First day of spring....

The end of dark mornings and nights, muddy fields and clipping every 6 weeks is in sight. It's that close you can almost smell the evening hacks out with friends after work, beach rides, sun tan lotion for pink noses and the 4am starts for the competition season. 

Spring is here!

...and so, I thought I'd give you ten top tips for ensuring you and your horse have a fun spring and summer! 

1) De-hair - Get rid of that dull winter fluff by spending some extra time grooming your horse. I've heard great things about the FURminator® for removing those pesky winter coats but have never used it. Let me know if you have!

2) Get fit - We're all guilty of it; but if you've spent a little too many hours on the couch this winter then get back out there and get fit! Join a running or swimming club, or even your local riding club and get back into the swing of things! 

If you're looking for something new to do - take a look at the Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club! 

3) Go makeover mad - Give your horse a makeover. Clip his bridle path, fetlocks, muzzle and anything else that's a bit fuzzy or overgrown from the winter months!

4) Head to the New Forest - Nothing can compare to long evening walks, surrounded by horses and the countryside. The New Forest has plenty of pet-friendly hotels so why not book yourself a weekend break with your pooch?

5) Have a tack room tidy out - Do those well-worn winter rugs need throwing away or reproofing? Is there any  old tack hiding out in your tack room that you haven't used in a while? You never know, in sorting through your stuff you might just find things you don't need anymore that you can sell. That old bridle you no longer use might just pay for a days XC schooling with your horse. 

6) Plan your diary - The show schedules are coming out thick and fast now. Take a break one evening from work, sit down with a glass of wine (if you're over 18!) and get your competition diary sorted. There's nothing like being organised!

7) Ensure your vaccinations are up-to-date - There's nothing more heartbreaking than arriving at a competition and realising you aren't eligible to compete because your vaccinations aren't up-to-date. Make sure you're organised! 

8) Stock up - Remember that time last year when you left an aroma of fly-repellent wherever you walked? It's that time again! Head to your local tack shop and stock up on fly repellents, sun tan lotion for pink noses and any other spring and summer supplies you might need! 

9) Go to the beach - It sounds cliche, but everyones got to do it at least once their life. Box up and take your horse to the beach. Most horses enjoy a paddle in the sea and nothing beats going for a gallop in the sand. 

10) Meet up with friends - Organise a girly day at the races or Burghley and Badminton. With the horsey event calendar bursting with things to do, there's no excuse for not sitting down with your friends and enjoying a Pimms or two whilst you watch some horse and riders strut their stuff!

There's plenty to do this spring - get in touch if you've got some other great ideas! 

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Latest addition to the blog; how to!

Firstly I would like to apologise for my absence on both here and Twitter over the past few days. I have been thoroughly spoilt over the weekend by the lovely other half, Mark.

For my 22nd Birthday back in January he produced an envelope that said we were going for a weekend away in the New Forest in February. My Mum couldn't understand the attraction and simply stated: "What, to look at yet more horses?"

Anyway, we had a lovely and rare weekend off relaxing in the Hotel and walking through the forest as much as our legs would allow. On our last day we also booked ourselves in to go for a hack through the New Forest and I was quite surprised when they asked if we wanted to trot Mark accepted and along he bounced giggling away behind me.

Unfortunately he did end up in the middle of a tree at one stage with his horse doing a fantastic Giraffe impression eating the branches as far up as he could reach. Mark looked quite a picture sat there with his jeans half way up his legs, arms out and in the middle of some rather large branches with a worried but confused look on his face, saying: "What do I do?". Of course us girls were in hysterics!

Trust Mark to provide the entertainment!

Anyway, luckily the weekend away fell perfectly between the dates of the widely known BETA International convention at the NEC in Birmingham. I had put my name down to go quite a few weeks ago as it is the perfect place to make all kinds of contacts throughout the equestrian community. So, we travelled the 4 hour journey to the New Forest on Saturday, had the weekend there and then travelled to Nottingham to stay at my sisters on Monday evening where we then left to head to BETA early Tuesday morning.

However, enough of that - I will find some time over the next few days to blog about the New Forest and BETA. Right now I want to announce a brand new feature I have decided to have a go at on here.

On two separate occasions today it occurred to me that whilst there are a lot of tutorials online to help all types of riders learn a new dressage movement, exercise, or difficult task with their horse, they all lack something.

A livery mentioned today that her daughter was going to look up online how to get her pony engaging his hindquarters more and working from behind rather than trudging along. Then, early this morning I helped a young girl who is house and pony sitting with me for a friend lunge her new (very cheeky) pony when he was being a little difficult and I realised; yes there is a lot to read and watch, but what is out there for children or those, like the liveries daughter that does not enjoy dressage as much as jumping?

Over the years of owning a livery yard I have watched many young liveries "schooling" their horses. Often the warming up and cooling down exercises are forgotten, circles are more egg-shaped and rather than doing equal amounts on both reins, they pick the most favourable and stick with that one.

I can fully sympathise, as when I was young and found any schooling exercises a bit of a bore, I used to be guilty of the above. However, I think this is only because I didn't know how to get my pony listening more, respecting my leg aids or working from behind. More so, I also didn't know how to make it less complicated and boring.

How can we make simple, 'boring' exercise more appealing to the younger generation that may prefer jumping to dressage. Or, how can we get them setting up jumping exercises in stead of only one or two simple jumps?

So, because I enjoy giving myself a challenge and I haven't got enough work on already (haha...can we have more hours in the day please?) I have decided over the new few weeks or months, I am going to do a "how to" once a week. This could be how to shoulder in, or how to make dressage training more fun, or even how to warm up and cool down properly without finding it boring. For those who are still learning I will be throwing in the more simple things like how to pick feet out or how to put a bridle on.

A written explanation will accompany a videoed example and I am hoping it will be successful. Over the next few days I will be creating a tab especially for these posts at the top of this blog, so keep an eye out for that addition.

I hope you will find what I post useful and if someone has done something similar to this, but with jumping then I would be interested to have a read. I am guilty of finding any form of jumping boring and would much rather be found schooling!

Have a lovely weekend.

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