Something different this Friday...

Last weekend I spent the weekend feeling a little deflated and down regarding all the changes that had happened lately and so a good friend of mine, Fiona suggested heading to the local beach with my best childhood friend, Sara rather than going out competing. As it happens, Teddy was staying at mine for the weekend so he came along for the ride too!

It was great to have a gallop along the beach without any care in the world and even better there was barely anyone there. It certainly blew a few cobwebs away!

Here's some photos - enjoy! I'm sure you'll all agree, Fiona's photos are beautiful.

Have a lovely weekend everyone :)

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The 12 days of Christmas...2014 memories. The 8th day of Christmas

When thinking of what I could do for this years "12 days of Christmas" theme on my blog, Mark and I came up with several ideas for what you guys as readers would enjoy reading and what would seem dull.

In previous years I've focused on products that I would recommend using on your equine and canine friends, and the posts have always been well received. However, this year it's safe to say my blog has taken a very different approach. Ceaser's fan base has gotten considerably larger in comparison to previous years, and with the new addition, Ziggy, people seem to be coming to me to find out just how that loveable grey is getting on. Add this to the surprise Mark and I have coming up for you on the 13th December and we decided why not do a post every other day where I pick a favourite photo that means something to me and reflect on the memories I gained from it.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: "Making a memory"

May 2014 - Taking my best friend to let Granddads balloon go <3

This photo will always be special to me. I had an idea back in May that I wanted to do something special to mark the 10 year anniversary of my Granddads death. I hate the word anniversary for describing that, because it's nothing to celebrate and I found the whole day very hard, but you get what I mean.

Granddad and I spent all our time with Sara. The three of us were always together doing something or other; whether it was mucking her out, grooming her, going on adventures or just simply watching her in her stable. We were always inseparable.

I don't believe Granddad's where we laid him to rest now. If you believe or not I am sure I constantly get signs that he's with me and he's around me all the time. There's been various moments where I honestly swear I can feel him, smell him and even hear his voice. I've been told by several mediums and physics that I've sought help through that he's with me wherever I go and doesn't often leave my side.

So, when May came around I didn't see the point in taking the 2 hour journey over to Nottingham to visit his grave. He's not there and I thoroughly believe that. I had the idea that I wanted to get some balloons and let them go from a place that Sara and I have enjoyed many happy memories over the years since he hasn't been there, and I wanted Sara with me.

My "happy place" as I call it, is about a 45 minute ride from the farm. It's a place I found when exploring out with Sara on my own and you can see for miles from there. If you stand just left of where I'm standing in the photo there's a large valley and on a sunny day it's the most breath-taking view I've ever seen. I've often been there with Sara and just stood for a while to take everything in and think about everything that's worried me that week. I've lost count of the number of times I've begged Granddad for help from that very spot and sobbed into Sara's mane that I need help or my life has hit a cross roads.

I don't want this blog post to be sad, I want it to be about a memory I created with Sara and something I do to still remember my Granddad. I went to that place on the 10 year anniversary of Granddads death and I let two balloons go. I attached a  message to him on each one telling him just how much I loved him and how much I need him here.

Tonight when you get in from work please think of this post and go and tell your parents, grandparents, friends, extended family.....everyone, how much you love them or appreciate them. Tell them something that makes them smile and capture that moment in your heart forever because before you know it that moment will have passed and you may never get the opportunity to again.

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The 12 days of Christmas....2014 memories. The 2nd day of Christmas

When thinking of what I could do for this years "12 days of Christmas" theme on my blog, Mark and I came up with several ideas for what you guys as readers would enjoy reading and what would seem dull.

In previous years I've focused on products that I would recommend using on your equine and canine friends, and the posts have always been well received. However, this year it's safe to say my blog has taken a very different approach. Ceaser's fan base has gotten considerably larger in comparison to previous years, and with the new addition, Ziggy, people seem to be coming to me to find out just how that loveable grey is getting on. Add this to the surprise Mark and I have coming up for you on the 13th December and we decided why not do a post every other day where I pick a favourite photo that means something to me and reflect on the memories I gained from it.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Going to the beach! 

April 14th - Sara and I on Theddlethorpe beach, Lincolnshire.

This photo has been one of my favourite photos from 2014 since the moment I saw it. It was an absolute freezing cold day (despite it looking warm), but the day couldn't have been any more perfect if we had tried to make it. Mark and I hadn't had our lorry long and I had been wanting to take Sara to the beach for a while. On our first day off together in a long time we decided what better way to spend it than galloping up the beach whilst Mark takes photos.

Sara loves the beach and is a big fan of going through the water. It's not often she gets away from the yard as I'm too big to compete her now, so she loves nothing more than going off to the local beach and having a good leg stretch. If you could see how mad she goes once there you would never believe she's 19. I love nothing more than going for a good gallop with my best childhood friend and forgetting all the trouble of that day. 

Personally I think Mark captured this photo perfectly. It couldn't have been better. It'll be a photo I cherish for many years to come and makes me realise how lucky I am to have Sara, and have been able to share all these years with her. 

We're so lucky to live in Lincolnshire, where we're blessed with miles and miles of sandy beaches which offer fantastic galloping surfaces for when we're with our equine friends. It's so peaceful and you can go for miles without meeting any other people. I urge anyone wanting to take their equines to the beach to have a look at those on offer in Lincolnshire, you won't be disappointed.

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Dressage, training and general hectic times!

Blimey, I hadn't realised it had been that long since I blogged. Things have been hectic here and time seems to pass me by so quickly that before long it's been a month and I haven't posted on here. I'll try to fill you in with everything that has happened, but to be quite honest its so much I may miss some things out!

Before I start, I want introduce you to my summer project who comes in the form of a dapple grey Connemara cross called Ziggy. Ziggy is about 4-years-old and 14.3hh. He has a lot of filling out to do and I can't wait to see what he looks like once he's muscled up and has had some feed down him! He's very nervous of people and came to us petrified of mounting blocks and people standing next to him. He is very wary of what your hands are doing and it is suspected he has been hit somewhere down the line of his short life. When you sit on him he is fine but then all of a sudden panics. Already, in just 2 weeks of owning him he has come on leaps and bounds. I can now sit on him - without moving - and he isn't scared of mounting blocks anymore, nor me jumping on and off them! The future for this boy looks really bright and I'm sure you'll agree he has the kindest eyes.

Next up is the Ceaser news. I made the decision to take him to do a Novice and Elementary test at unaffiliated a couple of weeks ago. It would be our first unaffiliated test for a while as I simply wanted to see what our scores would be like. The warm up went brilliant and he was doing everything I asked, however as before at this venue, as soon as we went in to do our test he tensed up, rushed, I kicked on too much and everything just went rather too quickly! With two scores in the region of 65-67% I was pleased but a little confused as we've gotten higher than this at affiliated several times. The judge kindly gave me some feedback afterwards and said I need to slow down to allow his hind legs to come underneath him to work correctly. Feedback in my head, I went home and practiced like my life depended on it for the week. I concentrated on slowing everything down and allowing him to work from behind more, ready for going to Elms Farm to do two Novices at affiliated again the following week.

The warm up was great and he was really switched on. Felt slightly he was enjoying showing off as two young girls had declared their love for him before it was our turn to go and do our test. Lots of pats, scratches and comments like "he is gorgeous, can I have him?" later, he was well and truly in the 'I know I'm handsome' frame of mind. I'm seriously sure he knows when he has an audience! Anyway, first Novice went really well. Everything felt much calmer and change of venue helped, which is odd and he used to not go so well at this venue, but now seems to prefer it to all the rest. He pulled out a lovely 67% test with same judge as the previous week so really thrilled she saw an improvement. I think it was the final score we needed in order to qualify for Regionals and Novice level, so I am over the moon and hoping these calculations are correct! Second test went just as well and I am so sure now he prefers the long arena tests, with much more to focus on and more movements. Change of judge and we got just short of 66% which was great AND an 8 for our halt! Now that has never happened before.

What was even better is we WON both our tests! Definitely a happy Mummy that day!

We have quite a lot coming up now and for the next couple of weeks the plan is to drop back down to Prelim to try and qualify for Regionals at that level too. At the beginning of May I have a BYRDS squad training day and then senior camp the following week which I am really looking forward to! Especially as one of the instructors for the weekend is my instructor from university! It will be great to see her. I'm not too sure if we'll qualify for Regionals in prelim or not as he seems to be getting higher scores for Novices at the moment. We shall see!

Things have been hectic at the yard since becoming a Pony Club Centre. We've had in-house dressage competitions, the rallies and lots more. I've got a really good feeling about 2014 and I just can't wait to see what else it holds.

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