There are things they never tell you in stable management books
Scroll through Facebook or Instagram and it is on many ‘inspiring’ quote or hastag #livingmybestlife but you’re not, your horse is. Horse ownership should come with a disclaimer that explains its most about being covered in hair / mud / poo and paying vet bills or replacing expensive broken things. If you don’t agree let’s look at just a few reasons why your horse is living a better life than you right now
Continue reading “10 Reasons Your Horse Is Living A Better Life Than You”
“Oh my god this feels amazing” I shrieked across the arena at a friend last week followed by “please say it doesn’t look terrible”!! No, I wasn’t doing anything incredible, there was no Piaffe or passage going on not even an accidental spook inspired one. I wasn’t doing anything remotely close to a dressage test movement. I’d simply, after trying to get it for almost half an hour managed to get a horse really long and low, stretching out taking the contact forward and working over the back which for at least six strides felt bloody amazing. Naturally I lost it about half a circle later and spent the rest of my time trying to find it again. See, that’s what happens when you love flatwork, the feeling of doing it even half right for half a circle is like crack cocaine and we need our fix. We are mad really.
When I am teaching show jumping or cross country I have a mantra I always bang on about. Why? Well the answer is two- fold. Firstly if you are going to be a coach you need to have your own philosophy on things and your own way of explaining things (Drive that bus Christa!), otherwise sure we are all just going to stand there bored reciting lines from a book. I have a list of my own choice phrases some of which are only adult appropriate. Secondly, banging on about something is the only way it will penetrate the massive level of noise the average human hears daily and embed itself into their brain. When that happens you have some hope that it might be recalled by the rider when you are not there or in competition. I know it works as it is what most religions and the Irish educational system in the 90’s was based on. I can’t remember what I did last week but Jesus I can remember some amount of random stuff from school simply because it was drummed into me day in day out. I haven’t a clue for example who Zacchaeus is for example but there is a song in my head for the past twenty years from school that says he was a greedy little man.
Continue reading “Showjumping Holy Trinity – The canter, the line and the trust!”
1)We don’t know if your stirrups are even either.
Now look if they are totally wonky with more than a hole in the difference of course we know but if you are doing the ‘are my stirrups even’ bum shuffle while listing your saddle from side to side like a drunk on a boat then no, we don’t know if stirrup A is 0.25cm shorter or longer than stirrup B! Plus if you have insisted on turning in eleventy million times in one session to ponder this great life mystery, at that point we don’t care.
I have a fool proof cure for the stirrup conundrum that hasn’t failed me yet. Turn in and halt. Ensure saddle sits correctly and centred on the horse (get off and fix if it isn’t). Remove feet from stirrups. Bring each knee up as high as you can and then your legs out as far as you can and repeat. Now that you are sat in the middle of the saddle, without wiggling or shuffling just put your feet into the stirrups and you will know which is longer. Fix that one and away you go. Your welcome.
Continue reading “14 Things Your Riding Instructor Wants You To Know”
A few months back a company contacted me by email to ask if I would write about their product. I told them the same thing I would tell any company in the same position – if you want to send on a product I will happily give a full and honest review but my opinion is not for sale and I cannot guarantee a positive review. The company were happy with this and sent on a product for me to try out. In turned out the product was Quick Knot – a product I had seen videos about online and was keen to buy and try anyway. In addition to not selling my opinion I also don’t believe in giving anything a half assed trial so this product has been tested on five different horses in the last four months. The results are below.
Bucket B**lix
Will encouragingly watch you slip, slide and groan as you lug heavy buckets of water that you have slowly and painstakingly dragged from the nearest tap or water source that isn’t frozen solid. Will wait until you arrive before promptly knocking the bucket over looking absolutely delighted
I love to shop. It doesn’t necessarily have to be for me which makes Christmas shopping great fun as it is guilt free spending! If you haven’t got all your Christmas shopping sorted yet don’t worry – the internet is your best friend – no traffic, no queues, no slow walkers. So grab the credit card and follow me down the rabbit hole
The Camelot awards were not born of a sudden invention. The idea came, as many do, quietly like a cat who pads across the room to sit on your lap. “Wouldn’t it be amazing to have our own regional awards instead of just national awards” we said one day as we chatted over the phone. We did a lot of chatting in those days myself, Caroline Broadley, Susanne McCarthy and Linda Moore. We were part of the regional committee and while I expected the committee to be hard work I was pleasantly surprised at how it formed friendships. We did a lot of chatting because Linda, who I didn’t know long, was sick. I first met Linda at a regional meeting that year and her infectious enthusiasm and her friendly approach meant that within a week you felt like you had known her forever. So the awards night, sparked by a throwaway comment one evening grew arms and legs and turned into the Camelot awards you know today.
Problem: I’ve washed a horse to clip him but it isn’t dry!
Solution: Hair dryer! If despite a good cooler / sweat rug your horse is still damp, plug in your hair dryer and finish the job. If they don’t mind being clipped they rarely mind this as the noise is similar and most quite enjoy the warm air on their skin! Also, if you are washing a thick coated horse adding some methylated spirits to the rinsing water will help to evaporate the water from the coat quicker.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and as someone who has always enjoyed photography I would tend to agree but what is it that makes a specific photo special to us?
