Busy Day.

 

Had a great day yesterday, started to train for Extreme Mountain Trail.

The only course in the UK, did pretty good, here`s a few shots from the arena prep, and some from the Trail course, I have a lot to do!

Feeling pensive!

Tyres!  Not easy.

Bridge and sharp turn downhill.

Having a look see? Does`nt look too inviting.

Someone told me to expect the worst, and plan for it!

Fortunately, we did. as some of you may know we set off last Sunday to ride from Callander to Newtonmore in Scotland. Some 189 miles, not a big ditance in world affairs, but big enough if things do not go well. Day one started with a hint of rain, with a stiff breeze blowing down Glen Ogle, it slowly deteriorated into a full blown gale, with hail, rain and sleet, with the odd snowflake thrown in! By the time we had done 10 miles, we were soaked, and dispite gearing up for cold a wet, I didnt have a single part of me that was not wet!

By lunch time, we had decided that with the horses shivering in this cold, and wet, we would call a temporary halt. Unsaddling was fun, cold numb fingers trying to undo buckles! Anyway, we managed, and a few hours later, with no phone signal, we found some overnight grazing. This was supposed to be flaming June! Hot and sunny, no chance! We had picked one of the worst weeks for doing our trip, and for the next 3 days we were battered with 70 mile an hour winds and all that comes with it! Rivers flooded, trees down trails blocked, our very own tent flattened,and to top it all off, water in the cell phones! The only thing that worked was the stove! At least we ate. finally after three days stuck in the same place and no respite, we called in the back up team. Craig arrived, all smiles? But we straightened him out. Our next destination should have been Glen Tilt and then Glen Marr, but the rivers for horses had become really to dangerous, and we needed to get clothes and saddle pads dried out. Friends in the Great Glen helped us out, and how! Finally with clothes and tack dried out, sleeping bags dry we set off on the last two days of our trip, yes it rained, and yes it was windy, but no where near as bad as what had been. It was to be a quite sobering last two days, as we heard that 4 people had been killed due to the weather in our own community. Here is a few of the pictures we managed.  Tranquility on the last day. 

This video was of the Commemoration, of the Center of Scotland Stone. Which we arrived in time for.

Never have  I known such weatherin June, never seen snow either, totally extraordinary. Sorry there isnt much more folks.

Away Again!

We are off again! Today one of our Big Rides, 8 days, 200 miles, carrying everything, well almost we do have a back up truck.  So I`ll post again when I get back. Happy trails everyone!

Gracie Turns 14 Years

It came to me today, that my main riding horse has reached the ripe old age of 14 years. I really dont know where it has gone.  So I have put together a small album of her from when she chose me. Her she is at 5 years old.

Here she is crossing the Cheviot hills at 8 years old.

Here at 10 years old, with friends.She has started to grey out.

Finally, at 12 years old, in the rain, in the hills, where she is at home. Gracie prefers the wild places, with me out and about, no arenas, no competitions and no grief. Go where we can and cover what ground we can. Long may she continue.

5 Star Pad update:

Its now been a couple of months since the pad arrived, so we now have 19 rides on it. Not long rides a couple of hours and some hill work thrown in.
So far all is going exceedingly well! Initially the pad had no form, and when fitted to the horse, and saddled up, tended to roll when getting onboard. A bit disconcerting! But 5 Star did say that.
It was a bad time for a new pad, all horses were casting, and (shedding) with that amount of hair the pad needed constant cleaning. Which neatly brings me to that point, 5 Star supply a sponge pad for use in gently rubbing away the hair, using circular motions. This was not always effective. So I reverted to my own time homoured method, the wet hand! Worked a treat.

Back to the horse, now I am not in favour of bathing horses, nor am I the most fastidious of groomers, however, the saddle area, cinch area are always free from dirt etc.
Yesterday was my 19th ride, the pad has settled into the shape of my horse, and does not roll or move imn any way and hasnt since the 6th ride. There is certainly less cinching, I have a dry horses back when the pad is removed, there is no uneven pressure points and I have a happy horse. She is certainly moving more freely on turns and has improved her walk. longer strides, more fluid.

I did find a slight problem with myself during this, and that was, sighting the pad, on the horses back, I know should be easy as I do it all the time. But heres the thing, I find that now with the 32 inch length, I have 3 inches of pad infront and behind the saddle all the time. There is no slippage!  No rocking, and no ruffled hair on the horses back at all.

The Pad has taken on the shape of the horses back, and my saddle although fitted good before, and I dont know how to discribe this, is sitting just excellently, But it sat well before? Not sure what I`m saying here, but I feel a lot more "balanced?"
Anyway, there we are, money well spent, and I dont have a lot to waste! So here is the latest photo, of the pad, sorry about the dirt!  It brushes off!! As you can see everything touches in the right places!

Another Addition.

And here she is, a nice new filly foal! Foaled while I was away in Turkey, and how I wanted to be there for the birth. Nevermind all was taken care of. She is a week old now, and looking a bit darker.

New Addition!

New addition, arrived this morning, around........well somewhere between Midnight and 0700hrs! Sunny, the mare, no sign of foaling at all, infact she hasnt bagged up at all yet, she is giving some milk, but we have had to buy in Horse Colostrum. Been tested for antibodies and hase plenty, so blood tests tomorrow, and if all is well, the field the next day. Still waiting for another Appaloosa foal.

Saddle pad Review: 5 Star Saddle Pad.

I recently purchased a 5 Star saddle pad, mainly due  to a constant search for the “right” pad.  My most recent pad was the Full Monty Saddle pad by Cavallo. However sweat and heat have been an issue.

I did my research on the 5 Star Pads, for many months, spoke to various users, and read all the blurb.  They do various sizes and thicknesses, designs,  and also have a Custom Order process.

Wool has been used for such a long time, as a saddle pad, with good reason, it wicks away sweat, keeps the horses back dry and has a good compression rate. But back to my purchase.

The felt used has a very high percentage of Virgin Marino Wool, the felt has a compression ratio of 6 psi,  giving good protection for the horse.

I have done 11 rides on this pad,  various routes and plenty of arena work. All the while Gracie has been casting like mad! Initially, I thought the pads thickness would be an issue, when cinching up, I need`nt have worried, by the 7/8th ride the pad had begun to shape to the horses back, this was made easier by the built in French curve. The pad is in two halves, attached by internal stitches and leather wearers. It has a large gullet hole, and after a particularly long  4 hour ride, the pad was damp with sweat, but the horses back was dry! And more important, the imprint of the horses back and saddle tree were one! My pad is a 32x32 regular pad. The pad did not slip after the first two rides, but I put the slippage down to the horse casting. The pad took a few hours to dry off, but the horse hair was another issue. There is a cleaning pad that comes with the saddle pad, and although useful, it did not do as well as expected. However, I wet my hand, and gently rubbed the hair away, that was far easier. There is a lot about this pad, and all good, I cannot find anything wrong so far.  I cannot vouch for any other pad, but this one has a very good vibe about it. Now comes the real thing about this pad.  The horse. I have never had such flexion, free movement, and feeling from my horse as this. Considering the 1 inch thickness, its fantastic.  You may think Im not a good rider, perhaps, but I have always tried to be, and my horses are important to me. I value there health. Gracie has lightened up, become more “athletic”,  I am happy with this pad, very happy, and I believe my horse is too.

Patrick, sadly gone.

We lost the colt Clydesdale foal yesterday, only two days old, Hadnt been feeding properly, and he was a big foal! So Im pleased I got this video before it was two late. \still we did get a filly foal that has done well.So this is Patrick, bless him.

Due Date 4th May! (lets hope the mud dries up!)

 

It comes as no surprise that we here suffer from the heaviest rainfall in the UK, so mud is our constant companion!

Introducing the rather shy “Maise”, Appaloosa cross, in foal to full bred Appaloosa stallion Warrior of Saltcreek . A local stallion.

Maise is 14.3 and due on 4th May.

Here is Sunny!  15.2, appaloosa cross, in foal to Saltcreek Apache. Due 4th May!  Lets hope all goes well.

 

New saddle Pad- (much deliberation!)

 

Many`s the month I have deliberated over this, the long and the short of it is, that despite  buying many pads over the years none have done the job to my standards.  the latest pad in use is by me is the Monty Roberts endorsed pad by Cavallo, the Full Monty Pad.

It is a good pad, but it has its limits, and I have reached that. its fine for short turns in the saddle, and as long as you are not carrying too much gear over long distances its ok.

But the sweat build up and heat, has been its biggest drawback. So not wanting to destroy the back of my horses, my final choice has been the 5 Star 1inch Wool felt saddle pad.

Having read all the blurb, and spoke to many riders in the western discipline, it seems that this pad provides the optimum requirements for me. I will keep you all upto date as we progress.

Hello?

I have been away. Too long, but I got terribly bored with this blog and after some consideration just left it alone. Sorry for that!
I have from time to time kept abreast of you all, and found it funny, interesting and intreguing all at the same time.

Its been a winding road for me, needing time to be myself, writing is so time consuming and to honest, I sometimes felt I was wasting my time. So where am I now? Planning some new adventure? We`ll see.  This year has ben mapped out, full year of riding and time out, so if you still recieve my posts, Good on ya! If not, then no problem, we are expecting two Apaloosa foals this year both due on or around the 4th May, fingers crossed!

Welcome!

 

Welcome Laura Lee, welcome to the blog, hope you stick around!

Quick Trip Out!

Cant believe its been so long since I went to the Northumbria National Park! Two whole years. Does`nt time fly, so horses loaded, gear packed, off we went! Had a great couple of days, some good weather, and good food.

“Its a long way back Dad!” Gracie wasnt convinced! Here we are looking back to the start of the Roman Road, Clennell Street.

“Now look here Gracie, this is not on!…….”  Rest time above the Castle Fort, above Alwinton.

Signpost for various places, our route home is immediately behind the sign, just seven miles to go!

Rest, grass and a big deep breathe before heading home.

Bhindy and Angela!

Local access gates

Question for all!

I was thinking, for all of you clever folk out there, I have a question. It concerns my maiden mare Sunny. I had her put to an Appaloosa stallion in June this year, prior to that, Sunny was calm, gentle and brilliant with other horses.

Right now, she has become aggressive to other mares, bitten Gracie twice and drawn blood. She stands mostly quiet, feeds well, but if another mare comes near, she will pin her ears back and lower her head, then launch herself at that horse. With me she is really odd! Nuzzles me to death, loves being brushed and when I come into the field, she is first to get to me!  She has always been affectionate to me, and always been a kind horse, easy to do, and work with.

But there is something of a big change in her, she doesnt run around like she did, and almost seems to be  another horse. When i handle her she is great as always.

This behavioural change, is it due to her being pregnant?

Summer

 

Its been a great summer so far, but that has its consequences. I`m starting to feed my horses now, just some extra hard feed, but until we get some good prolonged rain?………..Then today? guess what? Yes it rained, but it wont be for long.  On the up side, its warm bright and very pleasant, flies are bad this year, but cant help that, Avon So Soft does the trick!

Looking Back.

If there is one thing that is constant in life, it is the hills. Always there, those scalloped edges of green.

The hill in the photograph, is called Blencathra, recently put up for sale by Lord Lonsdale. Of course anyone can roam across countryside here, as long as one does`nt damage crops. A great riding area, most people give this place a miss, mainly due to it not being in the centre of the Lake District. But that is why I love it, lonely and still has a wild feel.

Its a long climb upwards, but using the old Lead miners track helps. Nearly all semblance of industry has gone, maybe the odd ruin, or metal derrick.

A short graze for the horses, on old hill grass,  listen to the Skylarks and then a slow ride back to the  trailer for a mug of tea.

A last look back.

New Arrival.

 

Here she is. Maise, an Appaloosa cross, at 14.3 hh, a broodmare. Settling in and already friendly with Sunny. Now then, both are also hopefully in foal. Due next April.

A little bit fat? Maybe, but she`ll soon lose that!

Evening sunshine over the stalwarts of the herd! Feeling pushed out. Aw!

Mungrisedale.

 

Once more into the breach dear friends! So we did, of to Mungrisedale, in the northern Fells of Cumbria! Bit cloudy, but good.

Looking towards Carrock Fell.

Someones happy.

A couple of sweaty horses, worth the effort though!

Riding for Fun.

Early morning start,  just after 6am cloudy and threatening rain, but who cares!

 

Riding for fun, with a good finish, JD and coke please!