Since my last post, the weather has definitely turned to winter. The summer paddock is closed, the boys are in overnight, and the winter coats are well and truly out for all of us!
I have been making the most of the last few weeks, watching the nights drawing in and refusing to give up on Summer, with some lovely hacks with friends! I have also managed to rope in a good friend who wanted to get back into riding, to ride Ben weekly for me, this will be great at helping me keep both boys fit, and as I got Ben as my 'jumper' I am very naughty at skipping the groundwork, so knowing he is getting a good session every week is very much appreciated!
Travis has had an introduction to double reins (not quite double bridle just yet) and managed to not throw any toys out of the pram, so I am really excited to start training in a double bridle, and have some more lift for that heavy front end, but I am seriously less excited about Elementary! We have done another couple of Novice tests with BD and consistently scoring in the mind 60's, even with some very junior mistakes from us both, so now the aim for the rest of the year is just to go to as many as possible and gain the competition experience in Novice, while working on the harder stuff at home!
I took Ben to his first jumping competition a few weeks ago, having only ever jumped course twice with him before, and he got a 4th in both the 70cm and 80cm classes. The 70cm he cruised around, and I don't even think we noticed the jumps, for an easy clear,. He actually jumped the 80cm much better allowing the jumps more respect and making a better shape, unfortunately I allowed him a fast approach to an upright with a long run up and he defaulted back to racehorse hurdle jumping, so one unlucky pole. I am really looking forward to see what we have learnt since the last one this weekend.
As I type this I am also sat waiting for my BD results from Novice 37a today - which was a tough test, so hopefully lots to tell you next time!
Who else has felt the pain of this winter? It's hard to believe we are coming into spring, and yet the last of lockdown is still keeping those winter blues in place! Unfortunately due to the weather here, and the ridiculous hot headed nature of my horses, combined with no travel or arena hire allowed I haven't been able to take the boys out anywhere or ride.
Yassss! Yesss! Horaaah! Finally! I am back on a horse - horses - all of them have been off the yard! It actually feels like an eternity but the minute Boris announced the "road out of lockdown", I sat with the calendar and got filling, admittedly we had a slight hiccup as the lorry despite it's fancy repaint, apparently didn't appreciate being sat still for 4 months and my steering broke, but after many, many pestering phone calls to my mechanic daily (oops) we were back on the road within a week!
So what should you be aware of before immunising your horse? What vaccinations are available, and when should they be administered? And what do you need to know about protecting your animal’s health through insurance for horses?
Ex-racers who have already been away from the track for some retraining can be suitable for a whole range of equine disciplines. However, if you’re looking to buy a horse fresh from a racing career, then you’ll need to do some careful research into retraining. To get you started we’ve put together some guidance on how to retrain one of these sensitive and spirited animals.