I wrote recently about foraging for supplies to make some Christmas wreaths for my home, and when I was buying wire and such from a craft shop I noticed some jingle bells and couldn’t resist buying them.
What was I thinking clipping Bob a few days before a lesson? He was a bit “fresh”, shall we say, for the majority of the lesson, easily distracted and ready to zoom at the slightest touch. My poor legs – due to his feistiness we had to do a lot more trotting and flat schooling to get him to rejoin us on earth before we could even progress to pole work.
Is there really a miracle cure for the slippy, slimy, slidey, sticky gateways of every winter paddock? Well, actually, no – but there are a lot of things I have learnt over the years that can help a great deal. And, hopefully, there are just a couple of things in this guide that can help too!
The local unaffiliated Retraining of Racehorses dressage league 2023 was complete for the year and, after not having the best final day, the overall year had been incredible for Mister.
With 2023 coming to an end, I don’t think I have experienced such a mix of emotion as I have this year. I have had two really huge personal achievements and two heartbreaking findings.
How do I improve my grass? Perhaps an easier question would be: how long is a piece of string? Grass growth will vary from year to year, depending on weather conditions, and even one or two weeks’ overgrazing at the height of winter can damage summer growth.
I have decided to try to make some items for this Christmas that I would usually buy. The first things I opted to make were wreaths.
After five or six years away from the British showjumping circuit, I’ve rejoined, and this time with my little Connemara standing just about 15HH – and he’s been amazing!
Five years ago, I had the absolute dream of having my own acreage, but this has honestly been the biggest learning curve, relearning so much about how to better look after our horses and what the land requires. Hopefully, I can give some insight into things I have learnt, mostly by trial and error and lots of mistakes.