Happy Christmas - and a post-vet update!

So I just thought I would pop on here to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas - hope you have all had a wonderful day. I had quite a quiet Christmas this year as it was a bit of a strange one for us for various reasons, but onwards and upwards - hoping for a happy and successful 2016! I mostly asked for money this year so that I could get my own DSLR instead of stealing my Mum's all the time, so that's been ordered and I'm very excited for it to arrive!

In my last update I mentioned that I was getting the vet out for Emmie. I did, and the conclusion was that she needed further tests to determine the cause for her aggressiveness. We took her over to the vets on the 22nd, where she had to be starved for the night to prepare her for a gastroscope. She had her ovaries scanned first, which didn't reveal anything (aside from that they are very active!) so they then moved onto the scope.

I AM still alive...

It has been a rather long time since my last blog post, but life has been insane recently! I thought I would just give you all a little update on me and my crazy mare.

Competition Report - Shelford (2)

I went to the second competition at Shelford on Thursday. It was great that they ran a midweek event, as it meant I didn't need to use up any holiday on it - it was already on my day off! 

My superstar pony was back. We had a fabulous day! 

Competition Report - Skipton (2)

Last Sunday we went back up to Skipton for their second horse trials of the season. I really like the XC at skipton, but their dressage arena placement is not for us (right next to the XC warm up/start), and the journey there is outright horrible - both this and last time we ended up going through the middle of Bradford! We found a different route on the way back but the journeys have just been quite stressful.

I had late times, so at least that was nice - she stayed out the night before and I had time to plait up in the morning before setting off. I was slightly dissapointed walking the XC as I was hoping for a little bit of a change on the course - nope. It was pretty much exactly the same as last time! At other events where I have attended multiple ones at the same venue, they usually change things up a bit. I think there was one fence that they had turned into a combination and the rest was the same.

Competition Report - Frickley

Frickley is a really local event for me, and I placed 5th here in the 90 last year which automatically means you have slightly higher expectations. But neither of us were on our A game and I left feeling a bit "blah" about it all!

I managed to get over and walk the cross country the day before, and was feeling pretty good about that part. A friend was competing in the 80 so I watched her SJ, and one thing a lot of people were saying was that the arena was very uneven, which it was.

So I went home and got Emmie all ready, and bravely turned her back out in the field (she's much happier out) ready for an early start.

Product Review - Prolite Girth

So a lot of people (including myself) have been waiting in anticipation for the new Prolite girth to come out. I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and have been using it on both my saddles since. 

The new girth is the only real copy of the Fairfax girth, which we have already heard a lot about. So in theory it is the same girth (but synthetic) at a fraction of the price, which is why I was eager to try it. 

Competition Report - Buckminster Park

Wow, what a day! I am so tired but wanted to get this blog post done while the event was still fresh. I need to make sure I keep on top of doing that, then it's a much better record of my events!

Anyway, today we were at Buckminster Park to compete in the BE100. It was my first time at Buckminster, so I wasn't too sure what it would be like, but it was a great event and one I'd love to return to! 

Competition Report - Skipton Horse Trials

I'm finally here with another blog post... woops! Sorry about that gap! I'm terrible with these things!

So it's been a month since I last posted, and in the past month I have taken and passed my trailer test (WOO!) and also been arena eventing at Port Royal, where she was a really good girl.

Last weekend we went to Skipton in North Yorkshire for our first affiliated BE100 of the year, and our first one since Richmond last year. Cue not being able to sleep the night before due to nerves... not something I usually suffer from, but I was so worried that we weren't ready for it!

Competition Report - Shelford Manor Horse Trials

On the 26th May (sorry, very late blog post!) we went over to Shelford Manor in Nottingham to compete in the unaffiliated BE100 class there. I had to do the UA as the affiliated event ran over the bank holiday, which I have to work. We had a great day out, as you can see in the photo below - all smiles! 

Competition Report - Vale View Arena Eventing

Unfortunately my event at Richmond was cancelled due to the weather, so we re-routed to Vale View to do some Arena Eventing.

Lesson: Positivity goes a long way!

Last week I went for another lesson at Osberton. Emmie was a total superstar!

Lesson: Bitting nightmare..

I went for a lesson at Osberton last Wednesday in preparation for my next event. I got her off the box and she was quite tense warming up - she was a bit rushy and not really accepting the bit. When I started jumping she was rushing a lot, so Mark had us go back to trot and just work on getting her to come a bit lower and relax into my hands. After she was good in trot, we went back into canter and did the same, using a lot of yeilding. Mark is very good at getting me to ride more off my seat and use my legs and seat to move her around, so he had me doing plenty of that.

Event Report - Norton Disney BE90

So on Saturday I did my first event of the year in the BE90 at Norton Disney. I've been suffering quite badly with the flu, so I wasn't on my best form, and the weather only just started to brighten up later in the day. I was really pleased with her, she didn't really do anything particularly wrong or naughty, there are just lots of things to work on for the next one!

Schooling Video

Hopefully this blog will help me to track Emmie's progress throughout the year, so I'm starting with a little flatwork video from today. I had to balance my phone on the arena door so it took lots of editing to take out the not-in-view parts, so bear with the repetitiveness!

I think there are a few things to like and lots of things to work on , but that's all good.

You may need to change the viewing quality on the video, as it is automatically going quite low on my computer.

A balancing act of work and horses...

Hello there!

I thought I would do a little post on balancing life, as I think this is very important and is something that I struggle with. I have a particularly time consuming job (as an animal keeper at a wildlife park) and a time consuming hobby (eventing). It's a pretty big struggle trying to cram anything in between those!

Hello!

I have decided to create a little blog just to document and share things that happen with me and my horse, Emmie, in our everday life.

I guess I should start out with the introduction!