Hey, Laura here

FINALLY, after weeks and weeks of the softly-softly approach to handling Willow, the mad New Forest, we managed to get a headcollar on him. Once the headcollar was on, he tried to run back, rear up and generally cause me and mum some pain but managed to keep a hold of him!

Once he realised that I was just not going to let go he started to stand and with a few pony nuts to keep him sweet, we got him standing really nicely. After he was settled and coming to terms with us being around him, mum gave him a good brush over and groomed all down his legs!

We were both so pleased, as it’s been a really long learning process with him, trying to get him to accept us - but now he has it’s great! I went up again this morning and although it took a couple of attempts we managed to get the leadrope on his headcollar and lead him around the stable. It tok him a while to get used to the fact that he had to walk with me rather than run away from me but we got there in the end. I’m going back up again tonight after I finish work so I will let you know how I get on.

Bye

Laura

Hi

Sarah (and Tippy) here

Everyone else has been out visiting cute foals this year and I haven't! So I decided I was going to go and find some. I went to visit the Quainton Stud in Buckinghamshire. They currently have five foals, all fillies! One had even been born the night before we arrived and was well sweet. New foal and her mum were still stabled waiting for the sun to come out again and warm the weather up before they ventured outside so I could get really close.

Many of the stud's horses are related to top showjumping horses and one of their best stallions Chateau de Brion recently got his Holstein breed license - this means his foals will be approved as full or part-bred Holsteins (which is one of the most popular breed choices for showjumpers). When the stallions aren't at the stud they are ridden in top comps by Ben Maher.

The Quainton Stud will be hosting a top showjumping competition, parading their stallions and showing visitors around on July 31 if you fancy a visit. Log onto www.quaintonstud.co.uk and click on shows for more info.

At last - the long awaited photos of Ron's new sister. Bethan's such a proud mum, she loves her new foally. Check out how cute she is!

Doesn't Bethan's filly look like Ron did this time last year?

Hi Everyone,

I think I need to introduce myself first. I am Hilary Secker and I am just 13. I have one horse, Foxy, who is seven but she really thinks she’s a pony! I have done all PC activities with my branch, Cheshire Hunt North. I have had Foxy two weeks now and I have my very first one day event on her this weekend! Exciting and nerve-racking! Keep riding!
Hilary

This is a pic of Hilary with her old pony Sonny.

Greetings peeps

Laura here:

I hope you all had a great weekend, I know I did. I went to Badminton at the weekend to watch all the eventers do their cross country! It was great, I have been to Burghley before but not Badminton so going to a ‘new’ event was really exciting.

The ground was really hard as it hadn’t rained for ages, although typically it did on Bank Holiday Monday, so a lot of the top names including Zara Phillips, Mary King and Ruth Edge pulled out before the cross country as the European championships are coming up in July, so they are all saving their horses for that. But it didn’t matter to me as all the horses there were still top as they had qualified to compete.

Headley Britannia and Lucinda Fredericks won in the end, they were a good few points ahead after a just perfect dressage and no one ever caught up with them after that. Brit (Headley Britannia) is a mare, which is quite rare for a top class eventer so it was even better to see her beating all the geldings. She won Burghley in September 06 so she’s having a perfect season.

I also saw Janette Brakewell and Over to You, probably my favourite horse EVER! He’s 19 now and has completed Badminton a wicked seven times which is almost unheard of, the only other horse to ever do that was Ballycotton, so that’s some record!

Hope you all had a good bank hol, and enjoyed the extra day off school

Bye for now

Laura

Ps Thomas is fine, still on his holidays and completely uncatchable but lovin it and Willow is being a good boy, we can hold him in the stable and groom him which is ace!

My pics

There was Shettie grand national racing the morning, Carrie from radio one gave out the prizes, she’s in the grey jumper

Lucinda Fredericks and Headley Britannia cruise to victory, I just love her pink cross country colours !

Over To You, the old boy, just stormed round the course!

Matt Ryan from Australia with Bonza Katoomba, just flying

Hey guys and girls

Jennie here:

Had another lesson today…pretty much the same as always so won’t go on too much. Desmond broke wind a lot and I didn’t do my girth up tight enough to begin with (cos Desmond tries to bite me when I do it) so when I tried to get on the saddle slipped round! Won’t be doing that again.

Riding was pretty good. My legs wore out quick cos I’ve had a few weeks off but I did get Desmond flexing down and bending and my lines are getting straighter across the school. Also wasn’t too bad at leg yielding (on one rein at least, I was appalling on the other!)

Went to interview William Whitaker this week. Got to admit I have a bit of a crush on him; he is so sweet, really helpful, an AMAZING rider and told us THE funniest cringe which made him seem even sweeter. Look out for that corker in future H+P issues.

Uncle Michael was there too and he gave us some top tips for jumping which will be in H+P soon too. This was after our photographer Angus confused some random bloke on the yard for Michael. Laura about wet herself at his massive slip-up (and she wonders why I don’t take her anywhere)!
Much love to all xxxx

Hey everyone

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

I've got some pics of the Quainton stud foals I went to see last week - check them out

Long legged chestnut foal

The foal who didn't want her photo taking!

Sleepy foal

Cutey long-legged foal

Hilary and her best friend Foxy

Hello everyone,

I have now reached my four week anniversary with Foxy. We have packed so much in that it is hard to believe that it has only been four weeks. We've had a rally with Stephen Hadley (the famous showjumper), we've taken part in the Grasshoppers Final and have done two One Day Events already!!

The first one day event was almost a Level 3 course (that is 2'9"). We had a super day - our dressage was very interesting - we were going brilliantly until Foxy decided to have a buck and a squeal!!! Showjumping was ace and so was the cross country although I did have a stop due to technical difficulties (I took a dodgy line).

Our second ODE was just last week, over a BE Intro course although it was a Pony Club event. I had never jumped so big cross country before. To say I was nervous when I walked the course was an understatement. Foxy was magnificent! In the showjumping she listened to me and gave me so much confidence for the cross country, we flew round with only one stop (again a technical difficulty!!). I have to mention the dressage too (oh dear). The first half was appalling - Foxy was more interested in what was going on around her than listening to my aids - but still, she only squealed once and managed not to buck! We improved our dressage score by 0.3 penalties on the competition before - well, an improvement is still an improvement.

I have school exams coming up so I am easing off the competitions (Mum's orders). But we still have a lot of training and rallies to fit in. Rallies are great because I see my friends and ride Foxy at the same time. Of course I think Cross Country rallies are the best, but not everyone would agree with me. Some actually prefer Dressage rallies - can you believe that?

Signing off for this week,

Keep riding!

Hilary x

Hiya

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

Just gotta let you know - Hannah (H+P's showing expert) is feeling very proud of herself at the moment! Her horse (well technically her mum's horse) Gainstown Bridge, aka Bouncer, was 2nd in the Small Hunter Class at the Royal Windsor.

Unfortunately Hannah was not riding him at the time, as she got mullered by another horse just before the show. She was out exercising one of the show horses when he decided to tank off and smash her leg against the side of a narrow gateway, so she isn't able to ride at the moment! Not wanting to lose her entry fee for not turning up at the show, she persuaded her boss, David Tatlow, to ride Bouncer for her. Hannah was particularly proud as David hadn't ridden Bouncer before the class since last October but Bouncer was pretty well behaved for him. So well done Bouncer!

It was also my birthday this week. I'm getting very old! Tippy decided she would help me celebrate by getting down and rolling in her field and getting covered in mud - thanks Tippy! So I spent my b'day evening grooming her.

Thanks also to Jen and Laura who bought me a pair of Crocs ready for the Pony Club Championships. We've discovered you can wear Crocs when you take a shower in the mobile unit at the Championships - then you don't have to stand on the floor! Jen wore flip flops last year and managed to lose one, still to be found, but Crocs stay on your feet more firmly. So cheers ladies!

Best go as mag is going to press.

Sarah

Guess who I got back on board today? Breeze!

Jennie here:

It wasn’t as bad as all that really. She’s a lot sharper after her break from regular lessons and generally a bit more willing. I got her going really nicely in trot and canter. Getting her to go straight after our square turns though was well hard. It was like riding a drunk!

Oh and while I was down there two of the colts were being gelded which was a bit of an eye-opener for city-based me! It was really interesting to learn what happens but I did feel a bit sorry for the ponies cos they didn’t get much privacy!

We also went and watched a Tim Stockdale masterclass with this week. He passed on one heck of a lot of info in a couple of hours. Don’t worry though, we’ll pass it all on to you too in future issues so you won’t miss out.

Thanks for voting on my 'new boyfriend poll' on the website. The girls in the office thought they should shut me up on men once and for all and put it to you guys to sort my love life out. I think I’m gonna take your advice and stick to being single for a bit! I’m not sure I’ll dedicate all my spare time to ponies but I will make sure I enjoy myself, I promise.
Ta ta x

Hey there

Laura here

Are you all suitably bored of the rain and bad weather yet? I know I am. I’ve even put my flip flops away for the moment.

All the rain has made the grass in the field shoot up, so the ponies are in the starvation paddaocks at the moment - which they are not happy about I can tell you. We are just turning them out for a couple of hours a day at the moment until I can get the electric fencing up this weekend. I am so worried they are going to end up with laminitis and as they are only young I don’t want them to get it now and be stuck with problems for the rest of their days.

Pharoah are George are loving all the good grass though. Pharoah lost so much weight when his leg was injured in March that he’s got a lot to put on so is out relaxing, getting better and getting fat at the mo.

Thomas, Maddy, Jester and Cobby are still over at my uncles on their summer hols. Thomas is now completely wild and we haven’t been able to catch him for a week now! Bad Thomas.

Hey all

Jennie here:

Had some good news when I nipped to the stables the other day. Shylock’s owner is well on the road to recovery and she’s able to start riding again. So, Shylock has gone back to live at her yard. I was sad to see him go though. I did love that big guy but I'm sure he’ll be happy to be back at home in his own stable.

Been loving the brill weather this past week. I’ve got a bet on with Laura though that just because we’ve got heaps of photoshoots organised next week (being half term) that it’ll chuck it down all week. That tends to be how the H+P office luck is running at the mo!

We shall see. I hope for all our sakes that it’s nice so we can get all the snaps we need and you guys have an ace time at the stables during your week off. Have fun whatever you do.

Bye for now. X

Hi

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

Bad news - my back has gone! I was just walking along on Tippy the other day and it went. She didn't do anything wrong at all. I just felt a nasty pain in my lower bad and decided I ought to get off quick. Good old Tippy was very well behaved as I struggled to dismount and led her back to the yard.

So Stella, Natalie and Linda are taking it in turns to look after Tippy while my back gets fixed. I've still been going to see her and she's been very gentle nuzzling me. But she can't quite work out why we can't go riding at the moment. Although I don't think my boyfriend is going to be as sympathetic as Tippy when he realises he's got to muck her out, groom and feed her this weekend! Oops forgot to tell him!

One thing my bad back has made me realise is how painful it must be for horses and ponies to have to wear a saddle which doesn't fit them and pinches. It must be agony! Even though I'm pretty sure Tippy's saddle is okay, I'm going to get a saddle fitter to come out and give it the once over - just in case.

Laura here

How exciting! Mum’s just bought a new little sheep dog pup. We’ve only just got her so she hasn’t even got a name but I will keep you all informed and hopefully have some piccys after the weekend!

I hope everyone is looking forward to half term, you’ll all be having a nice relaxing week but for all of us at H+P you lot being off school makes our job even more busy as we’ll be out and about doing photoshoots at some of the stables around us, so we’ll be really busy. But it's not all hard work, we’ll have Bank Holiday Monday off to chill out and relax - think I’m going to take Pippin and the new puppy for a walk - if it doesn’t rain although to be fair knowing my luck it probably will!

Keep us informed on what you do with your week off. Send us an email or write us a letter, we love to know what you’re up to!

See ya

Laura

Hey, Sarah and Tippy here:

Good news! My back is feeling much better (thanks to everyone who's been asking about it). Also thanks to Stella, Natalie and Linda who've been helping look after Tippy.

I still can't ride, carry water buckets or pick out hooves - but can just about manage to muck out okay. Although Madam Tippy seems to be doing her best to irriate it again. I was leading her out to her field the other day and she was the first out. Big mistake!

She decided she just could not cope being all alone and would simply die if another horse didn't appear soon, so started leaping around. Luckily I managed to get her in the field and shut the gate before she tried to leg it, although she did do a very high pitched neigh right next to my face. My ears are still ringing! Stella wasn't far behind with Gizmo, so Tippy needn't have panicked but managed to wind Gizmo up sooo much he spend the next 20mins charging round. Mares - who'd have them?

The first of the swallow eggs in the nests above Tippy's stable hatched this week. There are some very busy swallow parents around. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been great for feeding very young chicks (cold and wet) so I hope they are all okay. There seems to be plenty of cheeping going on though!

Hey everybody,

Gosh it’s hard work eventing! If you’re not competing you’re training or schooling! Luckily we have had a bit of rest from eventing helping my Branch host Area Games! It’s always fun when our Branch hosts something because you feel part of the organisation. I got to add up tack and turnout scores but some of the scores were shocking. I think some Branches need to have a few tack cleaning lessons!

Foxy has come on so much it’s unbelievable! Unfortunately it didn’t happen overnight! We had a good few hours of training for it to have even started to change for the better.

We had another ODE this week and it was, if possible, more fun than the last one! The weather was horrendous but, luckily, when Foxy and I were actually competing it wasn’t too bad.

Dressage was much better. We achieved our aim, no squealing, bucking or jolly cantering off! Unfortunately I had Foxy going a bit too quietly so the judge thought her head carriage was too low. At least it was down!!

In between dressage and show jumping the rain was so heavy we had to get all the horses onto the box before they got drenched asap! Foxy wanted to stay outside and carry on munching the grass, even if the rain was lashing down! Show jumping was as good as usual. It was bad luck that I had the very last pole down to achieve four faults in total. It was a tricky fence, a short-strided double going downhill.

Showjumping in style!

(Photo thanks to fotograffs)

Cross-country was great fun as always. The course was neither big nor scary but posed a few technical questions. Seeing as this is only our third ODE together we did very well to finish with one stop at a very technical corner. It was sloping rails and about three sides on a tight dog-leg to a corner. Poor Foxy didn’t have enough time to see the fence and was confused about what she needed to do. We sailed over it second time and the rest of the course flowed beautifully.

Our favourite discipline - cross country.

(Photo thanks to fotograffs)

I have Novice event training this week. It’s for all those people who might want to be considered for the Novice teams later on in the year. Rallies continue and the fun never stops. We have camp pretty soon; it’s so exciting! Soon I have exams so I won’t be doing much but I always 'school' after school!

Keep riding,
Hilary