Riding Club Show Jumping at Keysoe!

It's been an odd and rather quiet few weeks for Georgie and I as it's January, it's a long month and after being rather accustomed to the mild start to the winter, it has been freezing!
I had mixed feelings about this weekend far various reasons but had been looking forward to grooming for Georgie at the Riding Club Show Jumping at Keysoe EQ centre. 
It was an early start to the morning as the 100cm classes started at 9.30 but not only was it started slightly early they were flying through the rounds with letting the next competitor in while the current rider was still jumping the final 2 fences which caught a lot of people, including us, and there was a distinct tense atmosphere in the indoor arena warm up area, plus it was absolutely rammed with people! 
Georgie was able to warm up a little outside in the 80cm warm up arena as it was definitely less busy and chaotic so at least that was a nice start! 
Unfortunately not having room to really jump enough fences and the indoor class arena being absolutely rammed full of fences (personally I felt the 80cm should have been in the smaller indoor arena and the 100cm in the outdoor, more spacious arena but that's just my opinion) and the course being really tight G did sadly did roll a few poles out of their cups. This is really uncharacteristic for B as he's usually very careful but we summarised that he was going much to fast and feeling very keen and enjoying himself that he just wasn't fully focused. 

Now me, being a total newbie to anything riding club figured it was just like normal show jumping right? If you aren't a clear round you don't do a jump off etc. Well, no, no-one had told us anything and I proceeded to untack me and get us bacon sarnies ready to have an early end to the day and drive home but alas no, even if you have poles down (and even get eliminated) you still have to go back in for another round and they'll be bigger than the round before. Does that make sense to me..... no, but there we go.

Good old B, I had to tack him up in lightning speed, put boots back on and get back in the arena for Georgie to warm him back up! He proceeded to take it all in his stride and perhaps the first round and time to chill meant he went back in the arena much more steady but still, with a very tight course and a horse with a giant stride such as B has they sadly still rolled a pole but came out more positive than before.
Not the start we'd obviously wanted to 2019 but Georgie and B hadn't done any show jumping comps since October and B was obviously excited to be out and about! 

I am certainly looking forward to this coming weekend when we're back at Keysoe for Arena Eventing, which is much more fun and will be outdoor so we won't be lacking space! 
I took my camera and some of the photos came out okay considering my camera struggles a bit in low light and the arena and warm up's being so cramped!

I really liked Georgie's House of Montar jacket even if I wasn't sure of it when Georgie bought it at Olympia. Plus I am so pleased I offered her my rose gold spurs from Eclat Equestrian 

Scent laying for the Cambridge University Drag Hounds

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've has such a busy December and start to the New Year, plus I spent most of it ill with this chesty cough that has been doing the rounds!
Erik and I have enjoyed me being off work as he's been being ridden loads and loads and we've been doing different rides or our normal rides backwards to liven things up and he's loved it!

He got dressed up for Christmas when Georgie, Frankie and I went out for a lovely hack Christmas even and obviously, any excuse to dress up your horse!
We've also has some jumping schooling at home which he's enjoyed. We carried on from our last lesson  and have been doing some 'gymnastics' in the school at home, namely in the form of raised trotting poles, a square grid at the end which you can use to come at in all different directions, doing jumps with no ground line with flower pots underneath and stacking cavaletti's.. It's all been going on! When i've been doing these are home Erik has been a little fresh and unfocused with him wanting to stare through the fence to see what Beanie is up to but some trotting pole grids and lot's of circles and turning soon got his mind focused and paying attention. Jumping has been going well and I am pleased.

Georgie and I having a quieter December meant we were keen to get out and do something, so when I had the idea of being the scent layers/draggers for the Cambridge University Drag Hounds we were keen to ask and were excited to be accepted. Trumpington Hall is somewhere where Georgie and I have been going for a long time, since Pony Club even, and with it being so close to home it's always a fun one to go to.

We plaited up that morning and spruced up the horses the night before we were all ready to go, so with my whizzing off in my car to the meet to walk the lines Georgie and Mum very kindly bought the horses along a little later. As we've not had rain in a good few days the ground was absolutely perfect! A nice combination of give in the ground but not too heavy at all, absolutely spot on. 
We obviously left the meet about 10 minutes early to make sure we weren't caught up by the hounds, huntsman Duncan or the field! Lucky we did because we got started and jumped a few fences when Erik thought this was all very exciting and tried to zoom off with me and after a brief wobble in confidence and a bracing pep talk from Georgie we were off again and going. I hadn't quite got the new to keep jumping as it's then that Erik get's really excited and tended to want to just go off as fast as possible! 

Photo courteous of Timelight Equestrian Photography, used with permission on social media

Luckily I had Georgie and Beanie with me to drag the first line while I got myself in control and faught off my demons. Beanie really is amazing he just jumped anything Georgie put him at, while dragging the scent! 

 Thank you Kamikaze photography for the photo 

 Thank you Kamikaze photography for the photo 

 Photo courteous of Timelight Equestrian Photography, used with permission on social media

Thank you Kamikaze photography for the photo 

We however steadily dragged the scent for the entire first line and it was nice to let our horses stand and have a breather while we watched the hounds and field make their way towards us! 
It was a rather surreal experience being the other side of the field and seeing everyone coming towards you rather than being in the field itself with everyone! 

 Waiting for the field 

Caught up by the field at the end of line 1

After a brief breather Georgie and I set off for line 2, along the bank of the River Cam and along the cross country course! Over the years we've cantered along here on various horses so it was nice to add another to that count and Georgie had fun popping over fences and waving to onlookers in Granchester Meadows! Erik was behaving himself well here and I was able to take the scent line from Georgie while she jumped along! He was very good considering he had never dragged before and he's got a line of bailer twine with a very smelly rag on the end dragging along behind him! 

 Photo courteous of Timelight Equestrian Photography, used with permission on social media

 Thank you Steph for snapping this pic! 

We then made our way to the final part of line 2 which was in to the woods where the cross country course usually winds through! The last time I went through that woods was during a cross country trial when I was a child/teenager so that was a lovely blast from the past! 

We ended the line in the field we began in and again it was really fun to see everyone canter back in to the field with lot's of smiley faces. It looked like everyone had a lovely time and really enjoy themselves, as did the horses! 

With a lot of steam coming off the horses a breather was needed before line 3, which was lines 1 and 2 backwards and without hounds so a good half returned to do line 3 while the rest made their way back to the boxes to wash of their horses and have some refreshments. 

It was a good few miles and quick pace so they were well earned by horse and rider. Georgie and I decided for the later and to call the day the end there and finish on a good note. Both horses adrenalines were certainly still up while we untacked and we quickly dried them off and got them home to settle before having a thorough wash off and clean up! 

Back home Bean was dried off under the heat lamps and Erik snuggled up back in his bed, both of them with a big pile of hay and a hearty feed!

We had such a lovely day together Sunday and we wanted to say thank you to the Cambridge University Drag Hounds for having us and providing such a lovely day out. 

If you'd like to go out with them yourself, their meet card can be found on their Facebook along with corresponding events pages. 

PS we'd highly recommend Burghley! 

Snuggled up! 

Absolutely flying; Erik and I having our 2nd jump lesson

I've had an interesting Birthday weekend; Saturday was not only blowing a hooley but it was also 1 degrees and the word 'snow' and 'sleet' mentioned heavily in forecasts but I was absolutely determined to ride on my Birthday even if it was arctic and I was riding alone. 

I got down the yard as the sun rose to tack up Erik and try on some new equipment; I've decided we are going to trial a grackle and he seems to be happy in! After that fitting I tacked up and got ready to go, to say Erik was raring to go would be an understatement! I had to ask him to stand 3 times at the mounting block while usually I 'park' him at it and he waits but Saturday he was fidgeting about and as soon as my bum hit the saddle we were off, when usually he waits for me to tell me. Naughty E!

Despite being absolutely freezing Erik and I had a lovely ride, had a few trots and a canter and he loved going on a new ride that we haven't done in months! 

Sunday came and luckily the wind had died down and the cold arctic winds had moved on and we actually had a nice mild day for my second jumping lesson with Erik at the beautiful Palace House in Newmarket. I was hosting RoR lessons there that day and a last minute cancellation meant an empty spot so I asked G if she'd take me when she went for her lesson with Beanie, to which she kindly said yes and off we went! 

After my first lesson I was feeling confident that I could jump a little bigger and had much more of an idea of what I was doing with this big galumphing horse. We started off with a grid of poles on the floor to get Erik and I thinking about what we were doing and me 'allowing' him to find his own stride instead of trying to over control him. He likes to stand off fences so that takes some getting used to but after a couple of runs he stopped rushing and found his own stride. 

In no time at all the grid was going up and up and we were away! I really liked this grid for adding in some 'gymnastics' time to a lesson rather than just jumping whatever is needed.
We had successfully done the grid a few times and then a double was put in and then another double so the next thing I know we're snaking down one side if the arena, across the diagonal and down the other side. I really was enjoying myself, and so much so that once my lesson had finished I hadn't realised that we had in fact been jumping 90 to 100cm!
Erik what a good egg he is! 

End of the grid, flying!

 must remember, elbows in! 

Windy ride the day before, on my Birthday!

Quick Pick Equine Poo Picking Tool Review; Speeding up your mucking out time!

Quick Pick Poo Picking Tool Review

With the lack of daylight hours over winter being a real problem with riders trying to cram in all their chores and keeping their horse ridden and fit with the few hours of sunlight we get a day (especially those that work full time and go to work in practical darkness and leave in darkness I don't get a lot of time in natural daylight to look after Erik!) why not use something that can save you time and effort?

The new, recently launched, Quick Pick mucker is the tool for you! 

First Impressions

I got sent a beautiful Red Quick Pick by Gary and his team and to say it's beautiful, for a mucker, is accurate because it's so well designed and very sleek; you can tell a lot of thought has gone in to the design.
One of the first things to strike me was just how different they look to a 'normal' mucker that have been around for years; obviously they still have the same overall shape but the little things that bug you about the old style muckers have been added or taken away.

Another wonderful thing to note is that the Quick Pick is fully recyclable so years down the line and your trusty Quick Pick finally gives out after years of use, you can put it in the recycling knowing that it can be broken down and will be used for something else. As someone who is very plastic conscious I love this this! 

Design

I love that those little things that aren't quite right or annoying with the old styling poo picking muckers have been thought of and removed or improved here. For example there is no more bending over at 90 degrees to scrape up the poo nuggets with a not very efficient rake. The Quick Pick has been designed so that you can stand with one leg either side of the muckers bucket, put your feet on strategically placed foot holds that keep the bucket in place, so that you can stand upright and with the normal length rake can scope the poop in to the mucker. 
Brilliant for back injuries or just not putting undue stress on the muscles and joints round the lumber area of the back. It's also good for your core as, as when you're scooping the poop you're pulling them in to the back and thus 'engaging' your core and giving it a work out which is even better for your riding. Who knew doing a chore could help your riding?! 

No stooping or bending to pick up!

Photo by Quick Pick

Securely place your feet either side and then scoop 

Little things like a clip on the handle (pictured above) so you can easily keep your rake and Quick Pick together so they don't get lost or separated from each other. Doesn't seem like a big problem but when it's dark and you're searching around in your store room at 6am for the rake because it wasn't kept together and now you can't find it would be a total pain in the bottom.

Use

Another part that I love about the Quick Pick is that you can pick up and tip out it's contents without having to strain your wrists. The handle tips on a pivot and has a hand slot at the back so you can easily tip out the contents of the mucker bucket without having to awkwardly twist anything in your wrist, arm, shoulder or back! In the photo below it's so easy to see how it tips!

Plus as the mucker bucket pivots the poo and other junk in the mucker bucket falls to the back so you're far far less likely to drop or spill anything while carrying the Quick Pick back to your wheel barrow or muck heap! 

I think this ergonomic design is my favourite feature overall, as some will know that when I broke my wrist I have had some problems since with broken tendons and pain so by not having to twist the mucker to put the contents away I won't be hurting my already compromised wrist. This is a big plus for me because I cannot be 'off my game' when riding!

No twisting, an easy handle on the back and the main handle pivoting the bucket for easy emptying! 

Photo by Quick Pick

While the Quick Pick is certainly made for field poo picking I've also found it's dramatically reduced the amount of time it takes me to muck Erik's stable each morning! When you're on a tight schedule like me with trying to get mucked out and the yard clean before work it's been a wonder with picking up so much more muck! 
As the bucket is quite a size larger than traditional muckers you can fit in 3 poos in instead of the normal 1 or 2, meaning less stopping and walking over to the wheel barrow! And as I mentioned above, with the tipping of the bucket, is that you don't drop any muck and find stray nuggets all over the stable later! 

Regularly readers will also know that we teamed up with HorseDialog a few weeks ago to highlight the importants of Spring Summer #SSTimeItRight which is their campaign to time the worming of your horse at the right to reduce the risk of picking up worm eggs in the summer months so horses didn't head in to winter with a worm burden and now we're in to the winter months its time for #ESRWTimeItRight which is the Encysted Small Red Worm which affects horses in the autumn and winter months as the worms become encysted in the gut wall and then come spring they mass emerge after winter.  By regularly picking up droppings in your paddocks you'll significantly reduce the likelihood of your horse(s) getting worms and other parasites that can be transmitted by the grass they eat in their paddocks. It's something I am very conscious of so with the proper worming cycle worming and paddock poo picking you'll help in keeping your horse healthy and happy! Therefore anything to make poo picking in your paddock easier and therefore something you're more likely to do, the better for your horse! 

Thoughts 
Overall I've been using the Quick Pick Equine poo mucker for around 3 weeks and I genuinely love it! With everything in my life whether equine or otherwise I like tools and items to reduce the workload/time/stress of having to do a chore and I have really found that the Quick Pick has certainly done that for me. 
I also love it when the annoying little things that make a chore more difficult or problematic to have had real thought put in to them and the design to reflect the overcoming of those problems and this I have also found with the Quick Pick, it's been designed to speed up the amount of time doing a chore so you can spend more time riding your horse, it's also been designed to put less physical stress on joints and the body which is great! Repetitive strain is a real issue so to make steps to reduce that is a great and a real plus point in my thought process if I was buying one of these.

I can find nothing, if not very little, to fault the Quick Pick in that maybe with the foot slots make it a little too wide for some slimmer wheel barrows to go in face down but nothing that turning it on it's side or at a side angle wouldn't fix. They really are fabulous!

Cost 
You can buy all of the items separately or in a bundle all together so you're not locking in to buying part of the Quick Pick if you already have something similar.
To buy the Quick Pick bucket and Quick Rake together it's £49.99. To buy the Quick Pick only is £35 and the Quick Rake only is £25.
Some may scoff at the prices but these items are so hardy and well made. No thin plastic that cracks or splits after only a few uses or if you drop it. I've actually dropped the Quick Pick a couple of times from my wheelbarrow on to concrete and it's not even put a scratch on it!
They're extremely well made and are actually manufactured here in the United Kingdom, which I absolutely love! It's supporting local business and our economy, so none of the cheap imports!

You can buy a Quick Pick online via their website (which is easy to navigate and use, plus it looks beautiful too) https://quickpickequine.co.uk/ or if you're heading over to Olympia in December then they will be at stand H287 so if you'd prefer to 'Try Before You Buy' then head over to their stand and have a go scooping in their 'poo potatoes' and get it from them directly! 

Would I recommend the Quick Pick.... a resounding yes, very much so!




*If you read this blog and think you'd like me to try out a product and give it a rigorous test then drop me a message https://www.facebook.com/horsiness

High-Viz Safety this Winter!

Now the clocks have gone back and autumn is most definitely here meaning that the sun is both a lot lower in the sky and that we have a lot less daylight so riders are having to ride early in the mornings and evenings when the sun is just coming up or going down. So I came up with , fellow horse riders, to do the following things -

Always wear high visibility jackets, tabbards, vests etc with reflective strips when out riding! No matter the time of day but especially important at dusk and dawn when the sun is at it's lowest and most dazzling! High Viz can be picked up really rather reasonably and you cannot put a price on your life!

If riding when it's still dark or getting dark then adding a head torch or cycling lights to your helmet or jacket is always a good idea. Anything extra to help you be seen!

Here is my head torch which also has red flashing lights 

If you can kit your horse out with high viz, reflective strips or lights then even better! The brighter you are the more likely you are to be seen quicker!

Car lights; Something I've noticed a lot of recently is mismatched car headlight brightness with one bulb being significantly brighter than the other! Definitely worth doing a light check that your main headlights are both working and are equal in brightness. Getting dazzled by other road users is never fun and not safe to boot!

Lorries; are your head lights working as well, are they equal in brightness? Are your back lights on and working? Does your brake light work when the peddle is pressed? Does your reversing light work? Is it bright enough? 

Nothing worse than being at an event and the sun is going down only to realise your reversing light is out and you can’t see! Or getting to an early morning event and realising you can't see to reverse in to a tight spot!

Cyclists, for the love of all that is holy please don’t ride about with no lights on, in the dark at 6am!  Lycra road cyclists, I know you like your snazzy training kit but on country roads when the sun is low like it is at the moment please make yourself seen by putting high viz on! The near misses I’ve seen recently I tell you! Just like horse riders you are also vulnerable road users and we all need to stick together to remain safe on the roads and be seen. Like I've written above, you can buy very reasonably prices high viz kit from Wiggle!

Stay safe on the roads everyone, we all have to share them. Can you really put a price on your safety instead of paying a few quid for something to make you nice and bright? 

Sophie x

We Had Our First Jumping Lesson

Morning everyone, Brrrrr winter really is here isn't it? We've had such a mild start to the winter months I personally have really felt the drop in temperature this week! 

Over the weekend it was a mild 12 degrees in the day and with a busy Saturday of mucking out, riding early so I could be back to mine to gather up and clean all my equipment ready for hosting RoR lessons at Palace House in Newmarket with the wonder Delphine Tay before I went off to the Retraining of Racehorses End of Season Party all the way up in Doncaster! It was some drive and Chantal and I didn't get home til 2.30am so when I got a phone call from one of the clients booked in for the lessons telling me she had to cancel last minute and had a slot booked for later on that day I had to rush to get my riding kit ready, hitch up the trailer and get Erik in from the field and clean ready to fill the slot!

After only 5 hours of sleep I was finding my nerves giving me jelly legs and the tiredness only exasperating that when I was on and warming up but once I started my less and I had done some trotting poles but nerves gave way and I was able to be more focused at the task in hand!
For those of you who don't know this jumping lesson was our very first one and only our 4th time jumping over fences. In the summer I had asked Georgie if she'd give me some pointers on Erik and I's first time popping over a fence. He was of course very good and didn't mind popping over a small cross pole, then made in to an upright and then very boldly over an upright with a barrel underneath it. I personally wasn't a fan of the barrel and when Erik jumped it so big I lost a stirrup it definitely knocked my confidence a bit and I began to 'psych myself out' as they say and get worried after previous accidents. It seems these accidents can affect you mentally more than you think!
Since then I had popped a couple of small other jumps at home when playing around in the school but not actually had anyone give me official guidance.

Delphine was of course great and noticed right away I was still a little nervous, as when I came to my fences I seemed to hold my breath. I must have been subconsciously trying to focus so much that I felt breathing came second to jumping, and I was looking down in to the bottom of the fence! A big no no, but when you're as rusty as I am and on a horse you hadn't really jumped yet the urge to look down to make sure you're going to get the right stride is hard to ignore!

I soon started putting in to action the helpful comments and improvement suggestions and we were popping fences easy peasy and I was remembering to breath, ride more forward and the strides were easier to see and feel. It seems Erik, being a big horse, much prefers to stand off a fence than to get close to it and for me that suits! 

By the end of the lesson we were both quite tired but apparently from the look on both of our faces it was clearly we both absolutely loved it! Seeing Erik to happy and excited to be somewhere and doing something different was lovely. He's such a smart horse so a stimulated brain is a happy brain!

I am looking forward to our next lesson and doing even more. It isn't about the height of the fence but about the technique of jumping the fence. 

He's such a cutie right! So proud of him and of myself too, I got some real courage and didn't feel frightened at all. In fact we drove home afterwards with me grinning like a Cheshire cat! 

Love this big horse!

Sophie x

Semer Team Chase with the RoR Beasts from the East!

Poor Erik, he has been a little neglected this week, what with me doing the hospitality for Juddmonte Monday to Wednesday for the Horses in Training Tattersalls Sales and then with the dark evenings he hasn't been as busy of late but he did get some lovely long rides out Friday evening (half in the dusk light and was such a good boy considering I haven't ridden him in such low light before) and Saturday and Sunday where he got some fast work to keep his fitness up. We will look at some competitions and training over the winter, I promise Erik!

The mighty Bean has been on flying form of late coming 2nd in the Horseheath Unaffiliated 3ft open a couple of weeks ago  as well as winning the 3 ft 2" eventer trial at Keysoe a couple of weeks before that  so with this weekend being the Essex & Suffolk Team Chase at Semer the Retraining of Racehorses East Anglian team consisted of Georgie Shepherd, Hetty Keyes, Pip Davis and Ginny Fellows and as coordinator for the region I provided the RoR kit. 
An early set off time of 7.15am meant all hands on deck and speedy shoes on to get all rugged up, out in their field, mucked out and ready to go but we managed it with time for me to feed a friends dogs and have a tupperware of cereal at the yard before leaving. We took a different route to where we've gone before which was much less twisty and turny so we got to the event just after we expected to and met up with team mates to go and walk the course while I babysat B who gets so excited we cannot tie him to the trailer. 
Lot's of walking from both and me G later the course had been walked and horses were tacked up and ready to go and jockeys dressed and safe in their back protectors. The team really did look so smart in their kit! 

The RoR Beasts from the East were listed as the last to go in their section and it seems the course had been proving a little difficult with it being very twisty and turnie but when the group set off they had two front members to lead and with Georgie starting, Pip taking over for a short while before G and B took the leading position they all flew round in a nice safe clear and speedy it seems too!
The optimum time being 5 minutes 52 seconds and the Beasts completing the course in 5 minutes and 32 they were too fast but for their first event to get round with everyone safe and clear is awesome. Plus if they did the speed class they'd have come 3rd so maybe the class to do next year? These ex racehorses really do cover the ground quicker than you think!

Georgie was able to wear her GoPro and capture the footage, so have a watch to feel like you were right there with her! P.S sorry about the clicking it's Georgie's back protector zip tapping the GoPro, we'll make sure it doesn't happen again

I was on course taking pictures and despite the low light they came out quite well! Not too shabby for an amateur photographer!

It seems B and his team really do have wings! I am so proud of Georgie and how her and B have been getting on, he really is a testiment to ex racehorses and how they can thrive after being retrained! 
Erik and I will soon be jumping once I get my saddle back from being fixed. I did some dressage writing at Horseheath British Eventing one day event last weekend and earned myself a schooling voucher for the course which I plan to use in the spring once I've got some more confidence back and got to know E's jumping style more. 
Erik's owner Grayznor is coming to give me a flat work lesson this Sunday so I am looking forward to having Erik strut his stuff and me learn some more. Blog etc to follow with how we got on.

Over and Out,

Sophie x