Hi everyone

Sarah and Tippy here:

Well, Tippy has another new neighbour. Windy Miller arrived last Sunday and he's living next door to Tippy. She's quite liking having so many new geldings to blow kisses to!

Tracey decided she'd like a little horse of her own, as well as having Eclipse on loan, so she's got Windy. He's only five years old, which Tippy is loving cos she can boss him around. He seems very sweet natured so I'll try and get you some photos to see this weekend.

Tracey hasn't been able to ride him since she got him home as she's waiting to get his saddle fitted so he's just chilling in the field every day.

Hi everyone

Laura and Thomas here:

Oh dear, Joker (commonly known as Grumpy) - one of the horses at the yard is mega sad. He cut his left leg in the trailer last weekend while trying to take his travel boots off and is now on box rest for the next few weeks while the cut heels. It's on his pastern so it’s not healing very quickly and we can't risk turning him out in the mud and it getting infected.

Thomas is being a big meany to him as well. He keeps laughing at him when he goes out to the field past Grumpy’s stable, as if to say ‘ha ha you have to stay in’. Poor Grumpy I think I will have to take him some carrots to cheer him up a bit.

Hiya

Jennie here:

OK, guys… not a massive amount to report on this week. But I’ll fill you in on a few little snippets.

I had a few very lovely days off from Horse+Pony things mid-week and spent some time at Centre Parcs with my friends. We went on the LONGEST bike ride ever during which me and my three friends got stuck in the mud and I fell into a bush. My hand is scratched and my Ugg boots are ruined. All good fun though and well worth it!

In other news, away from Centre Parcs… the top ten British riders invited to this year’s British Open Show Jumping Champs have been announced.

Visitors to the show, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC from April 3-6, will catch glimpses of John and Michael Whitaker, Nick Skelton, Robert Whitaker, Tim Stockdale, Robert Smith, Ellen Whitaker, William Whitaker, David McPhearson and William Funnell as well as a selected few riders from overseas including defending champion Jessica Kurten, competing for the title of British Open Champion 2008.

Get your tickets to this showjumping extravaganza online at www.britishopenshowjumping.com

Welcome to the second installment of Georgie Spence's diary. Georgie (19) is and eventer and is based near Chippenham, Wiltshire. She is currently on the World Class Start Programme for future potential Olympic British team prospects. She was a member of the gold medal - winning team at the Young Rider Europeans at Blair Castle in 2007 and received an award from British Eventing for being the rider under 21 years of age gaining the most points in 2007. In 2008 she is aiming to compete in her first 4* event.

Georgie writes:
“We have now started to compete at some shows in preparation for the event season starting. I took three of my young horses – Henry, Ollie and Sophie - to a dressage competition for the first time.

Henry behaved really well and put in scores over 65%. Ollie was still a little fresh and excited to be at his first competition but I was still pleased with his results which were over 60%. I took Sophie in the Novice and she also behaved very nicely although everything came up a bit quick for her but overall I was delighted with them all. The more experienced horses have also been out doing some dressage and have all done well. Libby and Kiki both got over 65% and I was particularly pleased with Gull as he scored 73% in both his tests.

Back at home we have started their canter work and some of the horses have been cross country schooling. They all jumped everything well and George and Trenear were delighted to be back doing cross country.

I have another new horse to ride for Judy Graham. He is called ‘Best of Spirits’ and was previously ridden by Oli Townend. He is 11 this year and won the British Novice Championship in 2005 and I will be aiming him at Houghton Hall CCI**.

Later this week I am off for some World Class Start training and I am taking Kiki, Tom, Henry, Sophie and Libby. We will have showjumping lessons with Peter Murphy on the first day and then on the second day, Jeanette Brakewell will be doing some cross country schooling with us.

All the horses are well and are almost ready for the new season which starts in less than four weeks!"

With the new season coming up quickly, Georgie is making sure her horses and tidy and ready to go!

To find out more about Georgie please visit www.georgiespence.com

Jennie here:

Big news, people!

Showjumping legend Tim Stockdale is hosting an evening of demonstrations on March 18 at Hadlow College, Kent.

He’ll be showing us how to train a novice horse, using two of his own up and coming rides.

Tim’ll advise how to tackle common problems you might face with a young horse in the early stages of their showjumping training.

The end of the night will be rounded off with a demo from Tim and one of his advanced horses, giving you guys something to aim for! And, Tim promises to do his best to answer all your questions afterwards.

Tickets are priced at £20 for adults, £10 for children and £15 for Hadlow college students. There is a £5 additional charge if you buy your tickets on the door so get yours well in advance by contacting Karen.stratford@student.hadlow.ac.uk or for more info on the night email sarah.mollett@student.hadlow.ac.uk
How cool is that? Maybe see you there!

Hi everyone

Sarah and Tippy here:

I have come to the decision that the grass is officially growing again! After all the rain and a couple of days' worth of warm sunshine it is definitely sprouting through. Tippy has also suddenly become trickier to catch.

So, as to avoid any risk of her getting laminitis, I am monitoring her waistline very carefully. I'm making sure she isn't getting too much hard feed and I've stopped giving her hay in the field. If the grass carries on growing, I'm going to have to get out and put the electric fence up, which is never an enjoyable task as it's always twisted in about a million knots. Tippy won't be happy then!

Hi everyone

Laura and Thomas here:

The sun cream is packed and I’m all ready. Slight problem with the suitcase, apparently all my clobber won’t fit but after at big squeeze and sitting on it for the whole of Hollyoaks last night it finally shuts! So I’m ready to go.

I have said my goodbyes to the horses and am leaving them in the capable hands of my mum while I’m away. I think Thomas is looking forward to a week off, out in the field chilling out, although I am sure he will miss me a little bit.

Joker's leg is mending well, it is still all bandaged up so that it doesn’t grow any proud flesh or get too sore but he can go out a bit more so he’s a little happier.

I hope those of you with your half term coming up next week are looking forward to your break, the weather is not supposed to be too bad so you can get some good hacking in.

I will have lots of pics to show you all when I get back!

Bye for now

Jennie here:

Meet the newest member of The Horse Trust’s family!

Bailey is a 24-year-old, 16.2hh, Hanoverian cross gelding. He’s spent the last 15 years working at Heathrow Farm, an RDA Centre near Heathrow Airport.

He’s a very gentle horse and will do anything anyone asks of him so he was super popular with the disabled riders he helped and will be sorely missed. But, it was time for him to start to enjoy a slower pace of life and really chill out though.

You can go and visit him and his new friends at the Horse Trust’s Home of Rest for horses. Log onto www.thehorsetrust.co.uk for more info.

Hi everyone

Sarah and Tippy here:

The H+P office has been getting ready for our visit to BETA next week - that's the British Equestrian Trade Association's annual fair. It's where all the equestrian companies showcase their new products for the year ahead.

It will be really cool as we'll get a sneaky preview of all the cute pony stuff which will be available to buy over the summer and even into next autumn and winter. We'll be able to tell you exactly which colours are going to be big and which will suit your fave ponies.

Anyway, must dash got to finish packing everything for our stand!

See-yah!

Jennie here:

Woo hoo, it’s Easter soon which means we’re just around the corner from a nice long weekend. And you know what time off school means… more riding!

On Good Friday, March 21, kick start a horsey weekend by going along to the Lambourn Open Day.

In the morning trainers’ yards will be open, as well as Kingwood Stud, to look around – you might even see a horse in a swimming pool!

During the afternoon there will be tonnes of cool things to watch. Some of the leading national hunt jockeys will be racing against each other – including AP McCoy. There will be a Shetland Pony Grand National and Pony Club mounted games, a farrier demo, a dog agility comp and bungee jumping. Plus there will be over 70 trade stands open from 10am.

That’s one chock-block day out! Entry is £12 per person but under 12s get in free. Or, you can go in after 1.30pm for just £6. For more info log onto www.lambourn.info/

Check back on the H+P blogs over the next coming weeks to find out what other cool horsey stuff you could pack your long weekend full of!

Hi everyone

Sarah and Tippy here:

It's been a funny old week in the H+P office.

I had to have a few days off due to a family bereavement - so was feeling very sad. Everyone pulled together though and helped look after Tippy while I was feeling down. It was amazing as it was so cold at the stables but no one seemed to mind and mucked in mucking out and caring for her. So a BIG thanks to everyone who's helped me on the yard and in the office. It's nice to know you all care so much.

And then to top it all off - my car broke down! I just laughed about it though as it just stopped working and no one was hurt or put out too much. Hey ho, it's fixed now though.

I don't know how much longer my run of bad luck will last, so if you hear I've fallen off Tippy don't be alarmed!

Hey guys

Laura and Thomas here:

I’m back from my holidays now and it almost seems like I have never been away!

After landing in London last Sat, I skipped up to BETA (the trade fair) on Sunday to help out on the stand and then was back in the office again!

Now that the weather is finally on the turn I am doing some fencing in the paddocks this weekend to keep the ponies off the spring grass. If we are not careful they will be getting too fat - even this early on you need to be cautious. So let's hope that the weather is nice this weekend or I'll be stuck out in the field in the wet!

Wish me luck!

Laura

Hi everyone

Laura and Thomas here:

We best be getting our shoes shined! As H+P sponsors The Pony Club showjumping champs, we’re off to the Pony Club conference at Aintree next week and the Princess Royal will be there. Very exciting, I have practiced my curtsey ready in case we get an invite to shake hands. Ginger McCain, who trained Red Rum and Amberleigh House (Grand National winners) will be doing a talk along with Jen and Sarah from the H+P team so it should be a good day out.

But yet more exciting than mixing with royalty, it’s mine and Jennie's birthday next week. I become a grow-up on Tuesday - turning 21 and Jennie becomes a little wiser turning 24 on Friday, so it will be birthday card central in the H+P office!

Hi everyone

Sarah and Tippy here:

A strange thing happened this week. Tippy got a new neighbour - for a few days anyway.

Rocky, the racehorse, was coming to stop on the yard for three weeks but ended up stopping for just two days. He arrived on Monday night and left again on Wednesday evening. After the hustle and bustle of a racehorse training yard, he couldn't cope with the stress-free lifestyle at Tippy's. He was stabled in one of the outside stables and didn't like not being able to see any of the other horses.

He could just see Tippy in her field if he craned his neck and she stood at the top end, near the gate, but she didn't want to stop there and he got very lonely. Poor Rocky! So his owners decided he would be better off going to a busier yard.

Jennie here:

I’m having a girly sleepover with three of my best mates on Friday night. We’ve got loads of romantic comedies on DvD to watch, plenty of icecream and popcorn and we plan on having a real good girly gossip.

Before that, though, Sarah, Laura and I are going to have a camera day. Apparently it’s not just a case of point and shoot. There’s lots of other stuff to think about when taking a top quality snap e so we’re following a course together tomorrow.

We’re meeting at Laura’s house and will be using the woods nearby as our studio!

Promise to put some up on the website when we’re back in the office.

Have a good leap year everyone! x