Horseman's Sunday - TRC

Well it was a nice if a bit windy day.  Horses were bathed, plaited and prepped yesterday so off we set to do some showing.  Kept him in last night so he would stay clean, not destroy the plaits which were a work of art due to a mohican thing he has going on with his mane at the moment (all my fault I am afraid to say) and so he could have a good night sleep as when I went to get him in yesterday - he was flat out in the field!  Well you can imagine my panic and after rushing over to him he raised his head and just looked at me as if to say - oh go away - I am so tired.  So I thought he would like a good kip before we set off today.  In hindsight he might have been easier a bit tired lol!

First up - little Sooty - in hand 'Best Turnout and Condition'.  Sooty is a 2 year old gypsy cob colt who belongs to a family at our yard.  Their lad is dying to get out and show him so today we took him to see what he would be like.  He was brilliant - judge even commented on how well behaved he was for a colt.  I cannot get him to trot for me though and just kept laughing.  He trots fine for his owners so obviously just a case of not really know him.  We came third out of six - actually our yard did 1st, 2nd and 3rd in that class - whoop whoop :)

Next up it was Best Riding Horse over 14.2hh.  First mistake - leather reins, second mistake class is held in arena full of jumps! (They had the course prepared for the Pony Working Hunter Class)  He was a bit eyes on stalks and then in the individual show he locked onto a jump and tanked off - luckily I managed to circle away and regain some control but he was feeling very feisty and the reins just kept slipping through my fingers.  There were 6 in the class and we came 3rd so not too shabby but he really is a good riding horse so next time might try a double or a pelham for a bit more control.  Judge said he looked good for his age.  Special thanks to Tracy from our yard for doing my tail plait :)

Quick tack change, boots on his legs and back up to arena for Novice Working Hunter 70cm.  Well it all went a bit pear shaped - he thought it was fantastic that he was now allowed to jump the jumps he wanted to jump earlier and so it was all a bit hairy.   When I jumped him at home on Wednesday we did some decent big jumps and he listened beautifully so thought (very unwisely) to leave him in the snaffle.   Then to make matters worse jump one was a cross pole ...... and we were off ...

Jump 1



Jump 2



Jump 3



Jump 4



Jump 5



Jump 6

I could barely keep up with him lol and then we came to the double - I knew we were going too fast and sat and tried to take a pull but we had so much forward momentum he flew over the first and buried himself in the second.  He had no option but to stop at it.    Today was my first working hunter and I was told a good working hunter horse covered the ground well and you would expect the jumps to probably be on a long stride.  Granted I was the biggest horse in the class but the striding just seemed stupid!  Perhaps I should have ridden it as a bounce!



The Double - 7a and 7b





7a



7 b

Jumped perfectly next time round.   Judge's comment was well he certainly enjoys his jumping but you must try and just let the jump come to you dont go so fast!! Well yeah that is usually my intention lol - could you not see the daylight between my legs and the horse.  So no matter what he goes like in future at home during the week - we are going up in strength for the bitting for ANY jumping.  




Getting my lecture from the judge about needing to do more gridwork lol



The others that went from the yard also got prizes and everyone had a good day out.   Glad to be back home but my ankle is killing me - somehow when he stopped my foot did a rotational thing and was a bit sore.  Sat down now at home typing this and its killing me!  Only I could manage a injury on the horse without falling off!  At least Mulls is good though - he has had some tea - is all rugged up and back out in the paddock.

Bank Holiday Weekend and its Raining !!

We should all be ducks!  We wanted the rain, we needed the rain and oh dear here it is!  Been raining non-stop since early hours of this morning.   Luckily I put raincoats on all the horses but I am afraid they are probably wet through by now so cant wait to go up to them and make them nice and cosy. 

Busy weekend planned.  Going to fetch some shavings tomorrow to get the beds ready for winter (I know probably too soon to mention the W word) and then got saddle fitter coming tomorrow evening to check the saddles out and its Horseman's Sunday at Tickhill Riding Club on Sunday so all being well we are tootling off to that to try the Ridden Horse and Working Hunter - if the day doesnt drag on too long will go in the Veteran Class too.   Monday will be a chillaxing day for a change.

Wentworth Pony Club - Sunday 21 August 2011

Today we went to an open day on the cross country course of Wentworth Pony Club.  You paid a fee and did your own thing which was just as well as dont think we are fit enough for a full cross country course yet!  Great fun - both Muls and I loved it.  Some of the jumps were a bit dilapidated and the ground was still quite hard but it was a glorious sunny day and there were still lots we could jump :

This was our warm up jump and on the main field of the club so easy for Lewis to get some good shots.

Some were a bit overgrown lol!

Water was actually quite boggy and deep but still fun.

Beautiful Boy!

Tyre jump

Paddy cooling his legs off too :)

Mulligan and Me

Due to the fact that Muls and I are doing a cross country day on Sunday I thought we had better book a lesson to brush up on our skills and ascertain our levels of fitness!  Neither of us have done much for a while now and I think the last full hunter trial course I did was on Sadie nearly 5 or even 6 years ago.   So after work on Tuesday we set off to join a couple of others in a group lesson. 

In our warm up we worked on lengthening and shortening the stride, lots of sitting trot and getting horse to work through from behind.  You try sitting trot on a big power striding horse lol :

We did some leg yields and downward transitions and then got jumping.   All a bit low for Muls and he thought yee haaa at most of them and I just felt like a flea on his back but he loved it and least I feel a bit more prepared for Sunday even if we didnt get to do any cross country jumps.

The little ones with the water trays underneath I thought he would back off at but noooo way - will have to go higher now :)

and just to show how much oomph we have going in :

and

and

and final note - the instructor said he was quite fat for a thoroughbred lol - fat!! What cheek ;)

Sadie's Story

Sadie is ‘Mummy’s Girl’ most of the time she is sweet and obedient but every now and again that ‘mare thing’ rears its head and she can be just plain impossible. I have to say though that she has been a little star through this whole ordeal and if we really had to go through it I am glad it was her and not Dainty (whom has a dislike for the vet that borders on pure hatred!).

Just after we had moved to our new yard there was a case of strangles and all six mares were quarantined. Sadie had the swellings and a few choking attacks and was blood tested positive for strangles bacteria. A few weeks later vet came out to do the guttoral pouch swab when we thought we were all clear (two weeks after last symptom) and the next day what appeared to be her lymph nodes were huge and so was her throat – initial reaction was vet had disturbed some strangles puscles in the pouch and so back into isolation. 

Submandibular Gland swelling

There was a problem getting the results back from the lab and so a week later we thought we were still dealing with strangles. Once the abscess had burst you could actually see that it was more on her cheek bone than the lymph nodes. 

Burst abscess on horses cheek

Eventually nearly 10 days later we got the result back that Sadie did not in fact have strangles but some sort of tissue infection! Another swab was taken and found to contain bacteria that is usually only found in humans! Sadie has never been ill but trust her to get something weird when she does. In fact the bacteria is called ‘Burkholderia Cepacia’ – I wont even try and explain it – this is what wikipedia has to say 

“Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC), or simply Burkholderia cepacia is a group of catalase-producing, non-lactose-fermenting Gram-negative bacteria composed of at least seventeen different species, including B. cepacia, B. multivorans, B. cenocepacia, B. vietnamiensis, B. stabilis, B. ambifaria, B. dolosa, B. anthina, and B. pyrrocinia.[1] B. cepacia is an important human pathogen which most often causes pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals with underlying lung disease (such as cystic fibrosis or chronic granulomatous disease)."

So strange as we were pedantic about cleanliness and hygiene and no one on the yard except Lewis and I dealt with her and neither of us were sick. The strange thing was that during all this Lewis did feel a little ill and he never gets sick and at the time we had to reassure him that he could not get strangles from a horse! Turns out that perhaps he and Sadie did share something after all. 

Treating the abscess after suspected strangles

The good news is she is now fine – a bit of tissue swelling but clear of all infection and in fact has been given the go ahead to start being ridden again so a few gentle hacks lined up for her. We were told she is probably a bit run down but all things considering I think she looks rather well. 

The wound is now the size of about a fifty pence coin. We still need to keep it covered which has actually been the hardest part. She has been a little star in having it treated morning and night which included scraping off all yucky tissue – irrigating the wound, putting gel on and then covering it up. We used the fly mask with a clean pad taped in each time. I think she is fed up of wearing the mask for the past 2 months 24/7. At least its all over now though. 

Update 4th August 2011 - this is what is looks like now : 

Pony Club Camp 30 & 31st July 2011

Our yard had a pony club camp for the liveries. It was great fun and everyone made so much effort. It really boosted some the more nervous riders and also gave everyone a chance to chill out with their horses and get to know each other better.

On the Saturday afternoon there was an obstacle course – I have never done one of these even back in my own pony club days and it was so much fun. I took Mulligan and he absolutely loved it and was game for everything. The scary arch with hanging spiders and other weird and wonderful objects was tackled at a canter and I only just remembered to duck at the last moment lol! Unfortunately I was not very good at the apple bobbing and failed to do what every one else did (put hand in and get apple) and so nearly drowned myself lol. Needless to say my time was not that good.

The scary arch :

 

We then had to negotiate 2 barrels - pick up a tray with plastic glasses and plate and put it on another barrel about 5 paces away.  The wig was from the obstacle before you had to dismount - put wig on - hang washing on a line and then remount from the right. 

 After the bending poles 

it was a gallop to the apple bobbing - something I discovered I am rubbish at! 

Even Mulligan looked disgusted that I couldnt pick up an apple in my mouth!

On Sunday morning I was the ‘guest judge’ much to everyone’s amusement and dressed up accordingly for the tack and turnout, ridden horse and ridden pony and in hand classes. It was such a tough job as everyone had made such an effort and the little ones were just so cute it was really hard to pick a winner. Sunday afternoon there were more games with narrow and narrower and higher and higher and a team relay race which involved a cross pole, cones and bending poles. Sunday night was prize giving and we eventually got home at 10:45 pm on Sunday night – exhausted. They continued on Monday with a treasure hunt whilst I was back at my desk for a rest!

Who could say no to this :

 

our winner of narrow and narrower : 

 

and our winner of higher and higher : 

Merlin

On Saturday 23 July we went to look at Merlin, not really looking for (or needing) another horse but heard he needed to be sold asap and knew he was a nice horse. He has a lovely attitude but rather skinny so first task is to put some meat on his bones. So he has spent his first week in the quarantine paddock settling in, chilling and eating!

Sadly last Friday Merlin passed away to due a stomach bleed which ruptured.  Its possibly something he has had brewing a long time.   I am very sad as although we had only owned him 3 weeks I had known him a bit longer having followed his progress with his previous owner.  He was a beautiful kind horse and had everything I wanted in a horse.  I will really miss him.  RIP Merlin xxx