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 

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...

What Is An Anky Pad? In short, a numnah. This pad is a bit like a polypad but better!!! I got mine for just under £50 from a local tack shop, I had been searching for a blue pad for a while but nothing was coming up, then I found this one and had to have it. I bought the pad very much on impulse and probably wouldn't have if I had longer to contemplate spending £50 on a product i'd never seen or used before. There was a brief moment where I put the pad down, but they only had one in blue so I quickly picked it back up. There was a matching pair of Bridleway bell boots so I got those too, but more about my bell boot choices another time! For Gigi I chose the Baltic Sea Dressage Pad, I did not see any other shape options in the shop and I use this pad with my GP saddle, I believe you can get ones made for jumping saddles and the writing on these reads "ATC" there are also matching boots and bandages available in the Anky range. Personally I like the look of the dre...

Micklem Vs. Stubben Gigi In Her Stubben Bridle Okay, it could be any bridle but in this case I will be comparing my new Micklem with my previous Stubben. Firstly I love my Stubben bridle, it fits Gigi perfectly, is a lovely shade of brown and is amazing quality all round. I love that I have a choice whether I want to use the flash or not and the fittings are all brass coloured. If a piece breaks I know I can easily find another to replace it. I have had this bridle for almost 3 years, it has matching plaited reins and the shade of brown matches my other tack amazingly. I recently got my Micklem bridle as I had heard about them and wanted to try one for myself. I got the multibridle as the fittings are all brass coloured, the competition bridle has stainless steel fittings. The multibridle also has a loop on the noseband, this means the bridle doubles up as a lunge cavesson. There is less bulk on Gigi's face when lunging. There are also a few other ways to use the multibri...

Sywell Horse Show Sywell show is a local show to me, it is run once a year and takes me about 20 minutes to hack over. Me and Gigi have been to this show three years running and have tried a variety of classes. We mostly do show jumping however we have tried some showing classes in the past. I don't show Gigi very often due to her rubbed patch of hair. The show jumping at Sywell is often challenging and the course is designed by one of my favourite course designers. The show is also run on grass, I normally attend shows with arenas due to having a lot of amazing equestrian centers locally. This year Sywell show was a qualifier for the Sunshine Tour held at Hickstead.  80cm 80cm 80cm 90cm 90cm 90cm Jump Off 90cm Jump Off  The Sunshine Tour The sunshine tour is one of the biggest unaffiliated championships in the UK. It runs for 3 days and offers Dressage, Showing, Show Jumping and open classes. There is also the option to keep yo...