Photoshoots

So we started March with more winter than spring but enjoyed some beautiful snow photoshoots. I'd been looking forward to getting some snow photos since the first mention of the 'Beast from the East' and I was very lucky to have lots of local bookings for the snow days.

Olivia, Zeus and Freddie

Lauren and Ziggy

Amanda and Aura

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get round to everyone that wanted to book as many of the roads were blocked but to make up for it, I'm offering a special discount on mini-spring photoshoots instead - so please get in touch if this applies to you! The snow made a surprise reappearance mid-month and was definitely not welcome, warm sunshine one day and minus temperatures and blizzards the next, come on Spring, you can do better!

The diary is open for Spring and Summer photoshoot bookings so don't delay, contact us to make a booking! There are only a limited number of spaces and once they're gone, they're gone!

Horsebox Safety

Once the snow thawed it was time to do our post snow lorry checks before taking pony on an outing. Diesel engines like to be driven and unfortunately, especially over the winter, I find it can be quite tricky to make sure it gets driven enough. This usually means the battery going flat just when you don't need it to! I try to take it on a drive every week, even if empty just to keep the engine running. It's good to take it out without any horses loaded too as it means you can really use the brakes. So after winter, it's a great time to check oil and water levels and tyre pressure before thinking about any outings with a horse onboard.

As usual though, I didn't do any of these sensible things until the day I needed to go out so it was a mad rush, jump starting the engine, inflating the tyres and generally running round like an idiot and wondering why everything takes longer than you think it will. I'm sure I left loads of spare time but was still at risk of being very late! Oh well, next time I will definitely be more organised.......honest!

Eaglesfield Jumping Clinic with Emma Harrod

So with the lorry ready to go and me trying to put my brave pants on after the buckeroo episode, pony and I headed out to our regular jumping clinic at Eaglesfield with Emma Harrod. Eaglesfield is one of my favourite local venues to head to, it's got great parking on hard standing, which is essential in a lorry over winter! It's got 2 fab arenas, an indoor and an outdoor - which are both a great size for jumping. I was being a real nervous nelly after the bronking and after not having done much jumping over winter but I was determined to get back out there and get going again. We had some early nerves but the more we jumped, the more confidence I got to ask for the big powerful canter and the better it felt. It was great to be jumping a course again and I can't wait for us to get out more regularly. It was a great confidence building session and just what I needed.

Hacking

Feeling so motivated after the fun jumping session the day before, we also got out hacking again. We hadn't been out in a while with the snow and the box rest meaning a fairly fresh pony and was really missing it. The weather was calm and so out we headed in the mud, I love love love hacking. There's something so perfect about enjoying exploring together in the countryside, so peaceful and so beautiful. I can't wait for the ground to dry up a bit so we can do some fast work out hacking, it's still too deep unfortunately. Nothing like a blast around the farm to blow the cobwebs away and it's great for keeping fitness levels up. All this cold weather and spring grass has made for a very fresh little pony so we may have to think about heading to the gallops to have a real blast!

Injury Update

Unfortunately, the jaw injury just wasn't looking right so after the snow I booked in for a visit to Bell Equine so they could take a closer look at what was going on. Unbelievably, the xrays showed that there was a fracture up through the jaw and into the tooth. Poor pony has been such a little trooper and coped very well with this. Luckily the vet confirmed that riding was fine and so I didn't have to feel guilty about having carried on! No one could believe that there was that much trauma from what had presented like quite a neat tear. The options were more antibiotics, remove the tooth or do nothing at all and leave it to heal on its own. The decision was to leave the tooth and re x-ray in another month, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that it continues to heal on its own.

Products of the Month

And this month, we just couldn't have made it through all the rain without my lovely Eurostar winter breeches - softshell to repel the rain and fleece lined to keep me toasty warm. Also, couldn't have survived the never ending mud and puddles without my Hunters wellies.