasn't a man when he left he was certainly in his late teens! I rode him indoors and out, with horses arriving and leaving the arena, lorries going past, people appearing from nowhere dogs running round the school, the peacocks, guinea fowl and hens scrapping in the hedges and we survived! Freddie continued work on his changes, canter pirouettes, piaffe and passage. Carl concluded after the few days that I shouldn't concentrate solely on the changes but try to improve collection and ride the changes using the collection I could achieve. I then took Freddie back down to see Stephen Clarke for two days at the end of May. Stephen came to the same conclusion as Carl had and so I felt confident to carry on with my set homework.

In mid-June we took Hugo and Rafa to Ingliston Equestrian Centre for a competition. Rafa did the Elementary freestyle using the same music that I had used for his Novice freestyle but with a new floor plan. He won and qualified for the freestyle semi-final which will be held in February 2011. Hugo behaved brilliantly. He didn't qualify but I was thrilled that he didn't look at the boards, flowers or worry about anything. I have to admit that seeing him spend 2hrs bucking in the stable we had hired had made me slightly apprehensive!!

At the end of June I travelled down to the Hartpury Dressage Extravaganza. I had been asked to ride in the Pro/Am competition and it was something that I had always wanted to take part in from my days of watching the Medium Elite class that used to be held at the Winter Championships. The amateur rider rides their own horse through a medium test and then the professional has 10 minutes to get to know the horse before having to ride the same test themselves. The professional riders names are put in a hat and a draw is done to pair riders with horses, so fingers are kept crossed that you get a nice one! I did thankfully, a lovely bay owned and ridden by Charlotte Holes. Charlotte had already ridden a good test in the morning to place her 2nd so the pressure was on!Raff was very nice to ride, responsive and well trained...I hope Charlotte was happy with what I was able to produce! I managed to improve her already good score by 1% and we maintained our 2nd placing.

I have just returned from training with Stephen, this time taking Freddie and Rafa. I had hit a stumbling block with the changes with Freddie and had to return to the drawing board. He did not cope well with riding the changes with a large amount of collection being involved...he could make an attempt at one or the other but not both at the same time. He had got strong and tense and it was tending to made me ride backwards. The horse that had never got anything wrong or found anything difficult couldn't understand why he was making mistakes and could not do what was being asked...mentally I think his head was in a spin. While working on my own I had a 'light bulb' moment and remembered how I had taught him any new movements previously. I had always started through riding him deep...it kept him open in his body and mind as he felt he had somewhere to move to when asked something new. I played with this idea with the changes and could see a big improvement BUT I wasn't sure how a trainer would view my thought process and see an improvement! Stephen thankfully was very pleased with what I had done and that I was well on my way to my goal...phew! Rafa went with the Regionals in mind, I hoped for confirmation that what I was feeling was what was being seen. Stephen was very impressed with Rafa's development and couldn't believe the change in him from when he had last seen him just over a year ago.

So...the Regionals are next. Hopes lie with Rafa to keep the flag flying. He has the Novice and Elementary Open classes to contest and if he goes like he has been the last few weeks I will be happy...if the judges agree that will be brilliant!!

On a personal note July has also been very exciting, I got engaged! My boyfriend, Ross took me to New York for a couple of days and proposed so it hasn't just been Freddie's head that has been spinning of late!!

Jemma Harrison tries her hand at Working Hunter and prepares for her first Derby!

2010-07-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few months for us with competitions nearly every weekend and the weather has stayed nice which always makes a great show! Piquet has been jumping really well and at each show we've come away with rosettes!

During June I decided to try something new and we did our first working hunter class! With all the rustic fences Piquet was a little spooky but still jumped clear so I couldn't ask for more! During the showing part Piquet wasn't interested in behaving and thought that we were on a lap of honor so kept trying to catch up with the horse in front which was very entertaining for me as I know he's not s show horse! We still managed a 5th place in the Large Workers and a 6th in the Open Workers.

For some reason I decided to do another Working hunter the other week and again he did the jumping superbly with the judge telling me he had the best jumping round. But again in the showing he wasn't interested and decided to canter instead of trot in his run-up. We came 2nd which was very pleasing as I was only doing it for the jumping part which he jumped extremely well in.

Last weekend was our Member's Day Show and Piquet was on top form. We gained a clear round in the 1.05/1.10 and came 3rd and in the Grade C Grand Prix (with jumps going up to 1.15/1.20 in the puissance round) he continued to jump well and we managed another 3rd which was very pleasing!

Over the next few weeks we have shows each weekend including a derby which should be great fun as it will be the first time Piquet and I together will jump round a derby! Then in late August we will be off to Guernsey for a week to compete in their Horse of The Year Show so it's going to be a busy August!

Roma Oakes experiences the highs and lows of horseownership

2010-07-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a really emotional few months. I've had to have my mare, Ria, put to sleep. She had been out for a few months to see if she would come sound again but, in fact, she got much worse. It was heartbreaking to watch her trying to hobble around. We brought her into the stables and after a few days it was apparent that she couldn't lie down in her stable so we let her out into a very small paddock and she immediately lay down and slept. When she tried to get up again she had to lurch around to get up without putting too much weight on her back legs. We called the vet and he quickly recommended that she should be put to sleep. It was very sad as despite the
pain that she was in she had remained so sweet and gentle. I was glad to let her go and get relief though.

On a more positive note; Baker is coming on really well. We scored 66.5% in a novice test last week and 61.47% in a Grade IV Para test as well, it is equivalent to an elementary test so I'm very pleased with him. When we get it all together he is really terrific - sadly - it's usually me who fails to get organised. He really surprised me last week though; the penultimate movement in the test was a rein back followed by collected trot along the centre line. His rein back was very crooked but then when I asked him to go forward into trot he almost did passage! Now - where did that come from? It was lovely to sit on but we lost marks as 'not required at this level'. Ah
well - at least we know that it is there if we ever need it.

My daughter is getting married in August so the horsebox is being a removal lorry this week. I'm really enjoying getting all dressed up - but how do I cover the bruises that I always have? Any little bump leads to a colourful mark and, of course, they are all on my forearms for now - exactly where they will be seen on the day. My dress is really lovely and I'm even going
to wear a hat! I'll let you know how it all goes.

Tilly Tillbrook becomes Latimer and has to face some important decisions this season

2010-07-21T01:48:00.000-07:00

Life has taken some unexpected turns for me over the past few months, which seems to be a bit of a theme for 2010, so apologies for the ‘radio silence’ from this quarter!

Way back on the 24th April, our wedding day finally arrived – we were very lucky to have gorgeous weather, and the only cloud on proceedings was, quite literally, the volcanic one which kept my husband’s brother in Singapore (where he lives and works) and unable to make it to the wedding. Everything else went swimmingly, we had a super day and then luckily managed to jet off to Lanzarote for a week of surfing. So I am now officially Mrs Latimer, which makes me feel rather old!

Shortly before the wedding I had been doing some serious soul searching about whether or not Boysie was the right horse for me – he’s got rather bigger than I wanted, and we just kept having rails in the showjumping, which was never the plan. I also want to go intermediate at some stage and I realistically could not see myself being able to hold him together enough to ride well round a track that big, despite having schooling round intermediate XC fences previously. So I enlisted the help of a friend and took him down for her to try and tell me what she thought. He was foot perfect with her, so I arranged that he would be dropped off at her yard the following week for her to compete with a view to selling him.

Four weeks after dropping him off, we were out at Bickenhall at the BE100 – he posted a super dressage of 32.5 and jumped double clear to come fifth – rosettes are always welcome at Chateaux Latimer, and as they are hard-won, even when I don’t actually do the riding they are still displayed in pride of place! We then set off to Broadway for another BE100, where once again he jumped double clear, this time with a spectacular dressage of 27, to come fifth again. So a quick discussion between rider and owner ensued, and we entered him up for Pontispool Novice. I must say, it is possibly more nerve-racking watching as an owner than it is actually competing, but I needn’t have worried, a 34.5 dressage coupled with a double clear gave him a seventh place and his first point.

By now, I was getting rather used to this ‘pay the bills, pick up the prizes’ lark, so I was brought back to reality at Moreton where he led his novice section after the dressage with a 27.5, but then had to warm up for the showjumping on rather dead, hard ground and then jump on a surface – he just tipped two poles so we opted to run him slowly XC, where he naturally went clear, because it’s a fine line between getting the placings to help him sell and keeping him sound. He finished up 16th, which is by no means a bad placing, but sadly does not come with rosettes!

Next stop was Longleat, and by this point he was getting rather cocky XC so we were trying out a new bit on him as he wasn’t reacting quite as fast as the rider would like in combinations. This proved to be a resounding success, but again led to a slower XC round so no rosettes that day either. The team was therefore sent off to Salperton and told to kick on round the XC, and they did us proud with a 5th placing round a tough novice track and another two points – and some prize money which is always welcome!

We then had a long discussion about whether or not it was time to test out whether he could live up to our expectations of him being a quality intermediate horse or not – stepping up a level is always a gamble when you are trying to sell. We decided to give it a whirl after one last Novice at Barbury Castle. Sadly a mechanical malfunction (the riders words were ‘something important has fallen off the front of the lorry, I am stuck at Swindon’) meant we never quite made it, which was a real shame as it is one of my favourite events in the calendar.

So we set off to Stockland Lovell with some trepidation having discussed at length whether or not to drop him down a level and come to the conclusion that it was time to run him intermediate and know for sure. And now follows the unluckiest story so far this season. Firstly, he posted a dressage of 33.6 – fabulous for the first time at the level and really encouraging when there was obviously room for improvement too, so spirits were high. We walked up to the show jumping arena to see the biggest intermediate track I have ever laid eyes on – gulp! However he warmed up well and really rose to the challenge, jumping the first 3 beautifully – in fact number 3 a little too well as it was a large oxer on a related distance to a double and he just made up too much ground to tip the first element and land a little short for the second so the rider circled him to represent rather than worry him by asking him to stand so far off a fence which was bigger than anything he’d done in competition to date. He then flew round the rest of the course to just tip the first element of the triple, so all in all we were thrilled with him. Off to the cross country, and he was flying, really loving the bigger fences when over half way round disaster struck – he jumped the corner and into the sunken road complex but as he came up the steep slope out to the arrowhead he lost a back leg, stumbled and sadly couldn’t take off for the final element. He’s so honest XC that this was really unlucky, and even more so in that the rider tipped off, her air jacket inflated and that was game over. So unfair since we both firmly believe he would have completed no problem. That’s eventing sadly!

Anyway, he’s entered up at Wilton novice and will then go intermediate again at Aston le Walls, so fingers crossed for better news after the next attempt – unless of course I come back to tell you he’s been sold, which would be both nice and heartbreaking in about equal measures.

A busy July for Polly Tucker

2010-07-20T09:38:00.001-07:00

July has been a busy busy month, we had our first event after an accident filled start to the year. We headed to Glanusk International for the BE 100 Open, it was a new event for 2010 and proved to be a fab event for the future. We had a lovely, calm test which was marked very harshly however was middle of the pack so we were pleased for his first event of the season. The show jumping wasn't too taxing and we flew round for a solid clear to be just outside of the top ten at that stage. Cross country was our downfall at this event, Wally had a trip on the flat and sent me flying out the door! We still completed clear around the course however when we viewed the results they noted it down as a fall at a jump, this was not the case it was on the flat. Even after a hour of deliberation and talks at the tent they could not change the result, gutted wasn't the word as we would have finished 7th or 8th!

Our next event was Badminton Dressage Championships with Percy, we were in the Pony Club class on the Friday where the team pulled off a second and was 5th in my arena. We all got goodie bags and a large badminton plaque. On the Saturday we went back up to take part in the middle of the road championships that we had qualified for, our test was a little tense and could of been better but we came away with a top twenty placing against riders from all over the country.

Between all these events we have been hard at work getting the horses fit and ready, Blue is back up to full work and aiming to be doing his first event soon. We also have a young new forest who is proving to be a cheeky chappy but very willing to learn and letting me sit on him for the first time no trouble.

My last event before this blog was Stockland Lovell BE 100 Open with Wally, he was a little excited by the nearby cross country in the dressage so not his best score by miles but still he behaved himself. Wally show jumped amazingly scoring another clear around a very decent challenging BE 100 course, we then headed off in the hot sun to the cross country.

The course at Stockland Lovell was much less taxing than usual but was a very lovely flowing course with some interesting fences. We flew around with a confident and bold clear, the dressage may have let us down on the day but we were very happy with a double clear and two shiny foundation points.

July has started busy and ends busy with Pony Club Area dressage and West Buckland BE, full steam ahead and hopefully I will write my next blog with some more good news.

Oli Lawrence on fancy dress trot ups, graveyard hacking and polystyrene cross country jumps

2010-07-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well it’s just as well I like a busy life. The build up to Glanusk was seriously packed not just with the usual preparations for going away but with coursework deadlines at school and an end of term concert as well as various interviews so it was a major relief to finally be on our way on wednesday.

Thankfully Wales failed to live up to it's wet reputation and we were met with glorious sunshine. Plus, my navigation skills were faultless (a first) although the welsh road signs were slightly confusing – especially when the English half of the sign has fallen off! That said we rolled into Glanusk with plenty of time having negotiated various windy roads – I felt very sorry for some of the larger lorries!

Before being allowed into the stabling all the horses are inspected by the FEI vet which includes having their passports checked – given that vets and doctors handwriting are rather similar (illegible) he must have been a little peed off after checking the 100th passport... Next stop was the trot up (with a fancy dress theme for juniors) so as an australian bush man we trotted up and in true Dell style we passed - a little exuberantly....

In theory the next day was free but within seconds was filled with course walks and test practise for the next day. So with minute markers sorted (like mini time keeping markers to help you keep on time) things were looking up for the XC with just a few decisions to make about various routes. Thankfully the XC was on the strong side as our dressage on day 1 wasn’t fabulous. The atmosphere somewhat went to Dell’s head and there were a few too many mistakes. I also thought it would be a good plan to take Dell out for a hack so with great confidence set of having looked at the map which I was sooo sure I could follow.... First surprise was going over the very large ornate stone bridge straight out of the middle ages. The only things missing were knights and charging horses to take us back a few centuries (Dell don’t get any ideas!). Around the next turn there were also small gravestones – “don’t step on them”...clip, clip, clop - as Dell stands on the edges.. Although, nobody struck me down with lightening and other godly punishments stayed put so I figure I’m alright. Plus, I was actually following the right route which is more than I can say for some of my driving excursions having just passed my test.....

XC day thankfully dawned cooler than the first day and a lot of work by the organisers meant the ground was very good given the dessert conditions – Wales has never had so much sun! The course itself was beautifully built although the builders did have a great fondness for ditches! – “So how’s your’s with ditches?”, “Ermm... he’s alright but when he’s finished this he’ll be a prodigy...” Polystyrene logs were also being trialled at the second water on the course – polystyrene logs!!??! No, nobodies gone mad. They genuinely were made of the same polystyrene like you get toy tractors packaged in. That said, you couldn’t really tell the difference once you were on a horse! Before you ask, yes they did have plenty of spares! There was also a double of corners right in the middle of the main arena. It rode very well but was quite a contrast to the open space of the course before. I’m also told that you had to push your way to the front of a crowd of spectators at the water – I didn’t notice. Funnily enough when we dropped into the water everyone kind of mixed into one sunburnt streak... All went well though and we finished well inside the time, which pulled us up the leader board considerably.

The cooling facilities at the end of the track worked fabulously and there were several vets on hand who were checking horse’s temperatures - Dell wasn’t massively happy about that – I’ll let you figure out why! On an event sponsorship front one of the sponsors “Water Boy”, who build portable water sprays, had them in use at the finish. They definitely had the right idea as lots of people were impressed with them. Dell certainly liked the idea of having 2 personal assistants to cool him off at the finish!

Our showjumping wasn’t so hot but we finished up 27th which wasn’t so bad given that it was a first 3 day for both of us in a very competitive field. I was really proud of the 4 points Dell had gained this year but then I quickly realised that we’re actually a little bit low on that front as a fair few of the other horses were breaking well over the 60 point marker.

So now we definitely know the standard, seeing it’s a little bit like colliding with a large blunt instrument but sometimes jumping in at the deep end is the only way forward. Next stop Great Witchingham.

Sam Penn a fantastic weekend at Brightling despite brake failure and tripping up in the trot up!

2010-07-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

I love events that dont involve hours of travelling in order to get there, so it was great to be close to home again this weekend at Brightling Park. Tickeridge got the weekend off to a flying start, with a win in BE100 sec A, finishing on his dressage score of 23.5. Brockley Star was hot on his heels with 3rd in sec B, also finishing on his dressage mark of 28.5. Boundalong rounded off the Saturday with her best performance to date in the dressage arena, with a mark of 58.5 in CIC **. Although there was some tension in places, it was a huge improvement with no waving at the judges or any unrequired flying changes, perhaps escaping from the horsebox and galloping around the lorry park for quarter of an hour is a much better way to prepare her than with lots of schooling!

Sunday also started well with Coevers Diamond Clover performing a lovely test in the CIC1* to be 4th after this phase on 46.6. unfortunately 12 faults added in the showjumping put us out of contention, but he went superbly across country, taking all the straight routes and dealing with a few things that he has never encountered before such as the bounce at fence 11/12. He also galloped up the final hill really well, especially considering he is 3/4 Irish Draught, better in fact than some Thoroughbreds I saw over the course of the weekend.

Charter Party also had a successful time in Novice sec G. Although his dressage contained a few blips, it was, overall a much better picture than at Eridge a few weeks ago. The same would go for the showjumping, although we did have 12 faults overall the round was more controlled and he is starting to listen to me. That could not be said of our cross country which he carted me around most un-ceramoniously. Despite me (trying) to put the brakes on for most of it and even having to circle before fence 18, the skinny out of the hollow, we still had the fastest time in our section, so there is still considerable homework to be done here, and maybe a search for some new brakes (suggestions on a postcard please....)

My ponies escaping seemed to be a recurring theme of the weekend, but none embarrassed me quite so much as 707, who tripped me over in the trot up, and proceeded to cavort around the 2* dressage arena for several minutes, evadeing the combined efforts of myself, various spectators, vets and the ground jury trying to catch him!! As was the case with Muffin the previous day it obviously worked for him, as he also performed a personal best at this level, for a mark of 57.4. He went on to jump a lovely clear in the showjumping, Muffin was unlucky to have the middle element of the combination, but she went on to jump well across country, apart from being a little green through the first water where she rather scrambled over the pontoon, the rest of the course posed no problems, and would certianly be some of the toughest terrain she has tackled to date. I was most pleased that she is learning to jump more out of her stride, without that 'showjumper' need to be set up every time.

It is wonderful to have 707 back on form as he is the most awesome horse to ride across country, he made the whole course feel like a Sunday stroll in the park, easily galloping up the long hill with just 4.8 time faults, 2nd quickest of the class, to finish in 6th place, my best ever 2* result. So all in all a fabulous weekend.

Katherine Begley gives us the lowdown on the last 5 events!

2010-07-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, where to begin! I have made the mistake of not regularly sending in updates and so now face the mamouth task of overviewing five events! After my first event of the season at Withington and first ever event with Jack we headed off to Hambleden to do the CIC*, we did a fair test and got 58.1 which is about 38 in British Eventing terms. Unfortunately Jack spooked at a filler in the show jumping so we had an unlucky pole and then he went clear around the XC but was very strong so we got a few time penalties.

Next we went to Aston Le Walls for my first ever intermediate, Emma Humphrey who competed Jack last season helped me warm up and we did our best test by far. We scored 38 which was possibly slightly mean, but we did make a few mistakes. The SJ was causing a fair few problems because it was big and twisty but Jack jumped really well and we just had 4 faults at the second fence when I panicked a bit and caused him to hollow over the fence. (Dressage and SJ video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhF9Z8ho1EA ). Onto the XC, well he was absolutely flying round giving me by far the best ride I have had with him, up till fence 15d. A corner four strides after two steps down, unfortunately we wavered off our line slightly and ended up at the corner on 3.5 strides and although he tried his heart out, didn’t manage to clear it and we had a nasty horse fall. I had a very battered hip and was very concussed but luckily Jack was unharmed. (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVXTVYfhSA ).

We then headed to Pontispool OI to try and get our intermediate qualification run for Glanusk Junior National Championships U18 CCI*. We had a disappointing mark in the dressage and a very unlucky pole in the Show Jumping but flew round the XC clear and inside the time to finish 9th overall, was thrilled! If slightly annoyed that we didn’t get a double clear! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncnde5IRFEE ).

Onto the main event of the last few months – Glanusk JNC CCI* & JRN. I had both horses at Glanusk from Wednesday last week until very late on Sunday evening. Jack was doing the Junior National Championships CCI* class and Belvedere was doing his first event since Weston CCIJ* in October, a JRN class. I had a brilliant, but quite emotional and trying time! Jack did a fair dressage test but got a disappointing mark of 59.2, which equates to 39.5 in British Eventing terms. He then proceeded to do a fantastic XC round clear inside the time, doing all the direct routes over an incredibly big and technical track. However, later that day he became lame and although he was much better the following day, he was sent to the hold box during the trot up and I withdrew him from there. He had a slight sore point on his tendon, and although there was no heat or swelling there was no way I was going to run him and risk breaking him. So that was very gutting, but it doesn't take away how good he was on the cross country. (Video of Jack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RooE2cf-2_c ). Then on Sunday it was Belv's turn to party. The dressage was very disappointing, he got slightly freaked out by the competition atmosphere and the test was below par. We ended up with 40.0 - not quite what the last 6months of hard work has been aiming for. Anyway he redeemed himself by jumping well in the SJ and just rolling at unlucky pole. As expected he romped around the XC and just had 5.2 time penalties because he is not very fit. We ended up 8th so it was nice to get a rosette! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfU4H8fOWNg ).

And finally, Barbury Novice on Belv - Well it was Belv's second event of the season on the weekend but we did exactly the same as we did the week before at the first event of the season - 40 dressage, 4 faults SJ and clear XC with a few time!! It was a strange event, because Tor took Belv down for us, so me and mum drove down separately in the car (well actually I drove, can you believe it!!) He warmed up really well for the dressage, but unfortunately in the ring we had two ''moments'' that dropped our score from 33.7 to a 40.0. So that was very disappointing, however it just goes to show that the good work is in there and we will get those low 30's very soon! Next up was my nemesis, the Show Jumping! I was nervous because quite a few people I know were watching, however he had warmed up really well. Popped fences 1-7 really well, just tipped fence 8 and then got very deep to fence 9 but he tried really hard and cleared it. Then clear over the final double. So just an annoying four faults again!! Finally, the best bit! Needless to say, he absolutely flew around the XC for a fabulous clear with just 3.6 time penalties because he isn't all that fit. I do love him XC, he just takes everything in his stride, which is clear to see from how he jumped through the water! Totally foot perfect! All in all a slightly disappointing day due to the mistakes in the dressage and the pole SJ. It would have been nice to do a double clear and get a point, but hey ho! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEWlV4kz-M ).

To see more photos from the above events please visit my website and check out the Blog and Gallery pages – http://www.katherinebegley.com

Sam Penn at Barbury Castle

2010-07-12T02:48:00.000-07:00

What a lovely weekend it has been, gorgeous weather and a trip to one of the most picturesque events in the calender, Barbury Castle in Wiltshire. Set in a natural bowl in the heart of the Downs, it is the perfect venue for such an event, with the entire xc course viewable from a seat beside the showjumping arena. The courses themselves were also super, a lovely old-fashioned galloping course with big bold fences and nothing too trappy.

We took 707 for his first outing in quite some time as he has not been at his sparkling best so far this year, but he seems to be back to his normal slightly scatty self and put in fantastic performance in the RoR (Retraining of Racehorses) Championship. His dressage was as expected, a little on the tense side but acceptable, simple changes on the centre line are a movement that leaves us nowhere to hide!! but 44.1 left us in about 10th place. He then show jumped clear and set out xc over a course that could have been tailor made to suit him. The format for this class was an Intermediate -Novice, which after his break suited him really well, and he felt fabulous, totally back to himself, and posting the fastest time across country all day incurring 1.2 too fast penalties (oops) and finishing up in 6th place. The top 10 in this competition were invited back to showjump again the following day in the main arena for a first prize of £1500. Again Brooke jumped a lovely clear which moved us up into 5th place. After a mounted prize giving the 10 ex racehorses thought the lap of honor was marvellous fun and many of us took several circuits to pull up!

The main event of the weekend was the CIC3* competition, for which we took Captain Christy. With almost 130 competitors in this class, dressage took most of 3 days, our turn came on Friday morning. As always we got marked down for a rather flat canter and generally not being WOW enough, but apart from a stumble at C (unfortunately right in front of the judge!) I was quite pleased with the test, and it was lovely to read a little comment at the bottom of Angela Tuckers' sheet (judge at B), saying "He looks amazing". We then had to wait until Sunday for our jumping, although we had Brookes' class to keep us occupied on Saturday. The showjumping on Sunday morning shook things up quite a lot, with the time limit being very tight. We added 11 faults, 2 down and 3 time which was dissapointing but not disasterous, so being as how we were not likely to trouble the leaderboard I could use the xc for gaining some experience. Like the novice track it was a big, bold galloping course, with the biggest drop into water I have ever seen. Smurf felt great, we took the option to circle between the wishing wells at 5/6, but he was super going straight at the owl hole to 2 very angled stables. He felt good enough for me to attempt the straight route at 21, the arrowhead brush at the bottom of a very steep slope in the quarry, however this didnt come off and we picked up 20 penalties, as the class progressed it was noticed that most people went straight for the long route but hey-ho we had to try. The rest of the course went without incident and he finished full of running for 53rd place. Despite the slip up I was really pleased with how it went, I'm starting to feel a lot more confident at this level and we will definately be aiming for Blenheim in September.

Sam Penn fills us in on the latest from Eridge Horse Trials

2010-07-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Once again it has been a busy week for us, on Tuesday we had the Retraining of Racehorses clinic with Nick Turner, rescheduled after its previous cancellation due to Nick being trapped in America by the volcanic ash cloud. I joined in with Brooke, a lot of the work was going back to basics over poles which actually was very good for us and drew my attention to just how much Brooke tries to push out through his right shoulder. The following day was again spent having lessons with Nick, I had the first session with Smurf to see if we could find out where I'm losing my line through the advanced combinations, I'm hoping to have got to the bottom of it but I'll let you know after Barbury!

Sid has grown up a huge amount since our last session and I think might be growing up to be a little bit special, he has that 'bring it on' attitude and is always looking for whats coming next. My last lesson was on my new ride Rory, (Charter Party). Rory is quite a large horse and has been ridden by a much stronger person than I so we will take a while to get used to each other, as he will have to learn to think for himself rather more than he does at the moment, but he certianly has the scope and the ability and I think will be a very interesting project. We have managed to organise for Nick to come down to Golden Cross for several more training days approx once a month, spaces are filling fast so if you are interested contact Ian at info@goldencrossec.co.uk.

For once we had a whole weekend without having to leave Sussex, at one of our nearest events, Eridge Park. This is always an event that you know will be a very hot day with pretty hard ground, but the team this year had obviously put in a huge amount of work and the ground was pretty good. Saturday was a nice easy day with just Tickeridge competing. It was a return to more normal scores for dressage, but I felt the test was actually better than at Rackham, as he wasn't trying to hang on my right rein, we came out with a 29. We added no jumping penalties to this in either sj or xc but we were not very quick and picked up 8 time faults for eventual 5th.

Sunday was the busy day with 4 ponies competing, Coevers Diamond Clover and Charter Party were in the Novice sections with Captain Christy and Boundalong in the Intermediate. Flynn managed one of his better dressage days, not getting strong at all, for a mark of 34.5, he was still a little less than his usual self in the showjumping, and had the first part of the double down after backing off it a bit, but he jumped much better than in the last few weeks, the run accross country I think will have helped get his confidence back too, he started off a little bit quietly but towards the second half of the course I felt his confidence coming back. We finished up with 7.6 time penalties but this was still good enough for 7th place. My ride on Rory was just planned to be a bit of a 'getting to know you' day out. Some of his dressage was lovely and showed what potential he has, although there were also some bits that fell apart a bit, his mark of 39.5 actually compared quite well. The showjumping also went reasonably well with just one pole down. The cross country was an interesting ride, I allowed him his head a little at the start but soon decided that this was a bad idea as he didnt come back to me when required. I did re-establish some control in time for the sunken road which he popped very sweetly, but then rode the rest of the course with the handbrake firmly on. He is a very brave horse and totally straight so the course felt very easy for him, but we definately have a lot of work to do. Despite having a good hold of him for most of the round, he was still 2nd fastest in his section which I think says it all! But it was a super result for him to finish up 4th.

Muffin is still in digrace this morning after her performance in the dressage. The first few movements I thought we had some real improvement, she felt more relaxed and rideable throughout the trot work. Then she became very tense whilst walking and then into the canter but then changed instead of maintaining counter canter and when asked for a simple change, decided to throw a strop, stand up and wave at the judge. As always she jumped a lovely round showjumping, her one down was entirely rider error, having ridden 5-6 on a nice 6 strides in the morning it then rode much shorter over the bigger fences. Being completely out of contention we then just had a nice hack around the xc which she did jump beautifully, and to my suprise we finished up 11th, only just outside the ribbons.

Last to go was Captain Christy. He gave a nice calm obediant test and 31.4 is his best dressage mark so far with me, unfortunately he decided to act as if he had never seen a showjump before and had 2 down, but he redeemed himself across country, with a fantastic round, finishing full of running and one of the fastest in the section adding 11.4 time faults to finish 9th, our first eventing rosette together, its been a long time coming but he so deserves it, and it has put to bed a few demons as it was at Eridge last year that we had to pull up and afterward discovered his heart problems but he is certainly fighting fit now and ready for our next trip to Barbury for the CIC3*. 707 is also feeling well again so will be coming out for the RoR class, so fingers crossed for that.

A busy month for Georgina Rose

2010-07-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

June has proved to be a busier one than last!

At the beginning of the month I finally managed to find a quality pony to sell, a 14hh 5yo red leopard spot mare. She is very impressive and was reserved within 1 week by recommendation from a previous client, but frustratingly turned out to be a time waster! Dont we all hate those...so back on the market now and hopefully the right person will come along soon.

On a brighter note it gives me more time to bring on and 'play' with the new one! Her name is Lady Indiana G.R, and she certainly looks like one to watch. If anyone would like any more info on her, please feel free to contact me.

This month also brought about the final training sessions in preperation for my BHS Stage 2 exam. I have just taken the exam, am nervously awaiting results which could take up to 2 weeks to arrive! So will be in agony for a bit until they do, but fingers crossed for me that all went well!

My new youngster, Honeypot Sweet Pea, is now broken and riding on well. She is showing excellent trot work and has done her first ride around the farm. Very pleased with her and she looks to be everything I hoped she would be- so far so good! Planning a couple of in hand shows for her in July, very excited about her prospects. Heading for in hand coloured/youngstock/sport horse classes and Im confident she will do well if she manages to behave herself long enough to show the judges what she has!

Now that my BHS training evenings are over it means I can finally get Penny out and about again, who at the moment seems to be getting itchy feet at not going out as often as she is used too. Have a couple of evening classes planned for her next month at least, possibly some WH too . She is looking fit and on song at the moment so hope results should be good.

Planning permition for our new yard is slowly moving along, so nice to see something happening towards 'the real thing'. Touch wood it all goes through ok, we should be looking at a shiny new yard in 2011! Exciting stuff.

A slightly quieter month for Sam Penn

2010-06-28T02:45:00.000-07:00

We seem to have very little to do event wise this month, especially in comparison to the last few weeks, but it is a welcome break before the madness that is always July when everything seems to be happening at once. So instead we are out pracising our showjumping. We went to South of England show, to which we took Boundalong, Tickeridge and Coevers Diamond Clover. Thursday was a nice quiet day, all jumped well in the Newcomers class. Flynn had the first fence down in the jump off, (although the rider was the one at fault!) Then Tigga had the last jump off fence, Muffin saved my reputation though by coming 7th out of a field of nearly 70. We were back early Friday morning after a night of very heavy rain which obligingly stopped just in time for our class to start. Tigga again just jumped the Newcomers class, and had a repeat of the previous day, jumping a lovely round and having the last jump off fence down, grrrr! Flynn was a little carried away having been allowed to go fast in the jump off the previous day, and carted me around the early part of the course, but after clouting fence 3 he then finished the round in a far more polite manner, he redeemed himself in the Foxhunter class however, only his second attempt at this height he jumped superbly, he had the last 2 fences down in the jump off but showed that he has ample scope to move on up a level. Muffin again jumped beautifully in the Newcomers, this time finishing 5th and then went on to have a very rare 4 faults in the Foxhunter, but as it is the first fault she has had in several months we will forgive her.

We then went to one of our few events this month, one I have not attended before at Berkshire College. I will certainly be going again as it was a really nice, friendly, well run event, and an ideal place for moving up a level. After his 2 days of showjumping Flynn was mush more amenable in his dressage test, although strong as ever, he was not short or tight through the neck as can be the case with him, and I was thus rather disapointed with his mark of 36, although the comment on his sheet of 'needed to work more forward into the contact' had me in stitches!! He added nothing to this jumping or cross country except for the 2 time faults I accrued by going too fast, (oops, slapped wrist) however we were not the only ones as the course seemed to ride exceptionally quick for some, but it dropped us down from 2nd to 5th place, I'm pleased in a way though, as it means he is ready to start thinking of moving up a level before too long.
Tigga also benefitted from 2 days jumping but in totally the opposite way, whereas Flynn calmed down, Tigga perked up and felt much more uphill in his dressage, to lead his section with 27. He also added nothing to this jumping, but again I had 1 too fast time fault, relegating us to 2nd place by 1/2 a penalty but as with Flynn I'm actually rather pleased as he is getting quicker and more switched on in this phase with every outing, this was the first time he has pulled me all the way to the finish.

Lite My Fire was the last to go of the day for us. I was a little disapointed with her mark of 37 for dressage, but she is starting to feel much lighter in the forehand and more grown up in the showjumping and the 4 faults she picked up were totally my fault for adding too many strides to the last. The cross country went very well until 2 from home when she took a dislike to a rolltop before the water and frustratingly our day ended here, so off for schooling for us.

Josh Thompson: Water babies, broken bones, making ground and the final countdown!

2010-06-10T04:10:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy since my last blog; and it hasn’t all been plain sailing! My first event of the month was Auchinleck where Duncan was in the Novice and Shannah was in the Intermediate. Shannah did a nice test for him, he got a 42 but we were pleased with the way he went as he is never going to be a top scorer at Intermediate! He show jumped very well but had an annoying one down. However I was very happy as I thought there is room for improvement still. I was looking forward to a nice easy XC to get us into the swing of things. Oh no, it was huge! We were jumping some of the advanced fences and the little pony just loved it. He was giving me an awesome ride up to fence 12, a small house. I however got over excited and tried to cut into it too much. He left a leg and I fell off! I did however get back on, and we jumped a few more fences and he went really well until we had a stop at the corner three from home. Even though we had an R on your record he felt amazing, and we both felt confident at that level which is the main thing.

Duncan however was not on top form; again we had a disappointing dressage test after warming up well and a bit of a disaster in the showjumping including a stop. On the XC I was determined to ride him positively after naughty errors at Central Scotland. Over the first few fences he gave me a really good feel-he is really starting to mature. However, it was the water again that was to be our undoing. He had two very cheeky stops, and completely refused to go near the edge, luckily as horses were only running at one minute intervals we got a lead from the next horse. He then flew round very well; if only we hadn’t have had the water issue he would have had gone well.

Since then he have been having lessons with Ruth Edge. We started going to Ruth last year but for various reasons the lessons dwindled. However, she has worked wonders and after just three lessons we are a totally different partnership. We also took Duncan and my ‘grooms’ horse Midnight to Somerford Park XC schooling. It was India’s first time doing XC on the mare and her first event since Hutton in the Forest PN in 2007 with me! They both did superb. Duncan’s main aim was to crack the water and to get him off the leg. He was really good and jumping boldly at the end. He is a very clever horse and can try to avoid work however possible. However, recently he has really started to enjoy what he is doing.

The next event on the calendar was Floors Castle. Floors is one of my favourite events, it’s got a lovely setting and nice courses. We had dropped Duncan down to the BE100 for a confidence run. He had a 35 and a double clear. I couldn’t have been more pleased and he felt confident in all three phases. Sadly we were HC, but would have come third. Shannah did a slightly disappointing dressage to score in the mid 40’s. However worse was to come. In the show jumping warm up he was not on top form. He kept on ducking out at the upright, something which he never does. After jumping it a couple of times he pulled up lame. We had the vet to see him and he has cracked a bone in his knee. He should make a full recovery but this is a very frustrating recovery. He is on box rest for 6 weeks and should be brought back into work in late August.

My last event was Shelford Manor, for another BE100 run. Our dressage was average, slightly disappointing as I now know he can do much more. The less said about the showjumping the better, basically I need to walk my course and ride more forwards. Then he gave me the best XC ride I’ve had. Met each fence on a perfect stride and I think finally he is starting to fully mature. Could not have been happier with him! Over half-term I have been trying to crack the dressage and showjumping. His flat work really has come on leaps and bounds, and over the weekend I jumped him and he was insanely good; he really is a horse with masses of scope. I think we had a confidence crash together, and because of this he needs help. Although talented he is still quite immature, everyone keeps saying once we are on form there is no stopping us!

I am now counting down the days until I have finished school and am a free man! As of the 21st June I will be eventing and enjoying life, hopefully by August I will have stormed the A-levels too! Our next event is Hexham JRN at the weekend. We then have Hutton Novice, with the wonderful unpaid groom India making her BE debut in the BE80. Before I came back to school she had an awesome jumping lesson, and I fear my position as top rider on the yard is under threat! Bye for now!

Janice Pegler is out and about and in the placings!

2010-06-08T00:40:00.000-07:00

Well it's been ages since I wrote a blog, mainly because we haven't been doing alot!

Serenity injured her hind extensor tendon last July at Cheltenham, it was only a bad bruise but took a while to get back to normal so we ended up missing out on the rest of last season, and due to finance and personal circumstances we haven't got going this season until now!

I took her cross-country schooling at Boomerang the week before last and she was very good, like she had never had a break, so we went off to Ascott Under Wychwood this weekend to do the BE 90. The weather held off for us but it was muggy, we warmed up for the dressage and she was going nicely, we went in and halfway through I had a big grin on my face. She was really good and did everything when asked and it just felt great, this was reflected in the score of 29.5!!!!

Off to showjumping, the warm up was rock hard so didn't do too much but she was pinging so we went in and jumped a lovely clear!

On to the cross-country and she was very excited - in fact so excited that the starter thought he may have to lead me in! She was leaping off the floor and generally being a pain but we finally got her into the box and off we went! All I can say is it was like she had never had a break. She was awesome and made it feel really easy. We ended with 4.8 time pens so was really pleased as I didn't push her and we finished in 7th place!

So all in all a great day out and I couldn't have asked for more for her first time in 11 months! The plan now is to do the BE90 at Stonar then go back up to BE100 after that.

Anna Bailey's update including ribbons at Borde Hill and animal jumping at Mattingley!

2010-06-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the big gap since the last instalment, we have had loads going on!

Firstly l’ll go back to the end of April. We went to Nurstead to put the demons to bed and that is exactly what we did! Woo hoo! We scored a very good dressage mark of 31.5 and then clear show jumping so were in a good position going into the cross country. Nurstead is a strong Novice with lots of inviting big fences but also some very tricky lines. It was here Timmy’s lack of experience last year showed up. The first difficult fence was three offset logs on a very short distance which he popped through like a pro. The next question came at the steps, with an offset skinny before you drop down the massive steps running down hill and then two hedges on an angle at the bottom with one stride in between! Again no problems there either. Then came the dreaded corner…. He was amazing and flew over without even so much as a wobble and finished full of confidence. We did clock up a few time penalties through setting him up so were not in the ribbons but had a very successful day.

The next event was not going to be until Mattingly so I had planned to get some dressage and show jumping practice in…. oh if only I had!!! The four weeks in between events got quickly filled up with taking Cairo and Gringo out to parties so they could be sold. Cario picked up a handful of placings at Royal Leisure centre and Pyecombe show jumping. Gringo also made his combined training debut at Felbridge. He was so chilled out given it was so busy! He did a reasonable dressage test but the poor thing was struggling in the deep sand. Felbridge had recently put down a new surface but it really was not ready to use so by the time I went in it was like a beach! Needless to say, he coped well and then went on to jump perfectly so although not placed, he was a superstar!

Before I knew it, Mattingly had crept up on me and Timmy hadn’t been to a competition for four weeks…. Well Mattingly was the most exciting thing ever!!!! My dressage test was in the long arena as we were tackling our first Intermediate novice where you do an Intermediate test and show jumping and then Novice cross country. He was so excited before I went in, he was foaming! I think we managed to cobble together vague required movements but it was not our best test to score 44.

After a full bath after dressage… again the show jumping was very exciting, as he was leaping into the practice fences I did wonder if I should jump…. I sent Nina back to the lorry to get the Evening performance spray to try and chill him out. It worked a treat so I started to get some control back. Our showjumping round was a little rusty but no leaping so I was fairly happy with eight faults as they were incurred coming out of the double and the combination where he was just getting a little quick. Lots of grid work needed!

The cross country course at Mattingly is amazing. My third fence was a sculpture of a cat, then coming out of the first water you jump a polabear followed by a double of offset ducks later on in the course. It was a strong course but after such a good run at Nurstead I was confident he would be fine. I opted to take all the straight routes so to test him and he was awesome, he didn’t waiver at anything. Woo hoo – well worth the trip even if the other two phases were not quite up to scratch.

Last weekend I had a fairly local event at Borde Hill and was again competing in the Intermediate Novice. Again Borde Hill is beautiful and they have an amazing setting and cross country course. I was a little worried as the cross country ran very close to the dressage arenas but after lots of work that week I had a much better behaved pony to score 33.6. The showjumping was on a slope so although he was a little strong, I was pleased with just the one down. It was a two stride double and I hadn’t managed to walk the course so didn’t realise how short it was so had the rail down coming out. He was amazing cross country and I was even able to put my foot down a little giving us our first clear inside the time to finish in 3rd place!!!! I was very happy with him.

We don’t have any events planned in June but will take him to Felbridge combined training and also to jump the Golden Cross Eventers Challenge at the end of the month. The next stop is Eridge to have a good run around the Novice and then the CIC1* at Brightling.

I’ll let you know how that all goes…..
x

Welcoming Polly Tucker on to the Organic Horse Start Squad

2010-06-07T04:29:00.000-07:00

Polly Tucker, young event rider, based in Bristol has been eventing since the age of 12. She has competed on ponies and now horses in BE up to open novice including JRN and Grass Roots Championships. Previously at National Level she was 2nd individual and anchorman for the Syston Pony Club Intermediate Event Team who were National Champions in 2007.

Polly has three horses currently in work: Blue Rangoon (16.3hh, 16yrs) a NZ TB an intermediate eventer who is back in work ready to compete at ON, Awesome (16hh, 18yrs) another TB horse from 'Down Under' who is an advanced horse on whom Polly is hoping for her first 1 star and intermediate ride and Lord Percy (16hh, 9yrs) a WBxTB who is working well at dressage to elementary level and who went to the Pony Club National Champions last year, he has already qualified for the Badminton Championships this year and has previously been evented to 1 star.

Polly rides regularly at Pony Club with all three horses and has been a team member for all three disciplines. Polly started off riding successfully in showing classes at regional and national level before moving to eventing and dressage. She is really looking forward to the up and coming season - hoping for a reason to purchase top hat and tails soon!

Why horses? "I have been surrounded by horses all my life and was born in a basket saddle!"
Biggest horsey bug bear? "Unfair and biased judging at competitions - it puts a downer on the day."
Worst horsey habit? "I am extremely protective of my horses and who rides them, I like to keep their routine the same."
If not horses what? "Some type of urban sports - wouldn't mind a go at dirt biking!"
What could you not live without? "My horses and sponsors - thanks so much."

Kerry Graw's latest blog, things are looking up!

2010-06-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Finally things seem to be improving with my run of bad luck recently. Biggles seems to be improving on a daily basis but we did have a little relapse of him going lame again when we started trot work but fingers crossed we are back on track. He is now looking fantastic after all his water treadmill sessions combined with work on the pessoa he's feeling rather well, Forest Farmacy box rest power has been a real help with him while he has been on walking exercise in hand, he is a lot less flighty and more relaxed. I was allowed to start ridden work yesterday and Biggles was on best behaviour for our exciting 10 minute walk!!! My vet is back out tomorrow to review what the next step is and hopefully he will be back out competing the back end of the summer, but I won't make any plans yet just in case ....

Ze is still out of action and has been on box rest followed by limited turnout, he is becoming a mystery as so far his bone scans, ultrasound and x rays have not shown anything up. He is still lame and dragging a toe behind in trot so we are treating it as a sacroilliac injury as we have narrowed it down to that area when blocking him from the stifle down showed no improvement. He is however a lot happier in himself which is good as I think his recovery will be a very long and slow process!!!

The good news... Picnic is going really well, we have progressed and achieved our aim for this year of jumping Newcomers, I am delighted and we can now work on improving at that height for the summer and hopefully be ready to enter some qualifiers. Our first newcomers class was at the North Somerset show and she jumped brilliantly only to brush the last pole but I was still thrilled seeings as it was our first attempt and I also think it may have been me prematurely thinking we'd gone clear before jumping the last fence! On Sunday we went to a Riding Club qualifier at Malvern and entered the 1.10 - 1.15m open and had great success with our team finishing 2nd! Picture of Picnic in action is attached. This weekend we are off out to try another Newcomers and 1.15m open, will keep you posted how we get on.

Busy times for Sam Penn at the moment

2010-06-03T04:15:00.000-07:00

Well it seems summer has arrived and whilst everyone headed south to the beach, we went north to Brigstock with Tickeridge, Lite My Fire and Coevers Diamond Clover. We kicked off on Friday morning with Tigga in the BE100 Lycetts 5yo qualifier. His dressage was lovely gaining a mark of 27.5, but whether due to the heat or that the showjumping was a little small, his jumping was rather idle and he added 4 penalties. The xc was a really good test with plenty to see and jump, the water especially caused a lot of problems, so I was very pleased that he jumped a lovely clear with no time faults and despite his showjump down he still came out on top so has qualified for the Championships at Osberton in October. Also out on Friday was Flynn, he had the dressage phase of his first attempt at a CIC*. Considering the issues that we have had on the flat, I was very pleased with his test, he was rideable and behaved well for a mark of 56.1, to lie 21st overnight.

We returned early the next morning for the xc phase with Flynn, which he thought was a far more interesting way to start the day! He put in a storming round taking everything in his stride and adding just 0.4 time faults which helped to pull him up to 12th place going into showjumping. This part caused real trouble across the class, especially fence 3, a large parallel off a very tight turn by the collecting ring. Flynn was absolutely super and jumped his socks off for one of the few clear rounds and as the horses placed above us continued to hit poles we crept up the leader board to finish the day 5th.

Last to go for the weekend was Lulu, also having her first try at a step up in class, in a BE100 section. Having discovered at the very last moment that I had completely mis-judged the time, I nearly missed the dressage, having to canter across the lorry park and go straight into the ring with no warm up at all, however this actually seemed to suit Lulu very well as she had no chance to get uptight and stressed out as she tends to do, and we scored a very acceptable 30.5. Unfortunately we added 8 faults to this in the showjumping, but she was super across country coping well with several things she has not seen before, and only just finishing outside the ribbons.

Houghton Hall & Borde Hill
We have spent the last week in Norfolk at one of my favourite events, Houghton Hall. This is the 4th year I have attended and it' s great to see it growing into such a popular event. We took three ponies, Boundalong for the CCI**, Captain Christy for the CIC*** and Pusiden for the BYEH 4yo class. I really like to take the youngsters away to an event such as this right at the start of their career as they learn a huge amount in a short time and that going away like this is not a big deal. Sid was the first of our ponies to compete, on Thursday. Although we knew that his flatwork is not yet quite up to scratch, his jumping was super, gaing the second highest mark in the class (35/40). This was followed by a conformation mark of 12/15. This was good enough to earn him a place in the final 10 which then return into the ring to be judged on 'star quality'. He behaved eautifully, coping with the atmosphere of the main ring really well and being placed 4th by judge Nick Turner. After all the adding up was done we finished up 6th, so not high enough to qualify for the final, but nonetheless a reaally good result and an educational experience for him. Although we were not the only ones to wonder how the winner came out on top after refussing in the showjumping and ditching its rider twice......

Also on Thursday was Muffin's turn for dressage. We know that this is a work in progress and it will probably take most of this coming winter to really get things as I want them, however we are making progress and the first part of the test was much more relaxed, it did become more tense after the medium canter work and then the mistakes started to creep in, but she does now allow herself to be corrected in these without a temper tantrum so we are (slowly) getting there. We came out with a disapointing but deserved mark of 67.5.

Friday morning was Smurf's turn for dressage in the CIC***, a new class at Houghton this year. I was really pleased with our test, I felt it was the best feel that he has so far given me, although having since watched the video I can see where the judges marked us down however I was still disapointed with a mark of 61.7.

By Saturday morning it seemed that summer was over and the rain was returning, although we were fortunate enough to get the 3* showjumping out of the way before it did. Smurf really rose to the occasion, but he is such a crafty old sod I think he knew it was something a bit special, jumping a brilliant clear, round what was a very decent track. He then followed this with a lovely clear across country. We took a last minute detour through the double of brush corners at fennce 17 after I felt him jump skew-wiffed over the first part, and after the duck outs we had at Burnham Market and Withinton over similar fences I didnt quite trust him. Perhaps I was being unfair to him though as over the rest of the course he was a saint, including through the quarry where the (very) skinny barrel at the top of the steps was missing its flags. We added 16.4 time penalties to our mark of 61.7, finishing up in 15th place, only just outside of the prizes, perhaps without our detour through the corners we may have just got placed but I cannot complain I am thrilled with how it went, for my first 3* and Smurfs first double clear at this level in nearly 7years.

Saturday was also Muffins turn for xc, after a lot of early problems at fence 8 a skinny log after a double on the mound, the majority of people took the longer alternative. Being as how we had nothing to lose, being in 59th place after dressage, and as I trust her totally to go where directed I chose to take all the straight routes and Muffy didn't let me down. She jumped a fantastic round, coming home just 1 second over the optimum time of 9 minutes.

The trot up on Sunday morning was fortunately just a formality as Muffin was none the worse for her exertions, we then had a long wait until 3pm for our turn to jump, as by virtue of her super xc round we had pulled up from 59th to 25th place. The biggest problem faced by everyone trying to showjump was not getting over the fences but getting to them before they blew over, as the weather deteriorated throughout the day. Muffin finished the week off beautifully, and never even looked like touching a pole to finish up a credible 19th place, and even managed to get back into her stable before the thunderstorm hit! Once we get her flatwork really sorted I think she is gong to be a very special little lady.

And so we trundled the 4 1/2 hours home for a quick turnaround and back out the next morning for 8am dressage at Borde Hill.

Tickeridge was first to go and did a very nice dressage test for a mark of 26.5. A lack of being schooled for a week however caught us out in the showjumping when Tigga got a little argumentative and had an uncharacteristic 8 faults. A super clear xc, and being one of just 2 inside the optimum time in BE100 sec k, was his saving grace, and we finished up in second place.

Next to go wa Brockley Star, and I have to give full marks to his owner Vicky Whiteman for preparing him as I only ever meet him at events. Broccoli really is the most genuine, honest chracter and in only his second ever BE100 got a dressage mark of 27.5 followed by a double clear and the fastest xc time of the day, (almost too fast, oops) to be a deserving winner of sec j, it was third time lucky atfter being second in both of his previous outings.

Lite My Fire was next to go and again we approached the dressage after a minimal warm up. Although things didnt go quite as well as at Brigstock, it is definitely the right appproach for her and will work well in a 'normal' week when I am at home to prepare her. Lulu then followed with a lovely clear showjumping, over a course that caused huge numbers of faults, in fact she was one of just 3 clears in her entire section. After being told I was nearly too fast on Broccoli, I then eased up a little too much across country and although clear, picked up 0.8 time faults and so had to settle for 2nd place.

Last to go for the daywas Coevers Diamond Clover, having an easy Novice run after his CIC* outing last time. Again I knew his lack of preparation would tell on him as he is a character who really needs to be kept 'under the thumb', however he achieved a reasonable dressage mark of 34, but added 8 to this in the showjumping. He added nothing further to this across country however and finished up a very credible 8th place. So all ponies came home safe and all in the ribbons it could not have been a better ending to a lovely week.

We have got a quiet week now, our next event will be Berkshire College and we have got some showjumping to do at South of England and then Royal International.

Horse hunting and a new yard on the cards for Rose Equine this month

2010-06-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

After a frantic month for Rose Equine last month, May was somewhat quieter on the buying and selling side- couldn't find anything worth buying ! We really shopped around, and those that seemed so promising on their adverts were a huge disappointment in reality! It just goes to show how many poor quality horses you have to sift through to find 'the one'. I went to one sale where many youngsters, particualarly the Welsh As and Ds, looked absolutely awful with shocking conformational faults that could only come about with random breeding. It made me realise how much I support breeding horses responsibly! Lets not ruin good breeds with ones like those.

On a brighter note, one sale did yield a fantastic find- a 14.2hh 3yo chestnut tobiano filly by Stetsen, Honeypot Sweet Pea. Was planning to break and sell her on, but once I got her home she looked even more impressive so will be retaining this one! She has just been backed and is walking around quietly, really excited about her future as an allround competition horse, so watch this space!

Penny had been jumping superbly this month, only to end it with casting a shoe over the bank holiday! Typical it should be when the farrier is on holiday! So she is temporarily off the scene until the farrier comes out as she struggles barefoot. Hopefully though he is coming out Wednesday, so am planning to take her cross country schooling to Pontispool sometime later in the week to get in some practice over some larger fences.

Now June has arrived we have a packed horse hunting schedule where I hope we will at last find something worth writing about! In the meantime, plenty to be getting on what with Honey to school on, Penny @ Pontispool and Merlin to gee up into doing any work at all ! :P Just wanted to say good job again for Clean Limbs- its worked a treat for him.

A really exciting development this month was the planning application for our new stables/arena had been submitted- so fingers crossed all goes through we may be looking at a brand new yard for Rose Equine come 2011!

Hot of the press, brand new Peak Power Powders!

2010-05-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

After huge success with the Organic Horse Power Powders launched last year, Forest Farmacy have put their expertise to good use and created three brand new, all-in-one, herbal supplements designed to maximise performance levels and encourage a happy, healthy competition horse...

Peak Power Powders have been created using the latest research to support your horse during training, travelling and competition. The range consists of 100% pure, unadulterated, herbal goodness designed to work in harmony with your horse’s body to encourage optimum vitality even during intensive exercise.

Available in three formulations; Peak Protection, Peak Condition and Peak Performance. All three contain a balance of ingredients to support, protect and maintain the physical balance of the competition horse.

Peak Protection is designed to offer support to the immune system whilst also aiding respiratory function and includes a comprehensive joint support package to help remove metabolic waste, develop stronger more supportive tendons and ligaments and protect against joint wear and tear.

Peak Condition maintains and builds condition on the outside whilst gently taking care of digestive condition on the inside. The inclusion of Psyllium husk helps relieve gastric conditions, including ulcers, and keeps a healthy internal balance enabling your horse to utilise his nutrition and fight against bacteria. In addition Peak Condition balances the diet against any deficiencies and includes pre and pro-biotics – making it an ideal all round performance horse supplement.

Peak Performance works to develop muscle and support vital bodily functions whilst also assisting in recovery after intensive exercise. In addition, the comprehensive list of herbal ingredients includes a powerful joint support package which helps maintain healthy joint function and encourage a fitter, stronger competition horse.

Peak Power Powders not only give you peace of mind that your horse is receiving all the support he needs in just one product, the RRP of just £45 (for 40 days supply) makes it a very cost effective method of supplying your horse with the back up and support he needs to perform at his best.

For more information give us a call, tel: 0800 970 9421 or drop us an email info@forestfarmacy.com

Jemma Harrison gets her first taste of Grand Prix jumping!

2010-05-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

Since my last blog update we have been very busy competing ! During April the BSJA rallies continued and Piquet and I have now been jumping Newcomers, although a few unlucky poles meant no rosettes came home but still he was jumping on form.

At the end of April we had our big Liberation Show, where competitors come over from our neighbour Island Guernsey and even the Kings Troop come over! Piquet was on form and we managed to gain a 2nd, 4th, two 5th's and two 6th's over the show (along with some prize money as well). The number of competitors in the classes were a lot higher than normal meaning that some days we would be up there for the first class at 8am and the last class and not get home till about 8pm! But the great atmosphere and competition up the showground always kept us buzzing.

On the last day of the show I was crazy enough to do the Grand Prix as Piquet was jumping so well. We weren't expecting the first round to be 1.20m but still Piquet jumped round it brilliantly with only a few knockdowns due to my inexperience of jumping a technical course at that height! The photo is of one of the uprights in the Grand Prix at 1.20m!

Overall we had a brilliant show and I couldn't of asked him to jump any better. Piquet now has a well earned break for a couple of weeks and then we have a Spring Show where hopefully we will be in the rosettes again.

Some lows and highs for Sam Penn!

2010-05-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

It has been one of those weeks that has shown just how bad and then how great this game can make you feel. Last weekend I had a lovely day out spectating and shopping at Badminton, I walked the xc and decided that of course I could tackle it, easy peasey, (lol, why is it that courses look so much nicer when you dont have to ride them) and then we watched some of the action, Sussex was well represented but I had to feel sorry for Tina Cooke - that water looked very cold, and Francis Whittington who rode such a great round only to have Lady Luck turn against him so close to home.

Our next outing was to Moreton Morrell. First out on the Wednesday was Lite My Fire, she has been improving every time out so I was hopeful that things would go well, however for some bizzare reason our dressage was nearly half an hour late, by which time her limited attention span had well and truely run out, so we ended up with a mark of 41.5. However she managed to redeem herself somewhat in the jumping with a lovely double clear, and is definately starting to feel much more grown up about the xc so all in all I was pleased with her and optimistic about her next outing in which she is going to have a crack at a BE100.

Then came Tickeridge, who as ever performed a beautiful test spoiled only by the fact that I had a total mental block and forgot where to go! We managed then a nice clear showjumping and then a fab clear xc in which he really started to gallop and jump much more fluently only to be told that I had missed out a fence, which made me feel like a complete idiot. His owners Bill and Jenny Cooke were lovely about it, saying that it didnt matter as he had gone so well and looked really good but I still felt a bit of a prat.

The following day began with Nyala in the Novice, things started out well, she can be a somewhat opinionated young lady to say the least, but she worked in well, the begining and end parts of the test were good but her tantrum in the middle knocked down the mark to 37. The jumping side of things posed no problems however and she jumped an easy double clear, although we did add a few time faults but just scraped into the ribbons to be 10th.

Last of all came 707, he has not been quite himself recently and pulled a muscle on his last outing at Burnham Market, which did at least explain a lot about what went wrong there. So this time out we thought that he could have a nice easy run in a ON. His dressage was super with one of his best ever marks of 28, he was almost so quiet that I was concerned that he may still not be right so I warmed up for showjumping with a little trepidation, however he very soon showed me that he was feeling absolutely fine and jumped a super round just making up a bit too much ground through a double and having the one fence down. He then proceeded to cart me around the xc in his usual style, but 3 fences from home he had a very naughty duck out at a step up, bounce, to a small log, he has never refused with me without a genuine reason before so I was quite cross. He happily popped through it second time and completed without further incident. However bearing in mind his recent issues he will have a visit from the physio on Monday to check him out before maybe going for some schooling! So all in all it was one of those trips that could have been really good but ended up being rather depressing, but as my Mum keeps telling me 'You cant win 'em all'.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at Hambleden, with Coevers Diamond Clover (Flynn) having his Novice Regional Final and Boundalong for an Intermediate. It is not an event I have been to before but I will definately be going again, it's a lovely event with a strong but nice xc that rides really well. Flynn did himself proud, a 34 dressage mark in his first ever attempt at an intermediate test was good, he did get a little strong but was still rideable and I think that having more to do in a test will suit him. He had the very last fence down in the showjumping but felt awasome across the country, it was by far the toughest course he has met and he just devoured it adding just 1.2 time faults (only 5 horses made the time in the whole section), we finished up 18th, but it was all very close, with a clear sj we would have made the top 10, but he was the only 6 year old in the section, at least a year younger than any other horse there so I was very very pleased with him.

It was a lovely relaxed weekend, being stabled on site with just one horse each day, we even had a bit of a lie in on Sunday as Boundalong did not have dressage until 12. Her test was a huge improvement on previous outings, I hope we are starting to understand each other better now and although she was still a little tense she was much more rideable than she has been before. 37.7 was about what I expected for her mark, I did have to smile at the judges comment that she was 'aptly named'. The showjumping caused us no problems and she stormed around the xc in amazing style, the whole thing felt much more in tune than our previous outings.The course itself didn't cause too many problems in our section however the time was having a lot of influence, and by virtue of being the quickest in the section we won, by just 0.2, with just a further 0.3 between 2nd and 3rd. It was a fantastic result made even better by the fact that it qualifies us for the Intermediate Championships at Gatcombe, hopefully by then our dressage will have significantly improved.

The other big piece of news this week is that we have a new sponsor to welcome on board, Gary Mold and his company For Animals are based in West Sussex and sell everything you might need for horses, poultry, pigs, dogs cats and pretty much every other animal you might have, all available through their online store or by telephone or email with free delivery across West Sussex, they are now looking to expand into the Eastern side of the county so please do check them out.

Katherine Begley's season so far

2010-05-10T02:07:00.001-07:00

Well it’s been a while since my last Forest Farmacy blog and a lot has happened, but here goes!

Firstly Belvedere – well as you know Tor Brewer had been helping me totally re-vamp his dressage and it had been going really well. At the start of the Easter holidays I went there for a week to work and ride Belv everyday whilst getting tuition from Tor. It all went well and I even started jumping him again, at the end of the week Tor drove me over to an arena in Gloucester with both my horses (Jack was at Tor’s with me) to jumped around a set of fences, both horses went brilliantly and Tor was very complementary. So after that Belvedere came home with the plan of doing an unaffiliated ODE at Stockland Lovell. He continued to go quite well at home and I took him over to Tor’s for a lesson about a week later which went very well.

However then things took a turn for the worse, the Chiropractor came out to see Belv and discovered that his pelvis was out, which meant his shoulders and jaw were also out and that his muscles were really knotted. I was devastated as she concluded he wasn’t fit to canter let alone event. However having spoken to Tor about it, it’s actually quite good news as it explains why things were going so wrong at the end of last year and over the winter! Hopefully once that is all fixed it will be better than ever! So right now he is just on walking and trotting around the roads on a long and relaxed outline to try and build up some top line. He is being strapped daily on his hindquarters and has just started doing 5/10mins very basic schooling in the same outline. However he is going nicely and seems happy!

Onto Jack, well to begin with it was all quite gutting because he was with me at Tor’s and was going really well so I was very excited for our first event of the season. Unfortunately a combination of a sore foot from shoeing and some mud fever meant that he wasn’t fit to compete so we had to withdraw. However, onwards and upwards – we had Withington ON on the weekend which went really well! Jack warmed up fairly well for the Dressage but nothing amazing. However when we were trotting/cantering around the outside of the arena he went around brilliantly about five times. Unfortunately once in the arena he became really tense which caused him to become very unsteady in his head and contact. We ended up with a score of 46.2 which I was very disappointed with. However when we looked at the scoreboard we realised that the vast majority of scores were in the 40's and that it was a stiff judge, so the score wasn't quite as bad as it seemed!

Next up was the Show Jumping, I was actually quietly confident because recently I have been BSJA-ing him over much bigger courses (see video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltyzh5Cs0uo ) and the novice track at Withington seemed quite small and straight forwards. True to form, Jack warmed up brilliantly, and then posted a lovely clear in the ring. Although I think we lacked a bit of energy at the beginning of the course. Finally was the Cross Country. I was a bit concerned about the ground but after speaking to my trainer I decided to ride forwards to ensure that we remained in a good forwards rhythm throughout the course. I wasn’t worried about any of the fences and was confident that experienced jack wouldn’t have a problem with anything, and I was right! He absolutely flew over everything and gave me a fantastic round! I had kicked on but didn't rush him for the time and we finished with 2.8 time penalties (7 seconds over).

All in all, a very good day - we just need to work on that dressage! However a double clear at our first event isn't bad going! In the end we finished 13th and without the 2.8 time penalties we would have been 7th! Onwards and upwards to Hambleden CIC* in a few weeks and then my first ever Intermediate at Aston Le Walls!

More pictures and videos of Withington can be seen on my website blog here - http://www.katherinebegley.com/1/post/2010/04/withington-on-supplejack.html

A fantastic month for Georgina Rose

2010-04-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

Fantastic month! April saw Rose Equine off to a flying start selling all of our stock! Wally, the lovely little 4yo NF gelding that I broke last August, sold to a wonderful family on Exmoor where I'm told he will be enjoying lots of hacking and stag hunting which I can just picture him being brilliant at. Top Chianti, a well bred TB mare I bought in March, sold to a home in Bristol for showing and hacking as a first horse. At the beginning of the month I also bought a super 2yo roan NF type filly called Ruby- she sold in 2 days sight unseen to a fantastic home in Cornwall where in time she will be brought on for showjumping, so all in all a cracking start !

A successful month set us thinking about the next stage, which will (fingers crossed) be a small stable block and arena as well as additional land next September. It should mean I will be able to keep more stock through the winter, not to mention keeping the horses in fuller work through the wetter colder months so hopefully will allow us to be out and about competing much later on in the year!

One blot to a great month was Penny developing a cough just in time for a hunter trial, so decided it would be best to hold off. Bit of a mystery what brought it on, so I found the last of the Respiratory Power from winter feeding and dosed her up on that for a week - you'll be pleased to hear it worked a treat , so back in business and have some showjumping planned at Bluehayes next weekend weather permitting!

Also started my BHS Stage 2 training this month, going well so far so looking forward to moving onwards and upwards towards a teaching qualification. The exam is end of June.

With the competition season now well under way, and with the business off to a good start which will hopefully continue, I have started browsing for my own competition horse. I will never sell Penny, my jumping pony, but I am now looking the bigger model! Preferably 15-15.3hh for showjumping, planning to affiliate with right horse. Off to a sport horse sale in May, so who knows I may find my superstar yet!

Looking forward to May, Ive planned a packed few weeks of compeitions and sales so hoping our successful streak continues- and of course not forgetting Badminton Horse Trials, where I will be treating myself to some retail therapy!

Hope everyone has had a good month, and thanks to Organic Horses Respiratory Power for saving the day again!

Chloe Chubb is a busy little bee!

2010-04-30T00:20:00.000-07:00

Well where do I start, this season has got off to a very busy start with lots of ponies to compete and school ready for the shows. The jobs to do with the horses seem never ending!

The team has had a great start to the season with the Connemara stallion Spud winning the amateur rider championship at the PUK winter champs as well as the Concours D'Elegance class where I was made to go side saddle for the first time in 15 years! Thankfully Spud was very laid back about it and gave me a nice ride around the indoor arena.

Spud and Jacob my section C have been out competing in RIHS qualifiers and started off with some good results. Jacob managed to get his ticket the other week at South of England Spring Show which was great, as it means he does not have to do anymore qualifiers now for this and it is such a lovely show to qualify for. Spud has had some near misses and I am really hoping he will have his ticket soon to. It would be great to go to the RIHS this year with a couple of ponies qualified.

The baby ponies have had their up and downs or should I say I have after my little Dartmoor brought me back down to earth with a bump the other week (literally)! He has however redeemed himself by going to his first ever show to look around where he behaved impeccably showing some of the older ones we had there how to do it! He is continuing his education at home at the moment as I am in no rush to get him into the ring. I have just brought my young section B back into work after he got a kicked in the field so hopefully we will now begin to crack on and I am aiming to get to some shows in June sometime.

My baby hack Toby has had a few limited outings and has so far touch wood been a very well behaved little horse. He has managed to qualify for the Cherif final in October already which I am thrilled with as this is one of the main things I wanted to qualify him for this year. He also went to the Ponies UK Winter champs were he handled everything we threw at him with a smile on his face. He went in and out the evening performance so many times and had some great results for a youngster.

Now the sun is shining I feel like the show season has well and truly got underway. It is great to be back out there seeing all my friends and the new ponies they have for the year. Well that's my update for now, next time I will have contested my first HOYS qualifier - fingers crossed for a good placing.

Sam Penn's trip to Withington Manor

2010-04-29T01:43:00.000-07:00

We have spent this weekend down in Gloucestershire at one of my favourite events, Withington Manor. Unfortunately due to its popularity we had both Brooke and Flynn balloted out and so it was just Captain Christy (Smurf) and Boundalong (Muffin) who made the trip. Both had dressage on the Saturday afternoon, Smurf was first up, in Advanced section M1. Apart from two minor blips (those white letters are very scarey things!) I felt it was a pretty good test, however we got a rather dissapointing mark of 43, we seem to get the recurring comments of 'tight through back' or 'needs to work more freely over back' however he feels pretty good and was very accurate, so it' s back for more homework with Mary Ann to see if we can figure out what we do differently at home compared to out at a party. Next up was Muffin in Intermediate section H. Its only our 3rd event together and taking a bit of time to get used to each other. The work at home is really starting to come together, but at present she is still getting tense in an arena, and then makes mistakes, such as changing in counter canter, then when corrected she throws a huge strop!! However things were better than at SofE as the first half of the test was lovely, getting 7's for all her trot work and there was even an 8 in there too so her mark of 42.3 was as expected.

Overnight we stayed locally in the most beautiful yard, that apparently is usually home to polo ponies, although I'm not too sure about the early morning alarm call from half a dozen peacocks! We were back on the showground nice and early for Muffin's showjumping at 9, the better ground is certianly more suited to her than the mud we have had recently and she jumped the most fantastic double clear, for the first time I asked her to move on a bit more xc as the time is always tight here, we had a few instances where we had different ideas but I think we will get used to each other pretty quickly and then with the dressage sorted she will be a real superstar. We finished 10th on 52.7, my first placing at this level this year, lol.

We then had a long wait until 4.30 for Smurfs' showjumping. 8 faults was comparativly good, and we set out xc feeling pretty confident. he gave me a lovely ride up until fence 20, a combination consisting of a left-handed corner, 4 strides to a wagon then 5 strides to a right-handed corner, where he very naughtily ducked out of the last part. I am always the first to say if it was a 'rider error', as was the case at Burnham Market, but on this occasion it wasn't and I was very disapointed as he jumped it fine at the second attempt and then happily finished the course. So Mr Smurf has a lot of homework to do before Houghton Hall CIC3*. As 707 missed his Advanced run he will now be headed for the 2* along with Muffin and hopefully we will be taking Pusiden for his BYEH debut. However we have plenty to do before then, our next outing is Moreton Morrell in a couple of weeks, so until then.........x

Ups and downs in Josh Thompson's start to the season

2010-04-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened since my last blog, good and bad! At the end of March we headed to my first event of the season; Lincoln. It was a real novelty to be starting in March as last year my first event was July! I had Shannah in the ON and Duncan in the novice. Duncan performed a slightly disappointing dressage test, to score a 38. However he was quite flat and I think the long journey and the fact he had a hard day before in an attempt to try to reduce his bucking spell tired him out. However, he was still much more rideable than last season and as a first event I wasn’t too disappointed. I seem to get very nervous in BE dressage (more on this later!)

In the showjumping again he was flat in the ring, to gain a bit of a cricket score of 20 jumping and 1 time faults. I think it was perhaps a combination of horse and rider error but he was very lazy-and as Tuffy said when she saw him he will get bored of Novice soon! We decided to just take him slowly XC as there was obviously no chance of a placing. We did two long routes and came back with 29 time-which actually looking back was not too bad within the section. He felt spot on and is so classy and keen XC, even at the water he is starting to trust me more and apart from a sticky moment at fence 18 I was very impressed with how he has matured.

Shannah only had 10 minuets to warm-up for the dressage, as I was delayed with Duncan due to XC fence repairs. He scored 46.5 for his test in the ON, which I felt was slightly harshly marked as apart from a squeal and buck in the second canter transition he had no major errors. He then show jumped well, with just the first fence down but as this was his first round over the coloured poles since Weston I wasn't too disappointed. Again, he put in a good XC round to come home with 11.2 time penalties. We were the last to go of the day and the ground was quite deep so I was impressed with how well he coped.

With Witton cancelled due to the weather we had a few weeks at home to practice, practice, practice before Weston Park. At Weston the weather was glorious; quite a contrast to Lincoln where I had gone XC with Shannah in the pouring rain! Again, I was hampered by slightly disappointing dressage marks; Duncan scored 40 and Shannah 41. However, both tests were better then Lincoln and it's coming more together all of the time. After a disappointing showjumping round at Lincoln with Duncan I was keen to resurrect any errors which we had. He jumped a much better round, and was unlucky to have one pole down on a track which caused plenty of trouble. Shannah again jumped nicely, however we had a few minor disagreements so had two poles; I need to try working more on an even stride.

The XC again produced two pleasing rounds. With Duncan I tried to push him on more, and he started well but lost energy towards the end. However, I was very happy with him and bar the waters where he was slightly sticky he showed real confidence. He is starting to open up more now and soon should be easily making the time; he has a lovely big stride starting to develop. Shannah was a total star. I made the decision to run him in just a snaffle; to get more flow and prevent over-checking. It paid off! He showed total confidence and gave me the best round I’ve ever had, coming back with 2 time penalties which was one of the quickest of the day!

Last weekend I was at Central Scotland. Sadly, Shannah was to be left at home as he has had a couple of small nose-bleeds recently so we are getting him scoped this week, hopefully it will be nothing major! We had horrific times which meant leaving home at 3am- a feat I never want to repeat! Duncan had had a lot of attitude all week, but after going nicely the day before I was confident of a nice test. However, the rider’s total pilot error prevented that! We have been working on rhythm and slowing things down; which was evident in the test. Sadly Duncan did a massive spook down the centre line which didn’t give us the most perfect start! I then went wrong half way through, and forgot the two medium canters to his mark of 46 could have easily been reduced if I had learnt my test-my excuse is that I was too busy getting my oh so important A-level RAVEision in! The weather then took a turn for a worse and after my high hopes of a sunny season after Weston I was disappointed! We didn’t have the best warm-up but he jumped better in the ring, and just got a bit tight into the two fences we had down. He warmed up like a dream XC and started really strongly, giving me a much more galloping rhythm. However, he then for no reason started to nap and spin at a simple coffin fence, after two stops he got over and again continued to please me with his maturity and confidence-only to have another stop at the water. So all in all not an entirely successful weekend however, as mentioned I was very pleased with his way of galloping and jumping on the XC, and think it was attitude more than anything else that prevented a clear. Once we got him home and trotted him up he appeared to not be 100% so he has the physio this week, although is looking sound now. Hopefully after his pelvis is sorted be will be back on form!

I have really enjoyed using Forest Farmacy products recently; including Emergency Herbal Cream, Horse Power and Perfect Performance Shampoo. I have started to realise that I sometimes feel ‘BE pressure’ generally in the first two phases at events. This nervousness means that I never seem to get the results in the competition that I get at home, where I am always much more relaxed. It has been suggested that I take to serious alcoholism before the dressage to try to get me ‘tipsy’ and hopefully calmer, and although generally the idea may appeal to me I’m sure BE rules state something against it! I have found Perfect Performance drops very helpful though, although I maybe need a larger dosage than is suggested! In all seriousness though I am looking at getting a few Sports Psychologist sessions to really ‘get into my mind’.

Looking forward my next event is Auchinleck, where all being well I will have Duncan in the Novice and Shannah in the Intermediate, followed by Floors Castle. The main aim in May is for Shannah to go to Houghton CCI*, and Duncan may join him to experience just how fun 3-day parties can be, and do some of the unaffiliated classes. Until then goodbye.

We get to know squad member Sue Barr

2010-04-29T01:27:00.001-07:00

Sue Barr rides three horses, Gunner, a 16.2hh ISH gelding who is competing at BE100, Rivers Blue, a 16.1hh Polish WB x ID who competes at unaffiliated dressage and Rupert a 16hh TB gelding whom she is currently backing and riding away with a view to producing him for eventing. Sue has been on most local riding club teams, has evented to BE100, enjoys hunting and producing her horses. Blue qualified for the Trailblazers Prelim dressage championships in 2008 however has been plagued with lameness issues in relation to his cartilage within his joints. She has a propensity for taking of difficult or young horses and producing them for competition work which means she spends a lot of time on the ground watching horses work and progress. Sue's main competition horse this season will be Rivers Blue whom she will be aiming at affiliated dressage up to Elementary. Blue tends to be very uptight and lively, mainly arising from his inherent stiffness so she will be working on that during the summer, so she hoping she survives backing the young horse and riding Blue at competitions !

Sue is also breeding her first eventer, due in July. The foal will be out of Heligan (Michaels Revenge) by Chilli Morning ( by Nick Gauntletts advanced event stallion). The foal is certainly going to be ginger but Sue has great hopes for its future given the superb ‘in the purple’ parenthood. Sue runs her own small yard in the south west and when not competing or riding loves to volunteer at BE events.

Why Horses? "The obsession started as soon as I could talk and being from a non-horsey background I complained until I was taken to ride every weekend. I couldn’t imagine being without them."

Biggest horsey bug bear? "Seeing young horses being pushed too far and too hard."

Worst Horsey habit? "Horse kleptomania, if it needs a home it generally ends up with me."

If not horses what? "Anything to do with the sea, as a tidal energy developer and marine biologist the only thing that isn’t marine in my life is horses."

What could you not live without? "Definitely Rivers Blue. He looks like black beauty, has a huge personality and is my favourite boy, regardless of his duff legs!"

Jo Barry gives us the lowdown of her amazing trip to the Winter Dressage Champs

2010-04-29T01:24:00.000-07:00

The washing machine has worked on overtime since our trip to the British Dressage National Winter Championships at Hartpury. 7 days away with 2 horses takes a bit of preparation but equally so does the unpacking, catch-up and washing when you return...BUT what a fantastic week we had!

As seems to be usual for me the run up to the Championships was not straight forwards..the week before we left we had yet another batch of snow. On the Tuesday 6 inches fell, a complete nightmare as far as I was concerned! By Friday we were able to get the lorry out and hired the Scottish National Equestrian Centre (SNEC) for a couple of hours so that I could take Freddie and Rafa there to ride. By Saturday I was able to ride on my own school but it was in gale force winds and so we left for Hartpury on Tuesday feeling a little unprepared.

We borrowed a lorry for the trip so that Mum and I could have an actual 'living' to live in...our lorry doesn't have the living kited out, just a nice big space. However having a bit more comfort did mean that I had to unpack all the show equipment that stays permanently in my lorry and re-pack it into the other one adding in all the feed, haylage etc etc that was needed for the week. It seemed to take forever!

We hoped to leave at 6am...at 5.30 Freddie went back to bed, lay down and stretched out and said he was not going to budge! Eventually at 6.20 he got up and was bundled into the lorry. The journey was good and we made it down in 8hrs. It did feel like we had arrived in another world though, we left high winds, rain and the cold and arrived to sun, grass in the fields and blossom on the trees!

The boys settled into their new stables well, with front row seats for watching everyone that was arriving, it kept their interest for the whole show. Hartpury really spoils you with their stabling, we were in permanent boxes that had rubber matting floors and were of a good size...a home from home for them.

Rafa did the arena walk in the main arena in the afternoon. He had never seen anything like Hartpury before and so I wanted to give him the best chance by letting him see it the day before. It was really busy in the arena...sometimes because you can't do anything other than walk it actually upsets the horse more because they become more coiled up with excitement. You just have to keep an eye and try to give those horses a wide berth and hope it isn't yours that is causing the upset! Freddie just had a gentle stretch that night as the main arena had closed after the arena walk.

I worked Freddie early on the Wednesday morning as Rafa was going to take up most of the day with his two classes. He was competing in the Novice Open and the Novice Freestyle. I was really pleased with him, he really tried to do his best. In the Novice Open he made one mistake...when I asked for my first transition to canter, he just glazed over and didn't hear me. It was coming into the corner where all the trade stands were and he just wasn't there to listen to my aid. I did my best pony clubber impression and eventually we did make it into canter but it meant we got 4's from the three judges. We still managed to get 66.9% and finished 8th, so considering the mistake I was pleased with the placing. Later in the afternoon he competed in the Novice Freestyle. This time he stayed with me throughout and even though I had to help him along at times because he was tired he gave as much as he could. I was thrilled with his score of 75.19% and his second placing, he was thrilled with all the feed vouchers that he had won. Rafa's show was now over and the plan for him was just to hack and do light stetching for the rest of his stay and that he simply enjoy his holiday!

Day two and it was Freddie's turn in the Elementary Freestyle. He came out with guns blazing and for the first time I thought this could go either way!?! I had never felt him so on the knife edge at a competition before but at the same time it was amazing to feel! For the indoor Championship classes you warm-up in the indoor arena by the stables then 20 minutes before your test you go down to a smaller indoor that sits beside the main arena to do your final preparation for the test. The test went very well, though we possibly had slightly too much fuel injection in the medium canters! He gained 77.57%, with one judge giving him just over 80% for his test! He won a lovely crystal bowl, a sash and a rug but for Freddie the highlight was that he was in a prizegiving...he just loves being the centre of attention. That night we had dinner with a friend who lives locally, a good gossip was had and bottle No.1 of Champagne was consumed!

Day three, Friday and it was a day off from competition. Freddie was worked and Rafa did some light stretching. It was a beautiful day and Mum and I sat on the bank watching the PetPlan Championship riders competing in the afternoon. We were joined by a friend from Scotland who brought along a bottle of Champagne...No 2...a perfect way to enjoy an afternoon! We went to the evening performance that night to watch the PSG Freestyle, with hopes that Freddie will be in it himself next year!?

Day 4, Saturday and the Medium Freestyle. Freddie was first to go and scored 73.7%, a good score but would it be good enough?! It was a long wait for the final result -nerves were frayed by the end as the class was strong and so every mark was a potential threat. Another prizegiving, sash but this time he got 4 lovely Bucas rugs as his prize. Another sunny evening and another bottle of Champagne...if not 2! This time they were shared with some fellow Scottish competitors in the lorry park.

Day 5, Sunday and the Medium Open. I really felt the pressure was on...it seemed unbelievable to think that a 3rd Championship could be possible especially as the class had many top combinations in it. This of all the classes was the one I wanted to do well in. Freddie was not on till mid-afternoon so I took him out for a walk and gave him a light stretch first thing. Carl had said he would come to warm us up for this test so I felt more confident knowing that. Just before I was to tack Freddie up for the class a television crew arrived to have a chat about our Hartpury experience and the next class. Freddie was hilarious, he stood throwing his rug around and playing the fool behind me then decided that I was in the way and started nudging and pulling at my shoulder...he wanted to make sure I didn't steal his limelight! It was now time for the test, Freddie and I went up to the indoor arena and started working in. No sign of Carl and I have to admit I started to wobble. Freddie felt tired and a bit grumpy and for once I could hear all the comments the other trainers were giving to their own pupils...all I could hear was 'lovely', 'wow' and 'super'. Then Carl walked in, I relaxed, started to focus and ride again. Straight away I could feel a difference in Freddie, he started coming back to me and by the time we got to the entrance of the main arena I could almost hear him say 'go on then, one more time!' I came out almost not knowing how we had gone, all I knew was we had got through it. Carl came over, smiled and said that he was happy with both of us and that that was to be his last test at Medium! The score almost didn't matter as I knew neither of us had any more to give, the fact it was 72.07% was a huge bonus and then that he won was just unbelievable! His final prizegiving and yet again he stood like a rock and behaved beautifully. A third sash, a gorgeous Albion double bridle as a prize and huge smiles all round. Another bottle of Champagne courtesy of our dinner host from Thursday night but it remained un-opened until we got home, whereupon we arrived to two more bottles given by friends!

We decided to stay on Sunday night rather than leave and travel overnight. I got up at 3am to feed and we were loaded up to go just after 4am. We left, drove all of 500m to find that the entrance gate was padlocked shut!! We were not popular but at least another lorry was waiting to go too! We only had a half hour delay in leaving and were making good time up the road when we heard a huge bang...a blowout. 90mins later we were fixed and back on our way, then an hour later...ANOTHER bang and a second blowout. UNBELIEVABLE!?! An hour later we were sorted again and made it home in 10 hours.

Freddie has had a week in the field and Rafa had a few days off and then it was kick on to Elementary! May is going to be busy with training for Freddie and getting Hugo ready for his Young Horse qualifiers so I wanted to try and get Rafa's summer qualifications this month. He still had one novice test to win and I wanted to try and qualify him for Elementary. On Wednesday he started learning walk pirouettes and simple changes, on Sunday he did his first Elementary at SNEC and won! It was Elementary 58 and not an easy test to do as your introduction but I think he was so shocked that he followed exactly what I said with very few return comments from him. He won his novice class too so we now have that qualification and we will go to Rowallan this weekend and try and complete the elementary qualification...then he can have a holiday!

I just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone that supported Freddie, Rafa and I at the Championships and to those who sent congratulations. Also to TopSpec and Forestfarmacy for their help towards the care of the horses...to Mum for her help and for putting up with me and Lady Hope, who even though she could not be there was a nervous owner on the end of the telephone waiting for results. Finally, thankyou to BD, NAF, Blue Chip, Baileys, Equissage, Bucas and Albion for their work, sponsorship, encouragement and for making the British Dressage Winter Championships 2010 a really memorable week for me.

Claire Thomas' latest blog update

2010-04-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

The start of the year has not exactly been perfect what with all the snow and then Aldo getting spasmodic colic a couple of times. Even when he seemed to recover from this he just didn't seem himself. The only thing that had changed in his routine was his hay was now being steamed in the steamer my brother made for me and gave to me as a Christmas present. I took him off the steamed hay and Aldo was soon back to his normal cheeky self.

The weather has improved and Aldo has now started competing again. He is getting better at loading although still not going in straight away. However, with a bit of patience he will suddenly walk up the ramp with confidence and no longer shakes when he is inside.

At his first dressage competition this year we achieved second and third which I was really pleased about considering he is still young.

The first test was rider error as I forgot a circle and the second test Aldo was rather too sure of himself and thought he would liven up proceedings by bucking when asked to canter! Looking at the positives the rest of the test was quite good and it gives us a few more things to work on!!

To do something different I have also taken Aldo jumping. He was very well behaved and enjoyed himself. He is not very brave and likes to have a good look at the jumps before he goes over. However, he will then fly them with confidence! Think its just as well I want him to do more dressage than jumping though!

Am hoping the good weather continues and am looking forward to more competitions.

Anna Bailey has a good start to the season, despite the wet weather!

2010-04-17T02:46:00.000-07:00

So as quickly as spring began to appear, it disappeared and back came my old friend the rain…. Surely it can go on for much longer, could it?! Oh but it did!

All that excitement and preparation for a dismal start – but a good dismal start I hasten to add.

Starting with Timmy, I was planning on him having a first run at Munstead in the BE100 plus. He didn’t run cross country that much towards the end of last season for various reasons, losing a shoe in dressage and then the whole lorry ramp falling off thing. For these reasons I thought a good confident first run would be in order and that is exactly what happened. After a week of sunshine the rain then started to descend on Munstead just as the event was due to start. I was fully prepared to be doing my dressage and showjumping in deep mud being last to go on the Sunday but the rain drizzled and held out leaving perfect going. Hats off to the organisers for doing such an amazing job given how wet everywhere was a month ago.

In the BE100 plus you do a Novice dressage test and showjumping and then BE100 xc. Timmy managed a test but controlled dressage to score a fairly respectable 36. I was pretty pleased with this as earlier on he had tried to catapult me into the lorry next door as I got on! The lorry park being right by the xc start didn’t really help his cold back case as tension makes it worse as well as the cold!

The show jumping went okay with just one down but he was very strong as clearly knew what we were there to do. The cross country is very straight forward and makes a good first run of the season or first run in general. Needless to say we were clear inside the time. I think my arms were a good few inches longer from trying to slow him down, I think keen would be an understatement as we could have gone around twice in the allocated time at Timmy’s speed!

The next outing came two weeks later to do the Novice at South of England. I had decided to take him up to LMEQ in Reigate during the week before just to jump in an out of the water and tackle a few skinies and corners. The facilities are amazing up there, it’s well worthwhile to make a trip to get them ready for an event.

The Novice at South of England is in my opinion very inviting for that level. It is a definite step up from BE100 but gives you a good start. Timmy has already jumped the Novice here a couple of times so I was confident after walking the course that he wouldn’t have any problems. I was again last to go in my section, which suits me as he gets up tight warming up for the dressage if there are lots of horses about. My test was a bit more complicated than the one at Munstead but I was pleased with the way Tim coped as although he lost some balance in places falling in patches of mud, he did everything I asked. Again it was a miracle SOE managed to run given the amount of rain we had had! The only mistakes came in one medium trot he lost balance and cantered and was a little against my hand in the rein back. The judges were also scoring pretty high so a score of 40.5 was not too bad.

The show jumping was cause lots of problems I think due to warming up on a rubber surface and then jumping on sticky mud. After my disaster of 5 down last year I decided to warm up jumping the upright on the sand a couple of times and then go straight in. This worked a treat! I had one fence down, I think only because the ground was so deep so I was very happy.

In the XC he was amazing, again he pulled my arms out as I was trying to keep him slow just to give a good confident run around. He stayed straight at all the skinnies and finished full of confidence in 12th place. Dare I say it but we may have to do that intermediate soon……. We’ll see how Nurstead goes first!

In other news, Gringo (pictured above) has been coming along really well. He is now out competing and even went xc schooling – hes such a super star. I have placed a couple of adverts for him so hopefully he will be sold to someone who will enjoy him as much as me.

Athene S, a horse I sold to Jo & James Donaldson went xc schooling at Munstead last weekend. I worked her a little in the dressage rings to get her used to doing a test on grass, then popped her over a couple of show jumps and then tackled the xc. She was amazing. Considering she only started jumping under saddle a month ago, she deserves a gold star. She pretty much jumped the whole BE90 course including the water and the steps and loved it. I really cant wait to see what she does later this year.

I'm off to xc school Socks this weekend so fingers crossed he’ll be as good as Athene and Gringo!!

Another successful outing for Sam Penn at South of England

2010-04-17T02:43:00.000-07:00

It's been another busy week for us with a 2-day Steven Hadley jumping clinic here at Golden Crossin which I rode Lite My Fire (Lulu) and Boundalong (Muffin). Steven has made the long trip down to Sussex several times now and as always the sessions were extremely helpful, keeping me on the straight and narrow, and making sure I dont develop too many bad habits now that I am out x-countrying again. Lulu made life rather difficult for both of us, I still dont think we have found the ideal bitting solution for her yet, and Muffin was exceptionally full of herself especially on the first day but both girls settled down to the task and were much improved by day 2.

Friday we made the first of our trips to Ardingly Showground as Tickeridge had day before dressage, he is getting to know that being plaited up now means he is going to a party, and so made life rather difficult for the girls to get him ready by jumping up and down and squeeking! But he is a total pro when he gets in the arena and scored a 27.

Saturday morning began as something of a disaster, due to leave the yard with 3 ponies by 6.45 my groom for the day didnt turn up and so I eventually departed by myself nearly 30 mins late. Fortunately my first horse in the arena that morning was Brockley Star, who was also being taken to the event by his owner Vicky Whiteman who had him all ready for me to just jump onto. Broccoli is such a lovely honest character, having his first attempt at a BE100, he just gets on with the job and earned himself a dressage mark of 30. Next up was Tigga's jumping, the ground was pretty sticky and many horses were finding it difficult to adjust after warming up on the all weather surface but Tigga took it all in his stride and jumped a lovely round. His xc started out really well, he is not the quickest horse, mostly because he is a little too relaxed about proceedings, but he seems to be improving each time out, and for the first time he really took a hold around the first half of the course. Coming back past the start he was definately distracted and started to 'hang' left in the direction of home but with a few sharp reminders we continued out onto the second half, the ground here was considerably more holding and he never really got back into his earlier rhythm although he continued to jump everything well and we picked up 3.6 time faults, although this still compared well against most others in the section. I am pleased that he is feeling a little bit more keen each time out. He won the section by 2 marks, but even better the win has put him on top of the BE Foundation Points League for the whole of the UK.

Broccoli also excelled himself in only his 3rd ever event, rider error gave us 4 faults in the showjumping but he flew round the xc without a seconds hesiation anywhere to finish in second place, its under discussion whether there is another event at which I may be able to ride him but his owner Vicky is hoping to be fit and ready to ride again in time for Borde Hill in May.
Nyala was the second 'non-GX-resident' for me to ride that day, although she had stayed with us for a few days before in order for us to 'fine-tune' a few things. Owned by Anna Goodson, who is currently not riding due to the very recent birth of her daughter Millie, Nyala is another short-term ride for me. We started out with a very reasonable dressage test as this would not be Nyalas' best phase, and I was very happy with a mark of 30. The showjumping was an exciting, although fortunately clear, stage. As she is extremely sensitive in her mouth we have been using a bitless bridle for our jumping over the winter and it has worked well, however in a large arena, outside for the first time it didnt work at all, luckily for all the fact that she gets herself into all sorts of trouble she does have a huge jump and is actually very careful. We went back to a happy mouth snaffle for the xc phase, which all went off without any drama, and I had a lovely ride finishing well inside the time to finish 2nd to our old friend Coco de Cara. I will be aiming to ride her again at Hambleden in a few weeks, this time in a Novice. Having so many of the young horses going so brilliantly has also meant that in addition to Tigga being top of the Foundation Points League, so am I in the Rider League, the first time I have ever featured in a National points table, which is hugly exciting, now to repeat the success at the higher level......

Sunday started out far better although in the end turned out to be rather less successful. Having taken Muffin to work her on the showgroound both Friday and Saturday I was hopeful that she would be settled and perform a nice test, however this was not to be the case. She did however go on to jump a fabulous double clear in what is still only our second event together and our first Intermediate outing. Murphy I felt was rather harshly marked in the OI section, although as usual anticipating what I might want rather than waiting to see what I actually ask him to do, we did have a couple of minor errors like a step back in the halt but he still didnt gain great marks for the bits that I felt were ok and ended up with a mark of 40. However he went on to showjump well, the soft ground being his prefered surface adding just 4 penalties. We have improved by one fence each time out so hopefully next time we will get the clear, lol. The xc was again brilliant and he was foot perfect around the whole course and compared well with the others on time, however due to his dressage mark we were well out of the money.

Last to go was Coevers Diamond Clover (Flynn), in Novice section N. An appalling dressage test, in which all his old habits resurfaced was not a good start, and I rather felt that his mark of 41 was exceedingly generous. His showjumping was as always good and he was unlucky to have a fence down, and the xc phase was super, Ardingly was the location of his first Novice run last autumn and it was nice to see how much more confident he felt in comparison, he skipped around the course easily and was one of just 8 horses to be inside the optimum time in his section. Flynn really is such a super horse it is easy to forget that he is still only 6 and I really feel that if we can get him sorted in the dressage phase he will easily take on an Intermediate.

I would also like to say an enormous THANK-YOU to all the people who helped me over the weekend but especially on Saturday, Anna Gorringe, Anna Goodson and her Mum, Suzie, Bill and Jenny, Sarah, Laura, Vicky, Karla, Harriet and Keith. X

Kelly Dickson updates us on her progress from February and March

2010-04-17T02:39:00.001-07:00

February was a very quite month for me. The only outing was on the 13th where I set of for Onley. It was a disaster of a day and Charlie just didn't want to play and I think he would have been happier asleep in his stable. Nothing seemed to feel wrong just that the pair of us must have been having a bad day.

So with house hunting, and hopefully we have found a house and it is currently all going through, and the weather still being a bit horrid, February seemed to go pass very quickly without me getting much done.

Start of March was much better. Feeling that spring has finally arrived and the juggling of lots of things at once had started to slow down slightly. On the 7th I decided to go to Yateley, which would be our first show on grass this year but Charlie still didn't have any stud holes in yet so had to take it a bit easy. In the 1m Open he seemed to relish the grass under his feet and did a lovely clear. It was one round against the clock but the lack of stud holes meant that I couldn't push too fast. I think I ended up 3rd but only 2 prizes were awarded. In the Newcomers I just had an unlucky fence down. It was an upright going downhill and I held a little too much so completely rider error.

Our next outing was Hartpury on the 13th. I entered the 1.05m Scope Qualifier. He jumped great and was quite forward going, I was again unlucky to have a fence down in the jump off as he just hung in the air slightly and had a back rail. As there were 55 entered, I still came 10th. Charlie was getting a little tired now as still not to top fitness but entered the Newcomers to see how he would go. Had 2 fences down but was please that he was thinking more for himself. One of the fences was the water tray and we have been working on this since last year. He still wouldn't jump it at Only back in February but I was so pleased that he actually took off over it this time even though he had it down. So a big improvement but still a long way to go.

I am now preparing for the Blue Chip Championships in April, so hopefully I will have this water tray phobia sorted by then.

Georgina Rose finally gets out and about this month!

2010-04-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

At LAST we have managed to get out and about this month! Despite the weather taking yet another turn for the worst, we have had a busy and successful March to begin the season.

Early on in the month we bought a lovely new horse, Top Chianti, a very beautiful 15hh 9yo TB mare by Komaite out of Top Yard. Although impeccably bred for racing, she is destined for stardom in the dressage world, her paces and way of going are fantastic! Still getting to know each other having had only a handful of rides in between the rain, but very pleased with her. She is for sale if anyone is interested, ideal show/dressage/broodmare or flashy hack! You can find more about her on my facebook page Rose Equine Sales.

Penny had a successful start to her competition season at the hunter trial in Pontispool. She was 6th out of over 60 entries in her class so delighted with that as neither of us had been out for nearly 5 months! She jumped an excellent quick clear (if a little over enuthusiastic at times!) so high hopes for April HT's now we've both warmed up a bit!

Wally, our 4yo New forest, along with Chianti will be for sale at Easter hopefully as soon as the ground dries up. Looking forrward to seeing him find a family of his own, but sad to see him go as he is the first one I have broken myself.

I saw Forest Farmacys advert for Clean Limbs Spray which seemed impressive, so I am considering zapping Merlins windgalls with it after hes worked hopefully making life a little more comfortable.

We have also been busy repairing the damage done by the winter to our fields, chain harrowing and fertisilising, but out hard work was quickly undone by the latest batch of rain so will be straight back on it when we get some better weather!

Im now looking forward to the upcoming competitions next month, fingers crossed for sunnier times! Planning to get Chianti out for some evening dressage at Pontispool before she is sold, so really excited about her chances there. I will also be starting my BHS Stage 2 training as well, so plenty to keep us busy!

All the best to everyone, hope you are all having a good start to the season,

Oli Lawrence's blog: A good start to the even season

2010-04-09T01:03:00.000-07:00

So the eventing season’s now well and truly underway. Dells already had outings to Isleham and Poplar where he jumped double clears in the placings and last weekend he jumped his first intermediate novice at Great Witchingham and finished 10th. Things are looking up! Continuing with the success front I also managed to pass my driving theory test with some rather sketchy revision, “I’ve got loads of time” only to find out it’s my birthday and my theory is tomorrow....

As well as eventing Dell’s been out doing his dressage practise with Totem, my brothers new horse, in tow for his first few outings. Both of them got on very well with a 4th, 2nd and 1st (in the pouring rain). We’ve also brought the horses home for the summer but as the summer looked like it was about to kick in it vanished and was replaced by rain, thunder and lightening. Suffice to say when I was hacking across a very open and flat field with thunder, I realised I was the highest point – not cool! Time to go home...QUICK!

But back to Great Witchingham, it would appear that I’m cursed slightly with late start times as by the time we’d claimed a 38.5 in the dressage that kept us in the running, it was getting kinda darkish – here we go again.... So with people slightly on edge around the show jumping we kept our heads down and jumped a good round with just the one down. Following that we had a lightening quick tack change and were third last to fly out of the start box like something out of a wild west film as the sun set – minus the lasso, cows, buffalo and red indians trying to shoot you.... We jumped a fabulous round with below average time penalties so there were smiles all round – especially when we finished 10th.

So we’re well and truly underway and Dell’s next run will be the JRN at South of England followed by another JRN at Nurstead Court. Plus, the baby of the yard, Gray, should be making a first appearance soon so keep an eye out – as the name suggests, he’s grey...

Tilly Tillbrook's blog: What a difference a month makes

2010-04-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a difference a month makes – after all the cold, crisp, dry weather that came after the snow, it turned wet in March, really, really wet. All the XC courses closed round us and I found myself early one morning setting off to Aston Le Walls without having set foot on a XC course since last October! Not the ideal preparation, and I was very glad I had only entered the intro as I had a suspicion this could happen.

Luckily some preparation had gone to plan – we’d had a dressage lesson the day before and got some really nice work, so I felt confident about that phase, although bouncing over to the dressage arenas did make me glad I’d opted for the crash hat and not the beagler! Boysie was extremely pleased to be eventing again, but he knuckled down, and we even coped with the 30 minute delay without too much trouble. I felt he did a really super test, and it is always a good sign when then judge gives you a thumbs up at the end of the test I think! I will treasure that moment – it doesn’t happen very often, and was reflected in the mark of 33 which left us 6th after dressage. We then went down to the showjumping, where we had just one down where I took an unnecessary pull, I must learn to stop doing that.

The XC was running massively behind, so we watched several horses go before starting to warm up. Boysie was looking everywhere but at the fence as we left the start box, however the reality of XC fences soon focused his mind and we flew round for a nice neat clear. I took it a little bit steady as he and I were both rusty after no XC schooling, so the time penalties pushed us out of the placings, but still a great start to the season I think.

The following weekend at Stockland Lovell things didn’t go quite so well and I withdrew after the SJ because the sun was getting low, we weren’t in with a chance of getting placed and I didn’t want to risk the run XC in that light. There is always another day and hard though it is, sometimes it is better to admit it isn’t your day.

I had a super experience at Aldon BE where I volunteered to help, arrived and found I was dressage writing for Jennie Loriston-Clarke. There really couldn’t be anyone better to learn what the judges are looking for from, and I made the most of it. It was incredibly interesting to note that Jennie is looking for where she can give marks, not where she can take them away – I think there are a few judges out there who could do with taking a leaf out of her book! Any horse behind the vertical did not get more than a 6 for that movement, which gave me pause for thought – no matter how well it did the movement this really pulled the mark down.

And so April arrived – and all my horsey plans went on hold because I get married on the 24th of the month! Just for once in my life my partner and the wedding have to come first and horses go on a back burner. I’ll make sure to include a picture with the next blog!

Rhiannon Ball rounds up the past few months

2010-04-08T01:54:00.000-07:00

To start with as I missed the blog in February i will just recap over the events...

My school break - February half term - allowed me to train further for the up coming event season. Interval training, fittening/hill work as well as some much needed schooling all took place in preparation for for my first event at Poplar Park. Due to the wet weather and no facilities I had the only option of roadwork until the weather improved - fortunately my 'event' horse is very sane and is 100% in traffic.

The day of the event was, well, as most of them are for many people, hectic! I had a 10minute warm up for the dressage, which went surprisingly well, not our best but definitely better than expected - especially for our first one. I entered the show jumping on a score of 33.5 and the pressure of achieving a clear round show jumping was growing with much apprehension as I have yet to have a fault - my 3rd year of doing B.E and have yet to receive one, and this day was no different. We rattled a few, but had luck on our side! Due to the hectic time schedule I was not able to walk the course with my 'unpaid groom' - my mum! This panicked me, but as usual she gave me the sound advice 'KICK!'. This filled me with little faith but we crossed the finish in one piece! I was over the moon with Chissies performance but had some doubts about a possible 'mistake' that i might have made when i talked through the course with fellow competitors. I had jumped an alternative part 'A' but had stupidly on my part forgot about part 'B'!!! To say the least I was frustrated with my self as his score would have put us in the top 5! I know for certain I will not make that mistake again!

I went home and continued to practise...
Dressage was now my main aim - having miraculously managed to qualify for the BD Winter Nationals I am now beginning to take this discipline a bit more seriously, much to Chissies dismay!

We headed out to Affiliated BD with little hope of receiving a placing as I had only ridden the test once at my trainers the week before...This lack of belief later proved un-necessary as we somehow managed a win in the qualifier class and also a 5th in the other qualifying class even though I forgot the test twice! This has further boosted my confidence for the Nationals and although I'm going with little hope I am looking forward to the experience and it's a perfect consolation for not being able to attend the Open PC Championships and the BD Summer Nationals on my younger horse!

The youngster...
He is now fast approaching 4 and with this he seems to be ever-growing. Everyday I ride him he feels ever so slightly larger - in both height and width! He is now schooling superbly - flying changes are 'simple' and he seems to produce even more scope every time he jumps! He is so brave it's unreal and teamed with his carefulness I really enjoy working him; he just seems to improve daily!

That's about all for competition news at the moment...

I have started feeding a higher quantity of Horse Power to Chissie in preparation for the Nationals, this seems to bring out the most stunning shine on his coat and also improve his condition. Overall he just looks so much better since he has been fed this.

Jemma Harrison jumps in to action

2010-04-08T01:51:00.000-07:00

Our local BSJA has finally begun! The first heights jumping was cancelled due to a waterlogged arena but luckily we have managed to have one on the 7th, 14th and 21st of March.

On the 7th, it was the first time Piquet and I had been out since last September so naturally Piquet was spooky but we did the 1m and 1m05 with just a knock down in both. I was very pleased with him and it seemed like a good start to the season!

Our next rally was on the 14th and again we did the 1m and 1m05. In the 1m we gained a clear and came 2nd and in the 1m05 we just had a pole in the second phase of the Two Phase, but because we were quick we gained a 4th rosette.

Last weekend we competed again but the weather was not the best and it rained all day and the ground became very churned up due to us being in the later classes. Piquet still jumped really well and although we didn't gain any rosettes due to a knock down in the 1m05 and 2 knock downs in the 1m10 I was very pleased and think the only way now is forward!

We have a break now for 2 weeks and then the rallies begin again where we will be jumping 1.05 and 1.10 and hopefully 1.15 ( if all goes well!) At the end of April we have a big BSJA Liberation day show where competitors come over from Guernsey, France and England to compete. So fingers crossed that we continue on our way forward!

Sarah Jane Brown springs in to the start of the season

2010-04-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

Our season has finally got up and running with a successful month behind us. The main disappointing aspect was that we never got into the CCI** at Compeigne in France, so a rethink of our goals leaves us aiming for Tattersalls in May.

We started off the month by getting some show jumping practice in. Since Sarnie’s physio straightened her pelvis she has been back firing on all cylinders and has qualified for the Bath and West Grade C final and Bath and West Open final finishing 2nd and 4th in the qualifiers on consecutive weekends. The later qualifier was 1.25 with a 1.35 jump off which really had her pinging.

Ashley meanwhile has started his affiliated Show jumping and has jumped 3 British Novices, had one double clear and 2 rounds of a pole down, he is just starting to get a little cocky but once settled in the ring he showing scope and care. We finished the month with his first Discovery where he jumped a cracking round for one unlucky pole down. Since we are not going to Compeigne he is now entered for his debut event at Bickenhall BE90open in mid April before in May moving onto BE100s. I am very excited about him and feel he has a huge amount of potential despite his small size.

Our first BE event was the OI at Gatcombe. The weather was kind and the going great. Sarnie is pretty fit and feeling very well (thanks to Organic Horse’s – Horse Power). I started warming up for dressage and every canter transition involved a squeal as she bounded into canter. I think what we produced was a very careful test, the mediums were ok but if I had asked for more they could have been fantastic or we could have accelerated out of the arena never to be seen again. Overall it could have been worse as we ended middling with a score of 36.8 in a competitive section with only 2 combinations breaking 30.

Show jumping was up to height and quite twisty and the ground although not bad was getting cut up on the fence lines. She was still bright but not sure why I seemed to see some pretty dodgy strides. She got close to 3,4 and 5 through rider error, I also missed her at 7 a triple bar my least favourite fence as I always try and make them take off a stride too early. We actually jumped 8, 9 (the treble) and 10 ok. A clear round hugely deserved by the horse perhaps less so for the jockey.

Cross country she was superb and we had a fast and clear round. She jumped the problematic offset corners the straight route and very neatly and powered through the water making the course feel quite straightforward. We finished the 5th fastest in the section and came 7th overall.

Easter was also successful with two wins in the Medium classes of British Dressage show at Tall Trees and a Foxhunter BS win at Colraine. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the season continues in the same vein. Plans for Sarnie in April include the Advanced Intermediate at South of England where we will be doing the Badminton test and an advanced run at Withington.

Until then keep up to date via www.shoestringeventing.co.uk

Holly Burton's latest blog update: Back in to the swing of the season

2010-04-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well the snow has finally gone and I'm pleased to say that we have now had two outings in the last fortnight. We first went to some unaffiliated show jumping to pop round the 3ft3 and 3ft6. Considering we had only popped a cross pole in one session since October, I wasn't expecting amazing results! He was a tad 'fresh' in the warm up but he knew his job once he got in the ring and put in a super double clear winnnig the class which had a lot of people in it! In the 3ft6 he spooked at a banner on the way to the first fence so we took it at a bit of an angle having it down.

On Tuesday (16th March) we went to evening BSJA. We entered the 1.10m and the 1.15m amatuer qualifiers. In the 1.10m, he put in a lovely double clear but I messed up a vital tight turn in the jump off which put us down into 5th place. The 1.15m I thought was a normal 1.15m class however a new rule means that in actual fact the first half is 1.15m and the second half is 1.20m, with the jump off at 1.25m! I had already entered when I realised this and was a bit daunted as I didn't feel he was fit enough for that big! He proved me wrong however by jumping another fantastic double clear and coming 2nd. Tinto never stops amazing me with his honesty - I don't know of many horses who would jump so well when they'd only been (gently) back in work since Ferbruary after being on snow-bound holiday for 3 months before!

I have just enterered our first BE of the season - Kirriemuir. We have entered the novice as usual, although I'm yet to do some cross country (mid-October was the last one he did)... so shall have to book a course for some practice soon. Kirriemuir is never one of his better events, the cross country runs right beside the dressage arena's so Tinto is like a coiled spring in his test, especially as its his first run of the season he's always very fresh there, although it does mean he thunders round the cross country at lightning speed! Otherwise, aim-wise there are Highland Show BSJA qualifiers coming up next month which I hope to do depending on the class.

My next blog will likely be after Kirriemuir so I'll fill you in then!

Success for Sam Penn and a 21 dressage!

2010-03-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

We have once again had a successful outing this weekend with a trip to Munstead near Guildford. This is a really nice course for the youngsters, with lovely ground and bold up-to-height fences that encourage the horses forward, without too much twisting and turning and changing of rhythm, improved further this year by running the xc in the opposite direction. First out on Saturday was Lite My Fire (Lulu) for the BE90. This little chestnut mare had her first ever run at Isleham where she was rather green and then unfortunately missed Tweseldown because of a bruised sole. Dressage went very nicely getting a mark of 32, which I think we will be able to improve further as she gets stronger and she followed this with a clear in the showjumping. We have spent the last few weeks trying to come up with a bitting combination to suit Lulu as although not actually strong she has a tendency to poke her nose out and try to run on when landing after a fence, however she also has an incredibly soft mouth which splits in the corners, even when ridden in a snaffle as we discovered when out xc schooling before Isleham, I have recently been riding her in a little bitless bridle in order to let her mouth heal, this she seemed to be very responsive to although the steering could be a little fuzzy at times so I have added a loose ring snaffle, and together they seem to work really well, it looks like a rather nasty combination, but it is actually not, and sometimes two reins will get in the way xc, but at this time she seems very comfortable in it, as proved by a lovely run accross country to finish on her dressage mark and win by 4 marks.

We returned on Sunday with my little superman Tickeridge for his first ever BE100. After realising that I had learned the wrong dressage test and hastily memorising the correct one (huge thanks to the kind lady who lent me her rule book) we toddled in. I spent most of the test trying to remember the route and in doing so rather left Tigga to get on with it, which may be the way forwards as we got a mark of 21, despite him suffering a sneezing fit halfway through, looking at our sheet later I found he had gained five 9's and even a 10! We followed this with a clear showjumping round, although he does now get a little onward bound and cheeky when he realises the fences are only 1.05. His cross country round was also really lovely taking on the slight increase in height and technicality without turning a hair, I also kicked him on more than on previous runs as his only real fault is that he can be a little too relaxed about the proceedings, but he felt wonderful so I was absolutely mortified to discover that we had collected 8.4 time faults. I questioned this with the stewards as I felt that to be 21 seconds over the time in what had felt like a good round had to be a mistake but I was told that everything was correct and so we finished second which was a little disapointing after such a super performance and the first time Tigga has ever been beaten. I shall now go away and time him over set distances to see if my feel for his speed is wrong before his next outing at South of England in April.

Also competing at Munstead were two of our 'old boys'. Rembrant III was 11th in BE90 section D on Saturday with a double clear and going really well for his new owner Louise Edwards and Coco de Cara was the winner of BE100o on Sunday with Cath Fowdrey on their dressage mark of 28.5, it was lovely to see them both looking and going so well.

Also this week we have had several outings for dressage practice, we were at home on Wednesday where Boundalong (Muffin) my new ride for this year, had her first party after a quiet few weeks having tweaked a muscle, it was all far too exciting and so she joined the two big boys Brooke and Smurf when they went to Royal Leisure to practice the 3* test on Friday, they were really good and I was delighted that Brooke has almost mastered his changes and half-pass although Smurf was showing off as usual, Muffin was still rather full of herself though but I hope she will have worked through it in time for Somerlry Park on Wednesday, a nice early morning drive to the New Forest for us as we have an 8.50am dressage. aaarrrgggghhh!!!

Abby Steel and Lilly make some marked improvements and bring home the ribbons

2010-03-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

On the 14th March I took Lilly along to Overa for the BSJA show jumping where we went into the British Novice and 1m Amateur Qualifier. Over the last 2 months I have been having lessons on Lilly to improve our jumping before the coming season and we have both improved so much!

In the British Novice we had an unlucky pole down at the last fence (Rider error)! but we went round the course in a perfect rhythm and I could feel the improvment in us both!

I then went in my second class, where we had another unlucky pole down but again she jumped round the course so well and I was so chuffed how we had both come on over such a short period of time!

On the 21st March, after a mad rush to find my membership card the morning off the show, I
was qualified to jump in the 95cms second rounds, In the first round Lilly jumped a fantastic clear over the big and demanding course and a very quick clear in the jump off clinched second place! Which was fantastic. The class was split between juniors and seniors and there was lots of people there competing so was a close line up!

I then entered into 105cms as a first round contender as i hadn't previous to this competion qualified in this class so I was jumping to qualify for this competition.. but next year! Once again Lilly produced a fantastic double clear with a very quick time to get another second in another big class!! Which will take us to the second rounds again!

All in all we had a very good day! We are next jumping on the 4th April at The Jays.

Introducing Squad member Chloe Chubb

2010-03-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

Chloe Chubb has been showing since she was around 8 years old. She was lucky enough to ride for some great producers as she came up through the ranks in the British Show Pony Society as well as competing on her own ponies. Since then she has concentrated on showing mountain and moorland ponies and her judging appointments, becoming a judge on both the BSPS and BSHA panels. This year Chloe will be competing her own Welsh Section C Stallion Popsters Loaded Weapon (Jacob), who will be entering his third season with her, as well as her own novice small hack Glentons Adonis who Chloe is aiming to bring out in horse classes this year. As well as Jacob and Toby Chloe owns two other youngsters, Dartmoor Shilstone Rocks Drakes Leat and welsh section B Celton Sandstorm, who are being aimed towards shows later in the season. Chloe also rides for Claire Grisdale who produces Jacob for her. This year Chloe will be partnering a connemara stallion called Hillymead Cabaret for his owner Carol Dutton as well as Claire's own section b Saltre Dancing Brave.

Why horses? "I was always massively competitive and horses seemed to be something I was better than average at!"
Biggest horsey bug bear? "People who tell their ponies off ten minutes after the incident happened - what is the point?"
Worst horsey habit? "Looking down when I am riding to see what the horse is doing!"
If not horses what? "Something outdoors that keeps me sane and very busy. I can't be doing with free time"
What could you not live without? "Its a long list but my mum who organises me continually, my dog Jack, my expensive show stick as my mum would kill me if I lost it (and all the ponies are very lazy) and Claire who is always good in a crisis and who I trust totally when she says 'she wont let go', very important when backing!

Image courtest of Alex Kelly

The good the bad and the rare? Joys of Horses from Kerry Graw

2010-03-26T02:09:00.000-07:00

Well the start of this year has been quite mixed, had great outings with Picnic (dark bay above) showjumping and lots of training at great venues which are definately paying off as we are getting far more double clears than ever. One venue that I went to for a one day training clinic was at the Unicorn Trust In Stow, the facilities were absolutely fantastic and so was the food! I came away feeling a sense of achievement at being able to ride a much smoother show jumping round, and the following week went out competing and got two double clears and a placing so must keep up the good work.

The Calming Power I have been trying Picnic on is working wonders and she has transformed her attitude into being more workmanlike without losing her spark, thanks Forest Farmacy for coming up with this blend! It definately helped when I took her to have a go at dressage for a qualifier at Hartpury, I was meant to be taking Biggles (coloured horse above) but due to him being out of work Picnic had to step in and lets just say when there are no jumps she finds other ways to amuse herself, the test didn't go as bad as it could have, two plus points we only had a couple of bucks and didn't come last. Unfortunately Picnic is the only horse that has been out due to injuries and rare joint disorders that only my horse could manage to have!

Biggles has been out of action since before Christmas as he was showing a reluctance to go forwards or work in an outline and eventually started to refuse jumping so called the vet for investigation. He never actually went lame but just didn't look right (almost as if the handbrake was left on) after x rays showed up inconclusive we decided to send him for a bone scan, this meant before we could send him I had to put him back into work in the hopes he went lame so something would show up on the scan. Three weeks later I was getting to the point of giving up and thinking I was imagining he wasn't right when the last transition I did from canter to trot he refused to trot and would walk or canter but he'd hop and not quite work out his legs to manage the trot. I must say I did get very strange looks from people when I was so excited that my horse looked lame!!! My vet came back out to conclude a bone scan was needed and a very impressive three days later I took him to Three Counties Equine Hospital for the scan. He had to stay there for 48 hours after due to the radioactive dye used in the scan needing to clear through his system before being allowed home, so he stayed there for three days in total. We now have the results and it seems it is the thoracic facet joint (located directly under where I'd sit) which is very rare as horses usually have a problem with this joint in the neck, but typical my horse can't be normal!!! Anyway the vet is in discussions with an expert in France (the only one apparently) and are hoping to be able to inject into the joint to encourage it to strenghten and develop so Biggles can move freely, which will mean re training him to use himself correctly. Hopefully fingers crossed he will respond to the treatment so that we can manage his condition and get him strong so he's back out competing. He is however quite enjoying all the fuss being made over him at the moment, I will keep you updated on his progress as we start on the road to recovery with some pictures.

Show rider Lizzie Briant's first blog

2010-03-26T02:02:00.000-07:00

The ponies that were shown last season from my yard all have a well deserved rest over the winter period when they can live as naturally as possible without rugs etc.

My open pony for this season is Guards Jester, a nine year old, Fell stallion who is jointly by Myself and Paul Saunders. I intend competing him in HOYS, Royal International and Olympia qualifiers, he is a great little pony with lots of character and presence.

I brought Jester back into work in January, he loves being ridden and groomed and strapped everyday. He loves attention and although he is used at stud has no problem sharing the lorry with a mare. Jester is turned out everyday and loves his playtime and likes nothing better than hacking out with my friends on their eventers and has no problem keeping up.

Watch this space to see how Jester goes over the season...

Anna Bailey is ready and raring to go!

2010-03-16T01:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially ready to start. We have overcome the elements of snow, frost, rain and more snow, frost and rain to finally start to see a glimmer of spring….. well in the distance at least!

All the horses are feeling rather well. Timmy has been to dressage, finishing a respectable 4th in his first test since September. I will now be smothering him in the evening performance spray that Forest Farmacy kindly gave me to try as I seemed to be riding a very grown up calm horse. We have picked up a few placings showjumping and even made if out cross country schooling towards the end of the month. After much thought it was decided that he will start evening this year at Munstead in the BE100Plus to give him an easy first run. He will then go to South of England and Nurstead to do the Novices. We will see how that goes before planning early 1* and his first intermediate run. It sounds so easy, doesn’t it….. we’ll see.

Gringo has come on leaps and bounds. He is now working nicely on the flat and jumping a small course of fences. He is so bold, we decided to test him out one day by throwing in the gate, fillers and barrels but he didn’t bat an eyelid – he just jumped bigger! I hope to get him out to jump some British Novices in the next few weeks and then some cross country schooling so he will be ready for the PAVO 4 year old qualifiers in the summer. I currently have him up for sale but if anyone is looking for an investment I would love to keep the ride on him – he is going to be amazing.

Talking of amazing, I went to ride Athene S a horse I sold to Mr & Mrs Donaldson last summer. They would like me to ride her in her first Intro which is planned for Rackham in June. After plenty of dressage over the winter they have done a great job on her flat work so she feels much stronger in her body. I popped her around a little course and again she jumped everything without even so much as a waver. I think she will really enjoy her eventing debut in June.

I have also gained the ride on another five year old called Socks owned by Stacey Revell. She bred the horse and after show jumping very successfully as a four year old, she would like to see what he will make of eventing. As Stacey is from a show jumping back ground I will do the first couple of events with him and then she might have a go. We plan to take him cross country schooling in the next few weeks so we will then plan his first event.

I can’t wait to start – its going to be an exciting year. x

Sam Penn has a successful first outing at Isleham

2010-03-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

We are just back from our first event of the new season, having lost our local event at Stilemans we had a rather long trip up to Isleham in Cambridgeshire, but it was well worth the trip as the courses and the ground were fantastic, although proceedings were a little delayed on Sunday morning due to the hard frost, but the team worked so hard to get things put right, and full credit to them for their efforts. We travelled up on the Saturday and stayed overnight, as we had a nice early start with dressage for Flynn at 9am. After working in nicely he did a rather disapointing test getting stronger and more rude throughout and getting a deserved mark of 40. He did however redeem himself somewhat with a lovely double clear, in what is just his 3rd start at Novice level and his first run since he fell in the water at Pulborough last year. So with 10 timefaults added as I didnt really push him this early in the year we finished a respectable 8th.

Next came Lite My Fire, having her first ever 'proper' party. Lulu can be a very easily distracted person but was extremely well behaved and grown up and performed by far her best dressage test yet, followed by a clear round showjumping. Unfortunately things didnt go quite to plan across country when she ran out at a very simple fence because she didn't like the look of the pond next to it! But I think given some time and more experience she will become quite a nice little lady.

Last of all came Tigga, who put in by far the best performance of the day to win the intro section, finishing on his dressage mark of 32.5, he feels much more sprightly this year and for the first time was really attacking round the xc phase, so I'm quietly hopeful that we will really build on what he achieved last year.

This next week will be a busy one as we have a Nick Turner clinic to look forward to on Tuesday, some dressage training on Brooke with Mary-Ann on Wednesday (I'm very much looking forwards to trying out our new saddle) and then on Thursday the two big boys Brooke and Smurf are headed to Tweseldown for the OI, on Friday, Flynn is out for another Novice, then on Sunday its back again for the babies in the Intro, plus a new ride, Brockley Star as his owner Vicky Whiteman is out of action for a few weeks with a fractured collarbone. Also at Tweseldown is one of our previous Golden Cross residents, Rembrandt III with his new owner Louise Edwards so very best of luck to them.
So until next week, bye x

Nicola Latham updates us on the latest news from the Windsorwood Show Horse Team

2010-03-09T10:55:00.001-08:00

February has seen marginally better weather for us in North Lincolnshire and some schooling work has started. We are still wondering if we will ever be ready for the first shows in March but we are keeping everything crossed.

Kingswood (Alf) is ready for some serious work. He seems to be getting a bit bored now and regularly trashes his stable overnight including digging out all his banks. He does like to dig though and has also dug a pit, the size of a welsh mountain pony, in the gate entrance to his field!
Suzanne has started to ease Alf into a work routine and he is looking fantastic. This horse absolutely floats across the arena and turns heads everywhere he goes. He is the type of horse everybody wants to sit on. I have sat on him once or twice and you know you are on something special. This season, Suzanne has promised me that I can get on him more often. There is method in this madness, she told me it was because some ride judges are not as strong in the leg as her and Alf needs to get used to different styles of riders and still produce the goods. Whatever the reason, I am looking forward to this opportunity very much.

Beconsall Pickpocket (Munch) had an emergency vet call out this month due to him getting choke. He had to be tubed and had a sore throat for about 24 hours but is now right as rain. He now has a brick in his feed trough to try and slow him down. Alistair reports that workwise he is going very well indeed. We should be paying him a visit in the not too distant future to witness this first hand.

Lanson (Eric) This season Eric will be ridden and produced by Danielle Heath. Eric is a small hunter and Paul Mortimer (owner) is very excited at his prospects for this season. This little horse ticks all the right boxes. Eric is the newest member of the Windsorwood Show Horse Team.

Against all odds a successful outing at the Winter Semi Finals for Jo Barry

2010-03-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

I took Freddie and Rafa down for four days training to Carl's mid february. It was a really good experience, especially for them as they had each other for company and meant that they ate on the journey down and settled straight into their stables. When they go seperately they won't eat while travelling and even when they arrive somewhere new it takes a few days to start eating their meals properly.

Rafa really blossomed over the four days, Carl worked on making him really supple over his back with long forwards stretching. He then asked him to maintain the softness and transfer his weight onto his quarters. Rafa moves extravagantly behind and it has given him problems with his balance previously but he is now opening his shoulders and carrying himself better and is finding everything much easier.

Freddie, I am told looks amazing...I just feel out of control and like I am riding on a wing and a prayer!?! Carl rode him one of the days and I have to admit he does look amazing! Carl rode some piaffe and passage on him and I felt very proud seeing my boy starting to get to grips with these difficult things. Carl got off and said he was really quite excited about him and that I had to stop worrying about now and tomorrow and start riding him with a year and beyond in mind. Was Stephen Clarke saying a similar thing to me a month before??! I think I was panicking that I had the Winter Semi-finals the next weekend and I was feeling my half passes weren't as good as they had been in December! ...keep thinking of the bigger picture!

I got home on the Saturday and the boys had a day off on Sunday. I stretched them on Monday and Tuesday and they also had physio. The preparation for the semis at the weekend was all going according to plan - then it snowed...aaargh!! No riding Wednesday, no riding Thursday and yikes no riding Friday and the semis were upon us. The snow was nearly away on friday night but we woke Saturday morning and opened the door to 6 inches of fresh snow. Thankfully we didn't have to leave till lunchtime and so after a few phone calls we managed to get the local farmer to bring his tractor and snow plough to clear the road into the farm. My Dad then shovelled and salted the worst bits and we held our breath, crossed our fingers and headed out in the lorry. We made it out and couldn't believe it that 20mins away there was no snow!!

The Saturday classes were the freestyle. Rafa was brilliant, he went the best he has at a competition in the Novice Open. He won with 76%. Freddie competed in the Elementary and medium Open Freestyles. He was very fresh due to the lack of the work and I felt very much the passenger. I made a huge mistake in the Elementary, I leg yielded the same way twice and so missed out a compulsory movement. It meant that I received my first zero and that multiplied by 3 as there were 3 judges was very expensive. It also effected my choreography marks and in total I think I lost about 40 marks. Luckily the judges thought the rest of the test was very good and he still gained 71%, was second and qualified. I gave myself a kick up the backside and I performed better in the medium and didn't let Freddie down this time, we won with 74%.

Sunday was back to the normal format of tests. Rafa had the Novice Open and Freddie the Medium Open. The both made a couple of mistakes but I was pleased with their way of going...Freddie was much more responsive and Rafa despite being tired really tried had to do his best. Rafa was 2nd with 69% and Freddie won with 72%. So all in all despite the weather and a stupid jockey moment we had a great weekend and gained qualification in all 5 classes!

Katherine Begley gives us a series of updates!

2010-03-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

18/02/2010 – Riding Belvedere

How exciting. I rode Belvedere for the first time in quite a while yesterday! He has been at Tor's for his re-training, and wow what a good job she has done with him! He is so much more relaxed, chilled and soft to ride. I only rode him for 5/10 mins or so on Wednesday because we are introducing me to him gradually! It was very strange though, he feels so so different, in a good way of course. But it has made me realise that I am probably not going to be eventing him in March/April because he is still very fragile and it isn't going to be a quick process. I also rode him today (in the snow) and rode him for about 10 minutes again, but I was approved to canter him this time! Tor was very pleased with how we went and said that I looked much more relaxed and confident today. I suppose that is because I knew what to expect! Here is a video from Wednesday, Unfortunately I have no video from today as my Gran drove me over to Tor’s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds1ydPwhE60

19/02/2010 – Good news!!

***Supplejack passed the vet!!!***

It was all very touch and go to begin with because on Thursday it snowed here and at Aston Le Walls! It then proceeded to freeze overnight! However, luckily the sun came out and the vetting was able to take place and we were able to go over to fetch him later in the day. The vet picked up on a couple of things, but nothing major and nothing to worry about. So all very exciting! Poor Emma was very sad to see him go, but she needn't worry as he will be spoilt rotten! He settled into Belvedere's stable very well (surprisingly well actually considering he can be a bit of a worrier) and has been very affectionate and friendly! Me and mum managed to scrape together a bridle out of various bits and bobs this evening and so will give him a ride around the field (in the snow) tomorrow!

28/02/2010 – "Jack jumps, joyously, jammily and judiciously" - BSJA report!

Well, yesterday we set off to do some BSJA on Ross and Jack at Allens Hill. I had Ross in the 1.00m Amateur qualifier, which was run as a single phase and was an incredibly long course!! He was jumping brilliantly in the warm up but kept on trying to nap out of the arena. So I was concerned that he might throw in the towel when we went into the ring. However we managed to get a double clear! (Even if he did plant himself in front of the double and then nap coming around to a spread by the entrance/exit!)

Next up was Jack; he was in the discovery (1.00m first round). Unfortunately his jumping bit hadn't arrived in the post and so he was just in a snaffle, consequently he was quite strong and so we did have a pole down. But he jumped really well and considering it was my first course with him and I have only had him a week it wasn't too shabby! Although we had a pole down, the judges missed it and so we got into the jump off - It didn't affect the results as we were on a ticket so our score didn't count anyway! The jump off was a full up discovery JO - Up two holes, so set at around 1m10. This time I took my spurs off and jack wasn’t quite so fresh and we had a really super round. Nice rhythm and hit everything on nice strides! We got a super little clear, one of only two in the jump off. So we would have been second if I was registered BSJA.

Video of Jacks rounds - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FT2L9__1jE

All in all a very good day, and very promising for our event season! I can’t wait to enter Weston Novice now! If you can't wait for the next blog check out www.katherinebegley.com to keep up to date with what is happening.

Sam Penn is ready for the season

2010-03-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

Almost ready to go! We have had several dressage outings, Smurf has been going well at Medium level, and Brooke is making the step up well. Tigga is consistantly getting very good marks at Novice level and Lulu is gradually settling down to the task at Prelim. The showjumping has also been going exceptionally well with all the boys and girls regularly placed at their respective levels.

I have a very exciting new ride for this season, Boundalong, also known as Muffin, is an 8yo bay mare by Royal Concorde and has previously competed to 1* and Intermediate level, we will be aiming for a 2* later in the season.

The weather has not been very helpful when it comes to getting out xc schooling but we have managed a couple of outings, one to Tweseldown with Brooke, Smurf and Muffin and one to Littleton Manor with the youngsters, all of whom have been very good and I think we are as ready as we can be for the start of the season, I cant wait!

Tilly Tillbrook faces more snow, jump homework and a busy month in preparation for the season...

2010-03-01T23:03:00.000-08:00

Finally the snow has passed us by and we are able to get back on track. Life was very busy for me in February – the demands of work and my life outside of horses hit for the first couple of weeks, although I can’t complain too much since it did involve a week of rock climbing in sunny Spain. Now I don’t know who ordered the weather on that trip, but by the end of the week it was snowing, not what we had hoped for, and I feel like the white stuff is trying to scupper all my plans at the moment.

However, back to base, and it really was time to crack on with our preperation for the eventing season. After a week of hacking and schooling, we had a very busy few days. First up on the Friday was a clinic with Nick Gauntlett at Stockland Lovell Manor in Somerset. This was supposed to be show jumping in the morning and then a session out on the XC course in the afternoon – of course the weather put paid to that! Luckily, Stockland Lovell is a super facility and has an enormous outdoor arena, and they had some portable XC fences out on it for us.

Our show jumping session was very useful, with Nick noticing that I tend to create a great canter round the corner then chase it to the fence meaning everything is rather rushed. So I have to learn to sit and wait a bit more these days, which is not easy! Lots of homework there…..

The XC session was a really good session – we worked over corners and on some tricky angles and curving lines, and all in all had a great afternoon, leaving me feeling like we’d had a really useful tune-up for the start of the season.

On Saturday, we headed down to Dovecote Stables in Chard for a dressage lesson. Sam was very pleased with the progress Boysie has made in his canter work, and we are now asking for some canter-walk transitions and doing a lot of work on collecting the paces whilst keeping the hind leg quick. My schooling at home is really concentrating on this, and we have almost nailed the canter-walk now – I’ll update in March! I am very glad that I have him on the Joint Power now that we are asking him to work harder and take more weight behind – it gives me peace of mind.

Then Sunday we headed down to Pontispool for the Area 12 Riding Club dressage qualifiers. Our RC had 4 teams entered, so there was a real sense of camaraderie on the day, and we all looked super-smart in our team saddlecloths. I felt Boysie did a super first test, perhaps not quite forwards enough, but very relaxed, accurate, swinging and soft. The judge sadly did not agree and we got 56% - our worst score since 2007! After a pep-talk from a friend, we went in to do our team qualifying test, N25. This time I had him more forwards but I felt we sacrificed some softness over the topline, and that he didn’t feel quite so supple. However a much better mark and placing resulted – 66.8% and 8th in the section with lots below us as opposed to 3rd from last in the first test! I have never had such a disparity in my marks before, so have emailed the videos to my dressage trainer Sam, and will let you know what he thinks next time.

Finally, the following Thursday we headed over the Severn Bridge for a clinic with Kenneth Clawson. I feel very privileged to be able to train with Kenneth, and the sessions always give me lots to work on. Again I was chastised for chasing to the fences – I really need to break that habit, so I think lots of show jumping is on the cards for us now. However, Boysie rose to the challenge of the tight turns and angles admirably, and I came away feeling like I know what needs the work.

It’s now just a week until the first event of the season, and after all that hard work we went for a nice pipe-opener in Ashton Court Estate – a huge country park with virtually no access restrictions which is in hacking distance – bliss. With all this hard work, the Gut Power is really essential to maintaining his digestive health and keeping those ulcers at bay. I am also extremely pleased with the Coat Powder – everyone keeps commenting on what a super shiny coat Boysie has!

So now it is down to last minute tune-ups before Aston le Walls – until next time, happy tack-cleaning (that’s what I’ll be mostly doing!).

Georgina Rose battles on regardless of the weather

2010-03-01T01:18:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness that Feb has come to an end, with March almost underway spring feels just a tiny bit closer, I dont think I can take much more of this winter weather! Since the heavy snow, I must have got about 2 weeks of riding in before terrential rain set in again, but by now I'm so determined to battle on the horses will have to put up with being a bit soggy for the time being!

This month I have been busy setting up Rose Equine in preparation for spring, we have had some emboirdery work done e.g polo shirts, baseball caps, hoodies etc in our colours of black and gold, and they look great so really pleaed with that. Hoping to get saddlecloths done to include Forest Farmacys logo soon.

Horses are going well. Our 4yo, Al, has now begun jumping! He is a total natural, pops over like a pro even though hes only jumped a handful of times, so really impressed with him, high hopes as a little PC eventer/showjumper/WHP of the future!

Merlin is enjoying his new lease of life jumping, thanks to the Respiratory and Joint Power, at age 16 he is back enjoying work again which is amazing, as we'd never thought we'd jump him again because he seemed to find it so uncomfortable, so thanks again for the good work!

Penny is her usual bouncy self, busy doing lots of work getting her fit for the hunter trial season, as this is where I plan to focus her efforts early in the year as she really excels across country. Got several dates in mind, the first I hope will be mid March weather permitting.

I've also booked myself in for BHS Stage 2 training to start at the end of April, so loooking forward to moving onwards with my qualifications. Lots to look forward to now that spring is nearly here, hunter trials, shows, long hacks on the commons (hopefully in the sun!) sales and no doubt a huge amount of spring cleaning, so a busy time just around the corner I hope!

Hope everyone is battling on through the weather ok, best of luck to you all in the season ahead,

Josh Thompson is counting down the days...

2010-03-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

Well I have been very busy since my last blog. I have finally done some winter competing, in an attempt to try to be closer to the leader-board as we set off XC rather than play catch-up after a drastic dressage! Shannah is now jumping, and both are cracking on with their fitness work.

I have so far made two BS(JA) ventures to Osbaldeston with Duncan. First off, back in January, in our first competition together since September we entered the Discovery, 1.05m and Newcomers. We had one pole in the first round, then eight faults in the other two classes but this was really just an exercise to work on ring-craft. For our first competition back he jumped well and our partnership is definitely developing. Last weekend we had intended to do the Newcomers and 1.15m, but when we got there we round out that they had cancelled the bigger class due to lack of entries. This then meant a quick warm-up, an entry into the Discovery, and a case of ‘learn the course as you go in the ring’, he just had one down but due to me still navigating my way around the course all was forgiven. In the Newcomers he produced a much better round to go clear, and into the jump-off. He was really jumping nicely and we were much more in tune. In the jump-off the fences had been raised to 1.15, and I was under strict instructions not to ride for the time. He had two fences down, but that was only due to me trying the old showjumpers turns! Again, I was happy though as this is the first time I have done this height on him in competition.

I have also taken the plunge into the affiliated world of British Dressage-on a ticket- in an attempt to conquer the white boards. I took Duncan to a local affiliated competition as a warm-up, squeezing two entries for the prelim tests. He was possibly a little excited but produced two much more flowing tests than he did last season, for 61 and 61.5 %. We finished 5th in the second class, and received a nice rosette! There are still small things to work on with him, but he is now much more rideable and if we can just do what we do at home we are on target.

Last Saturday my trainer and I went to Richmond Equestrian Centre to do the two novice classes. We arrived at Richmond late after a series of small set-backs, including taking the wrong set of wagon keys and discovering that the correct keys were at home. It was not until we stopped for petrol half an hour later that we realised, so we had to give mother a call to drive over with the correct keys and my jacket and hat which had also been left at home! That meant that Duncan was left with only 10 minuets to warm-up and although he worked nicely enough outside this has a negative effect on both his tests. He found the indoor arena very spooky, and produced an extremely tense test in the Novice 27. However, he worked much better in the outdoor in the Novice 34 receiving an 8 for his lengthenings. Shannah at his first outing of the year again was very tense in the indoor arena, and did not like it at all. However, after a proper warm-up he performed much better in his second test. We got 62.5 %, with a -2 for error of course. I was really pleased with him, as considering he is a little rusty at the moment and we produced one of our better tests. He picked up a 5th and a 4th, and Duncan also finished 6th in his second test.

It is now only 22 days until my first event of the season, Lincoln. I have Shannah entered for the ON and Duncan for the Novice, and it should be a good pipe-opener for Witton JRN the following weekend. I have calculated that due to school I am only able to ride a grand total of eight times before we make our 2010 eventing debut, and in that time there is a lot to fit in. Hopefully next weekend I will take them both out to another dressage competition, which will hopefully mean no overly excited horses at Lincoln! Yesterday I had a brilliant lesson on Duncan; he went the best he has ever gone for me, and after seeing the physio earlier in the week Shannah is now on top from too. Then the following weekend I hope to take them both showjumping to Osbaldeston, and round preparations off with a Thursday afternoon off school and a trip XC schooling. Busy times, but they are both doing very well and mum is working on their final fittening work and before we know it we should be on the road!

I wish you all the very best in your early season runs, lets make 2010 a year to remember. Hopefully by my next blog I should have complete my first two BE events of the year, and most importantly The Ten Mile, the school running event I have been aiming at all year. So until then farewell!

Gemma Bishop gets going for the 2010 Endurance season

2010-03-01T01:07:00.000-08:00

Like most other horse owners across the country, 2010 for us has started under a blanket of snow, ice and mud, which has made training for the new endurance season nigh on impossible. If the roads aren’t frozen to the point of treacherous, all the bridleways are under inches of mud which makes doing sustained fast work down right dangerous.

Despite this, Marygold (Minnismoor Mistique) and I headed to the Brendon EC just outside Brighton on the 21st Feb for a short training ride of 26km. It started raining just as we hit the M26, and hasn’t stopped since (it’s now Monday morning!). However, having driven for 2 hours there was no way I wasn’t riding. So Marygold was tacked up under her rug and off we went, soaked through before we’d even started. The rain had made the chalk extremely slippery so the intention was to take it steady. However, as is always the case, Marygold had other ideas and we still came in dead on 13kph and with plenty of running left in the tank. So it’s all looking good for our first 40km competitive ride in 4 weeks.

Maj (Vlacq Majid) is hacking out nicely and so we can start to think about aiming her for a training ride at the end of April.

Oli Lawrence is keeping himself busy!

2010-03-01T01:03:00.000-08:00

Half term finally! But contrary to most people’s preconceptions of half term as a time of peace and recuperation we may have slightly done that one differently.

The new baby of the yard, Gray, has been getting along very well so the first event of the season is looking pretty good. However, the first few days of the holidays were considerably calmer than expected when my JRN training was postponed because of the trainers illness, I really sympathise there having had a cold recently that just won’t realise its not welcome – although that might be something to do with the fact that rest and me don’t mix very well....

Following that I had my first session of juniors training with Dell. The journey was one of those surreal ones which seemed rather bizarre but we arrived literally perfectly on time ie. pull in to the yard, step out the lorry and walk up the yard to hear the words “Well, hello everyone” – trouble is it always looks so smooth and cool in films, in reality you just feel a bit of a mug for not being early!! The training itself was fabulous and Dell really shone so we’ve really got a plan set for him now.

Now I’ve always been a bit conscience of going into service stations in breeches and on the way back from juniors training the inevitable happened... As I was walking out of the toilets a rather grisly looking trucker with string vest and bear belly grunts and says something along the lines of “Oi darling, nice little trousers you’ve got there. Those spurs are pretty cute as well” accompanied by much winking and clicking. Unlikely as it sounds, I actually thought of a priceless comeback – although just as I was about to deliver the killer blow of rhetorical brilliance I changed my mind and just smiled and said good evening to him and walked away – was this a comical let down or a show of kindness to him? I haven’t decided yet....

The following day, despite Dell’s complaints of EU legislation on over working, I had a dressage lesson with Daniel Watson that I’d won in a BYRDS competition last year. Now Daniel would probably be in the group of dressage trainers that have that little bit of edge to their training ie you listen and you listen hard! He made some pretty mahusive (my new word) changes to my position but it was also really good that the stuff he worked on with me was the same as Gill Watson had commented on the previous day.

The present! Right here right now I’m experiencing the joys of the M25 on our way to see a horse for my younger brother, Ben. I’m actually rather excited about him because he has a huge amount of potential for Ben to work with and the possibility of a 2 1/2th horse for me – My master plan is all coming together! Mwah ha ha (attempts an evil laugh).

A month of changes for Kayleigh Grant

2010-02-19T01:13:00.000-08:00

The last time I wrote was the beginning of November and I was recovering from my back operation – which so far has been brilliant, am really pleased with the result. Texan enjoyed his 6 weeks out in the field (I think!) and I rode him for the first time on the 14th November he was lovely, his usual buzzy self, I had my mum and Heather at the side of the sand school saying “enough Kayleigh” but I and he felt fine!

November was a really busy month looking back, Heather and I decided we were ready for a move so we decided to take our two from DIY to Part Livery and become ladies of leisure and to try and free up our time a bit so we could concentrate on our riding. We are now at a yard which has superb facilities 60x35, rubber flood lit sand school, XC course, 12x12 internal boxes, bliss! The pair of them settled in really well which was good as it was so stressful! The other great thing about the new place is the hacking, it is amazing, literally all off road and around quiet country lanes. There is a golf course a 15 minute ride away which has a bridleway the whole way round!

With all of this hacking we were doing, I was still being quite cautious with him as he still didn’t have any shoes on, but he seemed to be coping really well. I made sure that whenever the farrier was up I got him to cast an eye over them but he said they were fine.

The first lot of snow just before Xmas completely put us off track, we were due to go to Hand Equestrian for the New Year show, but they didn’t leave their boxes for 5 days as we were snowed in! So we decided to pull our entries and just enjoy the time off work! Thankfully we had no more snow between Christmas and New Year and we managed to enjoy some really lovely riding and exploring the roads.

Then we got the second batch of snow which was just as ridiculous as the first lot! So again they were in for another 5 or 6 days, our poor yard owner got through so much hay! The snow cleared and they were let out for a couple of hours each day and we finally managed to get out and ride on the weekend of the 16th January, (Seems a lifetime ago now!) we just plodded around the roads which was nice as the sun was shining!

I then went up there on the Monday night to ride, and decided to do a bit of schooling as I got Tex out he seemed very reluctant to come out of his box but he did, so thought nothing of it, however he didn’t feel quite right when I got on so didn’t do to much in the end. I got off and un-tacked him and thought he was standing very odd, slightly laminitic, but thought to myself they surely can’t get laminitis this time of year?! How wrong was I……. I finally put it down to foot sore as we went out on a ride over the weekend, so I left a note on the board asking for Tex to stay in the following day which he did. I got up there the next night to pull him out, to which he hobbled out on his 2 back legs…… first thing in the morning I called the vets who confirmed that they could get laminitis this time of year so out the vet came that afternoon….. he has been in ever since the 19th of January, finally let out this weekend for the first time! He was a complete angel on box rest, unless his girlfriend Pia went out which caused so much havoc Heather agreed that Pia can stay in to, as he would do the same for her! I just had to stay with him every time she rode, which was a pain but it kept him quiet!

We decided to get x rays done of all four of his feet as he was insured and because hasn’t got the best of hooves we thought it would be beneficial for my farrier to see what he was playing with when he finally shod him…………. this opened up another can of worms! The x rays showed us that although he has got good strong bones and joints his front feet are very wonky and his pedal bone is very close to the sole of his feet. The farrier decided that pads and wedgies on the inside to re align his forelimbs would work the best for him.

Between the Vet and Farrier, they have assured me that with this corrective shoeing and patience it will all come right, they reckon that he will be back jumping by the summer. He had his new shoes fitted last Wednesday and so far so good, he is literally 99.8% sound, the vet is up on the 26th to re-assess but I can hop on this week but to a strict exercise regime, lots of walking and little trotting.. taking it very slowly to build up the muscles in his legs to support him. I might just have to take up dressage now for the next few months!

I am due to get on him this week – so fingers crosses its uneventful, I am just glad he can now go out so he can get rid of any exuberance he may have! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog I will update you next month with our progress!

Nicola Latham's latest blog: A long hard winter...

2010-02-19T01:08:00.000-08:00

Its been a long hard winter this year. All the horses that were being produced came home for a well earned spell of R&R (rest and recuperation). Its not been an easy year at Windsor Wood Yard. Tough decisions have been reached regarding horses and riders for the next year partly due to the current financial climate.

Tommy Tucker (lightweight cob) has been sold to Martin and Janet with the condition that he retires back at Windsor Wood once his showing career is over and that he comes back during the winter months for his R&R. A heartbreaking decision for Paul as this horse was his pride and joy and a firm favourite with all who know him and his cheeky character.

Beconsall Pickpocket (Munch), the large hack, sees a change of rider for the forthcoming season and we are honoured to have Alistair Hood on board. Both parties are very excited at this prospect and hope for great things this year. Munch arrived in Alistair’s yard on Sunday 31 January and has settled in straight away. Alistair rang Paul on Monday 1 February having already ridden Munch and forming a plan for the coming season. We think Alistair must have been like a child waiting for Christmas morning waiting for the morning to arrive so he could ride Munch straight away. This enthusiasm is infectious and we are all eager to get going again now.

Kingswood (Alf), large riding horse, remains at home with Suzanne Hibbard keeping the ride for the upcoming season. Freshly clipped out and trimmed up, Kingswood is looking the picture of health and contentment. We seemed to be dogged by the weather at the moment but hopefully he will return to work and fitness over the next month or so with a first show aimed for April.

Tess and Tintin's latest blog: It's still winter!

2010-02-19T01:04:00.000-08:00

First of all we are very excited to be part of the Forest Farmacy squad and being able to use the wide range of natural supplements for our horses.

So finally the season is approaching, no more snow, lovely sunny days and perfect going. That is our wish list for this year! We have been really lucky this winter as our neighbours have been so kind to let us use their fantastic indoor school - what a treat! The horses are back in full work and so far they are looking good (which really should be expected when the season hasn't even started yet..)

This season will be interesting as our little daughter Iris, now 10 months probably will have started to walk by then, making her parents even more busy than ususal at the competitions. Our first outing will probably be at Tweseldown with a couple of horses, hope the spring has arrived by then! But before that we will do lots of show jumping, dressage and more fitness work.

We have had some good results with the Forest Farmacy products, I tried Power against Pain on my retired advance horse who injured a low ligament which couldn't be treated and after a couple of weeks he was sound as a bell. We have also just started a couple of horses on Joint Power and it will be interesting to see the results. We have one horse with sweet itch and one with skin problems so watch this space for updates!

Find out a little more about squad member Jonny Betteridge

2010-02-19T00:59:00.000-08:00

Jonny is an up and coming young rider that is just starting out on the Eventing scene. Having ridden on and off from the beginning of his life, he recently made the decision to start affiliated Eventing. In his first year of affiliated Eventing Jonny competed successfully at Intro level and managed to gain some very kind sponsors that are helping him to fulfil his dream to event professionally. Jonny aims to gain a place on Junior and Young rider teams in the future, and eventually to compete at the highest level. He currently only rides and competes the one horse Presley, who was brought as a replacement after his previous horse sadly had to be put sleep for various internal issues. Bad luck after more back luck hit Jonny throughout the 2009 season leading to him being unable to compete in many events, and not having much preparation for the ones that he did compete in. These misfortunes include Presley being injured at his first event after the dressage, leading to him having three months off. The other catching his head-collar on his stable door, leading to him doing some bad damage to his neck and back. Presley's particular forte lies in show jumping and Jonny has had many BSJA wins and placings on him. He currently has £534 in winnings which he has won throughout the various BSJA competitions he has attended. Jonny's Mum also owns an eventer with International event rider Chris King. By pure luck Jonny and his Mum spotted Mexico walking off a lorry last september, and after seeing him being ridden for literally 5 minutes his Mum decided to buy him. Chris King then came to try him about 3-4 months after his Mum had purchased him and decided to take him on. What a find he turned out to be! after doing nothing in 2008 as a 5yo he has progressed up-to novice level being placed in every event which he has attended in the 2009 season; getting some particular good scores in the dressage phase including 24.0 and 29.0. Next season Mexico will hopefully progress up-to Intermediate and compete in his first CCI* hopefully culminating the season in a CIC**.

Find out more about Jonny by visiting www.JCBeventing.com

Sarah Jane Brown updates on a busy month at Shoestring Eventing

2010-02-09T05:11:00.000-08:00

This month we have actually started to get into gear a bit. Although there has not been a huge amount of competitions we have managed to get a fair bit of training in and new boy Ashley has done the majority of his basic fitness work.

We have had a couple of fantastic lessons with Caroline Creighton (BE accredited trainer and resident trainer to Lucy Weigersma). We have been working on improving the quality and energy of Sarnita’s canter using a variety of exercises to engage the hind leg and get her in front of my leg.

This showed to be much improved at our first competition in 2010 when we were 2nd in a strong 1.10 open although the day was slightly spoilt with 2 down in the following Foxhunter. We have had a couple of sessions with Pammy Hutton which really changed my flatwork schooling. She basically pointed out that I had made a very amateur mistake by presuming that as we were now advanced the horse had to be up in front but in doing this I lost her engagement. By working for 2 sessions deep and round the engagement returned as did the suppleness and the fancy movements! In February we are off to Talland for 3 days so hopefully we can cement the improvement.

Ashley has progressed fantastically well. I have still not done a huge amount with him as I have been trying to get basic level of fitness however we are starting school work and he has shown a willingness to learn and a quick brain. He is changing shape and muscling up all the time, I’m hoping to hunt him a little before the season ends in preparation for him to hopefully start eventing in May. He has already been promoted from a short term project to no.2 horse!

This weekend we tried our first ever JAS competition with Sarnie at West Wilts. Probably a long way to go for a single class (4 and a half hours each way) but it was nice to do something different. Unfortunately she didn’t go her best and reverted to being behind the leg but despite this finished 6th and qualified for the finals at Addington. The distance may prevent us going but was great to qualify. Things are getting busy now so plenty more next month. In the meantime keep up to date via www.shoestringeventing.co.uk

Rhiannon Ball's January blog

2010-02-09T05:04:00.000-08:00

Well, since December quite a bit has happened. I travelled to Liverpool for the Oliver Townend Nationals. I can not begin to describe how cold it was - even in my lorry with the heating on full! I was amazed at the substantial size of the venue - it was unbelievable. The competition was fantastic! Chisum did very well and finished 8th in the under 25 nationals - a result that i was overjoyed with. We then returned home to have snow falling the following week, this put our competition plans on hold (no menage and horsebox snowed in), but all the horses got a well deserved brake and a chance to play in the snow.

As soon as the snow cleared it was all go again, this involved re-introducing the youngster to his schooling and pole/jump work and re-starting Chisums flatwork training, in preparation for a dressage show. The preparation paid off - he did an amazing job; in the novice he came 3rd with a good 68% and further improved in the elementary finishing 2nd. This has given us the boost to continue trying at our least favourite discipline.

Max, the 3yr old I broke in October is going superbly, he is in his 4th year now so i am hoping to aim him at the BYEH qualifiers as well as the BSJA 4YO classes. He had his first outing the other day and jumped an impressive double clear. I am now in the process of getting all the horses fitter, something im struggling with as revision for my forthcoming GCSE exams are needing more attention than i had thought!

I also received some exciting news; I have qualified both my horses for the British Dressage Winter National Championships. Chisum has qualified for the prelim combined training while Charlie has qualified for the combined training novice finals. This should make up for missing out on the Summers which I had qualified for.

The Organic Horse products I am using have worked wonders! The Horse Power provided Chisum with the energy i needed without an 'over-excitable' or 'un-rideable' horse. The Joint Power definitely helps Chisum move more freely and a lot more willingly. I also received several compliments on my horses condition, which I have put down to feeding them Coat Power, it has bought out a healthy shine to their coats.

Georgina Rose's blog: Finally something to talk about other than snow!

2010-02-08T01:11:00.000-08:00

At last I can write about something other than snow! The horses are now all back in work, and I am starting to see the 'light at the end of the tunnel' with Januray out of the way and only Febuary left as the only real wintery month remaining

Merlin, our 16 yr old, is contuning to produce some brilliant jumping work, and I have every confidence that it is purely down to the Joint and Respiratory Power we have had him on. I've never been able to do as much with him as I'm doing now in the 5 years we have owned him; when the sun comes out I will make sure to take some photos and show you his transformation!

Penny is loving being back in work, she thrives on exercise and I think was quite relieved to have something to do. I'm aiming her at a Winter League Qualifier in mid feb as long as the weather holds, and then its looking towards the hunter trial season beginning in March which I am really excited about as she is really on song so far.

Having just turned 4 (ahh) our little NF gelding, Wally, is continuning to impress in his attitude to everything, being just as level headed as he was before all of that time off! His schooling is coming along nicely, and he is now hacking happily around the farm again. I hope to introduce some polework back into his routine again soon, with the intention of jumping him come spring in preperation for sale.

My new business, Rose Equine, is off to a flying start this month as everything starts to happen now the weather has given us the opportuntiy! We have completed fencing a new paddock in readyness for new horses, had alot of interest regarding lessons, so now just waiting to start buying stock in and we're away!

This month I have also had my first two driving lessons, and all I can think about is passing my test so I can get started on a horsebox!

After being an agent for Organic Horse over xmas, I have continued to advertise the products and have had alot of interest - I have sent several people catalogues so hopefully more satisfied customers! I cant wait to see the Organic Horse Squad jackets , and am looking forward to sporting them out and about in the upcoming season - theres lots to look forward to, so roll on spring!

Sam Penn takes to the stage in her latest blog!

2010-02-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

Well, its been a fairly crazy few weeks with lots of dressage and showjumping outings and lots of lessons, so at the moment things look to be progressing well and hopefully we shall be ready for our first outing which is planned to be to Isleham. Mary Ann Horn is my dressage trainer and she has been helping me get to grips with the moves that I will be finding at advanced level such as half pass and flying changes, having an experienced horse like Smurf has helped enormously with this although poor Brooke has a lot to learn, but he is getting to grips with it pretty well and my new 'magic potion' called Perfect Performance from Forest Farmacy is is really helping to keep his anxiety levels under control. As ever Brooke's showjumping has been super with two 1sts and a 3rd from two outings.

Coevers Diamond Clover has progressed exceptionally well over the winter and is being much more polite about his dressage now regularly scoring 65%+ at novice level, I am hoping he remains as nice outside the safety of four walls and in large open spaces, although I am learning not to get involved in a test of strength as he will win everytime, sometimes though, that is easier said than done. His jumping has been fab, he has already got 4 double clears at both British Novice and Discovery level plus 2 already from his only two starts in Newcomers in which he has been 1st and 3rd, I will be quite sad to see him go when the time comes but he will very soon be for sale as his owners are rather overstocked.

Perhaps my biggest piece of news was of my 'stage debut' in our local village pantomime, I played the part of the Genie in Aladdin, dressed up all in pink with large fake boobs and a pink wig (with tiara)!!!! It was great fun but I dont think I shall be giving up the day job and moving to Hollywood just yet.

I cant believe we have already done entries for Isleham, eeeeeekk, its nearly that time again....

Tilly Tillbrook's blog: A difficult month but hopefully no more false starts

2010-02-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

Just as we got going with our new saddles, the snow hit – disaster! Firstly Area 12 dressage was cancelled, then both the BD competitions I had entered, plus all the BSJA in the area, and whilst Boysie had great fun out in the snow, as it melted he did a trash job on his rug leaning over the fence to pick at emerging grass. Oh well, everyone is in the same boat I suppose! It got me fit anyway as I ended up cycling the 12 mile round trip to the yard.

Just as the snow melted, I had some sad news which involved me being away for the week due to the death of my stepfather. I abandoned Boysie and raced down to Dorset to support my mum, canceling lessons as I drove!

Finally, I got back on a week ago, and we’ve been out for a couple of jumping lessons and had Tessa Thorne over to help with our flatwork. I held off entering anything as me doing so seems to precipitate either extreme weather events or family tragedy, so lessons seemed the safest bet for the time being.

However, I have just put my entry in for Aston le Walls unaffiliated, and whilst I’d love to say the preparation has started in earnest, in fact I am manically busy catching up with all the work I had to put off due to the snow, and packing for my holiday in the first week of February!

With any luck, we’ll actually get going properly next month, and all these false starts will be over.

Just before I sign off, I must give you an update on the Organic Horse products I’ve been trying. I’ve been feeding Boysie the Joint Powder, Gut Powder and Coat Powder. Firstly, I have to congratulate Organic Horse on such an easy to feed way of packaging supplements – though I suspect if you have large hands getting them into the pouches may be tricky as you get to the bottom of each pack. I particularly like the fact that each pouch minimizes packaging, and if refills could be sold in a paper bag which I could recycle, that would be even better for the environment. I don’t think I’ve ridden enough to give any honest feedback on the joint supplement yet, but I can say that Boysie’s feed smells great and he loves the herb powders – so far so good. He’s feeling very well, and there have been no recurrence of any gut problems, so feeding the gut powder gives me a bit of peace of mind that I am doing all I can to support his systems. I’m really pleased with the coat powder – after all the drugs he’d been on, he had developed a bit of a scurfy coat, but a month of feeding this and he’s looking very glossy again, which is wonderful. I’m hoping it will mean less elbow grease for me in the summer when I need to get him smart for shows too, you never know your luck!

Roma Oakes' latest blog and piccys of the new boy Baker

2010-02-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

The heavy snow has played havoc with our plans but we did manage to get some riding done and I think that Baker is learning that he can trot at various speeds and length of stride. We haven't cracked a relaxed medium trot yet but we are getting there. I even had a jumping lesson on him on Tuesday! I would have been happy to get over a small cross pole but Joan had us building up to a three fence grid and it was really fun. Baker enjoys his jumping but he didn't get out of control and when I got the turn into the grid correct it was easy to keep him steady and relaxed. It made a nice change to doing flat work, but it has also had the benefit of improving our walk/canter transitions and holding a steady canter round a corner so I'll definitely be doing it again.

I've been using the Forest Farmacy 'Ring craft' drops to help him with his concentration and I really do think they have helped, he isn't as easily distracted but I think we still have a bit of a way to go on that front. I also spray on 'Clean Limbs' after we have worked to help his joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles etc to adjust to his new job as a dressage horse. He really objected to the spray at the start and danced about all over the place trying to avoid it but then Joan suggested that I hold up one leg at a time and spray like that - it worked like magic!

We are also adding 'Coat Power' and 'Joint Power' to his feed, he's not thrilled about the taste but he is getting used to it. Apparently the first time it was given to him he looked at it in disgust, but then his natural Irish greediness took over.

We managed to get through the snow to a show on 31st Jan and did two prelim tests. We scored 60% and 60.4% in these. The good thing was that I was able to speak to both judges and they both said the same things - he has fabulous presence and paces but needs to get his chin off his chest. We are working hard on that, but it was good to hear that they both thought he has great potential. Hope you enjoy seeing the photos - at last!

Selina Anna Campbell's blog: All is fun and love in snow... if you don't have horses that is!

2010-02-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Now the snow has gone, the real work can commence. I have been out and about quite a bit in the last month. We have qualified for the National Festival of the Hunter at Cavan, Ireland and have made it to the final of a few Derby leagues we have attended. This has been quite a steep learning curve for both Mya (No Illusion) and I as the Derby courses really do come up on you quick and fast!! I couldn’t do it without the help of Nicola, my travelling coach and best friend. We are having an absolute ball!!

Getting excited about the possible (finger crossed) arrival of Mya’s half brother/sister in May all being well... We were at the vet in the middle of January and when I asked him if he could tell what sex the foal is, he said he could tell me with 50% accuracy..what a comic!?!

On another note, I have been using the Emergency Herbal spray by Forest Farmacy which stems blood flow from cuts and cleanses at the same time. Mya can be a little clumsy, so we have had to use the spray on a number of occasions. It works very well and the spray is not too pressured as I have had to use it on Mya’s face a few times without any objection..result!

So, this month sees the end of a number of Derby leagues and intense preparation begin towards working hunter competitions! That’s about all from me so far, but if I get into any mischief, I’ll be sure to update you..

Jenna Copley's blog: S'no let up for us!

2010-02-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Despite the poor weather, training continued, although jumping was replaced with long walks in the snow. I have now tried various methods to keep snow from balling in the hooves, good old vaseline still won, but plasticine also worked well, but was rather expensive!

I have put a stop to the snow now though, I bought some snow rim pads for the hooves and had a set installed in the front of my second horse, Peer's, shoes. I was keen to test them out, but all snow is now off, clearly worth buying them for that!

So January started with BE Jump Training 100 at Hartpury, our drawn time was quite late at 5pm, so was under lights in the indoor school. We were warmed up by Nick Guanlett, which was pure bliss for me! Not only did you get instruction, but you also got someone putting up the jumps and the warm up jumps to yourself. As a regular lone showjumper, it was lovely to have someone on the ground for a change! The tips were pretty good too! The actual jumping went very well in the first round, but we were running out of puff in the second, although I was definitely more tired than the horse! I was gob smacked to be placed 2nd and we have now qualified for the BE Jump Training Final.

The second big thing in January was an Andy Austin Masterclass for 'HORSE' Magazine. Paladin and I were selected for the masterclass, which was a lesson whilst they take lots of photos. I got a huge amount out of the lesson and it highlighted what a difference a pure discipline trainer can make. I have been putting all that I learnt into practise - and have been learning to hit the 'sweet spot' on big oxers, as we did have a problem with taking off too far away.

Paladin and I will be featured in a 5 page spread in the March issue of HORSE, lets just hope the pictures aren't too cringe worthy!!

Oli Lawrence's blog: Exams and multi tasking!

2010-02-04T02:52:00.000-08:00

It’s all go here. In the last week, we’ve been to Devon and back, bought a horse and done some BD and BSJA, not to mention my exams at school during all that.... With the season almost upon us it’s been all go to get ready.

So, our first dressage competition of the new year was also a test of my new years resolution – to map read better! We only took one wrong turning on our journey there – well how was I supposed to know it wouldn’t be sign posted?! The test itself was a little tricky with Dell deciding to be slightly immature, at least he’s getting it out of his system now!

Thankfully all my exams are now over for the moment but I’m sure the summer set will come round before I’ve realised it.... Oh why was I born in the most examined country in the world? Results wise though we’ll just have to wait and see – tremble...

However, just before my exams I was searching through Horse Quest (Yes, I’d done my revision!!) and saw an advert for a 6yo grey gelding. So we were off to Devon pronto and found a little super star. Meet Gray an iron grey 6yo gelding so keep an ear open for him.

With the season so close it’s time to get the brain into the 550 mpm and 600mpm (metres/minute) rhythm. We’ve been measuring distances, although we only knew the length of the gallops in furlongs - furlongs to metres ermm?! As you can imagine that one took a while.... With that sorted, we’ve got a very neat plan for doing timing practise at the same time as their fitness work – Yes, boys can multi-task!!

Kelly Dickson's blog: A bad start but a good ending to the month

2010-02-04T01:54:00.000-08:00

The month started off the same as December ended, with snow and ice. We finally got rid of it around the second week of January. The task then was to try and bring back some fitness. Some schooling, lunging and a bit of hacking was needed but didn't manage to do any jump practice as the school and field were still quite hard and frozen.

I booked our first outing for the 23rd to go to Sparsholt for the Discovery class. Just when I thought things were improving letting me finally go somewhere, my lorry broke. The morning I was due to go I went to top up the water only to find out it was pouring out of the engine as fast as I was pouring it in. I am now waiting for my mechanic to shock me with how much it will cost to fix, hopefully not too much.

I did manage to eventually go somewhere the week after. I borrowed my sister's lorry and travelled down to Summerhouse on the 31st. It was very cold and frosty. For those of you who are not familiar with Summerhouse, it is outdoors on an all weather arena. The ground was still quite frozen by the time it was my class so had to be careful with his legs. I entered the Discovery as I was desperately trying to get that last double clear. I was very nervous as his hasn't seen a jump in 2 months let alone go to a show, hence he was quite spooky.

Charlie was a star, he was very forward and took me to every fence, not backing off once. Maybe went a little bit fast and a bit bold but we can work on that next time. He jumped lovely to get a double clear and 5th place. So now we are out of the Discovery class due to winning too much.

First aim of the year is now in the bag, and looking forward to trying for the other aims I have planned for the year. The JOINT POWER supplement must be working well at the moment as Charlie seems full of energy and wasn't bothered about the hard ground.

Anna Bailey's blog: Back to work with lots to do...

2010-02-04T01:46:00.000-08:00

I had a busy month in December with teaching, having a couple of horses in to school and Cairo to sell. Its amazing how busy you can be even without competing, it makes you wonder how you can fit in shows as well....

Timmy ended up having a month off as I needed his stable so he managed to grow a nice thick coat and then got turned out with Gringo who was still healing from his nasty kick. I managed to get Cairo out to Royal Leisure a couple of times. The first outing he had one down in the jump off but I was pleased with the way he went as this was my first show with him. We then went back the week after to jump a lovely double clear but was a little too slow so no placings. He did however pick up his first dressage ribbon at Golden Cross just before Christmas finishing 4th in the Prelim. He really is a super horse for anyone looking for a eventer this spring?!

Christmas and New year came and went so now due to the disgusting amount of mud we have all the horses are in and back in work. Timmy has been fairly good about his holiday and then coming back into work so maybe he is finally growing up.... He has been doing some road work and schooling and even had a jumping lesson last week which was ever so exciting! He is off to dressage this Wednesday as his first outing since November so hopefully he will stay in the arena!!!! I will be testing the Forest Farmacy Evening Performance calming products so fingers crossed!

Gringo is all fixed and now being ridden. He was very good about me sitting on him so fingers crossed he will stay like that. He still does not understand the concept of leg on means go forward which will improve over the next few weeks (hopefully). Yesterday he decided he was fed up with me kicking him so stopped, turned his head around and tried to chew my foot! I then resorted to someone chasing me with a lounge whip to get him to go forward - poor boy! He is going to be a stunning horse so I cant wait to get him out to show him off.

More exciting news is that I am setting up a new website to promote the Equine Sports Therapy. Along side the teaching I am now working on equine massage, stretching and laser treatment. It is a fantastic way to keep all horses whether they compete or just hack in peak condition. I offer a full MOT, looking at the horses movement, shoeing, saddle fit, teeth, diet and assess the muscle development and muscle state in order to work out a way to fix them. Until it is up and running please see www.annabaileyeventing.com for updates.

Jo Barry's blog: Getting back in the saddle after the snow!

2010-02-04T01:42:00.000-08:00

The snow has gone and has returned but it did allow for just over 2 weeks of riding in between. The spell over Christmas is the longest that I haven't ridden in many years...4 weeks and 4 days, not that I was counting!! Thank goodness it placed itself over Christmas and New Year so that for at least 2 weeks I almost didn't notice!

At the start of January I tried to get some care issues dealt with...teeth were checked and done ( I get them checked every 6 months) and flu jags and wormings were given.

Once the snow disappeared I tried to start work gradually with the boys but they were determined to push things on and get back to more serious work, it seemed they had missed the gym! They faired better than me...I ached for the first week, legs were fine but my stomach muscles and seat bones knew they had been rested!

Freddie had two weeks of work before we headed down to Cheshire for two days training with Stephen Clarke. It was good to have input and reassurance that things were going ok. It is difficult when you train mainly on your own not to start being too hard on yourself and obsessing over certain ideas and issues. Also I think when you have had a break it is easy to romanticise over how well your horse had been going before the break and it leads to disappointment in their standard when you re-start and in reality there is very little difference in how they are going!?!

The reality, I started work in front of Stephen and he thought Freddie looked great...I was left feeling a little ashamed that I hadn't felt satisfied with what we had achieved since our last visit. Stephen reads my personality well and trains me accordingly making me look and concentrate on the big picture rather than stressing about the detail. His approach is to create an idea about a movement then once that is understood then tidy up the areas that need work, I think it leads to a less pressurised way of learning.

So, home again and now trying to plan a schedule towards the Winter Semi Finals at the end of February. The snow came back today but I hope it will be just short-term. The plan is to take Freddie and Rafa to a competition locally this Saturday to remind them what life is all about and then I head down to Carl's mid-February with them both for 4 days which hopefully will set them up fully for the Semis.

Vicky Smith's blog update: Success at Olympia and plans beyond the snow!

2010-01-28T14:15:00.001-08:00

Due the bad snow and dark nights I feel a bit grounded this month! I had an exciting time at Olympia finishing 12th riding Sara Dowdeswells Connemara Johns Cuckoo. He went extremely well as he is only in his first season and was produced beautifully as always by my friend Mathew Lawrence.

I had a lovely time in London and it was nice to do some partying and shopping! I got home to find snow, snow and more snow but the horses enjoyed playing out everyday. Being a teacher I was lucky to get an extra week of work but was frustrated not to be able to ride.

The end of January will see lots of hacking out for the horses and they will be clipped and ready to start competing in February. My coloured horse Indian King will go and stay in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire for some intensive training with my trainer Libby Williams whilst my 6yo Millhollow King of Kings will do some show jumping.

Holly Burton's latest blog update: Snow, snow go away!

2010-01-28T00:50:00.000-08:00

Everything has been very quiet on the horse front, since my horse Tinto went on his annual winter break in mid-October. He always gets a 2-3 month break at this time of year as he really deserves it after competing BSJA and BE all year. It's also very practical since I only have a paddock to ride in therefore it's pitch black when I get home from work every day. I planned to bring Tinto back into work a couple of weeks ago however we have had some serious snow which has been here for a month now - sick of it! We currently have about 2 1/2 - 3 feet of snow in my yard so we won't be moving the trailer anytime soon! It was -18 degrees the other night which made doing the horses pretty chilly to say the least! I had initially planned to do some dressage this month and during February, however my local competition venue's indoor school collapsed under the weight of snow a few days ago so that'll limit the amount I can do even more. I'm getting very bored of not being able to ride! Tinto is wrapped up warm and looks rather like a giant furry connemmara right now...! He's begun cantering around in the snow a lot this week so I think he wants to get going again too.

Josh Thompson's blog: Back to work afer the snow

2010-01-28T00:47:00.000-08:00

I have just come back form a weeks skiing in Megeve, France. I think we had nearly as much snow as England! As with many people the horses have not been able to been ridden for the past week, but thankfully it has started to thaw now so mum has been lungeing them at home. After a week stuck inside they were obviously were excited, and Shannah reverted to his high-pitched squealing which he put into practice at the final trot up at Weston Park!

We were hoping to take Duncan competing during the Christmas holidays, but sadly the weather stopped play. Hopefully he will get out to some BSJA, or possibly Osbaldeston JAS, school dependant next weekend. Shannah will hopefully be fit enough to jump next month. I managed to school Shannah before we went skiing, and he felt better than ever. Now our partnership is more developed I am really looking forward to this year with him. Duncan had one small ‘teenager moment’ when he decided that he no longer could work in an outline, but he was soon won over and is improving all the time.

I am now back at school, and have five A-level modules to sit, which I am not looking forward to! However, looking at my exam timetable for the summer I am able to do Houghton CCI*, which I am very happy about as I thought exams might clash. Its now time to knuckle down,. Work hard, run hard and then the eventing season will soon be upon us. Until the next time!

Abby Steel's blog: In the ribbons

2010-01-28T00:42:00.000-08:00

I took both Pinky and Lilly to an indoor eventer trial the week before Christmas which was only Pinky's second show and Pinky was entered in the 2ft6 and 2ft9. These classes were one round against the clock with a course of 16+ fences which were show jumps and cross country style jumps. In the first class she did a fantastic clear and came first! Then the second class she did another fantastic clear but slightly slower time and came third but I was very pleased with how she went. Lilly was entered in the 2ft9 and 3ft and in both classes did a lovely fast clear to get a first in the 2ft9 and fourth in the 3ft.. a sucessful day!

I then took Lilly along to Overa Farm for her first BSJA show in about 3-4 weeks because of the weather being so bad and not having time to ride at all! She was entered in the British Novice
and did a lovely clear but unfortunately knapped slightly at the gate (a bit too fresh and excitment of being back out!) so got four faults, and she was also entered in the 1m Amateur qualifier where she had one down and decided to knap again at the gate, but i was very pleased with how she went, as it was the first time i had sat on her for about a week so I wasn't expecting her to behave as well as she did!

I am planning on taking Pinky schooling at Overa on Thursday and hopefully she will be out competing again soon!

Jemma Harrison's blog: the effects of Joint Power!

2010-01-28T00:37:00.000-08:00

December and January have been quiet for us in Jersey and for the first time in many years we had thick snow! All the horses seemed to enjoy the snow as it meant they didnt have to work as much because the sandschool had turned into a snowschool!

We all managed to have great fun in the snow though, and as you can see from the photo, Piquet wasn't too impressed by our snowman and snowhorse!

In early december, Piquet and I had a Christmas showjumping competition at an indoor arena. We competed in the two last classes of the day, the first class ( height 1metre ) we knocked down the first jump as Piquet didnt seem to think much of the snowman next to it and decided that looking at the snowman instead of the jump, and therefore forgetting to pick up our feet was a better idea! In the second class which was 1m05, we got a clear round and were the only clear meaning that we won our class.

We are now just continuing our training ready for the season to start in early March. I have been using the Organic Horse 'Joint Power' powder on Piquet now for 3 weeks and I have noticed a dramatic change. He used to be stiff in his hind legs on the right rein. He found it almost impossible to do shoulder-in on the right when schooling and was never able to change his hind legs when doing flying changes which meant he always became unbalanced and had to come back to trot.

Now, with being on 'Joint Power' he no longer struggles with his shoulder-in, finding it just as easy on both reins and everytime he does a flying change it is always foot-
perfect! And this is what made me realise that 'Joint Power' was really helping his stiffness. I had been trying for months on correcting his flying changes but he found it very difficult and preferred not to. Now he changes with no effort involved so I am very happy!

Kelly Dickson's blog: Busy making plans!

2010-01-12T00:56:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a good Christmas and new year. Well I think there is going to be a theme to all blogs from this month saying the same thing. Nothing at all happened due to snow and ice.

I gave Charlie a couple of weeks off at the beginning of December hoping to go to Merrist Wood and Badgworth for the Blue Chip Power and Blue Chip Star Qualifiers towards the end of the month. Then came the first bout of snow, so Merrist Wood cancelled and Badgworth rescheduled their show for February. So things didn't go according to plan and Charlie has had an extended and unintentional holiday.

The school has been frozen and the roads haven't been great so fitness has dropped and a few pounds gained (for both of us). But had a good Christmas with Charlie managing to get out in the field for a couple of days after the snow had melted, and a very quiet new year.

At the beginning of the month I started Charlie on the JOINT POWER supplement from Organic Horse. He had coffin joint problem a couple of years back and when he's been stood in a couple of days he gets a little stiff. I've been using this for a month now and so far it seems to be working. He's legs are not swelling up at all and no stiffness. He's been bucking and flying about for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully it will make him feel good in himself at competitions too.

Looks like the cold snap is going to stay around for a fair bit as we are up to our ankles (and sometimes knees) in snow again. I'm just hoping it will wear itself out soon so that I can actually compete before January ends.

So through the boredom, I have been making plans for the new year ahead. First I'm hoping to get my last Discovery double clear to qualify for the seconds rounds. I only have £3 left to win before I am out of Discovery so not much to play with. Then try for the last couple of Blue Chip Power Qualifiers to add to my Discovery one, then aim for the scope classes.

I also hope to compete at more county shows and 3/4 day shows. Lots to aim for and look forward to. Hope to report back a bit more from January.

Happy New Year to all our fans: Free delivery!

2010-01-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

With all this talk of New Year sales we thought it was perfect timing to help save you guys some money on your horses’ supplements. So, for the month of January we would like to offer you and your friends’ FREE delivery on any orders of our popular Power Powders range.

You may have heard about our range of Power Powders – but just in case you haven’t, they are a unique method of administering top quality, entirely organic and natural ingredients that have been carefully combined to help manage a range of every day equine conditions. They use nothing nasty, no chemical fillers, no binders and no preservatives – they are simply 100% herbal goodness.

Unlike conventional supplements that horses can build a resistance to, our Power Powders take a biodynamic approach and we make subtle changes to the ingredients seasonally to mimic what the horse or pony would naturally source in the wild meaning that they maintain their effectiveness all year round.

Due to the intolerable weather conditions we are surely not the only ones to have our horses stabled for longer periods of time – they seem to be eating us out of house and home in the amount of hay and haylage we are going through. Make sure you keep their digestive system healthy as this can be the time when they could be more prone to gastric upset. Feeding Gut Power can help as Organic Horse Performance Squad member, Roger Gregory has found out. Click here to read his blog and hear for yourself how Gut Power can help.

Our other best sellers at this time of year are Joint Power – which has helped prevent stiffness and filling during the long periods of time our lot have had to be stabled. This and Power Against Pain has helped many older horses stay mobile during the cold, damp weather, including Organic Horse Performance Squad member, Therese van Rijckevorsel’s retired eventer. “He stumbled when we were out hacking a couple of months ago and injured a low ligament which couldn't be treated. I tried the Power Against Pain and now he is sound again, so I am very happy."

Power Powders require little storage in the feed room as they are supplied in recyclable, re-sealable pouches that take up less room than tubs and are easily transported if travelling away. With no loading dose required Power Powders get to work instantly and offer easy to use, palatable supplements that really pack a punch.

Prices start at just £32 for 40 days supply – which works out at 80p per day. If you buy the larger 100 day supply for £60, the daily cost comes down to 60p per day. A small price to pay for peace of mind!

Visit Our Shop for more information and to place your order or telephone 0800 970 9421 to chat to the team. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group – and keep an eye out for new products coming soon!

Sarah Jane Brown's December blog: looking forward to better weather!

2010-01-11T05:27:00.001-08:00

We have slipped from endless rain into snow and ice. Luckily being down in the far South West has its advantages and although hit badly, possibly not hit for as long as everyone else. The main disappointment was our trip to Gloucestershire to compete and train at Talland fell to the weather, the lorry was totally stuck in situ and at the end of the day the risks of travelling were not worth it. Had already bought all the water bottles and dog coats!

Hoping to rebook a session at Talland with Pammy Hutton and maybe combine it with travelling to do a JAS competition with Sarnita. Sarnita is getting bored and although I have been able to keep her ticking over that has been about it. We had some fantastic lessons with my trainer Caroline Creighton before the freeze working very hard on getting the bouncy energetic canter that we sometimes lack.

One bit of exciting news has been a new addition to the team. Ashley (Pictured) was bought at the end of December. He is a 7 year old 15.3 ID / TB who has done nothing at all so is a blank canvas to work with. Initially he was bought as a buy and sell project but from the little I have done with him I am wondering if he may be a bit better than that and a good one to bring on and event. Watch this space. Hopefully more to report on next month with plenty planned. In the meantime keep up to date via www.shoestringeventing.co.u

Katherine Begley's blog: Bad start to 2010 - vibes needed for Belvedere...

2010-01-11T02:04:00.000-08:00

Well back in October at Weston Park CCIJ* Belv's dressage completely fell apart. It was like there was something wrong with him. It had been going downhill for a few months and was just horrific at Weston. So we decided to start the winter off with some show jumping and hunting to keep him happy and take his mind off the dressage.

However, recently I have started doing some schooling, and in just a plain snaffle I cannot get any degree of flexion in the poll out of him. So we took him to Tor Brewer's (eventer based in Hartpury) for a lesson to see what she thought. She got on and found him exactly the same, she also said that his neck did not look like that of a 1* event horse. As she continued to walk him around more, she couldn't believe just how in submissive he was and came to the conclusion that there must be something wrong in his neck. So she recommended we get out Liz Launders and Chris Rea from Kearns and Rea Three counties equine hospital to have a look at him.

They came on Monday 4th January and to begin with we just talked about what the problem was, any incidents in the past few months etc. I then trotted him up and down the drive, turned him on tight circles and let the vets prod and poke him. They said that he had some very odd muscle on his neck, and that generally all over his body his muscle tone was very uneven. We then went and lunged him in the school in trot on both reins. And then I got on in my dressage saddle and nathe snaffle and attempted to school in. This was to allow them to see what he was like. Liz got me to do various different circles and things with my reins to see if anything changed his way of going. Finally to finish we put him in the Pelham, as per usual this gave us a nice flexed horse. However, what Chris & Liz noticed was that belvedere NEVER used himself behind, not once during the whole examination. They said that there was no change between lunging, riding with the snaffle and riding with the Pelham. Liz said that this was most surprising, as the Pelham should have set him back on his haunches more. They also said that he has a subtle lameness in his off fore and near hind. Neither of which they were hugely worried about, but just that it was something that we may need to look into if we find nothing else. They said that they think that there is something wrong with his neck and something else wrong in his back end. E.g. some arthritis in his hock, preventing him from using himself.

So instead of launching into hundreds of full body scans the first step is to put him on an intensive course of Bute. This is not as a treatment but as a diagnostic tool. The idea is that Tor rides him whilst he is on Bute and she talks to Liz about whether there is any improvement. Therefore if while he is on Bute he becomes more easy to flex, then it will show that there is something physically hurting him in his neck. Or, if the Bute makes his back end work better so that he uses himself more, it will confirm their suspicions that he has a physical problem in his back end/near side hock. Therefore allowing the vets to determine that there are problems in his neck/hind end and investigate further and take x-rays etc. If the Bute doesn’t help him at all, then it may indicate a neurological problem.

So vibes please, let’s hope we can get the problem sorted ASAP and come back better than ever for the 2010 season! For more news and information please visit www.katherinebegley.com

Janice Pegler's blog: Snow stops play!

2010-01-11T01:56:00.000-08:00

Well nothing has really been happening with the horses, all the competitios I had planned have been cancelled due to ice and snow! The driveway down to the yard, which is a steep hill, has been almost impassable for a few days and I have been camped out at my mums as they live in a flat on the yard.

The horses have just been being kept ticking over, although I have trouble with Serenity keeping her brain calm as we can't get them out to the fields, the last time this happened she went a bit crazy!! So I have been trying to ride her and put her on the walker for as long as possible everyday. So far it seems to be working but the problem will be if it carries on as even the indoor school is starting to freeze!!!

Amat had to have some time off over Christmas due to being a bit sore in his back but was just back in work when the snow hit so is back to loose schooling everyday. Hopefully soon I will be able to write a blog with a competition report in, but for now it's just a case of trying to keep warm!

The picture is of our rising 3 year old, Stop Larking About and Bud my retired eventer.

Roma Oakes' new year blog!

2010-01-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone! We had a lovely Christmas and New Year - except of course for the weather! The sand school was frozen, the roads were frozen - it has been really bad. Fortunately the sand school has a lot of rubber in it so on most days there was enough of a thaw that the horses could get turned out for a little while to stretch their legs, but it wasn't possible to ride until 31st Dec - just in time for a competition on 3rd January. Also had a lesson on 2nd January - that was good but really hard work! Apparently my legs are wobbling about all over the place! Anyway - although the competition was just around the corner from the yard it was still touch and go as to whether we would be able to get the trailer to the venue. We kept our fingers crossed and managed to get to LaurelView for the Charity Dressage Extravaganza. Entries where down from last year but still £900 was raised from the Children’s Hospice.

I had entered for two classes; the individual Dressage to Music and a Preliminary class. The music class was first and we got Baker all 'dickied up' for the occasion with a garland in his mane, Christmassy bows on his bridle and stirrups but he was not having any of the spray glitter on his rump! He really objected so we decided not to press him about it. We competed to a melody of Christmas tunes and did some medium trot and half 10m circles to counter canter and he coped really well! There was a panel of four judges and we ended up with a score of 71.25% for 2nd place. The winner was a horse and rider who compete at Elementary level so we were very pleased with Baker and he behaved himself really well. We've been using the Organic Horse 'Ring Craft' drops which help with his concentration and they do appear to be helping him.

We then had to remove all the 'bling' and compete in an affiliated prelim class, we were first to go and scored 60.83% to get 6th place and our first DI point! Hurray. Then it was home, plaits out, rugs on and a big hug for him and carry out pizza for us. It was a tiring day as it was so cold but I really enjoyed it and it was great that Joan came round to warm us up for the dressage to music - it really helped.

Roger Gregory gets snowed in!

2010-01-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

It’s been a very strange month for most of us, I think –we are just not too good at all this arctic weather!

Everything was ticking along nicely, then came the snow and the ice. I managed to get to Carl’s with Crumble and Nuts on Friday 18th ,and had two super lessons – on Crumble we did lots of work on keeping her in front of the leg, especially in canter and passage. Nuts is now starting to become fitter and his trot work is coming back really well. In the canter we tried to get him a little quicker and in piaffe we worked on trying to keep him slow in front but quick behind, without upsetting him in the contact.

Before I had even loaded up it was starting to snow – a glimpse of what was to come! The following Monday I set off to High Wycombe to teach a 2day clinic. I arrived to find 3 inches of snow on the ground already! By the next morning we were snowed in and High Wycombe was on the national news – nobody could get in or out!

I did eventually get home, but like so many others have been snow and ice bound, so very little work for the horses. It’s been very interesting to see how well Pan has behaved despite the lack of work – the Gut power organic equine supplement has clearly helped him to stay relaxed (not a word usually associated with him!) Here’s hoping everyone can get back to normal again soon. . . .

Tilly Tillbrook's latest update

2010-01-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s been a hectic couple of months for us – Boysie has had a recurrence of the ulcers, due in part we think to the diarrhea he suffered as a result of the antibiotics used to help cure the ulcers the first time around. He’s been on a high dose of steroids and I have been winging my way ever closer to bankruptcy as the insurance has now run out.

Thankfully at the end of November we finally got it all under control, and whilst I am frantically touching wood, it looks like he is now completely cured of all digestive ills. It’s been a long time coming!

Unfortunately, there is always a ‘but’ with horses, or at least it feels like it for me at the moment! I’d no sooner got his digestive issues sorted out when I felt his saddles were looking rather unbalanced on his new muscular figure. And I was right – neither fitted any more, both were a whole size too narrow. Over three hours with a very patient saddler later and Boysie had two new saddles, whilst I was left with a melted credit card! The knock-on effect of this was that a day or so later it became obvious that his back was very very sore. So next on the list of people to call was the chiropractor – recommended by a friend who competes at 3* since I have moved into a new area and am still finding my feet. Very disappointingly she recommended 2 weeks of hacking, which neatly scuppered my plans to do our first two BD competitions. Yet more money paid out and nothing to show for it. I am getting rather used to that.

However, I am an eternal optimist, and having done my hacking, had a lesson in the new saddle, and left Boysie for some dressage boot camp at Dovecote Stables over Christmas whilst I dealt with family emergencies involving hospitals and a lot of driving, I have spent the break filling in more entry forms for 2010. First stop is Riding Club Area 12 dressage on 3rd January, then I have 2 BD competitions on the following two weekends, and finally I am joining the BSJA on the 3 month eventer membership to try and get some outings at the end of January.

Here’s to a more successful 2010!

Tilly Tillbrook introduces herself officially...

2010-01-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first installment of my year on the inaugural Organic Horse Performance Squad – as a professional ecologist I understand the importance of organic products to the environment, and so I was delighted to be chosen to join the squad.

Let’s start with a bit of background, I have a 16.2 bay gelding called Burr Oak (Boysie to his friends!), whom I have owned for the past 4 years. He turned 9 this summer, and together we’ve gone from never having competed beyond local level to Novice level affiliated eventing. At the start of our 2008 season, things were looking good for us – at the end of the 2007 season we’d picked up our CCI* qualification, not bad for only our second season eventing. The aim was to spend the season building on this success and finish on a high at Aldon CCI*. Sadly this was not to be, after a long and frustrating season of ups and downs, Boysie was finally diagnosed in October 2008 with grade 4 Gastric Ulcers – the worst grade you can get, and not just that, but he had two kinds, splash ulcers and glandular ulcers. No wonder our performances had been erratic!

With the help of the excellent team at Willesley Equine Vets, not to mention many months of me having noxious medication spat on my head, we got him back on track and he went out on loan as a schoolmaster whilst I spent the first part of 2009 in the USA as a working pupil. But on returning to the UK, as I upped the workload it became apparent all was not well, and a gastroscopy and ultrasound revealed he had slight ulceration and a very inflamed bowel. He’s currently on steroids, and although we have cleared up the ulceration, he’ll need to be on an antacid supplement for the rest of his life. The knock on effect was that he has lost all confidence showjumping, so we pulled out of the remaining events of the season and have set to work rebuilding our partnership ready for 2010.

I am very much looking forwards to trying the gut power powder from Organic Horse, which I hope will really help us get back on track – just the kind of support we needed after the past 18 months! We’ve got a packed winter ahead of us with lots of dressage training from Sam Twyman at Dovecote Stables, where I also take lessons on his fabulous schoolmaster horses, showjumping until we are both brimming with confidence and the odd fun ride, arena eventing and hunter trial to keep us both sane and ensure Boysie doesn’t put in for a transfer.

A new addition to Jo Barry's string of horses and snow puts pay to riding!

2009-12-23T03:30:00.000-08:00

5 inches of snow has put pay to any riding over the last 5 days. The horses are quite happy though with the impromptu break and enjoying the chance to go in the field and play in the snow! So far so good though and only one shoe has been lost during their frolics.

It has been another busy month, the website has brought in a couple of new full liveries. I am really pleased with the response that it has generated and next year looks to be starting off well.
The Scottish area of British Dressage held an Awards Dinner and Ceilidh at the end of November. It was a really fun night and Freddie was awarded a trophy for being the highest placed Scottish horse at the National Championships.

Freddie and I headed down to Cheshire for two days training with Stephen Clarke at the beginning of December. Stephen worked on getting Freddie to sit and take more weight on his hindlegs and start to develop the head and neck carriage required for a Grand Prix horse. I find the balance between Carl and Stephen's training very good, they concentrate on different aspects of his way of going from which I can reach a balance between the two to find optimum power, submission and expression that suits Freddie and I.

Rafa has had a confidence building month being a guinea pig on two courses. The first was a BD Trainee Judges course taken by Andrew Gardiner and the second was a SEA/SportScotland Level 3 Coaches Course. He was especially good at the coaches course. He had to work for a long time the first day and I thought he would come out the next day saying he did not want to play..if anything he was more game and worked very well! Usually I come home feeling frustrated thinking 'Oh Rafa!!!' and it was lovely to come home and tell everyone how great he had been!

The BIG news is I have a BIG new horse..huge Hugo arrived last week!! He is a lovely elegant looking horse but is only 3 years old (rising 4) and 17hh already. He was bred in Germany and is a hanoverian by Royal Blend (Rotspon), he also had Lauries Crusador and Akzent II in his breeding. He had been broken for just over a month but due to the snow I haven't been able to start work with him yet.

Hoping for a quiet Christmas and looking forward to an exciting 2010!

Vicky Smith's latest blog: A successful December!

2009-12-23T03:19:00.000-08:00

Well so much for December being a quiet month! I seem to have been at shows every weekend. I took Guinness (Millhollow King of Kings) out to do some winter showjumping where he jumped 4 clear rounds and won a british novice class.

I then took my new coloured horse Indian King to his first show. The CHAPS Christmas show at South View. He came third and behaved extremely well and was very grown up. My mum was horrified when I bought a coloured horse but luckily the Deep clean shampoo and Arctic white liquid chalk worked a treat. Poor Bugsy had a bath and was then painted white! Im looking forward to getting him out again in the new year.

On Saturday the 13th December I took my old horse Misty to the final of the Oliver Townend Eventers challenge at Aintree. We had a great night with Misty finishing 4th. He behaved like an old pro as he hasn’t been to a show since he qualified in October!

On the Sunday I had a practice on Sunday at Badgeworth Arena in Somerset as I am riding the Connemara Johns Cuckoo at Olympia on Monday in the Baileys horse feeds mountain and moorland championship for my good friend Mathew Lawrence who produces him. I have only sat on Johnny twice so was delighted to win- fingers crossed for the final

All the horses are having a couple of weeks off now except Guiness who will have a days hunting on boxing day. I will post a full Olympia report in my next blog so best Christmas wishes to you all!

Katherine Begley's latest blog and some video footage to watch!

2009-12-23T03:10:00.000-08:00

Since Belvedere has been back in work after his post event season holiday we have been concentrating on our show jumping. This is our weakest phase and is very hit and miss and so, as I am looking to go Intermediate next year, we felt it really needed some serious improvement.

We have been having regular lessons with Brian Smith, and he has revolutionised our canter and the way I ride, thus improving our show jumping beyond belief. When I first started having lessons with Brian, we kept it small and simple. Just concentrating on improving the canter and helping me to get Belvedere to the right take off point every time. Once we had begun to establish these basics we moved onto some special grid work, designed to make Belvedere become more elevated in his canter strides and not change his rhythm as he got close to the fence. In order to do this, we used two raised canter poles a stride apart, and then had an upright/spread at a one stride distance. Whilst doing this my confidence grew and my ability to get Belvedere to the right take off point time after time improved dramatically, therefore we have begun to train over bigger fences. I am currently regularly jumping 1m20 in my sessions with Brian, and have even tackled some short courses at 1m25-1m30. So far the training has been very encouraging, and I hope to compete is some BSJA Foxhunters/1m20’s soon, in order to prepare for the coming event season.

Here are some videos of recent training sessions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4vYsAUEUD0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXVjk2sy4kI

In between our show jumping I have enjoyed hunting Belvedere. He loves his hunting and if ever his career in Eventing doesn’t work out, our field master has bagsied him as her hunt horse. A few weeks ago the Horse and Hound came out with us and their report has just been published in this week’s Horse and Hound. On page 28 there is a lovely photograph of Dawn (the field master), myself and Kevin (Dawn’s husband) trotting along. I also received two small mentions in the report which was nice, one of these was as a ‘’young thrusters’’ for the NHH!!

Finally, just to add that my Weston Park JRN CCIJ* Championships Cross Country DVD arrived a few weeks ago, and it can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKv1bNY77bI

Furthermore, if you would like to follow my progress and keep up to date with what is happening, then please follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/KBEventing and visit my website www.katherinebegley.com