H.A.Y Equestrian

The Title Says It All! Guess Who If you guessed it's of Gigi then you would be correct! I can't thank my artist Amy Valentine enough. I Got my tattoo done at a shop called Fat Fugu, it's close to where I live in Northampton, UK. You should check them out, there are so many talented artists. I gave Amy a few photos of Gigi and told her the style I wanted, this is the outcome. A mandala of Gi, including her markings, It looks just like my beautiful girl.  The reference I sent to Amy 

It Gets Worse... This year has not been the easiest, its probably been one of the most frustrating years yet. Earlier this year Gigi suffered from an unfortunate kick in the field. This happened twice a couple months apart, the first kick was obvious... Little lameness, stiff and sore of course, this healed relatively quickly. The second kick however...this one was much worse. Gigi was lame for over a month and the injured area was much harder to find. The second kick got Gigi on the inside of her back leg, she was unable to put weight on the affected leg. The vets prescribed her antibiotics, pain medication and rest, over a month of rest. This worked, Gigi got better but the timing was so bad. We were booked to go to a horse trials in a couple of weeks (this was booked before the injury), I had no idea what to do, pull her out of the competition or go for it. The grass was rich and Gigi was fed whilst she was off (not a lot but enough to disguise her drugs), she was getting...

Apologies!  I'm sorry, recently I have been neglecting this poor blog. I've been swamped with work, juggling 2 jobs just to pay the bills, trying to fit in riding my pony and going to the gym. However that's about to change. My job in polo has come to an end, last match of the season is in a week so I am no longer needed to exercise the horses. I have taken up more hours at the cinema although I fear it won't be enough! Seeing as I now have spare time again, I have decided to revive this blog!  Up To You So I have some things noted that I will write about, but the big question is: What Would You Like To See? Comment below and follow this space!

The Equine Digestive System I drew this diagram whilst I was at college, as you can see it's of Gigi! I thought I would upload it to my blog to help anyone who needs it! Click To Enlarge

Check out parts #1 and #2  Confidence on the Cross Country Jumping cross country can be pretty daunting, the solid jumps and pace take a little to get used to, but there is no reason why you can't go out and have fun on the XC course. I only started XC with Gigi last year, we didn't have the opportunity to go out and give it a go before then , the closest we had been was jumping the occasional small log. So when we got the opportunity to go out to a cross country course we wanted to make the most of it.  The Venue Pick a nice venue, well kept, good quality jumps. This really helps to settle some nerves. Just knowing the ground and jumps are of good quality helps. A good quality venue will also have similar jumps of varying sizes, this is helpful for getting used to what the jump looks like, then going up a bit.  Company Take a friend, a confident friend will help, or one with more experience. Use them as a lead from the start, jump a few fen...

Here are 5 tips to making life at the stables during winter that little bit easier. With short days, bad weather and dark nights, working horses around work can be a difficult job. I love having my horse but some days I just need to make my life easier, here are 5 of my life hacks. 1. An alternative to tying haynets These little babies make life so much easier when tying nets up, just attach one to the string of the net and clip to the underside to secure the net to a ring.  I have done this to all of my haynets, they work so well, especially with a horse who normally untied the nets and throws them in poo during the night.  2. Steaming Haynets  Okay you might think "not everyone can afford that luxury" well think again. Everyone can afford a hay steamer, they are super easy and cheap to make. Simply get an old wheelie bin, barrel, container with a lid and a cheap wallpaper steamer from a local hardware store.  Remove the ste...

As me and Gigi enter 2016 the mud seems to increase. Winter is the worst time of year for staying clean and dry, Gigi is a very clean pony but even she can't escape the mud. I like to keep Gigi's tail long and full so I needed to find a product to help keep it from becoming a huge lump of mud. I took a trip down to the local tack store and found a product called a Tail-Braid. I had done previous research into tail bag and braid products but as I've no experience with them I don't know what's best. I have seen waterproof and Lycra material tail bags online, all of which fasten just below the dock with Velcro. As the braid was the only option in the shop I bought one and took it home to try out. The braid before use  The brand of tail braid I bought How Does The Tail-Braid Work The tail braid works by putting sections of the tail inside and plaiting them together then tying it off at the bottom. This then provides a protective layer over the tail, which will h...