Dressing up the Caldene Way!

If you're no stranger to my blog, you'll know by now that if I could be, I'd be wrapped up in a million layers on those cold and blustery winter days.

I LOVE warm clothes and I'm one of those people that can't walk past big scarves or thick jumpers whilst out shopping. If it's warm, hand me one right now!

So when Harry Hall asked if I'd be interested in trialling their Caldene Luna Women's Jacket, I don't think I could've replied any quicker begging for the opportunity.

It looked toasty warm and perfect for those chilly days down the yard, so what more could I ask for?

For the last 2 weeks I have practically lived in the jacket, and I promise I'm not exaggerating. It's one of those jackets that's great for nipping to the shops in, riding in, mucking out, or even going off shopping. It's stylish enough to wear with a pair of jeans but practical enough to hop on and go for a hack in. I'd definitely describe it as one of those jackets that simply ticks all the boxes.

What makes it so good?

I'm sure all of you reading this hate getting cold and wet and find that element of dealing with horses the worst. You're probably not the only one that looks on in envy at your friends Instagram as they're all wrapped up warm in front of a log fire in wooly slipper socks whilst you're battling with 500kg moody mare in sub zero temperatures. Oh to have a normal life...

The Caldene Luna Women's Jacket is showerproof so for me that deserves one big green tick already. Showerproof is an absolute must when dealing with horses. Especially on the days where hosing legs off is a necessity and you seem to end up more drenched than the horse. Don't you just LOVE winter?!

It's also got a 260gsm fill, so imagine those medium weight turnout and stable rugs you put on your trusty steed and often think "I wish I could crawl under there too!" - well now you have your own! No need to steal them to wrap around you as you sit at the yard having a coffee and a natter now - just pop your Caldene Jacket on and pass the coffee.

For me, a coat isn't good enough if I have to take it off whilst I ride. I'm always stretched for time, so I need something versatile that isn't too bulky to ride in, but is equally as adequate to turn out in on frosty mornings and for me, this coat did exactly what it said on the tin!

There's a 2 way centre front zip and rear riding vents so if you want to hop in the saddle then go ahead. And if you're horse is like mine and hates hoods flapping about as you ride, don't worry - the hood is detachable, meaning less spooks and more happy riding. Perfect!

Another aspect I noticed is the tight cuffs, which means no wind or rain can sneak down your arms as you're lifting hay nets or riding. I know that sounds dramatic but there's no worse feeling that chilly arms and the rest of you is toasty!

The only thing I would say is the cuffs are quite air-tight, so if you hate a tight feeling jacket on your arms and you want more movement then size up, but I prefer a tight fitting jacket so for me it was perfect.

Overall it's another thumbs up from me and a big green tick for everything that I could want in a winter jacket. Even better they're available in Black or Wineberry and available from size 8 upwards. Priced at £125 or £87.50 for One Club Members, why treat yourself to One Club membership too by clicking here?  

I'm wearing the black in a size 8 in the photos above and have teamed the jacket up with the Harry Hall Checked Breeches!

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"I don't have an endless money tree that grows more notes as I pluck others off"

Earlier this evening I was doing my usual post-work and horses scroll on Facebook, when something caught my eye. I don't want to name and 'shame', but I wanted to talk about it because I think its important.

On one of the British Dressage pages, a young lady commented that she feels alone, she doesn't have the funds to do with her horse as she wishes, she's alone competing, she has no horse box and sometimes she feels like giving up.

Now, I appreciate I am incredibly lucky to have one of the most supportive un-horsey mums ever, who enabled me to get my horse box and yes I'm still paying the cost back monthly, BUT, for everything else. I get it.

I. Get. It and You. Are. Not. Alone

I don't know if it comes across in my blog, or on my Facebook page blog, but I often feel alone. A couple of years ago, I was in a relationship that meant I never went competing alone, I never went anywhere alone with the horses and whilst at the time that felt very nice, I also wanted to be independent. I wanted to do things by myself, and so when that relationship ended, I vowed that I would never be dependent on anyone again. I wanted to go competing when I wanted to. I wanted to be able to go off to the beach when I wanted to.

I remember the first time I went out competing alone. It petrified the living daylights out of me. In fact I wrote a blog about it. I remember how scared I felt, how I wondered what I would do with no one to help me. I wondered if I would be okay. In reality I knew I would be fine, but I was scared of the unknown. And guess what? I was fine, but the feeling of being alone when I pulled up at the competition was alien. There was no one to tell me if we looked okay, or to help me remove Ceaser's boots, or tighten my girth, or take my jacket. There was no one to read my test or check the scoreboards.

Fast forward 2 years and now I love going competing on my own. I turn my CD player up as loud as possible on the way to the competition, I sing my heart out, I tack up in my own time, I have lunch when I want to have lunch, and I sit and hang around for as long as I want to. Its exhilarating, and its not scary. Its independence.

In regards to funds, lets face it, none of us horse owners have the funds to go out and do as we wish. I can safely say that I speak for 99% of horse owners when I say that. I'm constantly looking at my bank and the 'outgoings', telling myself that my lack of house is fine, because my horses are tucked up in their stables in nice rugs, and warm.

I don't have an endless money tree that grows more notes as I pluck others off. I wish I did, but its reality - I simply don't.

This winter has hit me hard. Ziggy's vet bill is in excess of £3,000. People questioned why I was paying it, why I wasn't giving up and accepting the virus was the end of us. As if. We are these animals voice, and if I didn't fight to make him better who would? And not once at any time during his treatment did I question if I was doing the right thing, or question what else I could spend the money on. Because I accept that if my horse needs the vet, he gets one.

So needless to say this winter has left me a little hard up for a few more months whilst I'm paying off the bill, but such is life and thats all part and parcel of it. The tears from that make my successes more enjoyable because I know I've worked for it, and I've worked bloody hard for it.

Things with Ziggy didn't come easy for a while. I've sat and cried over him so many times. Questioned why he doesn't trust me still, questioned why he's still spooky, questioned how one day he can go and produce a 72% dressage test and the next can't even work in an outline. But do you know what? Honestly, those small bits of success are what make me hungry for more. Life wouldn't be a journey if we weren't challenged every once in a while.

It would be lovely if we got on our horses everyday and the 70%+ dressage tests were relived, or we jumped a double clear every time we went show jumping. But where is the fun in that? How do we improve? How do we give ourselves something to work on? More importantly, how do we then have a goal to focus on?

There's times when I've opened Horse Quest and wondered if I would be doing best by selling Ziggy and letting him go to someone that does have an endless money tree, or hours in their day to spend working on him. But each time I remember why I'm here, why I do what I do, and I remember that Ziggy is none the wiser if he's wearing Lidl's latest rug range, or Rambo's. He doesn't care. He's none the wiser if we don't enter that competition thats in my diary for that weekend. He doesn't care if we go showjumping or to the next BD event. All he cares about is being fed and watered.

I work full-time to be able to fund my horses and in some way I'm lucky I work from home so I can be a little flexible, but when I was full-time in an office I'll hold my hands up and say I couldn't cope. The long days, and long evenings exhausted me, and I took some time away from competing. But we do what we have to do and sometimes we have to make sacrifices.

I guess what I'm trying to say in my ramblings is that I think as riders, we put far too much pressure on ourselves to have the latest saddle, the latest rug range, to have as many outings on our BD record as Jo Bloggs down the road. In reality, amongst all of this I think we forget why we're here and how we ended up here. We all started this journey with a passion, a hobby, a love for horses, and sometimes I think we need reminding of it.

Its going to get tough. Some days you'll dread getting on your horse; that's okay. Some days you'll want to finish work, put the horse to bed and go straight to bed yourself; that's okay. Some days you'll cancel going to the competition at the weekend because you need a weekend off; that's okay. Some days you'll admit defeat and need to ask for help; that's okay. But most importantly, some day it will all come together and some day you'll realise we're all in this together and none of us are truly alone in this journey. How can we possibly be alone when we have a horse on this journey with us?

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Fighting the fear...

Many of you will remember back in September, Ceaser, Ziggy and I attended the British Riding Club Nationals. In all honesty, it was a bit of a flop because I made a complete douche of myself by throwing up in both my show jumping rounds. You know, like you do?

Anyway, since then I've had a massive phobia of jumping in the public eye, and I've been very self conscious of people watching me jump.

To help, I've started having regular jumping lessons with two difference instructors. Oddly enough, both have never spoken, but both gave me the feedback that I ride too much into a fence, and I think about it too much instead of just letting it happen. I also don't breathe when I go over a fence, so we've been focussing on getting me talking whilst jumping, and simply not really thinking about the jump.

I’m not an emotional person but yesterday  I’ll admit, I finished my competition and I put Ziggy in the box, stood with him and cried. Happy tears. 

This combined training competition with the riding club has been on the back of my mind for a while. I didn’t want to let the team down again, and I didn’t want to jump in front of people. 

Zig warmed up beautifully for his Dressage and he did a lovely test to score 67.75%, putting us into second before the jumping. I know I needed to go clear. I felt the dressage possibly deserved slightly higher, but a couple of transitions were a little abrupt and the comments reflected this. He's so sensitive that if I put any pressure on he steadies or stops, which is honest of him I guess. 

The warm up was quite busy for jumping so I popped one fence and decided to bloody go for it. My instructors words of “sing to yourself” stuck in my head and just as I trotted in, I started singing my grandads favourite song. 

Zig started screaming and whinnying and was quite tense but whereas before I’d let this bother me, I gave him his rein and off we went. I couldn't get tense, or he'd pick up on it. Everything was going perfect until coming off the corner into fence 5, a double and the first part was a rather large spread. Zig slammed the breaks on and just as I was about to turn away and represent, zig said “I’ve got this” and took off, clearing the rest of the combination no trouble! I’m sorry, but HOW HONEST IS HE?! 

Honestly, sometimes he just never fails to amaze me, and I remember just how far he's come. 

❤️

We finished the rest of the course clear, and with no time penalties meaning we had gone clear and stayed on our Dressage, all whilst singing “catch a falling star..” and guess what? I wasn't at all feeling sick, which was such a great feeling. 

I might sound like a sap, but I’m so, so proud of him. He looked after me 100% at that fence. Back to the box we went and he had so many cuddles! I feel like he’s back, and after the winter we’ve had, his virus etc - it’s all coming together.

Watching the score board like a hawk, we finished on 2nd, narrowly missing out on a place at the Nationals as an individual but absolutely over the moon to realise our TEAM HAD WON overall, so we're off to Nationals as a team!

It will be all systems go now as we prepare for the championships, and will spend a lot of time focussing on not riding too much around a course and trusting that Ziggy can do it. I want to try and fit as many lessons in as possible to give us every best chance! Watch this space....

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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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Riding and insuring an older horse - PetPlan Equine

All of my horses care and wellbeing is paramount to me, but with Ceaser being 21 I tend to worry that bit more about him.

With this in mind, I'm always on the lookout for top tips on how to keep him healthy and looking his best, both in general and when schooling.

PetPlan Equine recently teamed up with Charlie Hutton from the renowned Talland Equestrian and released a series of videos to help dressage riders care for their horses, prevent illness and injury where possible and to help them achieve those extra marks.

With a video in there dedicated to schooling an older horse I was keen to have a look and hopefully pick up some tips I could put into practice with Ceaser.

I've been aware for quite some time now that with an older horse you just don't know how they are going to come out that day. Depending on their routine that particular day they could be more stiff or even supple than the previous day. Some days I've found Ceaser just isn't feeling up to the real testing work, so have had to do basic movements like lots of transitions and changes of paces. Other days he comes out feeling like a 5-year-old and I'm able to crack on with some harder movements.

Charlie started the video by reiterating what I'd previously had in mind. He recommended during the warm-up to ask yourself "what does he feel like today?" and advised that knowing your horse inside out will help you know what to work on that day and spot if he's not feeling 100% straight away.

Ceaser tends to switch off quite easily, especially if I'm schooling at home. My instructor has always advised to keep him busy by doing lots of transitions from pace to pace and within each pace, to encourage him to stay focused and help engage him. Charlie recommends doing this to help encourage the horse to engage and listen to you. He also recommends that whilst doing this you encourage him to be supple through his back.

When schooling or warming up for a competition I tend to find that Ceaser's trot work is never 100% spot on until I've had a cantered and done some counter-canter whilst asking for varying flexions. As soon as I've had a canter and allowed him to open up the trot becomes bigger and much more uphill. Charlie recommends that cantering an older horse fairly early in the warm-up can reduce the amount of concussion and be more comfortable for his joints.

He also recommends using the leg yielding exercise to use in a warm-up as it helps your horse loosen through his body and will make him more responsive to your aids.

When warming up I always ask for a few leg yield steps quite early on, just to get everything warmed up and those muscles working. As we begin to add the trot work I ask for more and gradually build it up. For Ceaser this is a useful exercise that works quite well.

In my opinion for those that own an older horse it's important to find what suits both you and your veteran. Some horses age better than others and it's always important to take into consideration what workload each individual horse can take on a daily basis. For some it may be more than others, so it's important to review this with an instructor or someone that can help advise on the correct workload for your horse.

In 2006 it became to apparent PetPlan Equine that more and more horses were living active lives for longer and so are one of few insurers to insure horses up to the age of 25. With this in mind I can rest peacefully with the knowledge that should anything happen, Ceaser is covered.

You can find a variety of top tips from Charlie Hutton on the PetPlan Equine page by clicking this link.

Other videos include:

- Top tips for top marks
- Warming up and cooling down
- Looking after the older horse
- Looking after your horses legs
- Healthy horse management

Have a happy, healthy winter with your horse!

This post has been possible thanks to PetPlan Equine, but all thoughts are my own. 

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What Knot? Hair today, gone tomorrow! - Sponsored post

For those that spend the majority of their time in a riding hat, the thought of wearing a hair net underneath all day is just unbearable. 

With knots that dig into the side, back or even front of your head they aren't the most comfortable piece of riding equipment on the equine market, nor the most flattering for the ladies. 

However, a Lincolnshire company have recently released a brand new, innovative product onto the market that is bound to take riders into a hair net frenzy.

What Knot? is perfect for any level rider looking for comfort and practicality combined. Featuring seamless triple elasticated comfort band and with no knots, What Knot? ensures a perfect fit as well added comfort when wearing a riding hat.

Being able to pick from two sizes to match your hair length and style, you'll be able to ride that perfect dressage test or show jumping round without a irritable head. The packs includes a matching hair tie to ensure your hair stays perfect throughout the entire event.

Available in a variety of five difference colours to match your individual hair shades and two sizes; short and medium or medium and long, What Knot? ensures there is something for all hair requirements. Each pack contains two hairnets and one matching hair tie that is ready to use as soon as you pull it out the pack.

What Knot? really does take riding comfort to a new level and I was thrilled to be given the chance to try it out at last weeks dressage competition.

Follow these 3 simple tips to ensure you've got the best hair at your next competition.

1. Use a What Knot? hairnet as this will give the best comfort so preventing fidgeting and hair-line profile disturbance that can distract you from your competition and lose you marks

2. Ensure the What Knot? hairnet is sized to your individual hair style and length, Baggy or tight fitting hairnets will either lose you marks or cause hair to escape from the net leaving you with a disastrous profile.

3. Ensure the elastication is both tight enough to hold your hair style AND be comfortable throughout your event so as not to distract you from making your best performance

This genuinely is the most comfortable hair net I have ever worn; so much so, I completely forgot I had it on!

My hair didn't fall out the sides once during the whole day, which is an usual occurrence for me! If I'm riding in two classes I usually have to do my hair twice, but with What Knot? the once was enough!

This is a really interesting product that I'm sure will interest various people.

For more information or to purchase your What Knot? click on their website.

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Fuji Film Pop Book Photobook - the perfect app for photo lovers! (sponsored post)

Did you know the first mobile phone to have a camera on it was released in June of 2000 in South Korea? It's camera was capable of taking 20 photos at 0.35 megapixels. No I didn't know that either! How times have changed since then!

I take a lot of photos. Not just the odd one or two; hundreds! I was bad enough when I just had my iPhone in my pocket and often found myself pulling it out to take a quick snap here and there. Now I've finally invested in a decent DSLR I'm finding myself snap-happy more than ever.

If you're like me and take a lot of photos but never actually get round to printing them then Fuji Film Pop Book App is just what you need in your life. 

Why let special memories and occasions sit in your Camera Roll when they could be beautifully displayed on your dinning table at home? Why let precious moments go unnoticed when you could share them with your friends and family? 

So many of us nowadays take hundreds and thousands of photos with our cameras and mobiles that we don't even realise we're doing it. Think about it, can you recall how many times a day you pull your mobile out of your pocket to capture something that's caught your eye and then upload it to social media? 

With over 1,393 billion monthly active users on Facebook and 300 million on Instagram it's no wonder as soon as we take a photo we upload it to our favourite social media site and wait for the thumbs up and love heart to get clicked on our preferred social media channel. 

Over 300 million photos get uploaded to Facebook each day and I bet you the majority of them stay there rather than get put up around the family home for all to see. 

Fuji Film took all this into account and the Pop Book was created.

Not only an innovative app that allows you to create a book full of photo memories, Fuji Film Pop Book allows you to edit, crop and basically play with your photos until your happy with the finished project; giving you complete control of what your snaps look like.

Freedom to do what you like with your book allows you to move the pages around, add text, add filters and so much more.

What's better you can pick and play with the overall finish on your book; making it as versitile as the sites you upload your photos to. Choose from matt or gloss finish and give your Pop Book that unique look by deciding on a white or black boarder - the choice really is all yours! 

Pop Book photobooks come in two sizes that fit just perfectly into your handbag or into an envelope to post to your friends and family. Being able to order mine came just at the right time as sadly 2 weeks ago I had to have my 18-year-old best friend, Sweep put to sleep. I was wondering how I could create something that allowed me to remember him and smile over his pictures throughout the day and then Pop Book photobooks quite literally popped up! Now I have the one you can see in the photos placed on my desk at work - allowing me to reminisce and flick through whenever I please.

The variety of sizes allows you to pick from 10cm x 10cm or a slightly bigger size of 13cm x 13cm - giving you freedom to create one to put on your desk, or your table at home!

The app is free for all iPhone users and fear not Android users, an app for you is on its way!

At just under £5, these robust books are great for those that want to hold on to photos forever. My sister got married last year and we've struggled to find something to combine a few photos as a keep sake but on a budget - these will be perfect and I can't wait to share them with her. 

For more information check out the Pop Book website and let your imagination run wild.

In loving memory of Sweep - my best friend and so much more than just my dog. We had 18 wonderful years together to create memories that will last forever.  You'll always be in my heart. 

This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own. 

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Mud fever - just what exactly are you dealing with?

I have noticed a huge increase in my blog statistics again over the past few days and people seem to be researching mud fever.

Whether you are preparing for winter or your horse is struggling with mud fever now, then no doubt it will be a stressful time for you.

 

What is it?

 

Mud fever is a group of diseases that causes irritation and dermatitis in the lower limbs of horses. Often it is caused by a mixture of bacteria called "Dernatophilus congolensis and Staphylococcus spp". Although mud fever is normally associated with mud, it can also be caused by mites; this is less common but owners should be vigilant.

 

Before Ceaser was got mud fever last winter I thought it was something that was associated with winter, wet weather and mud. However, this myth is wrong and a horse can suffer an attack at any time of the year - autumn, winter, spring and summer.

 

How will I know if my horse has mud fever?

Any of the following can be signs:

 - Matted area of hair containing crusty scabs

  - Thick, creamy, white, yellow or greenish discharge between the skin and overlying scab

  - Raw looking skin

  - Inflamed, sore looking legs

  - Lameness

  - In bad cases: lethargy, depression, loss of appetite.

 

In Ceaser's case, sometimes his legs looked clean and I struggled to find the scabs. However, I was told once that even the smallest of scabs can cause swelling and lameness. You have to be very vigilant when checking the legs and almost go through with a fine tooth comb to ensure you get every scab off.

Last year Ceaser suffered with mud fever continuously for a year. Whilst it was both a stressful and worrying time for me, it gave me the opportunity to research what exactly caused mud fever for hours upon end whilst trying to find a cure.

If your horse is suffering with this awful problem then take a look at my previous two blogs about mud fever.

 

1) How I dealt with Ceaser's mud fever

 2) What is it? Is it a myth? How do I get rid of it? - All you need to know!

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