A happy, hectic new year!

Good afternoon everyone!

Well this is a very delayed post. I have been so, so busy this winter! We have lots of exciting things coming up and in store I'm looking forwards to sharing with you.

First update is that little (or not so!) Nemo is under saddle now. He is doing SO well I am so pleased with him. He wasn't the easiest of horses, very nervous and when backing him getting on board seemed as though it was never going to happen! But lots of time, and lots and lots of patience we are on board and walking and trotting all over the place for now! The picture quality is rubbish I am so sorry and I need to get some recent videos of him but I have this one for now-

The next big bit of news is that we have moved yards. It was a sad time to leave our old yard and friends behind, but we have moved onto a lovely little yard with some old friends and life is so much easier for us now! 

We have been getting loads of riding in and the horses are going fantastic. As you can see in the picture at the top the horses are all very content in their stables!

My final bit of news is quite sad really. I have chosen to sell Rio. Absolutely no fault of his own, he is a fabulous horse with a huge future ahead of him and I have thoroughly enjoyed producing him. I am limited with time these days with working etc, and I don't feel I give him the time he deserves to shine as much as he will with someone who can.

That's all for now! I intend on uploading to this blog weekly from now on, I have lots of ideas and plans and things to report I can't wait to share with you all, hopefully a very exciting year ahead!

Thanks for reading

Lauren 

x

My new 3YO.

Afternoon, so I realised A little guy came into my life some weeks ago and I actually never introduced him!

This is Never Royal van het eelshof, Better known as Nemo. He is a 2013 baby and is bread by Condor (Cassini I x Lys de derman). He is a sweet little man, and is part way through backing now. He is long reining and lunging and happy to do so, hopefully we will have a saddle on soon.

He is very eager to learn, and hasn't put a foot wrong so far *touch wood*. I'm really enjoying working with him and I'm looking forwards to seeing him under saddle.

Northcote Young horse show- Report.

So we was at NYHC 1-4th June. I took my lovely 5yo Gracie to jump the 5yr old classes. Until this show she had only jumped a handful of BN's and 2 discoveries so it was very much throwing her in at the deep end but she managed so well!

We arrived on the Wednesday evening to settle in ready to jump the Thursday. Gracie was her usual chilled out self, we had a little ride in the warm up ring and tucked her in bed then my boyfriend & I went to have a complimentary glass of champagne and a look at the buffet, which was a lovely touch! So we went to get tucked up into bed on the Wednesday night and I suddenly came over really sick, and had to scramble out of the luton and managed to make it to the washing up bowl! So it seems I activated some lurking bug as I was up being sick all night, sat in one of the portla-loos in my jammies throwing up my guts- Lovely.

 So I managed about an hours sleep on the lorry floor with the dogs Wednesday night, I managed to jump our qualifier on the Thursday and we just had a few wobbles and 1 stop as she jumped in to big to the double, but other then that it was a good first round in a big 1.10 and I wasn't riding at my best! The following day, the Friday we jumped a disco for a pole and the 5yo's we had a pole in the double again I believe! So a few baby mistakes and a few things to work on but so pleased with her and how she handled the show. She had so many lovely comments & quite a few people asking if I would sell, which is always nice. Quite a few 5yo's qualified on the first day so the top 20 scores from both days qualified for the final too, Gracie qualified for the final at her first 'proper' young horse show, I was over the moon! Unfortunately I didn't get to jump the final as me and my boyfriend had already booked our tickets for nitro circus and I couldn't expect him not to get home to watch it! I can't complain about this horse at all, she answers every question I ever ask and gives everything her all, she really is one in a million! A few bits to tweek with both of us but I am very excited for our future,lots more shows and hopefully finals for this horse!

Port royal 8-5-16 Report

Good morning!

So I should of posted this last week but y'no, I got busy doing a zillion other jobs but, better late than never!

So I did say I was going to go out and jump a newcomers, however I also really wanted to try get another BN and disco DC. As always, I thought I had loads of time before northcote in two weeks, and as always I was wrong!

Anyway, back to Sunday before last, we popped to Port royal again to jump a BN and disco. It was so busy and so warm I felt such a bad mum as trying to keep Gracie cool was an almost impossible task. We did minimal warm ups, jumped our class and she got untacked and sponged off inbetween to try keep her cool.

Walked the BN, nice enough class. Was 4th to go and it was two-phase. She jumped a lovely first round, then when we got to about the 2nd jump in the jump off I thought I would just open her up a little for the first time, and she once again took to it like a duck to water. Some times she got a little excited and lost control of her legs but she gave it a go. It wasn't super quick, as I didnt ask for to much I just wanted to test the water a bit and was most pleased with another DC. The class was big for a normal Sunday. I think maybe 40-45 people in it? Anyway placings went to 6th and she didn't place which I wasn't worried about. However, I checked my record the other day and she finished 7th! So that was a nice little bonus.

Brit nov video here-

So next up was the Disco. I got in nice and early here too, I was 2nd to go. Course walked nice and I opened her up quite a bit more in the jump off. Landed over the last looked at my time and was thoroughly impressed. Yes, cracking double clear I thought! Oh no, 2 time faults in the first phase! GRRRR! I have NEVER had time faults!! Couldn't work it out as obviously I wasn't pushing but we was not hanging around or overly slow. As the class went on though nearly everyone had time faults in the first round. 9-15 time faults in the first round was the general score of nearly every other combination, I actually think of all the time faults Gracie had the least. She once again jumped a cracking round though, just one of those things, had I of been later to go I would of noticed and pushed on but you know, live and learn.

Video from discovery here-

So I am once again over the moon with her. In hindsight I probably should of jumped the newcomers as She hasn't jumped one so her first 1.10 will be 5yos at northcote as the lorry is having some work done this weekend,then she has physio next Saturday then we go to northcote on the Wed night. Regardless, I am ultra excited and just so grateful this lovely mare has given me the opportunity to take my own self produced 5yo to such an amazing show. I love her to bits 

Thanks for reading, I promise we do go other places than port royal! Our next report will probably be after Northcote as we are rather busy up until then!

Gracie's back!

Good evening guys!

So on Sunday I finally got back out competing again,and took the lovely rising 5yo gracie who hasn't been out since Arena UK's festival last September out. I was hoping to go for the BN to ease her back into the swing of things (She has only jumped 2 BN's and 1 4YO class in her life so far!) But got there a bit late so entered the 95cm scope qual and the 1.00 tack locker scope qual.

She travelled like a saint and came off and warmed up so well, so relaxed and took the whole atmosphere in her stride. When it came to the 95cm she was a bit wobbly and babyish, and had an unfortunate 4 flts at the beginning of the 2nd to last double, but jumped the rest great so couldn't fault her.

We then had a little re-warm up ready for the 1.00 class and she jumped this beautifully. She flew round for a DC but just wasn't quick enough for the leaderboard but this was ok as I wasn't pushing her anyway. The DC has qualified her for scope and also doubled as a discovery double clear so I was absolutely over the moon with her!

Hoping to get her out and get some BN & Disco double clears, then aiming to take her to Northcoate young horse show in June to do the 5yos, also Rio may be tagging along to this show for the 4yos as he is going amazingly, but we will see closer to the day!

So, we had a great day! Big thank you to my dad for driving & my boyfriend for being chief horse holder & photographer :)

Love Lauren x

The video is linked here, my riding is so scruffy but it did the job!

What we've been upto recently

Hello, I haven't posted on here for so long so thought I should do a well overdue update. Although I haven't actually done any competing I have been real busy with the horses getting them ready!

So as some of you may or may not know I moved yards back in December, I didn't actually have any of my own jumps so the horses have been on flat work bootcamp for a month and a bit. This has actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as they have improved massively and feel much stronger and ready to jump. Building the jumps was fun ( read: sometimes stressful) but they couldn't have turned out any better I am so pleased with them. My boyfriend and I went out to source wood,poles, paint etc and luckily for us his granddad built the wings and did an amazing job. We painted the wings and poles and they turned out so well. 

So 2 weekends ago was the first time I got to jump Gracie and Fae since November, and whilst rather excited and giddy they went well. Face was her usual crazy self, Gracie feels much better and consistent, albeit a bit wobbly and green due to not doing any jumping for a while. A lot to work on with Gracie but with a bit more work she'll become much more consistent.

I loosejumped rio the same day, for the first time since I went to see him to buy him. So pleased with how much he has improved and how much stronger he is in his frame, I can't wait to jump him under saddle.

So apart from during the week after work that brings me to today. I have sat on Rio a handful of times but since he is still quite unsure I've been taking my time and he feels so much better for it. Today he went in the school and had a trot on both reins all the way round the school and did a few walk/trot transitions and I am so pleased with how he's coming on. He is feeling much more confident and wiling to try things when asked now, so I feel its very much a step in the right direction and i'm very excited to continue working with him.

I then moved onto the girls and did a basic canter pole to jump work with them. I love doing excersizes like this along with grids because I feel they really have to use themselves and their brains to hit the floor in the right place all the time. I definitely find these help Gracie think for herself and about where her legs are, she improves all the time when doing these or grid work, despite her having a spring in her step and a bronc on her landing today! Fae was her usual self, but I still like to do these with her to make sure she is thinking and doesn't rush to much, to help with this I shorten the poles up so she really has to sit up and wait.

Thanks for reading, I am hoping to update this blog much more, with product reviews and favourites etc!

Love, Lauren x