One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

This picture popped up on my pinterest at a rather fitting time! Pea has been going quite well the past few weeks and was progressing well with his schooling. He then had a couple of days off and a lunge before I was able to ride again. As it was a lovely evening, I decided to go for a hack and thought he might be a bit excitable but not too bad. That turned out not to be the case seeing as he got half way down the drive before slamming the breaks on, spinning round and trying to buck! 

No matter how much I tried to get him to continue, he wasn't having it at all and nearly slipped a few times on the road in his attempt to buck. Another horse went past and I thought Pea might be happy following but that wasn't to be the case! In the end, we went back to the yard, had another big fit when I tried to go in the arena and resulted in me fetching a lunge line to pop Pea on the lunge for a few minutes. He went firing off into canter and stayed cantering for a while before swapping reins and doing the same in the opposite direction. I then hopped back on board but we ended up having another argument so I popped off again and lunged him again for 10 minutes before getting back on. Luckily, he seemed to have learnt and we did 10 minutes of half decent schooling before I called it a day and finished on a good note. 

The next day I went a bit more prepared and put my spurs on as well as took the lunge

line just in case. He did actually do five minutes of nice trotting before stopping and trying to dig the arena up or see if he could get me off.. He refused to move forward and after a couple of minutes of not getting far at all unless we reversed or spun round, I decided to pop him on the lunge again for a few minutes. This time when I got back on board he was better behaved and we did a further 15 minutes before calling it a day. 

Friday morning when better as I managed to do 20 minutes of work without having to lunge him. He still played up a bit but didn't resist for long and wasn't really bucking as much, more just cow kicking and stomping. Although he only did 20 minutes, I left it there as it's better to do a shorter session where he behaves, than push him further just to end up getting into arguments. 

He then had a day off and today played up again quite badly. I had Dad come down to take photos and also pop poles out for me in the hope it would distract him but unfortunately he still played around. I lunged him for a few minutes after about the fifth argument where he flat out refused to move at all before getting back on board. Luckily, he wasn't too bad and although he had one or two bucks after, we did manage to get over the poles a few times on each rein. 

Someone at my yard saw him misbehave and asked whether it could be linked to the grass. This is something I have been questioning as he had been full of energy and now suddenly refuses to move and is very lack lustre in his movement. She's suggested looking into a gastro supplement as she mentioned that her horse used to be quite tense to the leg but since being on one he's been much better. So I'm not off to do some research and see whether it's worth trying one out on Pea! 

Thanks for reading,

Laura xx

Help Rescue Horses This Christmas

If you're on twitter, you may already be aware of the Crowdfunding page set up by Alexandra to help rescue equines this Christmas. If not, then basically the page has been set up in an attempt to reach £400 for rescued horses and there's only 3 days left to donate! 

They have just reached the half way point and it would be amazing if they could reach their target! So pleaseeee can you all donate, even just a little bit helps! As the majority will know, horses can be expensive but even just a small amount of money can help. £5 could buy some treats or carrots or even a new headcollar! £10 could go towards some hay or a bag of feed. It would be so nice to donate some money so that those horses without homes can have a lovely Christmas and a comfy winter :)

Please follow this link to donate: Crowdfunding - twitterherdjumper

Thanks for reading,
Laura xx

Twitter Meet-Up

This is actually a few days late but unfortunately, after getting back from the meet-up, I randomly got rather ill for a few days :(

If you use Twitter, you may be aware that there are various '#hours' that run each night with their being an equestrian themed one now every day of the week (typically between 8 and 9pm!). It was during Wednesday evening's one (#equestrianhour) one time that someone mentioned about having a bit of a meet-up and the next thing, one had been planned! This took place on Sunday at a small hotel in Buxton where there were seven of us who met up for afternoon tea. I think I actually travelled the furthest (& I had to drive up/down some ridiculously steep and twisty road!) but it was well worth the journey. 

As mentioned, seven of us attended in total:

• E-Dressage Ltd
• Style Reins
• Nicola Cranham Dressage
• Equine Diamonds
• Tail End Jewellery

It was such a lovely afternoon and so nice to put a face behind everyone who I interact with on twitter regularly. 

If you're on twitter, I strongly recommend you interact with some of the hours as there's always a lovely bunch of people to chat to and sometimes some great competitions!

Thanks for reading,

Laura xx

Podcast Feature

A few weeks ago, I received a message from the lovely Steve/@HorseHour on twitter asking if I would be interested in participating in a podcast. For those of you who may not be aware, Horse Hour is a social networking hour that has been running for two years now, every Monday from 8pm for an hour (though people continue to chat past the hour and all week!). It is a great way to chat to new people, get great advice from a range of experts and mainly have a fun hour! I have come to know many different people through #HorseHour and now there are many other hours throughout the week to join in on! 

So back to the podcast! Steve put me in touch with the ever lovely Amy Stevenson who emailed me a brief overview of what the podcast would be like, before getting a brief overview of what I do, my history with horses and any potential topics we could chat about. It turned out that we had a bit in common with us both having a bad horse buying experience. Obviously, I'm not going to give anything away so if you want to have a listen then please click here.

There is also some bit chat from the wonderful Matt Waterworth (@thebitexpert - he knows his stuff!) as he explains the history of bits and how to choose the right one. 

I hope you enjoy the podcast if you gave it a listen! I was actually rather nervous about it, especially finding out that I was going to be on the first one! Wasn't quite expecting that but luckily Amy was super friendly to chat to and it literally did just feel like chatting to a friend!

Thanks for reading,

Laura xx 

#ThanksAP

Following McCoy's last ever ride at Sandown today I thought I'd just write a little post :) 

As many of you probably know, McCoy is one of the top jump jockey's of all time and he retires having been crowned champion jockey for the 20th year! He has also ridden 4,348 winners, broken nearly every bone in his body, won BBC Sport Personality of the Year (2010) and won nearly every major NH race including the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup. 

I had the honour of seeing him on The Clare Balding Show when I went to London to see it filmed on Tuesday (blog post to go up tomorrow) and it was amazing to hear about his life and his plans for the future. He is so modest about his career, despite all his accolades and achievements but there were also many entertaining stories that he shared! (I personally think he'd make a great presenter!)

AP's retirement is a huge loss to the racing industry but I wish him all the best for the future! 

#thanksAP! 

Thanks for reading,
Laura xx

The Increase in Horse Abandonment

This is a slightly different post for me, however, it is a topic that has come up time and time again in my 'Emerging Issues, Ethics and Welfare' module at University and so I decided to do a blog post about it. 

It is estimated that the number of horses at risk of neglect or abandonment in the UK has risen to 7, 000 with half of these being from fly grazing. Fly grazing is the deliberate grazing of horses on land without the land owners permission, therefore grazing the horse illegally. Wales has recently passed a new law which prohibits fly-grazing, and whilst this is good news in many respects as it reduces the number of horses abandoned as they are either returned to owners, taken in to charities if possible or put to sleep, it could lead to the problem escalating in England as many people may just move the horses across the border. This means that England should now follow Wales' lead and also propose a new law to ban fly-grazing. Although it may mean that many horses are put down, it will hopefully help to tackle the large scale of neglect and abandonment we are currently seeing and charities are already full, finding it difficult to be able to take in more horses which desperately need their help. 

I also think that more should be done to ensure that when people buy horses, that they are competent enough and have the funds to be able to afford to look after them long term as well as having the knowlege to care for them. After all, buying them is the easy and cheaper part! It's the livery bills, vet, tack, feed, insurance and various other things which all add up! I think it is seen that having a horse, in some respects to some people, makes them look better and gives them a higher reputation, although they may not have much of an idea on how to look after them. Similarly, some parents may relent and buy their child a pony but again do not have an idea how to look after them. Therefore, I feel that people should maybe undergo a small exam or lessons or something in order to be able to purchase a horse to ensure that the horse will be cared for properly and not end up being another statistic in charity cases. 

Another issue which needs addressing is the issue of over-breeding (this is actually the topic I am basing  my assignment on!) as many people are deciding to breed from their mares if they can no longer be ridden, or decide that they want a foal or various other reasons. This has also contributed to the number of horses being abandoned as people do not realise the time and cost that has to be put in until it is too late and they can no longer care for them. I think that people should have a license to be able to have stallions and use them for breeding and that more people need to be educated on what breeding involves as well as how to care for the foal through its life. 

I hope you find this interesting and I'd love to hear your opinion!
Thanks for reading, 
Laura & Pea x