Product Reviews: Back on Track, Equilibrium Massage Pad, Heat Pad and ArcEquine



Biggest. Head. Ever.

First time mom worries...except I’m not a first time mom and my horse is a horse, not a baby. But still...I like to get him all the gimmicks, a slave to the consumer world some might say. My regular deliveries to work are still giving my colleagues giggles and prompt questions such as ‘do you spend your money on ANYTHING other than your horse’...emmmmm, no. ‘Sheesh, I’m not getting paid enough, you’re obviously making way more than me with all the things you buy for this horse’. No, no, I’m just fond of a cheap meal for myself and an expensive horse rug for ma poneh.

So my horse has had a bit of a leg owie which I think resulted from tension in his back so I have actually tried EVERYTHING under the sun while he’s had some time off to try get him back to tip top shape. My methods have ranged from cold hosing after every ride right up to asking the Horseback vet (www.horsebackvet.com) from the UK to check my horses back (he also saw other horses while here, I’m not THAT neurotic...or am I...). I’m hoping he will come back again before the summer and so I’ll do a full blog on his methods and suggested exercises. But in short, he’s the bomb diggidy! If your horse has a sore back...hunt the man down and get him to do circus tricks with your pony. He’s worth the money.

So I thought I would do a product review on everything and give you my thoughts, both pretty and ugly, on each product.

Back on Track rug
Friends recommended these products to me so I decided to have a look. I should point out that it doesn't much to convince me, just in case you haven’t already figured that out. You could tell me that dressing my horse up like a Tellytubby and dancing the cha-cha around him daily will make him happier and healthier and I’ll be searching ‘tellytubby outfits for horses’ on Ebay within seconds. My friends have declared they would like to come back in their next life as my horse, which creeps me out and makes me proud in equal measures.
I decided not to buy the actual rug, given my horses penchant for destroying things so instead I came up with the bright idea (ok it was my yard managers idea, cheers Sandra!) of instead buying the Back Equine Warmer Royal (http://www.backontrack-uk.co.uk/ourshop/prod_5348914-Back-on-Track-Back-Equine-Warmer-Royal.html) and sewing it into my cooler. I actually had it attached with a surcingle at the front but it created a nasty rub wound on Romy’s chest so I got the 'ol needle and thread out and wowed myself with my sewing skills. At a pricey £89 / €105 for what is essentially an oversized saddle pad, I was expecting great things. I was LAUGHED out of the yard when I arrived with it. “Are leprechauns weaving magic crystals into the lining of this thing for it to cost that?”. Thankfully money grows on trees however so I was fine to spend €105 plus P&P for this small piece of material. So. The review:
Value for money: 6/10
Comfort: 5/10 because of the rubbing on Romy’s chest, otherwise I would have bumped this up to a 9/10 because he has it on every day and so far no rubs (after I took the surcingle off!)
Negatives: The (lack of) attachments to the horses body if you want to wear it in the stable
Positives: Can be worn while riding, easy to wash, soft material
Overall impression: Shortly after buying it, Romy’s physio commented he had a nice warmth to his back and his back has become progressively better but I don’t know if this is due to the rug or the combination of everything combined! I haven’t seen a huge improvement in him but he hasn't gone worse either.
Would I recommend: Possibly. I’m a fan of trying everything you can afford to get your horse comfortable, especially when it comes to your horses back. But if you’re limited, money wise, then this wouldn’t be top of my list. And if your horse isn't a rug destroyer, like mine, go for the full hog rug.

Equilibrium Massage Pad

Before melting it!
(Yes, I know my horse has a beard. SorryNotSorry)

Used before and after I ride. Turns my horses back into a molten liquid spongy softness – for non horsey people reading, that’s a good thing! Shortly after buying it I promptly melted most of the surcingles off it and nearly caused a yard fire by resting the bag against a hot pipe (shudder). Thankfully, I came away with all of the yard, most of the product (sans surcingles) and a strong smell of singe which I don’t believe will ever go away. Yay! My horse tried to chew his way through the last man (surcingle) standing so I now keep it on with my own surcingle which allows for a close contact and doesn’t budge. I may get the needle and thread back out and reattach the chewed off bits. I’ll be costume designing for the Broadway Theatre at this stage.
So, back to the product. While wearing it, Romy twitches away like a junkie on crack so not only is it my favourite gadget for him, I think its his favourite gadget so far too! He has a sensitive back and hind quarters, which we never really got to the bottom of but it was so bad at one stage that you could hardly put your hand on his hind quarter without it spasming. Is that a word? Anyway. The pad has made a massive difference and I won’t go anywhere without it in the future. Romy’s pacifier. My pacifier. I also think it keeps value because there is always someone, somewhere with a horse dodgier than yours who will want to buy a second hand one. You can buy it from http://www.equilibriumproducts.com/product/equilibrium-therapy-massage-pad/ for £295 / €347 and you can pick them up for a good price on ebay / preloved second hand if you can’t quite afford a new one.
Value for money: 10/10 (I’m sure not every horse reacts as well to them as my horse but given my experience I definitely think it’s worth the money)
Comfort: 7/10 (Romy doesn’t like the back surcingle going under his belly but I recognise that it has to attach somehow)
Negatives: I think the massage pads themselves could be heavier to allow for a closer contact and it would be good if the pads were a little bigger to massage a wider area.
Positives: Easy to transport as it's light, gives the desired results, easy to use, easy to clean and charges for a substantial period.
Overall impression: A1 Sharon
Would I recommend: Definitely. I think a lot of issues stem from uncomfortable backs so happy back = happy horse = happy owner. I have noticed a huge difference in Romy’s back muscles and his physio reports have reflected the same...that’s science speaking, not I, Mr. Fox.

Heat Pad

As recommended by the Horseback Vet, Rob Jackson who has a near cult-like following in the horsey world. Rob recommended heating his SI region before riding and while discussions (mind bullying) with the yard manager have begun re: installing a solarium, I needed a quick fix so the heat pad was purchased. Rather than spend a fortune on equestrian products I went on the hunt for something more reasonable and found a chordless ‘heat cushion'
(https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ES4D89Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for £110 / €130 plus P&P. If you do a mild search on the internet you can see that I am, in fact, an absolute muppet and similar products can be found for half the price. I'm afraid this was 130 euro down the drain as this product is as useful as a one legged man at an arse kicking competition. A hot water bottle definitely would be more effective, however more to fiddle with and TIME IS MONEY PEOPLE. I also don’t know how the hot water bottle would actually stay on my horses rump. The heat pad manages to stay on if my horse doesn’t budge and once I stick a lick under his gob we’re in the money. But it doesn’t really get that warm and the battery runs out VERY quickly. So, I think we know where this is going, right?
Value for money: 2/10
Comfort: 6/10 (It has a fleece side and a waterproof side)
Negatives: Doesn’t stay on, battery runs out, overpriced, difficult to pronounce, isn’t heavy enough to give a close contact so doesn't get that warm.
Positives: Soft material
Overall impression: I guess this product isn’t made for horses but even as a human if I had bought that to heat myself up with I’d be raging!
Would I recommend: Nah, stick to your hot water bottles people! I need to up my solarium convincing / bullying tactics.

Arc Equine

The reviews on this one speak for themselves (http://www.arcequine.com/case-studies/) but it is incredibly difficult to tell if the product works or not because you will never have a horse with exactly the same issues and exactly the same conditions to test it against and you can never tell if it’s the Arc or good old reliable Mr. Time which is the main contributor to success stories. The Arc can be used for a variety of issues, from behavioural to mild soft tissue wounds to more serious issues like kissing spine and fractures. I find it pretty easy to use (so long as you have a minion who can help put it on when you’re in work as the programmes are 3 hours long). The customer service was fantastic and they were pretty prompt at replacing a piece of the equipment when mine stopped working (I had an older version). You can leave it on and don't need to stay with your horse (I covered mine with a leg bandage so my dinosaur didn’t chew his way through it).

Bionic pony with the Arc on (pre-bandaging) and Equilibrium massage pad

The worst thing about this product is the price; £540 / €636 plus P&P (although there are discount codes floating around so you can get up to £100 off if you hunt hard enough). It’s a hefty amount to be paying when it’s very difficult to scientifically prove that it works but I’ve heard some insurance companies will include it if the vet recommends it, which is worth knowing. And it doesn’t have to be used for an injury, you can keep it for use before or after heavy schooling sessions or competitions. In my case, my horse recovered much quicker than my vet had expected. In fact his words were ‘I don’t want to say that I’m satisfied with him Victoria, because I’m so much more than that. I couldn’t be happier with his progress’. Was it the Arc Equine? Very difficult to tell. Would I get it again? Absolutely. In fact I did recommend it to friends, one who's mare had a pretty nasty suspensory issue and we heard today that she is well on the way to recovery and by the sounds of things much further along that the vet expected at this stage. After a couple of months my friend is back on board and was initially told her horse would be out of work for a year. ‘Nuff said.
Value for money: 7/10 (Would be higher other than the fact that it’s tricky to tell if this is the main reason behind a horses recovery. I know some people who have used it who DIDN'T have positive results, however they really do keep their value so if you buy it and it’s not right you can resell it for a pretty good price.)
Comfort: 8/10 (Easy to put on, in fact we went for hacks with it on under his bandages. Not 10/10 because I would rather if the device had padding around it because hard plastic on my horses leg = worried Mama.)
Negatives: You have to be dedicated to the cause. While in recovery the horse has to have it on for 3 hours daily for 8 weeks. No ifs or buts. Also, it’s difficult to really compare it to other forms of treatment as it’s not currently recognised by most vets as a treatment product.
Positives: Amazing reviews, easy to put on, discreet, keeps its value.  
Overall impression: I think you get my overall idea of this product...something worked for my horse. Was it this, the cold hosing, the massage pad, the regular physio, the back on track rug, the acupuncture, the controlled exercise, the chiropractor, the heat pad or time off? Most likely a combination of all of them. But my thoughts are if you can afford this product then it’s worth a try.
Would I recommend: Yes, I have done and the results so far are positive.
 

My list of product reviews goes on but rather than lose you all to total boredom at this stage I’ll save the review on therapy methods and my latest product, Ice Vibe boots for my next blog.

Until then y’all! And remember, patience is key. In recovery, riding and overall life. Yes, I totally thought I would be the Charlotte Dujardin of Ireland at this stage. But life just ain’t that simple so for now I have to be happy with what I have. *Rolls eyes up to heaven…I WANT TO COMPETE!!!*. But yeah. Patience.

V x

To Judge or not to Judge

17.2 and still growing!

I have made a decision. I am going to become a judge! I have struggled slightly with the move from British Dressage to the scene in Ireland because there was more...emm...structure shall we say to the dressage world in the UK. So how best to adapt well to these differences than by immersing myself into this new, slightly less shiny, slightly less scary, Irish Dressage world. Sure, it’s more half chaps than Konigs. And yes it’s more Clover Hill than Donnerhall. But in fact the horses I have seen would definitely hold their own at a dressage competition in the UK.

And it’s definitely less of a fashion show over here. Canary breeches...FINE! Rubber boots...AOK! Scull caps...COME ON IN! But I actually enjoy the fashion of dressage. It’s historically been such a fuddy duddy sport so if we get to put a little personality into it, then why not? It neither changes the way a horse performs nor how a rider rides so why not make it as fun and encouraging as possible? I won’t go into detail about a little incident which involved my brand new patent leather black boots, a judges bell, a red faced Victoria and a LOT of complaints. Apparently my boots were too distracting. Black. Patent. Boots. *insert eyes up to heaven emoji*. But, my thoughts were that either I accept it (this was never going to happen) or I try to do something about it. So I did. And I am proud to say that they have amended the wording, albeit modestly, which now allows me to wear my boots, so long as they are not distracting to the judge *there is not an emoji good enough for this emotion...turd emoji perhaps?*

So after that, I was a bit disheartened. But then I decided to really try hard to help bring Dressage Ireland in line with it’s fellow European counterparties…at least operationally. If Dressage Ireland is Santa and I am a small child, I am 100% on the naughty list and Santa rolls his eyes BIG TIME when he receives a letter from me. I know I am constantly sending in suggestions and ideas (yes, sometimes complaints...don’t hate me DI!) but it’s only because I care. Massively. I want to change things for the better and one thing I have learnt about Ireland is that she doesn’t always like change. The majority of my suggestions go unanswered; I’m sure there is a sub folder in their suggestion box on the website where all my emails are automatically filtered and then get burned at the stake. But if I Just. Keep. Sending. In. Complaints...some elf will listen to me, right?

Further down the line I would like to perhaps join the committee as a voice of the people (I’m a right aul Eva Peron, me) because as it stands, I see rules being changed left right and centre and no one on the committee seems to reach out to see what would actually work for it’s members. Unless they are sending out some private messages and due to being on the aforementioned naughty list I haven’t been invited to the party. But until then I want to become more involved somehow and judging, which is always something I have been interested in, seems to fit the bill perfectly.

This weekend I had my first experience writing for a List 2 judge. I wrote for classes ranging from Novice up to PSG. Some things to note:

1. Seriously. Learn how to spell before going in to write for a judge Victoria. Sheesh. I had to scramble around on the floor for my phone, pretending I was checking the running time, to Google the word 'rhythm'. Yes, I am hanging my head in shame.
2. Eat before you start. Your stomach making noises akin to a sound effect from Game of Thrones during a FEI pony class does NOT a good impression make. I would also like to point out that in an effort to make said good impression / be a lick arse, I didn’t get out of the car for nearly the whole day. The judge, however, had curry chips and ate them in the car.
3. Judges are not scary people and are in fact incredibly nice, down to earth and helpful. I learnt a lot from my experience and even sparked up a possible new friendship. One of the judges was riding in the AM class and she was just as nervous and tense as the rest of us would be. They are human. Although I would like to point out that a young child asked me if I was the judge and I nearly bent over so he could kiss my head.

Red rossies all round!



Romy has had some time off from schooling after he was approved at elementary level. We have competed in three shows gaining up to 70% (before I was deducted 4 marks for going the wrong way.....twice...) so until we’re back to full work in the summer I’m going to focus on getting as much judge training in as possible. I’ve just sent through my application to become a trainee judge and unless the application gets sent into the sub-folder-of-death I’m hoping I can stay on track to take my first exams before the end of the year...although that may be a little ambitious. Keep your fingers, toes and rubber boots crossed for me y’all!

 

Victoria xo

 

It's a Romy love fest!

Hey y'all!

Things with Romy are going from strength to strength. I don’t want to be one of those owners who thinks the sun shines out their horses arse. I know Romy isn’t perfect for everyone. But for me, right now, he is. I’ve been through many horses and have battled with my decisions to let them go. But it just has to be right for you. We invest so much time and energy into these huge, beautiful beasts that it has to be right for us. And if it’s not, it’s ok to admit to yourself that your horse might be more perfect for someone else.

 

My horse time is my meditation time. It’s time for my solitude and it’s time that I allow myself to love who I am and where I am at that very moment. So it’s so important to me that the little time I give myself every evening with my horse is worth it all.



But first...lemme take a selfie



 

I really do believe in my horse. I see a great future for him and dare I say it, he’s allowing me to believe in myself too. I honestly have always thought of myself as a blow in to dressage....something I just stumbled upon without being competent enough and kind of tried to fit in along the way. I still do. And sure, I’m at the bottom of the scale but I have dreams and hopes now and I am so dedicated to getting there. At this stage I guess it’s time I give a shout out to Heidi Mercken and RLZ Dressage for finding Romy for me. They’re based in a (very beautiful) yard in south Holland, on the Belgian border, and can be found on Facebook here.

 

I’m really starting to gel with ma poneh now. And so we’re spending less time in our sessions together trying to figure each other out and more time perfecting what’s going on. His canter is just a dream to ride. Sure, he’s a bit of a squealer and has the odd kick out when I ask for canter from walk but I kind of like his cheekiness (although he can keep that for the training session....please don’t bring it to our tests Romy!). His trot is really opening up to what it was when I tried him in Holland. We need to work on his balance, which he loses sometimes but I need to remind myself he is only 6. We also need to work on his medium walk, which he reads to be ‘piaffe’....chill out on that for a couple of years mister! But he is SO trainable and tries everything I ask of him. And is the cuddliest bear in the stable. Not everyone would like being licked from head to toe by their horse. But I do....tongues ahoy!

 

We’re doing two elementary tests this Saturday so I’m looking forward to reading what the judges say. Back in the snaffle now, any bitting experts out there I’d be happy to take advice on some bits to try on him because he’s still a little uncomfy in the mouth!

 

I’ll report back after the test!

Love,

V x

A teeny tiny competition to test the waters

So. Where was I? Aaaahhh yes. The love of my life had arrived and all was well with the world. I was SO excited about his arrival that I was waiting for the downer to kick in. I hear this kind of thing happens when you get married…you are so excited preparing for the big day that when it’s all over you fall into a bit of weeping-with-snots-hanging-out-of-your-nose time. Not that I’m comparing me getting a horse to anyone getting married but…well…yeah, yes I guess I AM comparing it to that. So? I was kind of expecting the same down time to happen after the arrival of Romy. I’m still waiting.

I lost the complete run of myself on day one and took him out for a walk around the yard on a lunge line to stretch his legs. And stretch ‘em he did. Gave him a little run around and later got approached with ‘erm, you know we have boots here…you can use any of them if you like for lunging’…oooopppsss…silly me. Slaps herself on the hand. I WILL be known as ‘the old woman who lives in a (horse) boot’ because I have so many of them…you’d think I’d remember to put them on. I was just too excited. Good thing he didn’t smash his own legs up!

Since then he has settled SO well. I feel like I’ve had him for years and actually it’s like he’s been at the yard for years. He has a fine aul brain on him so he does. Although I'm still approaching everything with trepidation. There’s a handful of moments of fear in my life that stand out in my head;

Howdy Neighbour!

• The first day of my Irish leaving cert exam


• Having to present to all the interns at Morgan Stanley


• The day I spilt oil on my mums driveway


• The first day I turned Romy out into the field

I know in Holland they don’t often get turned out as much so I wasn’t sure what experience he had with having acres and acres to run around. And run around he did. And by ‘run’ I mean gallop in circules at top speed. Kevin, the groom at my yard and cheeriest chap of all time, was just smiling away saying everything would be fine. Honestly, I thought I was going to have some sort of heart melt down. But of course, he was fine. He made friends over the fence with the other four legged fluffies and came in from the field without a scratch. Phew. I can breathe again.

Vogue

Because he had settled down so well, and given I bought him with the intention of hitting the ground running, I decided to enter a competition. Just one teeny tiny test to get me back in the game. So last weekend I spent most of my time preening and grooming to perfection and we made our way to Killossery in north Dublin for our first ever elementary level competition.

 



Oh, hai there world!

My number one aim for the day was for him to behave, enjoy himself and to get over 60%. And I tell you, the boy done me proud! He was a little behind my leg and wasn’t comfy in the double bridle (which he had been SUPER comfy in 2 days before) so back to the bit bank to try out some more for him. But he did everything I asked of him and got super scores of 7.5 for his working canter and 10 meter circle/counter canter. 7 working canter and first medium trot. Unfortunately, numpty here pushed him too much in the second medium trot (after my trainer Sandra specifically told me NOT to do that) so we got a measly 4 for that movement. I also asked for too much bend in the shoulder in (after Sandra specifically told me NOT to do that either) and only got a 5 for that. And years of halting at X are apparently embedded in my brain because that’s exactly what I did…much to the judges disgust ‘Em, it’s supposed to be halt at G???’. Oops. Sorry Mr. Judge Man.

 



So this is the bitch I gotsa take down?

For his double marks he got 7’s for all his paces but a 6 for his walk because it wasn’t forward enough (I have a feeling his medium walk will be the pace we need to work most at…forward and rhythmic is tricky for him because he starts to pick up his shoulder like I’m asking for piaffe), 7 for riding and 6.5 for submission because he wasn’t happy in the bit. So we ended up on a score of just under 65% after deducting my errors which was exactly what I was hoping for. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY ROMY!!!! Lots of apples for him that night and Mac Donalds…I mean paleo raw calorie-free air snacks, for me. And a bottle of wine. OOOooooh yeeeaaahhhh.

So I think it’s safe to say that he can deal with it…and I’d even go as far as saying he really enjoyed the day out. He was Mr. Chilled and loving all the attention at the trailer from my cheerleading squad.



I maaaaay enter another one weekend after next…watch this space.

Love,
V x

Strike a pose

 

I think I found him!

Well they say silence speaks a thousand words. And whoever ‘they’ are…they’re right. As always, my silence has meant there have been many changes in my life. The loss of one horsey love and the gain of another.

After a really amazing time with such a super once in a lifetime horse there were lots of changes going on in my life which meant Woody went back to his owner Amy and I moved back to Ireland. For some reason I didn’t feel as sad saying goodbye to Woody as I was to Beau, I think because I’m very close to Amy so I knew we would be in touch all the time and I knew exactly the type of fabulous life she would give him. They’re now riding up a storm in the south of England and I’m loving seeing their regular updates...social media is the bomb diggidy!

Ireland was a whole other ball game. I wasn’t sure if they knew how to SPELL dressage, let alone know what it is. How wrong I was! Good aul Judy Reynolds has put Ireland on the dressage map and there is more and more interest growing over here. I was nervous about leaving a country with SO many fantastic trainers and opportunities but I really feel like I’ve landed on my feet with my yard and trainer, Sandra Blake Farrell. Not only am I learning SO much from her, she is totally sound too…..someone ring the GIRL CRUSH alarm (insert blushing emoji) . Sure, Ireland is a little less Pikeur and a little more Primark. But I came back because I missed the people and the proximity of everything. That is unless, of course, you want to still compete British Dressage in which case you need to commission planes trains and automobiles to get you there (I WILL do it).

Anyway, I digress. So. There I was. Twitching away without a horse to feed my habit. Lots of changes going on. I’m sure that’s when drug users feed their habit…when there’s change or stress. So I did the same. I fed my habit. I decided to book a flight over to Holland to go horse shopping. Best. Weekend. EVVEERRRRRRR. I met up with a couple of great dealers who showed me around. If I’m completely honest I had been online shopping for about a year on www.sporthorses.nl (it’s like ebay for horses). I can also say I’m now 99% fluent in dutch….Paard (horse) Te Koop (for sale) Dressuurpaard (dressage horse)….you get the drift. There was one horse I had saved in my ‘favourites’ and had enquired bout him. He was out of my budget but they had others to show me. So, armed with my hat and my boots I went on my own little road trip across Holland and Belgium to try out horses.

 

If anyone is thinking of getting a horse, I would highly recommend doing this. There are lots of good and bad points to buying abroad, which I won’t list here but you can find more about them on De Google. Everyone has a different idea of what is right for them. For me, I wanted something that could hit the ground running. I was starting to compete Advanced Medium and it was REALLY exciting and the prospect of going back to prelim, for me, just wasn’t going to work. But I did go with an open mind and tried both youngsters and older more advanced horses. And literally fell in love with every one I tried…sigh. There are FANTASTIC horses in Ireland and the UK and I’m all about supporting home grown. But I’m also about supporting my wallet and quite frankly I never would have been able to afford a horse at the level I wanted in the UK.

Furst Romanoff: Furst Romancier x Royal Hit

So trying out horses is the BEST FUN EVER!!! Over the weekend there were three that stood out. One was a lovely bright bay Spielberg gelding. Super correct, trainable and made me feel like a good rider. But for his level he was a little out of my budget. The second was a 4 year old gelding who had been bred for jumping but just wasn’t really good enough. Gorgeous mover, tried his little heard out and I went back to see him again and rode him around in an actual thunder storm. Shit the bed, but he was super. I also went to see the horse who I had been perving over for months, a 6 year old by Furst Romancier with Sandro Hit on the dams side, but who was out of my budget. And of course, fell in love with him. He was a little bit cheeky and I liked that about him. But tried everything I asked of him. Has a lot of the advanced movements there but is still super young and inexperienced so it will be about reigning it in for a couple of years until he’s ready. So he was expensive. But I loved him. He had a FAB face and god knows I love a good looking creature. So I did what any responsible person would do and googled as much as I could until I found something which would tell me to buy him: "Buy the most expensive horse you can afford because the price of purchasing a horse is the least expensive aspect of horse ownership." OK Robert H Koontz DVM from www.ckequinehospital.com, I will. Thank you for your professional advice.

 

Hello Neighbour

‘Romy’ arrived fresh off the boat on Wednesday 6^th July 2016. He travelled a dream. He settled a dream. I have now turned into an overly paranoid owner because he’s been SO good that I just keep thinking something bad is going to happen. OK he eats everything in sight so I will need a rug budget capable of servicing all the horses in Ireland combined. But if that’s his ‘bad’ bits, then that’s AOK with me.

 

 I’ll leave our progress for another day and finish today’s post off with some photos of the gorgeous man doing what he does best….LOOKING GORGEOUS!

 

Team Inter-Regionals Hooly, I mean Competition, and a trip to Nikki Crisps!!

So from posting once a year to a few times in 6 months, I'm totes on a roll....here I go again!

The Dream Team

Myself and Woody were super lucky to get chosen to ride for Team Southern at the Senior Inter-Regional team competition in May this year. Woody is an old hack at this kind of thing....he's well known by the Southern Team. But I am new to this kind of stuff.....these big competitions are scaawwwyyyy. And not only that, you're part of a team. So you want to be liked. And usually you need to do a bit of ass kissing to be liked. And I'm not that person. But what I AM is a lover of wine and when the wine hits me, my fun-ability increases tenfold. And THAT is how I make friends.

 

Partners in crime

So I brought the wine. And without going into too much detail, the first night ended up with me rolling around the car park with another team mate at 2 in the morning....no, no you filthy things. Not like that. But the 'make friends with your teammates' mission was accomplished on day 1. Tick. Also, I wasn't toooootally alone. Luckily Woody's owner Amy was also chosen to compete on the team with the horse she has on loan Twister. And Amy's owner, I mean mother, Shauna was there to do all sort of slave like activities. Thank you Shauna, high-five fist-pump.




Woody had a ball and danced his way up to 4th place over the weekend at Elementary level. With 52 elementary riders that weekend I was chuffed! And my team came third overall so that was even better…double yay! I came home absolutely knackered but it was a great weekend and will do it again if we get chosen....hopefully they weren't put off by my love of wine.

Shortly after that we qualified for the individual Elementary Open summer regionals so I decided we would step it up a notch and join our good friends Anna (not fluffy) and Cezare (fluffy) on their trip to Nikki Crisps in Suffolk. 

The downsides:
1. I had to get up early to feed my horse
2. I had to muck out my horse

So the moral of the story is, I need to bring a minion next time I go (I kid, I kid.....or do I?).

The upsides:
1. I felt like I was doing something REEEEEEEALLY naughty (be totally horsey obsessed) for an entire weekend and it was actually ok
2. I was around equally naughty / horse crazy (very lovely) people
3. I picked up some invaluable tips, not only from my lessons with Nikki but also by stalking her while she rode her horses and taught others
4. The food was guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuuuuud

I fought off the urge to get Woody out of his overnight stable and bring him into the lorry so he could hang out with us at night but I’m pretty sure that it was the Prosecco putting ideas in my head. He was very happy where he was with all the other fluffies. Plus, he’s super long, he would have taken up too much room in the bed. 

The thing I improved most from my time with Nikki is how I warm Woody up. He is such a big moving horse and his canter is like a rocking horse. But basically, if it feels good, it ain’t good. I need to put more effort in so he can be more forward and listening to my aids. Just the small little hints we were given regarding our warm up have turned things around and I’m LOVING how he is going these days. What a dude. He’s swinging more through the back and is sitting on his bum more. Which is a good thing for anyone who is NOT horse obsessed like me. Sitting on your bum, if you're a horse, is a good thing. I would have made a good horse it seems because I like to sit on my bum.

Horse and Hound

Since then, things in my horsey life have been on the up (and by 'on the up' I mean horses have completely taken over my life and doing anything OUTSIDE of being on my horse is now time spent thinking about when I can next be on my horse). We have been out competing almost twice a month, much to the depression of my wallet, and good old Woodster has been pulling in the first place frillies.
 
We even got another mention in Horse and Hound this week. Woohoo! No photos of the creepy smile this time, unfortunately, however it's probably for the best. I had pretty much broken my back before I went on and I'm sure the look on my face was somewhere in between 'creepy smile' and 'I just soiled myself'. Even the judge commented on my position in our test sheet and I was totally holding myself in a position that was semi-manageable. It was the only thing I could do to stop the agony in my back. Anyway, at the end of the day we won both of the classes, and it was only our second time trying a medium test, so it was worth the pain. Plus the other competitors got a nice view of Joel deep kneading my spine just before I went on. WINNING! Seeing that from behind was quite a shock for some onlookers, I’m sure.

The wins meant we have also secured a place at the Medium Restricted Petplan Area Festivals. So from now until August I just need to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! A little voice inside my head keeps telling me that summer is here and actually I need to SUNBATHE, SUNBATHE, SUNBATHE but I just put a little pillow over that voice’s mouth and hold it down until she goes quiet and passes out. Until next time y'all! 

Mirror Selfie

....and then there was Woody

In true rubbish blogger style, my equestrian world has once again been turned upside down and inside out and I haven't had a moment to update you. So once again, here we go!

Arthur had been going well and was an adorable horse but I was really missing having my own and I had started to put out the feelers to a few yards in Holland to see if they had anything suitable. I was looking for something bigger and more advanced but also affordable (those things don't go together well in dressage apparently). But they say everything happens for a reason and I truly believe they do. Before I had a chance to make any offers, a friend showed me an advert for a girl in Kent who was advertising her horse for full loan and asked me was I interested. Currently competing BD medium, 17.3hh, 11 years old and amazing temperament. Hmmm...am I interested....am...I....interested....HELL YEAH IM INTERESTED!!!

I contacted his owner, Amy, and arranged to go down to see him. She rode him around beautifully and I thought there was no way I could ride him so nicely. And of course I didn't...but I didn't make a TOTAL knob out of myself. Me being me, I couldn't keep my feelings inside and pretty much signed on the dotted line then and there. I loved him. He is big moving, safe, floaty, sensitive and I could tell I would learn a lot off him. Not the easiest ride in the world, but then who wants to just sit there and not learn anything....we have to both put in some effort! WHO CARES if I can't afford it right now. WHO CARES if he's stabled about 500 miles from my home. I'm in love.



So without going in to too much detail and boring the life out of anyone, I now have full loan of an amazing horse, at an amazing yard, with an amazing instructor and so far we have been getting pretty good results in the dressage arena. I took Woody on in December and we went out for our first competition in early January. From then on he's pulled in mainly firsts and I have loved every second of having this massive overgrown, overcuddly beast.



Not only that, but I got contacted by a reporter for the Horse and Hound magazine and she asked me if she could include me in the features because we had pulled the highest score of the day at our most recent competition. Can I be included? ME? In Horse and Hound magazine??? Em, yes, I think that would be ok....I'll have to run it by my em, person who em, deals with, my, I mean, em the publicity, em, YES SHE SAID ITS FIIIIIIIIIIIIINE! So in the April 2nd issue of Horse and Hound if you get your binoculars and look reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally closely, you MIGHT just spot a photo of me looking like a creepy smiling weirdo on top of a very beautiful un-creepy horse - Woody!



Next goals are:

1. Qualify for the Elementary summer regionals (update, done!)
2. Qualify for the Senior Inter County team (update, done and I'll put a further update in my next post!)
3. Start competing Medium to Music

This is the start of a VERY exciting future with Woody....I can feel it in my ageing Irish bones ;-)

WATCH THIS SPACE!