Hey everyone

Jennie here:

Well this week seems to have come and gone without a riding lesson. I’m useless. I have actually seen my fair share of nags this week though…

I took two photographers to the Quainton Stud Grand Prix competition. The action in the ring was pretty exciting, but the rivalry between our two snappers was intense. They were popping up all over the place trying to get the best ‘paparazzi pics’ as there were heaps of celeb riders wandering about. It was a really relaxed show.

Spotted
o Will Funnell looking for his groom in the lorry park. He had to borrow someone else to hold Billy Birr in the end

o Tim Gredley giving Ellen Whitaker a cuddle when she fell of Kansallier (don’t worry she’s okay)

o SWAG Kathleen (Ben Maher’s girlfriend) and her pooch Lou Lou

o Jessica Marshall getting tips from Tim Stockdale on how to ride the course

o Michael Whitaker coming out of the poshest port-a-loos ever

o Geoff Billington donning a pair of Aviator sunglasses (soo cool!)

You can see all the pics in H+P. How exciting?! Have a good weekend all. I’m going to spend it all in the sunshine! x

Hi everyone

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

I have discovered how to get a pony muddy in one easy step - even when the field is dry!

1. Cover the pony (Tippy) in fly gel, cream and repellent
2. Turn them out
3. Watch as they roll in the dustiest patch of the field - usually next to the gate
4. And spend the next three hours grooming when their coat has dried out

It was not good - Tippy was filthy and very dusty.

As you've probably guessed Tippy is getting irritated by flies so I'm trying some products from Global Herbs.

I'm feeding her FlyFree (which smells awful, but she eats quite happily). It's supposed to repell flies from the inside out, although I should have started feeding it a couple of months ago to get the full effect. I'll keep you posted on how we get on.

I've also got a pot of Deflect fly repellent cream. Smells okay to me, but seems to be keeping the biting flies away.

Hey peeps

Laura here

Finished Harry Potter. Wow what an ending! I would go into details but as there are prob loads of you who haven’t finished yet it wouldn't be fair.

Thomas is back in work now after his summer holiday out in the field and he is really not happy. Every year when he gets turned out for his hol he's sure he’s been retired to chill out for good and then there's always the shock that in fact he hasn’t and he's got to do some work again, poor old boy. Never mind he will get his head around being an active horse again soon I'm sure!

Hope you all enjoying your hols - at least it’s actually sunny now!

Laura

Hey guys

Jennie here:

Just wanted to let you know about this really cool comp that’s running before HOYS this year. Your very own horse could be appearing on the wall of fame at the Birmingham Arena from October 3-7.

All you have to do is send in a funny pic of your fave horse or pony to My Horse & Me! Competition, Press Office, Grandstand Media Ltd, 7 Waterside Station Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 4US.

Have you got a pic like this?

The best rib-ticklers will be selected to feature in a huge gallery in the HOYS pavilion at the famous event.

The three funniest pictures, picked by a panel of judges, will each win either a Nintendo Wii or Nintendo DS as well as the new FEI endorsed My Horse and Me video game.

My Horse and Me is a mega riding game for your PC, Wii or Nintendo DS, although it’s not out until the autumn. The games been approved by the FEI as it’s so realistic. Players become totally involved in the game so they feel they’re really riding and looking after their horse.

Check out some of the graphics from My Horse and Me

So what are you waiting for? Get happy and snappy! For more information on Horse of the Year show and the picture competition visit www.hoys.co.uk

Now, the challenge is to find one of Breeze doing something amusing…

Hey everyone

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

The whole H+P office has been really upset to hear about the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in Surrey. It’s really sad news for all the affected farms.

It's worth remembering though horses and ponies cannot catch FMD – this means that unless you are in an affected area it’s still okay to go to your stables.

Unfortunately, horses and ponies, like us, can carry the disease. This means that in affected areas, bridleways and footpaths may be closed, horse shows may be cancelled, farms may be out of bounds and the travelling of horses in boxes and trailers may be restricted.

You might also spot disinfectant areas for washing and dipping boots and even car tyres at gateways. Be responsible and listen up the instructions of people in the know – but don’t panic about your fave pony – he cannot catch the disease.

Let's hope all the official get it sorted asap.

If you want to find out more log onto www.defra.gov.uk

Hi everyone

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

It's been a mad week here at H+P. We've been a Ponies (UK) show every day as well as rushing into the office to do the mag. Everyone is exhausted and Tippy is getting v. annoyed cos her dinner has been served late every night.

Big shouts outs to:
Ellen, Kimberly, Lauren, Ellis, Dawn, Kels, Phoebe, Maddie, Lou... who came to say 'hi' if you're passing by the stand don't forget to let us know you're an H+P fan.

Must dash as we're off to the Pony Club Champs on Sunday!

Hi

Jennie here:

Sorry about the lack of blog action lately. We’ve had an obscenely busy couple of weeks.

Ponies UK took place at Newark Showground last week and the H+P team were there meeting all your gorgeous show ponies and admiring you guys in your posh togs. Gorgeous!

The most random thing I saw was a bikini clad miniature horse. I wouldn’t have batted an eye lid if his owner had been dressed up too, but no, he was just strutting around in a teensy weensy yellow bikini!

Then it was a quick move to Shelford Manor last weekend for the start of the Pony Club Championships. We were beginning to get a bit tired at this point and things got pretty silly on the stand on Monday when Laura and I roped in some firemen to jump the Mini-Jumps clear round showjumping course. We've been raising money for the Lincs and Notts air ambulance appeal and charging people for a jump round. The boys got a clear round too, well done them!

Tuesday I did some Pony Club Press interviews and met some ace teams from Co Antrim, Brocklesby and Burghley. Look out for their stories about their Pony Clubs in future issues of H+P. Thank you to them all for their help.

So, a long weekend ahead of us now (hoorah!) and apparently the sun will be shining for most of us. Loads of time to get riding, then. Have fun x

Hey guys

I have just returned from my holiday in Cornwall which was lovely! However, the down side is that Chilli has had a week off, and I need to work hard on her schooling this week to get her fit for competition.

Amy (our brood mare) and Tizzy (her foal) have now been moved into a different field with another mare and foal. The mare is a grey connemara, and her foal is called ‘Ugly Betsy’! Betsy is only a month older than Tizzy but she towers over her. Luckily they both seem to get on very well and have become the best of friends!

Before I went away, I went x-country schooling with my friend Annabel. We had great fun and by the end we had jumped over coffins, ditches, arrowheads, steps, logs and even had a splash through the water. Since it had rained so much we had to be careful jumping into the water. It was so deep, it tickled Chilli’s tummy as we went through and she was not too keen on that!

I am now making full use of what is left of the summer holiday to get Chilli ready for a Hunter Trials.

See ya,

Sophie
xox

Hey all!

We've had a busy few weeks visiting you lot at some shows.

Check out some pics

Some of the Burghley PC

This BYRDS team did a dressage quadrille display

Laura was a busy bee on the H+P stand everyday

Polocrosse was fast and furious

We love Lucky. He was on the Winners stand next to us and sat up begging everytime he saw another dog he wanted to play with!

There was dressage to music too!

Hi everyone

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

Have you heard? The ILPH Rangers club is now up and running. Membership is totally free and members get a fab welcome pack and access to the exclusive members’ only area of the website which has screensavers, videos and cartoons on. You can join easily online by visiting www.ilphrangers.org

Tippy and I have just signed up!

Hi everyone

Sarah (and Tippy) here:

Poor old Tippy really isn't feeling very happy at the moment. She got stung by a wasp inside one of her ears when she was turned out. She’s had a droopy left ear, which looked very pathetic. She's sooo naughty she just won't wear a fly mask for more than two seconds.

I know it was a wasp as I found a wasps’ nest in an old rabbit hole in the hedge next to her field. The wasps didn’t look too friendly so I ran pretty quickly back down the field!

I called the vet who said her ear could have been a lot worse and has given my some steroid cream to help it heal and to soothe it. She also said to try to make Tippy wear her fly mask so flies didn’t go in the injured ear and irritate it more - easier said than done! So Tippy has spent the last few days inside while the ear healed. She can now prick it again so I know she’s feeling better.

Hey everyone!

It's like the calm after the storm now! The champs took up so much time that it seems weird that we're doing nothing now. My branch hosts the National Novice Championships, so not only did we have to worry about the competitors but the competition itself! However, the running was smooth and all went brilliantly! An open team from our branch got through to the Show Jumping champs so it was training for them. Also the Novice Show Jumping team got through so we were at both champs!!

Unfortunately my eventing team didn't get through to the champs (I was a novice) but to make up numbers I was allowed to go H/C. It was a wonderful experience even though I wasn't competing! It was both mine and Foxy's first championship course and a few of the more technical jumps seemed a bit imposing.

The dressage went okay, we didn't blow up in the canter!! Foxy was very excited in the Show Jumping because of the Cross-Country so we had one down. We were right at the end of the day for the XC so the nerves built up! Foxy got so excited that she leapt out of the start box at the beginning! We went round really well but one jump(no 16) was very technical and neither of us had seen anything like it before so we had a run out! I was a little complacent that she was going to jump it, so it was also a fall!! However, I got back on and completed the course, which is a great achievement. Even though I fell off it was so much fun and Foxy really enjoyed herself.

I have the Riding Club Show Jumping Champs in Lincoln coming up which will be great fun, as well as the Oliver Townend Eventing Challenge at the weekend. Foxy is going to have a holiday after Lincoln before the winter season starts.

Hiya

Jennie here:

We’re all going on a summer holiday…

Well I am anyway! It’s finally arrived after months of excitement I go on holiday to Zante (one of the Greek Islands) on Sunday for a whole week!

I’m going with one of my horsey mates called Liz. She loves doing cross county at Twin Trees Equestrian Centre when she gets the chance. But Bex, the other girl I’m going with isn’t very horsey, so I doubt there we’ll do much riding while we’re away.
I can’t wait to lay by the pool and do nothing but sunbathe and drink fizzy pop. It might not be everybody’s idea of a great holiday but after a really hectic couple of weeks with H+P I’m ready for a break.

So… I shall catch up with you all when I’m back. I’ll be straight back into things on my return with several celeb rider yard visits lined up. I haven’t done any of those in what feels like ages so coming back won’t be too bad! Take care, everyone. x

Hey there peeps!

Laura here

Long time no speak! I’ve been at the Pony Club champs and Ponies UK running the
H+P stand so it has been a hectic old time for us! All done now though so back to normal-ish!

Thomas is officially on my bad list, this is the third day in a row I have crawled out of bed, dragged on my jodhpur boots and headed out to the yard to ride - only to return 30 minutes later, having achieved only in exercising myself by running up and down the field trying to catch Thomas with no success! Any tips to catch a naughty, wise old horse would be greatly received!