Looks like its going to be a white Christmas after all, well snow on the ground at least. Thankfully in the freezing temperatures over the last few weeks the school has still managed to keep a bit of bounce for doing a at least a bit of flat work and lunging as hacking out is obviously out of the question! And of course the fantastic horse walker is keeping all the horses well exercised whatever the weather! So all in all we are well equipt for coping for whats looking like a long winter ahead.
I feel like I have come to work in a ski resort . It snowed on my first day and just as we got rid of it from the first batch in came a second lot! All the horses have made good progress but my horse of the week has to be the lovely Poppy Palamino, she is a sweet heart ……..look out for her on Horse Mart as she will be going on the site very soon if not by the end of the day.
Although temperatures were rising and the flies were out in force Bob remained cool and calm during his first visit to Church Farm. His behavour was faultless in the collecting ring, then heading into the arena faced with a colourful and eventful 14 jumps in a somewhat compact arena for a big forward horse.
He listened and even helped his rider out on a couple – Go Bob! Heading home with a clear on his 1st 105 Open then Straight back to the wagon for a much deserved hose down.
Bob has been to many agricultural shows this summer, competing in both British Novice & Discovery classes. He has proved to be a well behaved stallion well able to concentrate on his job.
Clearing the vast majority of his first rounds but, typically for a young stallion with developing stamina he can be prone to an odd pole down in his second round.
For such a big young gentleman he is so well balanced and jumps with ease.
That said, his concentration can be easily swayed by a good looking mare.
The British Showjumping Association Area 14a Penrith 22nd - 23rd May 2010
After being on the borderline of a drought and threats of hosepipe bans (very ironic after the massive floods in November) we have had our first rain in a month this week. The air has freshened up, the dust has gone, the tourists are moaning (good old Lake District Holidays) but the grass is sprouting again! (Unfortunately so are the weeds – back to the ‘Round Up’ and Napsack sprayer then!)
After a very sleepy and not so in the mood for it 1.05m Open class Hero made a storming round in the Newcomers. Held on Wednesday at Church Farm, Ormskirk the blazing sunshine and swarms of Horse flies didn’t put Hero off getting a good round.
We have been working hard to build his confidence up to take on the fences at this higher level. It seems to be a big step from a young horse to get from Discovery classes into Newcomers but Wednesday was definitely a step in the right direction.
He made easy, rhythmical work of most of the fences jumping well clear of the poles and showing what he is made of. Unfortunately he didn’t like the look of one of the doubles so failed to make it over – just a bit of a confidence issue that will soon be rectified.
Progress is definitely being made so watch this space!
Wednesday was a momentous day for our stallion Bob he had his first clear round in the British show jumping 105 open. It took place early morning at Church Farm in Ormskirk a fantastic, friendly venue. He took on the jumps like a trooper and made his clear look easy jumping well above the poles.
He was well behaved and despite the baking heat and ridiculous amount of Horse Flies tormenting them did exceptionally well. The next step is to speed up and get into the rosettes!
Stay tuned for the (somewhat unfortunately amateur) video …
… this was some time ago and we have been managing 2 a day for some time now unfortunately 3 a day seems beyond our means unless the little monkey is laying somewhere else…
We’ve had the driest Spring ever and farmer’s all over the valley have been tearing their hair out over the grass not growing. Lucky for us we had a fine crop and our first cut for haylage was dropped and picked without so much as a threatening drizzle to slow us down – PHEW!
The bales are all beautifully stacked and the horses can’t wait to get their nashers round it!
A couple of months on and the guys are still loving the horse walker. We can see a difference in their muscle tone and fitness an excellent addition to the yard. We’re not quite sure how we managed without it!
They’re in it twice a day – Big Bob in paticular just can’t get enough of it!
Have a look at the video below to see it in full swing …
Marylegs very 1st British Novice class at Warren Farm excelling herself with a double clear and a fourth place! Well done Marylegs and here’s to many more double clears.
