Win 2 tickets to the Equestrian.com Hickstead Derby on behalf of PetPlan Equine

As an avid equine blogger this is now the second year I have been invited to attend the equestrian.com Hickstead Derby Meeting as a PetPlan Equine guest. 

Last year a friend and I were invited to attend RIHS and the PetPlan Equine stand to take part in a ‘Responsible Riders’ quiz. Thankfully we both passed with flying colours and were given several useful handouts from PetPlan about what to do in an emergency and so on. 

Having insured horses for over 27 years, PetPlan Equine pride themselves in having a vast amount of knowledge when it comes to horse health, welfare, lameness and a variety of common (and sometimes not so common) ailments that are good at making horse owners lives that bit more stressful. Their aim is to share their experiences of dealing with all of the above with both horse owners and riders alike to spread awareness about what to do when something does occur. 

This year, PetPlan Equine aims to help horse owners and riders deal with lameness and to help make them more aware of the related problems so that immediate veterinary care is sought. 
Over 45% of all PetPlan Equine claims are lameness related, showing just how common an issue like this is within the equine community - needless to say how stressful it can also be for both horse and rider. 

To held spread awareness, PetPlan Equine are inviting you to visit them at the equestrian.com Hickstead Derby Meeting for further information. You will find them located on Stand Number 130!

Hickstead is a fantastic day out for all the family and offers some of the greatest space to watch action from the main grandstands, to the ringside where you can literally smell that sweet smell of the horses, you’re that close. If you don’t fancy spending all day watching then why not grab your purse and head over to the shopping village which is always jam packed of everything a horse rider and owner could ever need and want. 

I am exceptionally to have been invited to attend Hickstead as PetPlan Equines guests again this year, however I will be in the states for a month after Sunday and so I’m thrilled to announce that PetPlan Equine have agreed I can hold a competition for a reader of my blog to win two tickets; one for them and a friend to attend! 

All you have to do is answer the following question and put your answer on the pinned post on my Facebook page. A winner will then be selected at random! 

Q) In what year did John Whitaker win the equestrian.com Hickstead Derby riding Ryan's Son?

The closing date is 12 noon Sunday 19th June!


Good Luck!



Competition Terms & Conditions
1. SLE&J reserve the right to withdraw any Competition or prizes at any time.
2. There will be no cash or other alternative to the prize offered and prizes are not transferable.
3. If any winner of a Competition is unable to take up a prize for any reason, or if SLE&J has not been able, after making reasonable efforts, to make contact with the winner, SLE&J reserves the right to award that prize (without notice to the first winner chosen) to an alternative winner, in which case the first winner chosen shall not be eligible for any share of the prize whatsoever. SLE&J shall not have any liability in such eventuality.
4. SLE&J reserves the right to publish the first names of the winners.
5. All competitions are open to UK residents.
6. SLE&J cannot accept any responsibility for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any entrant entering the competition or as a result of accepting any prize. SLE&J is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment or software, failure of any email or entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet.
7. There is no purchase requirement to enter a Competition and there is no charge to register for use of the website.
8. Unless stated otherwise, prize winners will be chosen at random from all correct entries within 2 days of the closing date specified on each Competition Entry page.
9. Following the Institute of Sales Promotion best practice, competition winners will have 2 days to claim their prize. 

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When you know the right thing to do...


I'm sure I'm not alone when I say for weeks, if not months I wondered whether the decisions I've made lately have been the right ones. I've pondered whether the choices have been correct, or if I'm about to make the biggest mistake of my life.

A few months ago when life got a little bit tough and stressful I decided I needed to eliminate some of the stress from my everyday life and I made the decision to take some time away from competing Ceaser in his affiliated dressage. There's a reason dressage takes the nickname 'stressage' and I was fed up of score chasing, wondering what I needed to qualify for next and fed up of putting pressure on both myself and Ceaser.

The decision didn't come easy and for days after I'd pulled out of one of the biggest competitions of the year I sat and pondered whether I'd ever get the chance to do that with Ceaser again or if I'd regret this decision for the rest of my life. However the pros of doing so outweighed the cons. I was starting to loose my temper at this horse that had been there throughout everything for me, and for no apparent reason. He'd been the one that was always there for me, cheered me up when I was feeling down in the dumps and he was my life. But, with things a little difficult I was starting to ride, train for a competition and was putting an immense amount of pressure on us both. If things didn't go right I got snappy and I didn't want to be THAT person. I didn't want to be THAT rider.

So one night, I decided it was time to take a step back. I decided to give up the dressage dream for a bit and focused my attention on hacking Ceaser, having some lessons, jumping him, taking him to the beach and having fun. I was enjoying showjumping Ziggy and in doing so my passion for this sport was returning. Not once did I miss what I wasn't doing and not once did I envy seeing my friends photos of them competing in dressage, because I was finding the reason I did all this again... I was having fun.

After not really putting much thought into it all I found myself booking Ceaser into the Tack & Togs BD Championships. Without thinking about it I realised I wanted to do it and for the first time in a while was looking forward to it.

He warmed up beautifully; possibly the best he had in months and months of competing. Maybe because I wasn't there to score chase, but rather to have some enjoyment and have a change of scenery. Warming up I wasn't thinking what I needed to do to get a good score, I was having a laugh with a good friend who had come to watch me and before I knew it we were due to go in.

Novice 38 is a favourite of mine, I feel its one of those tests that just rides well and flows nicely. Ceaser felt fantastic and much better than I'd expected to say he hadn't really done much schooling of late. I was half expecting to feel like I was riding a wooden horse that didn't want to bend around corners, but he didn't.

I didn't want the test to end, I wanted this feeling to last forever and I wanted to soak every second of it in as much as I could. His medium trots were actually existent and to me it felt like I was riding Valegro.

For a long time I'd gotten used to the idea that Ceaser would never hit the elusive 70% at novice affiliated level. I'm constantly being told "needs to be more uphill" but the question is, how do you make a 24-year-old cob cross become uphill? You can't. We try and we make the best of what we've got and for me that's always been and will be enough. Last year when I hit 68% at an area festival in the novice I was over the moon and thought "this is it, this is the highest it will ever be".

Yet today not only marked the moment that I realised all those decisions I'd made, all that time I'd spent wondering if I was doing the right thing with taking some time out from competing Ceaser had been the right choice. It also marked the moment my horse of a lifetime proved that despite the stigma that comes with those unconventional dressage horses, that if you want it and work towards it, good things can happen. My horse with the heart of a lion absolutely smashed his previous personal best score of 68% and hit almost 71% with 70.98%.

Thrilled? Over the moon? Happy? Emotional? Quite honestly, I was all of them...

It just goes to show that usually our instincts are right and in our hearts we know the best thing to do and when a decision is worth making. I'm glad I followed my heart because it looks like the change and rest has done us both the world of good.
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25 things I wish I'd told my teenage self....

Inspired by another post I saw on the internet, I thought I'd write this - it makes a change from the usual posts!

25 things I wish I'd told my teenage self

1) That extra slice of pizza is fine. Just eat it. No one really cares.

2) Say I love you and tell people you like them, even if they don't say it back. You just never know in life. Risks are the best things you can take. 

3) The "Bff's for lyf" you thought would always be there....wont. People move on. Some friends you keep in touch with, some you don't - that's life. 

4) That boy that broke your heart for the first time in school will come running back and want to know how you're doing. He might even want to take you for a drink. There will be plenty more boys along the way that break your heart; unfortunately that's life. 

5) Stand up for yourself. Don't let others talk down to you and undermine your opinions; they count and are worth sharing. 

6) Don't go to sleep in the middle of an argument. You might not get a chance to say sorry. Stay up until it's sorted, then hug and make up. Life is too short. 

7) Kiss that boy. You won't regret it and even better he'll turn out to be a pretty amazing kisser. 

8) Quit that boring job you hate. In 5 years time you won't even remember you worked there. 

9) Don't try and be like your friend; the one with the perfect hair, the perfect body, the perfect boyfriend - she probably looks at you and thinks the same. 

10) Go out every night in freshers week at uni. You won't regret it and in 6 years time when you're sat reminiscing with your best friend, you'll have nothing but great memories to talk about. 

11) Skip the uni lecture that your lecturer has said you "must attend". You're hungover, he's lying...it's fine, stay in bed. 

12) No matter how crazy things seem, always trust your instincts and be true to them. They'll never betray you.

13) Keep that ambition you've had since you were a kid wanting to be a pilot, princess or mermaid. You can achieve exactly what you want to if you put your heart and soul in to it. 

14) The awkward conversations with friends about periods and
contraception will soon turn to "I've just been for the implant, it f***ing hurts"- it's all natural, get over it.

15) Save money but at the same time spend it. Life is too short not to do exactly what we want to. 

16) Go to the party on a work night. One day you'll regret not going if you don't. 

17) Push yourself out of your comfort zone. It's how we develop and learn. 

18) Never loose sight of what you want from life. It may not come when you want it to, but one day you'll get it. 

19) Those life plans you made at 16, hoping to achieve by 20 just won't happen. Get over it, there's bigger things to worry about. 

20) Life is stressful. That's just the way it is. Sorry. 

21) Treat others how you want them to treat you. Even if it means smiling, putting on your happy face and thinking "f*** you" as you ask them how their evening was. 

22) Family aren't always there when you need them. You'll realise that. 

23) Those family pets you thought would be around forever, won't be.
Hug them tighter than you need to, take time out to walk them. One day they won't be there and you'll regret the moments you didn't spend with them.

24) Laugh too much, love too much, live everyday as if its your last. Because it might well be.

25) Don't have regrets. Take chances, jump on that plane and fly where you want. Spend far too much on a horse that you've never seen. Don't regret anything for a second. Every decision we make in life, every path we take... it all makes us the person we are today. 
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