Bridleway Access!

After seeing yet another post regarding poor bridleway access I decided to share some thoughts on our access! I have been at a few different livery yards with various access, some good and some not so good. What I find annoying is that compared to walkers and cyclist us horse riders get such a raw deal! I know some say that horses ruin the ground, to be honest, that’s rubbish. I’ve attended lots of horse events and the paths where people walk have been trashed compared to the routes that the horses have been on. Some people complain about the horse poo but again this not a danger to people, unlike dog poo which can cause blindness.

Since November 2016 315 horses and 43 riders have died on the roads, with over 3,700 road incidents being reported. To

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My 10 favourite equestrian items.

Here I am going to share with you my ten favourite equestrian items. I have a real mixture of items, some are for riding and others those I just like when attending the yard.

No.1 – LeMieux saddle pad, I have numerous colours of these, my favourite is the close contact style as this sits nicely under the saddle. I also have a couple of dressage pads too. I love the vibrant colours of these pads and they wash up well too.

 

January ride report!

This weeks blog post is live and I am SO excited about it… because it’s my January ride reports! 🙌🏻 Firstly can I say hallelujah that January has finally come to an end, this month goes on forever, I’m sure all the calendars are wrong and there are really 131 days in this never-ending sodding month! However, we have made it to February and the days are gradually getting lighter, so I no longer have to go to and from work in the dark!

Despite the cold, wet weather and an illness I have managed a number of rides this month and completed 12.7 miles! Now I know to some this will seem like an insignificant amount but to me it is amazing, seeing as this time last year me and Fred could barely get out the yard alone. Most of the rides this month have been alone, due to work commitments and a poorly field companion who we ride with, as she has had some box rest this month!

Equestrian Bloggers list for 2020.

Here is my 2020 list of Equestrian bloggers who I follow and enjoy reading, some I have followed for a while, whilst others are fairly new. I hope you enjoy reading through my list and possibly find some new and interesting bloggers to follow. If you follow someone who you think I would like to know about, then please leave me a comment below!

No 1. In due horse Written by Louise Dando, Louise lives in France and blogs about all types of equestrian life, from riding, to events, fashion and travel. She also has an In due horse book club group on Facebook and is one of 3 bloggers who co-host a podcast called Equestrian pulse.

2019 reflections and looking forward to 2020

Anyone who knows me will know, I don’t really like New Year, I just don’t get it! However, I couldn’t not reflect on the past year and how much progress me and Fred have made. Now don’t get me wrong it has not been without its ups and downs and the beginning of 2019 started out badly with a bit of a confidence knock after a hard fall in the school. We went back to groundwork and continued to hack as this was still fine, most of the time and only with company. If I tried to hack alone he would try to return to the yard which was frustrating and put me off trying.

Then in April we moved yards and everything fell into place, he settled well and once again was the horse I knew before moving to the previous yard, it is strange how they react at some places. We started to hack out alone and he has grown in

Book review of Charlie Mackesy!

I first came across the work of Charlie Mackesy on Facebook when I saw a lovely simple drawing of a boy and a horse along with a motivational quote. From there I started to follow him and see more of his work. Last month Charlie released his first book full of lovely uplifting quotes and simple yet beautiful illustrations and treated myself to a copy.

From Charlie Mackesy

Bitless, treeless and barefoot!

The first time the word bitless was mentioned to me I must admit I laughed, I mean surely having no bit would mean no brakes, right? Wrong, this is a common misconception by most in relation to bitless. Before going further, this is not an I hate bits post but about how bitless can have its uses.

Now, what bitless won’t do though is replace bad training and in order to go bitless, the right amount of groundwork and training is still required. For me I tried it after a recommendation from my daughter who rides her 16.1hh mare in a bitless bridle and my then 3-year-old cob wasn’t going well in a bit but rode fine in a halter.

So I made the change and rode for about a year in an English hackamore, now I know you might be thinking that this is a

Top 5 on my reading list!

Now Autumn is upon us, I enjoy nothing more than snuggling up with a good book. I am going to share with you my upcoming reading list which includes a mixture of horsey and parenting humour!

No.1 on my list is by Victoria Brant of the Wimpy Eventer. I finally completed the set by treating myself to the 3rd and final book when I purchased a signed copy at Burghley horse trials the other week.

Number 7 in equestrian bloggers list!

Yesterday I was surprised to have been tagged in a post informing me that we have been included in a post written by the lovely Sophie Tunnah from Team Tunnah Eventing. The post entitled 9 Equestrian Blogs of 2019 listed nine different equestrian bloggers with a little write up about each of them and what they are about.

I was thrilled to see that I had made it onto the list and there we were at Number 7. I had no idea this was being planned and it really made my day.

Please do take a look at Sophie’s blog and the other great blogs on the list and show your support for the equestrian blogger by following their blogs. I love to sit down and catch up with the ups and downs of fellow equestrians and following their progress!

Let me know in the comments of any more blogs I should know about!

                                                                                                      Me and my boy!

Burghley Horse Trials

Saturday I attended one of the UK’s largest and well-known horse trials at Burghley house. The event is open from Wednesday to Sunday with plenty of shopping, young horse events and 3 days of 5-star eventing with dressage, cross country and show jumping having designated days. Saturday was cross-country day which is why we chose to attend on this day. This was my first time ever to Burghley, it was very busy and I observed a variety of people attending from young to old, some found a spot by the sidelines and spent the day enjoying the action from one particular place. Others like us moved around and walked the course, we tried to see at least one horse jump each of the 27 fences.

Burghley House

Before walking around the cross-country course we began the day by exploring the shopping village, which hosted a variety of equestrian and craft stalls, with some well-known brands such as Joules, Noble outfitters and Ariat, along with