Sunny and the disappearing splints

Sunny with splints Ferrymead ODE 2005 with Sharpie riding him

Sunny now - no splints.

Sunny in our hay day. Fantastic day hunting!!

Gus has arrived

Well He certainly is huge!! Our average 17HH look tiny compared to Gus. Sharpie is 6'4" standing next Gus he looks about my height. Ayla the little bay is 15.1HH Will get more photos over the next wee while - here are some to get started with ...

RIP Jazz

Had to make the decision to put Jazz to sleep. She was ready and while it is never a happy occasion she went peacefully with her family around her. I choose to have her cremated and met a lovely lady in Tai Tapu at Loving Tributes that did the cremation for me.

Once the weather warms up and the mud clears up we will scatter her out around the jump paddock and the arena. The day will make itself known when the time is right. In the mean time she has pride of place on the end of the island in the kitchen where she can keep an eye on us.

Sunday Riding

Not a good photo but record of day 1 Cruise!!

Just little L and me but boy did we get some horses ridden!! Started out with Bo and L on Sun. Had a fantastic plod round the 8k block. Manged to keep Bo's head all the way and no jogging home - very pleased with that as it has been my pet hate for years. Not to say he won't jog next time but if we can do it once....
Had some spaghetti, hash browns and bacon for lunch to give me strength to do some hooves. Did a tiny tidy up on Bo and took a pile of bar out of Cruise. He has good feet just (IMO) too much bar.
Saddled up Cruise and Minty, just a doodle round the farm block. P came with us on JJ. Have a wee way to go with Cruise - some communication issues - my right is his left so we has some trouble understanding each other. Something to work on in the evenings in the arena. He was good on the stones which impressed me. Will take him a wee bit to work out he feels better with out the bars and that we can play together nicely. Looking forward to our next ride!!
Last but not least we saddled up Lady and put L on Ayla. L has done such a good job of getting Sun back to a ridable horse I thought she could start on Ayla. Had a lovely doddle round the farm block. L started out a bit nervous but figured that when she had trouble getting Ayla to even walk out that she was not going to have too much bother. Good start to their partnership!! Lady good - have bid on a smaller saddle for her. The big ones are way too long in the back for her. Something I have thought about for a while...

Fantastic Riding weekend

Might be missing S but have kept busy. Brother and SIL down from Auckland came out to visit and meet new horse Saturday affo. Had a plod round the block. I was on Bo. SIL on Solly the mountain - who has an new admirer, L and her friend on Minty and Sun. Good ride. Came home and had a play with Cruise the new boy - interesting!! Then bought Lady in while Bro and SIL visited the girls next door. She went well, Mum (taxi for Bro) thought she was coming along well and hopped aboard. Very privileged, thinks our Lady might hold her own in the cob ring next season. Plan is for me to take her to a few and check out the young horse then Mum has promised to think about taking her on and doing a few shows with her. Gives me motivation to make an even better job of her. Would be delighted if all comes out in the wash and my Mum was happy to show one of my horses. Go Lady!!!!

BIG Weekend!!

Friday night was Mum's 70th birthday, good time had by all. First time the whole family has been together in a long time. Good to catch up the ones from Auckland!! Did not stay as long as we could have as had to get home to finish getting S ready to go to Singapore.
Got him away - very pleased he can text and ring me, am missing him quite a bit. We also have a new camera and I understand I have some fancy jewelry ... tax free day in Singapore and the jeweler had a half price sale..... go the credit card!!!
Unfortunately - or otherwise there don't seem to be any saddlery's over there... bugger.
After dropping S off I picked the a new horse. Yes friends and supporters I can hear you from here - another one!! Bought him from the same lady as Bo and while this one is in no better condition he is still rather nice. He had my vote when we loaded him on the side of the road in the rain and he felt like he was going to run me over to get into the float. S has the camera so have taken a pic on my phone. Will try to get it on here. Bought him without seeing him - got bitten last time so a bit wary when I went to get on him - figure he might do for A and / or her boyfriend - now I have ridden him I have created a family feud. I think he feels a 'possible' with a bit of feed and some muscle tone. As I understand it he has not been ridden for 6 months...

Lady update

Have been riding Lady lately. Is good to be able to get on her and she copes with my weight. For a start she struggled with my weight and her being so small (150cm at October measuring). Compared to the others she is soooo small. Anyway I have found our issues were mostly caused by me not using a wide enough saddle on her so we now have the same gullet size for her as we use on the 17 handers - she is VERY wide for her size. She loves to hack out - does a 4km hack no trouble and ponies off the big ones for a 10 km hack.
Her schooling in the arena is mixed. She is much happier out hacking. Mostly we have a good session in the arena but her stubborn moments are slightly more frequent in the arena.
Pretty sure she is ready for more and have booked P to do a bigger hack with us as soon as we get a fine free weekend. Probably not this weekend looking at the forecast!!

PC day at Hororata

Took Sun as a taxi to the PC day at the XC course while I instructed on Sunday. I love that old pooh of a horse!!! He thought we were hunting again - impeccably behaved while we did a warm up with the kids. Wandered along like an old pro leading out the ride. Did not miss a beat while I rode back and forth trying to help the kids figure out jumping.
Tried to lead some of them over the jumps. Suns thought he was in heaven!! First jump I looked down and he stopped for me - embarrassing but good for the kids to see the instructor make a mistake and then fix it. Had a ball. He did get a bit above himself once we started getting stuck into it. A few bucks and airs above ground. Had to laugh at the fool when he backed himself down a ditch and then into a tree. Either I am getting to be a better rider or he is getting soft in his old age. I had no trouble sitting the nonsense and just laugh at him. Such a good day. No sign of soreness / puffiness the next day and he had risen up the paddock rank to top PITA over night. Think he felt good to be out and having fun. Quietly have my fingers crossed we can manage a few hunts next year - felt so good to be out and about JUMPING!!!

Bo

What is it about me and cheeky chestnut horses!! Bo wanders in and out of the tack room at will. No stress no bother. P left the door open and the pooh trail says it all as does the carrot snot on the internal door beside the feed room. Thank goodness I had too much junk in the door way and he could not get right into the feed. He was right it was tea time, he was long gone by the time I found the evidence. We now have to tie him up or open and close the sliding glass door as we walk in and out with saddles and stuff as he has learnt to push the door open if it is just a little open. He does love to have his head in the door while I make up the feeds. He and Sun make a good pair. A lovely friendly horse - fantastic nature.

Ellesmere Dressage day

Well I have bit to catch up on. Had the Ellesmere dressage day way back in May sometime. A good day had by all. A few pictures from a friend as we all forgot cameras.

Sun had a blast being side saddle pony for the day. Rach really looked good in all her gear. Sun did her proud with a 3rd or 4th - knew I should have done this closer to the day!!

The 3 orange ponies are Sun, Bo and OT. The handsome man standing next to me is my darling. Would be lost without him. WE missed photos of JJ, Minty and Connor. Mum had a fantastic day on Jacky - won both her classes. P had a good day on both hers with some nice placings. Little L had a good day on Minty with a 2nd and a 3rd. Had entered a couple more but they have been called off due to the rotten weather. Will give me just a wee bit more time to get ourselves sorted!!

Philamon

Philamon (Ages) is a horse I bought as a remedial ride when I was recovering from my knee reconstruction - bout 3 years ago now. He was 17 then and had been turned out for 5-6 years as his old owner had finished with him but did not know what to do with him. He is not an easy horse to ride nor to care for as he is prone to colic. I rode hi for a year - 18 months before we realised we needed different things in life. He loved his hacking and his flat work. He tried hard to become a jumping pony for me but learning to jump at 17 is hard going and his legs did not hold up well. I did learn all sorts of fancy dressage moves on him and had some of the best lessons in my life learning all the fancy stuff. In the end I decided it was best to find another rider for him - I was greedy, Iwanted to keep[ having the lessons but wanted to have a jumping horse too. I tried having him here and having people come to ride him - sort of worked for a while. I tried leasing him to a riding school to teach others what he taught me - total disaster. He came back a shadow of his former self. Lesson learnt!!! Had pretty much thought I had a paddock ornament.

Then Kim came along. I had known Kim for a while but never put her and Ages together. She was working with my daugther and started talking. Short story Kim came out to try him. A match made in heaven.

Here are some pictures of him at his first ever show at 20. I never showed him and neither did his previous owner (she had him since he was 2!!). I understand he got a few ribbons and perhaps created a bit of a fuss. Certainly he held his own against younger horses and more established combinations. Kim has only been riding him for a couple of months. It is 10 years since he did any serious competition.

Bowen time

Sunday morning we had a Bowen session for Bo, Lady, Ayla, Sun and Solly. Good session had by all. Bo was able to bend his neck at the end of his. Homework will be carrot stretches for a long while... Poor boy was pretty sore and mixed up. Lady had her back end sorted, Ayla was in pretty good condition - just missing a wee something so will order some Rosehips as instructed. Sun the old fool was in pretty good nick - just a do over for him. Solly was pretty sore under the saddle so he got a bit of work and his saddle checked. Off to the saddle man on Tuesday to see if we can't sort the saddle out for him.

Lesley bought Norm over for a play and a session. He went very well. A lovely horse. Think he enjoyed his session too if the number of yawns was anything to go by!!

Once the dust settled from all our visitors S and I went out and did a pooh picking session. Pretty certain I am very spoilt. I got to sit on the bike with the the trailer while S shoveled pooh. Do love that man. He has a day off tomorrow and will do the harrowing. Very spoilt me!!

Right tea time for horses and then people...

Start of a big weekend

First up Saturday morning we clipped Lynn's darling Maggie. Not the best picture ... again.
Then Lynn popped over a couple of jumps in the arena. Good time had by all.


After lunch I trimmed Lady, Bo and Sunny - big effort!! First time I have managed 2 big horses and a little one - usually try for 2 little!! Bo's hooves are better and worse than I thought. First time I have done his back ones. He was too sore and unhappy after we took his shoes off. time adn mud fever have been against me all week. Done now.
Then I gave P a hand to clip OT. Last year we had to just about tie the brat up and sit on him to clip him. The clippers were so bad they were a big disappointment. I took them back to the manufacturers service agents and asked them to give them a thorough service as I hated them so much and if they were no better this year I would be selling this set and buying the competitors clippers. These clippers were only a year old and had been such a disappointment. The service people found a faulty bearing and replaced it. Well I was so happy with them and OT was the proof. He stood there beautifully. Big up to Heiniger!!
After that we all saddled up and headed out for a quiet hack around the little farm block. S was on Solly, Little Laura on Sun, P on OT and I was on Bo - 3rd ride ever!! All good until we met up with George down the road and her Skye was on fire - came out the gate like the dogs were on her heels. Poor Bo had no idea what was happening, he is still a bit new to know that anything can happen around here. He found it hard to settle and we spent quite a bit of time reminding him that big horses don't jog. He did finally settle after we dropped Skye home again. Guess we know where our schooling will be focused!!

Bo- Buds mudfever

When I saw Bo at Belfast his legs looked fine. According to his owner he had a tiny bit on both back legs. Was a bit shocked when Ipicked him up - it is pretty bad. Photos taken 19th April 09


Purple stuff is where I started to treated him and remembered the photos DUH. He went from bugger all to right up the leg in about 10 days. Some small patching appearing on his front legs too.
Have been treating it with Tetravet and Cliff McGrouthers Mud Fever cream - just washing the surface grim off each day. Will take more pics at the weekend. He was sound when I saw him at Belfast - as you can imagine he is somewhat less sound now.
Still very keen to go - gotta love a big horse that wants to play!! Had a nice session in the arena tonight. Working on basics like stop here, turn here and just relax big boy. Have a Bowen treatment booked for him on Sunday.

Lady and Rach

Wow what a big day!! Rach came over and gave me a hand to get some photos of Lady so I can put her on the market. With Bud's arrival I need to keep some control on numbers. Lady at 150cm is not going to be big enough for us to call a keeper so she is looking for a person to love her!! Rach is magic tarting up a horse - a real showie!! Lady looked fantastic by the time Rach had finished and Lady enjoyed every minute of it!!

She is still very green and not done much under saddle - will be working on that over the next wee while. She is just getting to the ready stage so feels like the right time to be doing this. As she is just 4 and I think a little slow maturing I have not been in any hurry. Not many Irish Hunters stay this small - just my luck and some one elses gain!!

Bud

Right had a couple of rides and am still in love. Poor lad is in pretty poor condition but we can work on that. Not sure how I manage to always pick up the sadder cases!! Must be to do with the budget I have to spend!! Anyway I have a couple pictures...



As usual I could do with learning to sit on the horse properly!!!

Bankon Warpaint is HERE!!

A quick trip down to Rakaia - loaded on truck beautifully and home without a ruffled feather anywhere. Buddy appears just lovely - a bit too good to be true. Still I might be lucky this time and have a horse to seriously play with. His mud fever is pretty bad on his hind legs. First thing tomorrow is a bucket of warm water and lots of suds to clean them up a bit. Took his shoes off this afternoon and he was pretty sore by the time we finished so did not try pushing to far today.
I did however hop on him for the first time - apart from a wee bit uneven in his back end (I think that is sore from the mudfever) he was lovely. Very bouncy and has a tendancy to want to jog. A polite no we don't do that and he was all good. Did 10 minutes in the arena (have photos to come) and then off on a short hack. Lovely and forward going away which is very nice thank you. Quieter along the back straight and long rein home. Still walking out well but not allowed to walk faster than the others so some light breaking happening - he has such long legs!! Still he walked out well with Solly - our fastest walker. Sun and JJ were lovely too.
He his head down the minute it was thru the gate and only briefly stopped eating for a roll - groaning all the way. Have some ridden photos still on the camera - will have some more tomorrow too

Picking up horse on trial tomorrow

Bit like Christmas - it will be hard getting to sleep tonight!! Saw this horse across the paddock at Belfast ODE and he really caught my eye. Said to S to have a look at this horse - next thing I know S is off talking to the rider - he is good like that. Well this horse is for sale!!! He was headed off on trial the next day and if they did not buy him I would be next in line ... thought that would be the end of that!!

Any way I get an email that Buddy is available and do I want to trial him - of course I do!! So off tomorrow at lunchtime to pick this flash horse up. Haven't ridden him yet so really busting a gut to get him home and have a play!!

Viewed from the off side he is rather gorgeous!! Lots of bling and my favorite colour!!

Check out the near side!!! Now is that a big white face or what!!

Thanks to DM photos we see the full Monty!! Looking forward to getting him home - having a ride and checking out all the bells and whistles.

Have a few girls coming over on Sunday to check him out and give me an opinion so more updates as soon as I can tear my self away!!

Have decided to put Lady on the market. She has been unoffically for sale since I got her. Now need to keep control of numbers so she is first out the door. Will tidy her up over the weekend and get some nice photos. She will not grow much bigger and at 150cm she is tiny compared with the others at 170cm. Will put in some comparison photos to show what I mean. Pity she is not bigger as she is a dream to handle. Fantastic nature and was very easy to start under saddle.

Jazz the dog

Darling Jazz has been my constant friend and companion for 14 years. Guess this is a tribute to her before it is too late to recognise how much I appreciate having her around. She has been a bit down lately - to the point I made the appointment for that final trip only to have her bounce out the door to meet me when I came home to collect her. Have never been so relieved in my entire life to be able to cancel that appointment!!

She had even stopped coming out to check on our progress feeding the horses in the evening. I had missed her presence! Fortunately she is back in better form and keeping us all in line. Her favorite is still to plonk herself down it the track of the circle you are currently riding - guess who moves? Yep not Jazz.

Side saddle

Had a ball riding Sun in Rach's side saddle. Even took him to PC the next day. Learnt a heap from the ladies there - unknown to me they knew a bit about side saddles and could help me get a better idea on how to get the saddle fit right. A few pics follow...

Pretty sure we are not ready for the Royal but with a bit of practice I think Rach wil be out showing Sun next season. When we get together this weekend again we can have another go at the saddle fit thing. Seems to be a never ending trial - does the saddle fit??!!??

Lovely ride

I do love a nice evening ride - nothing exciting just a doddle round the block. Darling on Solly leading OT. Me on Sun leading Ayla. All had a good walk on. Just fantastic!!

Lovely day off

Picked a good day to be home - have been looking forward to it all week. Lovely sunny day - bit of a nip in the air, snow is well down this morning. Good day for getting some hooves done, and I did!!! Sun and Solly got a wee tickle up, both of them looking good. Have another 4 days to get the rest of them done.
I got the harrowing caught up - just yesterdays paddock to do. Very pleased about that. Also had a trip to nearest town to pick up some more tape to finish the last fence.
Have put up a track around the 10 acres. Really surprised me how much more they move around the track. Have 8 paddocks in the middle and the ones near the house so can get a good rotation thing happening. Just have to keep on top of the pooh!!! Having trouble getting the power into the fence - think the earth might be a bit suss. Will work on that over the weekend too.
Off now to ride a horse - think I have done enough to treat myself.

Horse update

Max is away on sleep over at hoof trimmers - bit gutting. Still at least he has the best chance there. Will still be a long journey back to what ever soundness we can find for him. Leaves me in limbo - forking out lots of $$ to get him better - no horse to ride and no $ to find another. Guess that is horses.
Took Ayla to a tiny ODE and it was too much for her. She is still sore and not striding out like she can. Not real signs of lamness just not quite right so she is back on the nurse carefully pile.
Sun has had his first fancy trim and is moving better at the walk. Have put Max's boots on him in the meantime. Like the Easy Boots - Sun seems to too. Still a work in progress but moving better than he has in years - in my dreams we might get another hunt or two if I am patient enough and bring him along slowly. Certainly seeing more improvement in the last 6 months than I have managed in the last 5 years - darn dog tucker!!
JJ also had a fancy trim and my goodness what a difference. Right thing at the right time for that horse. Makes a difference starting with a horse with less issues rather than trying to fix the already broken. Noticing a difference in OT too - getting back to his old self.
Lady and Em doing their growing thing still. Lady is going thru a really akward stage - all belly and no shoulder. Em is just growing and looking better all the time. Must get some photos of them.
Have so many horses and not one to ride - have not cantered a horse in 6 months, slowly going nuts!! Have had a look at a couple but none of them quite right.
Guess I will be slowly walking my darlings for a while longer yet!!!

Blonde!!!

Lost the darn login for the blog - how dumb is that. Well now I have found the peice of paper and am back!! Have a few photos to add - will catch you up on the news as we go!! Racing season finally finished - looking forward to some quiet weekends.



















Sunny decided he liked the look of our lunch preparation so wandered in the door to check out the options for himself.
















L just loves that horse. This is practice day for their first event. She did well but was E in XC as she needed a bit of help with Sunny - the brat. Was 3rd in dressage and clear in SJ. Very good effort!!

















Finally a photo of me riding - not a good one and not one of my finer moments!! Ngmatea Ayla and I playing in the evening...



Just doddling along enjoying the lovely weather - now long gone. Is raining and very cold southerly tonight!!

The 3 stooges!!! From the left - Youngest daughter on her OT, L on Sunny and Oldest daughter on her Connor.

Cuddle time

Me and Max back from a hack with Ayla on the lead and L on Sun for company.