A really good blog post on why you should buy your kids (it says daughter but ponies are just as good for boys) a horse.
Monthly Archives: March 2015
Class is a thing not a given…
A lovely blog from Phoebe…
She’s back up here teaching again next week and we can’t wait!
Hey guys..
So I’m back with another blog that hopefully won’t bore you all senseless!!
Truth be known (and we all know I’m honest to a fault!) I must have re written this blog 3/4 times , each time what I wrote the blog it just didn’t sit right with me.. Anyways.. I got there in the end so grab a coffee , pull up a chair and be prepared to be bored!
In my previous blogs I have spoken about my love for riding ‘class’ horses.. Class is something you can’t give or make a horse have and for me it isn’t always something I can put my finger.. It’s just a ‘something’ some are born with others are not..
Although having thought long and hard about it I do believe class starts with being genuine , having that ‘want’ or ‘will’ to please or win..
How many super…
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Super ponies – in slow motion!
We had a weekend of playing with the ponies at home. As you might be aware, we bought a new coloured pony to add to the collection last week – that’s number four! We certainly don’t go out looking for them but they seem to find us! Saturday was Findlay’s birthday, and it was also the first time he’d had a chance to sit on Lara. Lara is an older pony and these old servants seem to get written off by the majority of horsey people. She’s 19yo, she’s done EVERYTHING from hunting, tetrathlon, Pony Club Championships, British Schools Champs at Hickstead etc, etc. This is experience that money cannot buy! She’s healthy and sound and still loves her job and has a lot to offer. This is Findlay’s first wee course of jumps on her:
I have an iPhone 6. It’s a great phone but one of the best features is the slo-mo function – it captures video in 240 fps (frames per second) so it can be slowed right down without losing any quality. It’s quite addictive! Here are Dakota and Lara showing off its capabilities!
Comment, as always, are welcome below!
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Scary Massive Fence…No Problem to Izzy!
Here’s another wee video for your enjoyment. This was taken last year when Lewis was 7. I had been putting him through a grid a few times and he asked for the oxer to be put up. I knew Izzy would look after him. This video went viral with over 1000 shares and we had comments from America, Australia, Russia, Poland etc. Most comments were positive but you got the odd numptie moaning about wee Lewie’s lack of ‘two point and release’ – stupid Americans!!!
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Enjoy!
Harmless Fun, Or An ‘Elf and Safety Nightmare?
Back in the day, we used to do some silly things with our ponies as kids. I mean really, really silly. Galloping around the forest bareback (in a headcollar), jumping all sorts daft things (like wire), and so on. I posted the video below a while ago to mixed reviews – many people were saying how it reminded them of their childhood antics whilst one or two were horrified that I could be so irresponsible to be taking such a risk – comments such as “OMG, how would you feel if you got kicked in the head and that child had no father!!!”. Really? So, harmless fun or a Health and Safety nightmare? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below (and don’t forget to sign up for updates in that box on the right!)…
Showjumping Disasters and a New Pony!
Last weekend we had a two day show at Tillyoch – or at least we were meant to! Lewis’ pony Izzy is off again after having a piece of tooth (see pic!) removed from her gum so he took Dakota, his sister’s pony on Saturday morning. Dakota had a wee buck in the warmup which resulted in tears and a refusal to ride her so that one went back on the lorry! After a very, very long wait Findlay went into the 1m class with Maddie but cut a corner resulting in a stop at an oxer, a bashed face, an undone chinstrap and ultimately, more tears!
After the show, I had organised dinner at the Bieldside Inn for around 40 people although almost 50 turned up. The ‘Bielder’ did their usual awesome job and stepped up with extra tables, chairs and food but unfortunately this wasn’t good enough for one particular person who moaned, whinged, bitched and complained enough to ruin pretty much everyone’s enjoyment of the evening. On top of that, the girls’ toilets got damaged with the hand dryer off the wall and a smashed toilet seat! Not sure this junior showjumping is for us, you wouldn’t get that kind of behaviour with Pony Club or the Eventing lot.
After the disaster of both the jumping and dinner of Saturday, we decided not to go back to the show but to have a pony day at home. I bought a wee coloured mare unseen during the week so it was a good opportunity to give her a jump and see how she goes. She’s a (very full up!) 138cm pony who has been there, done it, and got the tee shirt. Here is her having a wee pop:
Lara has done SJ, XC, hunted, she’s been to the PC Championships, a member of the British Schools SJ Championships winning team at Hickstead etc. She’ll be a brilliant XC schoolmistress for Findlay. Here’s a pic of her in her previous home:
After Lara, we headed over to Oldfold and I had a wee sit on Maddie for Fin. She goes great for him but she sometimes just gets a little stuffy so I gave her a wee jump and got her going a little more forward for him. You can see her reaction in the pictures below – she has serious attitude!
She will definitely feel a lot more forward for Findlay the next time he rides her! I try not to ride the ponies too much but it is sometimes good for them to have a quick ‘tune up’ as it keeps them sweet for the kids.
It’s the bad days that make the good days worthwhile!
thelawsonponies 