Hey All,

Hilary here:

Hope everyone’s had a good Easter. Practices stopped for the holidays but started again last Friday. After two weeks it was surprising how naturally everything fell back into place. There were only a couple of occasions where we went wrong.

The whole ride has now been choreographed and it is looking really good. Did you know there’s only 164 days to go (or less!) so I hope you have got your HOYS tickets booked? All our practices now will be spent perfecting the moves.

The High School Musical music is being added and we are all looking forward to hearing it. We don’t know which tunes are being used yet. My vote is for “We’re All in this Together” to be in it! Which High School Musical song would you vote for?

The Dressage to Music ride at Hartpury was a huge success and all the riders had a lot of fun.We have got a lot to live up to!

Until next time, keep riding
Hilary

Hello peeps,

Laura here:

The Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championships are on the way this summer but who do you think will make the squad this year? In showjumping my money is on Robert Whitaker – he had a wicked time at the British Open and was the champion for the umpteenth time in a row. In dressage, I’m hoping it will be Laura Bechtolsheimer. She's really been in the spotlight since H+P first met her 2006.

You can now support your GBR team with the new range of Toggi Team GBR supporters collection in patriotic red, white and blue.

Including gilets, sweatshirts, shirts and baseball caps. You can look good for a good cause too as a percentage of the profits go to help support the British International Teams. Find your local Team GBR stockist check out www.toggi.com
or email sales@toggi.com or Tel: 0113 270 7000

TOP comp alert!!!!
Keep an eye out in the July issue of H+P, on sale June 5, as we’ve got a top competition lined up where you can win tickets to the Alltech FEI Jumping and Dressage Championships which is begin held at Windsor Castle on the 25–30 August. Wow!

Goodbye!

Hannah here:

It’s a very sad day for me today because I’m leaving H+P to work where I live in Norwich (quite a long way from the H+P office!)

I’ll really miss everyone, but will keep in touch. I had all the jokes about being car

eful when I’m gone as everyone seems to find my fight with the cyclist quite amusing! I’ve got loads of wicked memories from H+P like chatting to Geoff Billington at Your Horse Live, meeting the Cheshire Hunt North PC mounted games team at HOYS (and seeing Katie Price warm up backs

tage) and my evening interview was top jockey Hayley Turner, too many to list!! I hope Sarah and Laura won’t forget me too quickly, although I bet Sarah will be glad not to have to drive late at night to pick me up from the hospital…!! Keep on riding and watch out for cyclists!

Bye!

Hi from Hannah and Maisy!

Maisy and me had a busy Easter Holidays. I took my Mini Riding and Road Sense Badge. I learnt what to take on a hack and what to wear. We practiced where to ride on a road and learnt how to signal. I had to dress up in loads of florescent clothes too.

I also did my How to be Lunged badge. Maisy was really well behaved on the lunge, whilst I had to learn how to do rising trot without stirrups. That's really hard work!

I also did two training rallies for endurance. One was great fun - we had to practice taking water bottles from someone on the ground at trot and slosh our ponies with it. Maisy kept shaking her head and I got soaked! We had to practice this so when we are in a competition we don’t lose time slowing down or stopping to wash down and cool off the ponies.

Last Saturday, 24 members from Whaddon Chase (my PC Branch) took their First Aid course with St Johns. I had a great time learning how to see if someone is breathing and how to bandage an arm.

Heather got bandaged up!

We learnt how to resuscitate someone who has stopped breathing.

We are going to Thetford this weekend and do an endurance ride. But I can't wait for the weekend after as I'm going to the Royal Windsor Horse Show to take part in the PC ride!

Hello peeps

Laura here:

Just a quick blog today, off to Badminton Horse Trials this weekend to cheer on all the eventers at the first big comp of the year. I’m going to be cheering on Ruth Edge and Mayhem III. We went to meet Ruth at her yard a few years ago and she was so nice, although I’ll also give a big cheer for Oli T, who’s now an H+P columnist. He’s giving you guys some great advice. Check out the column in the June issue of the magazine - on sale now!

Have a good weekend you guys!

Laura

PS You can buy the June issue and all the other top H+P mags in our online shop

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/bpgmags_Horse-Pony-Magazine_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ131652119QQftidZ2QQtZkm

Hi everyone

Sarah and Tippy here:

Just wanna say big congrats to H+P columnists: Oliver Townend (and the gorgeous Flint Curtis) on his Badminton win, and also to Mr Puissance himself showjumper William Whitaker.

How high can he jump over the big red wall? Despite having a near miss with Leonardo at the British Open, he somehow scraped over and won! He shared the prize with himself also, riding newbie horse Cyber Space, and cousin Ellen (Whitaker). If that wasn't enough, he then won the Royal Windsor Horse Show puissance, with Cyber Space, a couple of weeks later. Can anyone jump higher than Will? I know I can't!

Don't forget you can catch up with top advice from Oliver Townend in H+P every month, whilst finding out what William's been up to. Wow! (And there's still time to grab a copy of the June issue for your chance to win a day with William, thanks to his sponsors Tuffa. Entries close June 5 - so hurry!)

Oh, and if you want to grab a poster of Oliver at Badminton... now is your chance, get on that poster vote now!

Hi everyone

Laura here:

Wow, what a busy few weeks we’ve been having. Since Hannah left, it’s been all hands to the H+P decks.

I seem to be up and down the countyall the time at the moment which is great but rather tiring too! You know you’ve been down to the south west too many times when you can find your way to the M5 without the use of a map or a sat nav!

First of all, we went to Badminton and how cool was it to see Oli win? He really did deserve it - well done to him and obviously to Flint Curtis as well, he couldn’t have done it without him!

After Badminton, we skipped on down to Cornwall to meet Spotty the Pony, who you’ll get to hear all about in the August issue, and there was also time for a bit of trekking as well, before dashing back up the motorway so I made it the my YFC competition day on Saturday. I was glad I did come back as my flower arrangment really wowed the judges and I won – get me, a florist, sometimes I wonder if there are any limits to my talents!!!

The theme for the flower arranging was climate change. Do you get it - melting ice?

Then on Monday, to Devon to meet the guys from the Dartmoor and West Spooners branch of the PC. One big 'hi' to Lauren, Sam and Lucy and their ponies Roma, Billy Whizz and Daisy. I also dropped in on one of team GB’s top Olympic athletes, who nabbed a silver medal at the Olympics last year... you'll get to find out who in the August issue of H+P!

Buy for now

Laura

Hi guys

Sarah and Tippy here:

Hope you've had a fantastic and horsey half term hol. H+P Towers have been bathed in sunshine nearly all week - except when Laura went to visit H+P riding expert Anna Baxter at Mill House, Leics. It was cloudy and rainy then! Actually thinking about it, Laura nearly always gets rained on... I'm starting to see a trend here... looks like I should be the one getting out and about.

Anyway, we've both just got back from visiting Maddy, Erin and Emma at Grasslands EC. The ladies posed for a photo-story for H+P, really getting into the spirit of things. Ponies Muffin and Alfie were total pro too! Brill!

I'm going to be seeing Tippy this weekend, so I'll give her a big pat from you peeps!