The Original Rug Bag....review part 1

According to research the modern horse of the twenty-first century has an extensive wardrobe of rugs for all seasons and weather conditions. In fact it is an ongoing joke between myself and my friends that Ceaser has more "clothes" than I do!

Any rug is not cheap; often they are a huge investment and need looking after. It's not a surprise when it comes to winter and you find your heavyweight rugs still covered in mud and damp from being left throughout the summer months and visa versa with summer rugs.

This is why The Original Rug Bag was created.

What is it?

The Rug Bag is a protective cover for all of your rugs whilst hanging on a rug rail or stored in a tack room or locker.  The Rug Bag can accommodate rugs of all shapes and sizes and also doubles as a travel bag.

They offer fantastic features that will not disappoint.

- Waterproof
- Lightweight/strong
- Integral Strap
- Heavy duty zip
- Reinforced Handles
- Hook/loop fastenings
- Plus, acts as a travel bag!!

The Rug Bags are a brilliant way of protecting your rugs whilst also acting as a preventitive from becoming stained with bird droppings, dirt, spiders, cobwebs, dust and more!

Unlike many products, the Rug Bag is made in Britain and created using strong, waterproof and breathable fabric which will protect up to four rugs.

So.....


2 weeks ago I was sent a message asking if Ceaser and I would mind reviewing this product seeing as we are always travelling here and there to competitions. Of course I obliged, however I am sure I need 4 to fit all of his rugs in!

I will let you know how we get on with this versatile and innovative product once I am happy the sunny weather is here to stay so I can clear my winter rugs away!

Review - part 1:

We have our riding school vet and council inspection this week and whenever this comes around I am always at a loss as to what to do with my masses of rugs I seem to hoard. They never look neat and tidy on my rug rack and I don't want to let the yard down by having it fail on this. The council states that only the "needed" rugs may appear on the rug racks and if they do so, they must appear tidy. 

I do not feel so worried this time as since using my Rug Bag I have been able to tidy my rugs away and whereas before I had about 12 hanging over Ceaser's door, rug rail and wall, I have now been able to put four in the Rug Bag, enabling me to make room for more on his rail. 

Admittedly when I first unwrapped the Rug Bag I thought it looked rather large for Ceaser's small-ish rugs. Nevertheless, Jeanette who owns the company was correct in sending the medium size and his rugs fit perfectly. When you first lay the Rug Bag on the floor to put your rugs away it can also appear difficult, but after a quick read of the instructions I was good to go and realised it really is a quick and easy way to store rugs! The velcro fastenings at the end offer protection so any unwanted animals - like dreaded mice - and the zip up the side enables your rugs to stay snug and well protected. 

If you're wondering how your rugs stay fastened whilst in the Rug Bag, there is a small strap which you attach the front buckles of your rug to. This prevents the rug inside from bunching up and like a duvet, if it does, just give it a shake whilst it is in the bag and it will lay flat again. 

I was hoping by now I would have been able to use the Rug Bag when out competing but in all honesty we have had reasonably good weather meaning I have only needed to take Ceaser's travel rug with me! However, I am using the Rug Bag to store his travel rug away in and keep it nice and clean. I paid a lot of money for it and hated the thought of shoving it at the bottom of my locker with all the spiders so again, the Rug Bag is ideal for this. 

You see...the Rug Bag has so many uses the list is endless!

Part 2....coming soon!

In the meantime, if you're interested in this Rug Bag please visit the website by clickinghere. 

Prices start at £80 for the smaller of the Rug Bags and vary up to £90 for a larger bag.

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New sponsors; 1st Choice Embroidery

I would just like to say a very warm welcome to 1st Choice Embroidery after they have agreed to sponsor myself and Ceaser in what we all hope is another successful competition season. 

1st choice have very kindly offered to sponsor me by offering me coverage, saddle cloths, jackets, rug embroidery and advertisement on their website, plus more. 

They will also be providing all of my livery yard and riding schools workwear, including staff hoodies, jackets and polo shirts. We are also hoping to order a set of saddle cloths for the riding school ponies.

1st Choice Embroidery are situated in Gedney, Lincolnshire and specialise in personalised garments just for you!

From babygrows to Hi-Vis workwear, to yard wear - they have everything you could possibly need and want for both yourself and your equine friend. 

Additional to this they also offer a wide range of fonts and logos, giving you a variety of styles on your clothing. Kirsty at 1st Choice is also happy to discuss any requirements you may have and is happy to work alongside you to help create a professional set of clothing for either your business or pleasure use.

1st Choice Embroidery work alongside big name brands such as Dickies, Kustom Kit, Fruit of the Loom, Regatta, Papini and Uneek - so you will never be stuck for choice. 

As well as the above they pride themselves in offering the very best standard to ensure they give you the highest quality product you deserve. 

To view their website and see what they have to offer please click the following link: 1st Choice Embroidery

Welcome to 1st Choice and owner, Kirsty on the team - we look forward to what we hope is a successful season working together. 

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Reporting at Royal Windsor Horse Show

I am so sorry that it has taken me a while to get this blog post finished and published. Time certainly flies when you're busy and before you know it, days turn into weeks.

As you all know, I was asked by Horse & Hound magazine to go to The Royal Windsor Horse Show at the beginning of May to cover the Mountain and Moorland in-hand and ridden classes over two days.

Friday saw some fantastic entries into the M&M in-hand classes and I don't know how the judges made the tough decisions as to who to give the red rosette to.

One combination that stood out to me was Debbie Barr with the 6-year-old bay stallion Okeleat Navigator owned by David Hodges and Julian Walters from Halstock & Blackertor Pony Stud.

Okeleat Navigator won the 4-year-old and over Dartmoor class as well as took overall champion in the Dartmoor section and then reserve supreme.

This gorgeous pony has already qualified for RIHS under saddle with Debbie's young daughter. The judge described him as a true stamp of a Dartmoor that was a clear winner from the beginning.

He definitely caught my eye from the start and from what I could hear at the ringside, he caught lots of onlookers' attention.

The ridden section had lots of strong classes, one of which was the BSPS Heritage Mountain & Moorland open leading rein class.

Ollie Fenton and the lovely grey, Oldacres Lilli, led by mum, Vanessa Fenton, were clear winners from the beginning as they produced a foot-perfect show piece for judges Mrs J K Bushell and Miss N Middlemas.

Ollie and Oldacres Lilli also qualified for RIHS at their attempt at the BSPS Area 4A show.

Overall I had a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable time at Royal Windsor. It was such a learning curve for me sitting with judges throughout the two days and talking to the likes of Nigel Hollings about what he looks for from both horse and rider when in the show ring.

Fingers crossed I can put some of what I learnt into practice in the ring with Ceaser.

Whilst there, I was also lucky enough to see The Queen and her groom, as well as Clare Balding,
watch the Shetland Grand National and, of course, do some much needed shopping!

I would highly recommend Royal Windsor next year for all the family - there is plenty to see and do for all ages.

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The Original Rug Bag Company - Product review.

According to research the modern horse of the twenty-first century has an extensive wardrobe of rugs for all seasons and weather conditions. In fact it is an ongoing joke between myself and my friends that Ceaser has more "clothes" than I do!

Any rug is not cheap; often they are a huge investment and need looking after. It's not a surprise when it comes to winter and you find your heavyweight rugs still covered in mud and damp from being left throughout the summer m
onths and visa versa with summer rugs.

This is why The Original Rug Bag was created.

What is it?

The Rug Bag is a protective cover for all of your rugs whilst hanging on a rug rail or stored in a tack room or locker.  The Rug Bag can accommodate rugs of all shapes and sizes and also doubles as a travel bag.

They offer fantastic features that will not disappoint.

- Waterproof
- Lightweight/strong
- Integral Strap
- Heavy duty zip
- Reinforced Handles
- Hook/loop fastenings
- Plus, acts as a travel bag!!

The Rug Bags are a brilliant way of protecting your rugs whilst also acting as a preventitive from becoming stained with bird droppings, dirt, spiders, cobwebs, dust and more!

Unlike many products, the Rug Bag is made in Britain and created using strong, waterproof and breathable fabric which will protect up to four rugs.

So.....

2 weeks ago I was sent a message asking if Ceaser and I would mind reviewing this product seeing as we are always travelling here and there to competitions. Of course I obliged, however I am sure I need 4 to fit all of his rugs in!

I will let you know how we get on with this versatile and innovative product once I am happy the sunny weather is here to stay so I can clear my winter rugs away!

Check back soon for a review.

In the meantime, if you're interested in this Rug Bag please visit the website by clicking here. 

Prices start at £80 for the smaller of the Rug Bags and vary up to £90 for a larger bag.

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Workers pony in the making...

Ceaser has always had a decent pop in him when it comes to jumping but unfortunately since my accident on Sara when I was 14 I prefer to keep all-four feet on the ground if it means going over anything bigger than 3ft!

So, when it was suggested to me by a friend that Ceaser's cheeky behaviour lately may be because he's bored of schooling I admit, I did a panic a little!

Jump him more? But I'm a dressage rider!

My fear of spreads and parallels has only gotten worse since my accident and rather wrongly, I have never done anything about it. Therefor when it was suggested to me Ceaser may start concentrating more when I give him "other" things to think about other than schooling, I decided to scrap showing this year and concentrate on working-hunter and dressage.

I used to love doing workers classes on Sara in our younger days and we competed all over Nottinghamshire at both local and county level. However, I gave that up for dressage and showing, but am keen to get back in to it.

A good friend of mine, Kathryn offered to help me combat my jumping fears in return for me helping her with her ponies and I have since been having twice weekly jumping lessons.

They have been going fantastic and instead of just putting up jumps and making me jump them, Kathryn has been introducing different methods to help me get over my bug-bearer!

The first lesson was quite an eye opener for me. When I mounted Kathryn told me there was no way I was jumping with my stirrups that long and put them up 4 holes. I am sure I do not need to tell you how uncomfortable it was to begin with as you all know I am used to riding rather long for dressage!

To start simple, Kathryn then put two jumps on a 20meter circle for me and we started by simply trotting and cantering over small poles in jumping position - which was a little rusty!

Once I had gotten back into the swing of things she put them up and eventually made a double with the simple one stride between. Ceaser was getting quite excited and throwing in the odd buck here and there whenever he got a little full of himself. To finish off the lesson we did the double in a forward canter, and without hesitation Ceaser popped one stride in the middle, as appose to his two he usually gets in because his canter is so collected!

I must admit, for the next 3 days I could barely move and ached from head to toe. I honestly do not think there was a part of me that didn't ache or hurt in some way. But, no pain no gain and my next lesson was just around the corner.

Kathryn knows I do not enjoy jumping and would prefer to school and perfect my dressage moves everyday, so she decided to get us doing some "flying changes" over jumps so I was helping my dressage at the same time. In order to do this she put three jumps over the centre line so I had to ride a three-looped serpentine and jump a jump each time I crossed the centre line. For the final jump she made a spread, but the opposite way round so to me it looked like a simple upright. (I know, I know, you shouldn't jump like this, but needs must!)

In the beginning I was getting quite frustrated that Ceaser was getting a little ahead of himself and not really thinking about each jump and changing legs. Kathryn said she noticed that he really waits for me to say "No, come on, it's fine" and looks after me if I muck up. She also said that if I kick on for a long or short stride he does it - without hesitation. I suppose I couldn't ask any more from him and I have known all along it is my fear that stops us from having more fun jumping. I also noticed that I was holding him back towards the middle of the arena, because that is where he has been spooking and bolting a lot. Kathryn also noticed that I tend to hold back a little and not push Ceaser on enough, which makes the jumps feel very uncomfortable. My goal now is to kick on more, believe in myself and look up.

After a while he got what was I was asking and we were riding the three looped serpentines whilst changing the leg over each jump. I must say, it is such an exciting feeling to finally 'get' something after you have disliked it for so long. In my head I was forgetting about the fact I was jumping and concentrating so hard on my flying changes - so it really did help!

After the second lesson I decided to test the waters and go to a local show and do a working hunter class. All I wanted to do was get round the course clear with no naughty stops or spooks on Ceaser's behalf. Kathryn was also going, so there would be no time for me to stop kicking on - oh and looking up!

After a quick discussion with her, we decided to stick ourselves in the 55cm and 65cm class. Ceaser warmed up brilliantly and when I saw the 55cm class it looked too small, but as not to add the pressure on we stuck to that class. He was really picking his feet up over the jumps and with my more positive riding he felt fantastic.

The course was quite simple, but had a lot of scary fillers in like a water tray, skinny, whistling gnome (don't ask!), windmill, artificial flowers and more. I didn't walk the course so I couldn't look at them and think "Oh, that's a parallel and that's a spread", instead I just watched others and remembered the course that way.

Once in the arena I forgot about looking posh, which has been my problem and kicked on. Coming up to the first fence I felt Ceaser back off a little but ensured I was positive and gave him a small smack on the shoulder to say "no, come on we're doing this" and he flew! Before I knew it we were over all the jumps and I hadn't even realised one of them was a small spread. He even flew over the skinny water tray, which he usually hates! So, it is all me....

Next up was my chance to redeem my shocking jumping position over the course and do our show piece. Ceaser felt fantastic and was listening to my every aid. For the first time in a while he really opened up in the medium trot and gallop to show just how he can move.

There was some strong competition in the class so I was over the moon when the judge pointed towards me to take the top spot. In fact I even looked to the person next to me because I thought she was pointing towards her!

The second class went just as well but unfortunately the poles were so thin that he rolled a pole, whereas everyone else went clear. Despite this I was still thrilled with how well he had gone and for not hesitating at any of the fences.

Since starting to jump more we have had no spooking, bolting or bucking so I am rather pleased. Ceaser's schooling work is also coming on a treat and I was pleased to find out we have qualified for the Hickstead dressage semi-finals. But, we won't just be training for the semi-finals by schooling, we'll be jumping too!

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Badminton 2013 proves to be nail-biting stuff after first-timer wins

New Zealander Jonathan Paget today became the first Badminton debut winner for 33 years after a neat and tidy clear round on Clifton Promise. The last first timer to win Badminton was Paget's fellow New Zealander, double Olympic champion Mark Todd back in 1980.

Paget, 29, pipped William Fox-Pitt to the post meaning he was unable to complete The Grand Slam.

The Grand Slam is awarded to any rider who consecutively wins Burghley, Kentucky and Badminton titles.

Both British Olympian Fox-Pitt and New Zealander Andrew Nicholson entered the final showjumping phase with a chance of completing the clean sweep Grand Slam.

Fox-Pitt was the 2011 Burghley winner and 2012 Kentucky champion. He should have competed for the Grand Slam last year, had Badminton not been cancelled due to a waterlogged field.

Nicholson was also in line to achieve the Grand Slam after winning Burghley in 2012 and Kentucky last weekend. This is the first time two riders have been competing for the prestige title in the same year.

Sadly it was not meant to be and Fox-Pitt finished fifth on Parklane Hawk after hitting a fence. Nicholson finished third on Nereo.

The reigning Olympic, world and European champion, Michael Jung unfortunately also rolled a pole on the final fence on his La Biosthetique-Sam to finish second, just 0.3 points behind Paget.

Olympic Silver medalist Zara Phillips sadly decided to retire from the competition after missing the second of two brush jumps in the Lake during the Cross-Country phase of the competition yesterday.

Fellow Olympian, Mary King was also eliminated from the competition riding Kings Temptress.

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Introducing the two new riding school ponies!

Wow! It feels good to finally be sitting down and have the opportunity to blog and give you all an update on what has been happening in this neck of the woods!

A couple of weeks ago we suddenly realised how busy our riding school was becoming, which begged the question of whether or not we had enough riding school ponies to go round all the lessons. Without even a second thought I decided no we didn't and so the search began for two new additions to join the "Hundleby Equestrian gang". I love pony shopping and have to admit have quite a fetish for it.

To involve the riding school children I sent out a message to them all asking them to keep an eye open for ponies for sale suitable for the school. Within an hour I was bombarded with roughly 40 horses for sale adverts and so my search began!

Five horses in I was stopped in my tracks by a lovely looking 14.1h cob cross gelding called Guiness. At just 5 he was described as being the perfect gentleman but young enough to still have plenty to learn. Of course I had to view him and after a rather quick phone call I was booked to see him the next day. He was only an hour up the road from us so I asked two of our young liveries if they wanted to come along and try him as well. Need I have bothered asking? Of course they wanted to come!

As soon as we arrived I was greeted by a lovely, sweet pony that immediately pushed his nose into my face and back down again. What a sweetie! After the three of us had had a ride on him I was smitten and could see bags of potential. He was still very green but most importantly seemed to be very willing, even when asked of something he didn't quite understand.

After a quick phone call, I couldn't resist in pulling the deposit I had ready out of my pocket and offering his owner a deal. Need I say that he arrived "home" two days later!

However, whilst horse searching I realised that all black cobs with white feathers were called Guiness so I changed his name to Sooty - which was a pony who I learnt to ride on at the age of 6. Guiness reminded me so much of Sooty, even when I very first met him, so Sooty seemed like a fitting name.

Since arriving home Sooty has proved to be a good buy and is already very popular with the majority of our clients! Despite only being five himself he is teaching many of our younger clients to ride; including my good friend Katie who can be nervous. His talent and ability never ceases to amaze me and each task we ask of him is never too much. His willingness to work is so lovely to witness and already after just a few weeks he has settled into being a riding school pony. I cannot wait to watch this young pony grow and am sure we have yet to witness the best of him - he just keeps on getting better!

Pony number 2!

Pony number two comes in the form of a lovely 14hh Gypsy piebald cob called Splash. His name suites him down to the ground and although he is very quiet natured he has bags of character!

Our newest member of staff, Sam, chose Splash and what a good buy he was! We purchased him from Leicestershire and are so pleased to be able to keep in touch with both his old owner and loaner.

Splash is very different to Sooty and more for the nervous/novice riders to gain confidence on. He is also five but a little greener than Sooty in the school, however a more quiet hack and general ride. Splash is very good for those wanting to build confidence as nothing will phase him and he genuinely doesn't have a bad bone in his body.

After just a week of being on the yard Splash is also proving to be popular with many of our riding school clients. He has one of the biggest and fluffy moustaches you have ever seen so is already known on the yard for this!

Splash is also showing to have huge potential and I am sure will go far. Like Sooty he will pop a course of fences with ease and whatever you ask of him he will try his hardest. He also seems to be enjoying life as a riding school pony being pampered and loved by every child (and adult) that meets him!

Personally I feel we have been very lucky with these two and I cannot wait to see them both grow in confidence over the next few months.

We are now on the look out for another riding school pony that is about 15-15.2hh. I am sure finding another won't be as easy as it has been with these two boys. They are both fantastic and get on tremendously with one another.

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