2008 May | Chris's Blog

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http://blogs.talygarnec.co.uk/2010/02/nestle-get-set-go-free-promotion/ I think they are having a laugh. 3 days ago
Come to "Unaffiliated Show Jumping" 21 March from 10:00 to 17:00. Unaffiliated Show Jumping Starts with Lead rein... http://bit.ly/dkAclC 1 week ago
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Archive for May, 2008

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Mini Hunter Trial that didnt happen

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

We tried to be hopeful on Tuesday, even though the weather warnings weren’t good we set out the course but it wasn’t to be. Wednesday morning started with Drizzle but then got heavier despite the rain dance Freya performed on the yard. So we ran show jumping instead which turned out to be a busy and successful day. We sold most of the 53 rolls that Sharon and I made the night before, actually Sharon made them and I stuck the labels on and grated the cheese with the help of a food processor. The funniest moment had to be Freya falling off nowhere near a jump just cantering down the long side, Phoebe side stepped and Freya was on the floor resulting in a sore and stiff finger. Ellie won in the Lead Rein Class and was thrilled with her first trophy and so was her mum. We finished the yards at about 7.30 and Freya and I went to the pub as light refreshments laced with vodka always proves to be a good tonic. We are going to run the Mini Hunter Trial on Saturday June 14th instead of the Show Jumping so start praying for good weather now and we might be lucky!

Posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 2:17 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Whitsun Bank Holiday Weekend

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Well another miserable and wet Bank holiday. In fact not the best of weekends at all. Whispa came in with a with blood all over his leg on Thursday, although it turned out to be not as bad as it looked and Pippa seemed to have some conjunctivitus in one eye. On Friday that was looking worse and on closer inspection we found she had cut the upper eyelid. Called out the vet who gave us some antibiotics and cream for her eye. Feeling so sorry for my lessons on Friday night nearly everyone else has been out in the cross country fields except Friday and Saturday as it keeps raining. The lessons Amelia and I taught on Thurs and Friday involved 24 poles all over the arena which Steve put away Fri and Sat morning. On sat at 8am Ella rang to say she had been ill all night with a bug (which is rare for Ella) so thats me teaching again and the same 24 poles back out again. Sid and Taski came in with a swollen eye. Taski was ok with bathing but Sid had actually pierced the eye so that involved another visit from the vet and more antibiotics and cream. Rare to have three eye injuries in 2 days maybe they need glasses. Finished teaching at 3pm and lunged Muppet later who was lame. He had been particularly naughty the day before napping badly an I can only assume he has pulled something. Stiff Vodka needed went to the pub with Amelia. Thankfully Kelly turned up to teach on Sunday and I spent most of the day designing and printing the Open evening and BBQ tickets and posters and trying to decide what displays we are going to do, its only seven weeks to July 12th and practices will have to start after half term.Great start to Monday, one of the roofing sheets had come off the tack room in the gales so had gaping hole in roof with all the rain coming through. We set off to take Leo and Amelia too Sunnybank for the BSJA. Arrived as the jump off was finishing for the first class, was just think that was good timing as we were in the second class when the rider fell off and the whole thing was held up whilst waiting for an ambulance. I think she was ok though. The jumping was supposed to be outdoors but they held it inside due to the weather. Amelia tried to warm up in the outdoor school and Leo is a horse that needs a good warm up. Sand bags were holding the jumps up due to the wind and the surface was like a bog we were only in there 10 mins and I was soaked to the skin. Leo was not settled at all and took a couple of fences down and spooked out at another one. Decided not to bother with another class as Amelia and I were soaking wet, it was blowing a gale and Leo was obviously unsettled. We were going to go to the Country Side Alliance Point to Point in Bonvilston in the afternoon but I assumed it was cancelled. Didn’t fancy another soaking and standing up to my knees in mud anyway. Weather too bad to ride nothing else to do so I went to the Garden Centre and bought a pear tree and two tomato plants which are named Bill and Ben and some runner beans as I thought I would take up gardening in my ’spare time’ Got Steve to dig me a hole and planted my tree in it. Sometimes when we go to the yard at night especially when we have been to the pub, we go to the end of the Patio and walk across the grass to the gate at the bottom. Amelia pointed out that I have planted the tree right in the way which could be a problem as Freya, after a bottle of wine fell over a wheelbarrow left there and ended up in hospital. Praying for dry weather tomorrow, which they have given on the weather forecast, With a bit of luck the fields will be ok for the xc competition on Wednesday.

Posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 1:09 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Amelia Driving

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

On the weekend we picked up a small car for Amelia to start learning to drive. It only seems like yesterday that I was teaching her to ride and believe me that was far easier, probably because I wasn’t on it with her. She has been fortunate to have had some driving experience over the last year by driving up and down at the riding school. Yesterday we decided to drive to Cardiff, Well she drove to Llandaff then I drove into Cardiff and then she drove back from Llandaff. It was such fun I have never driven to Cardiff at 20mph before mostly in second gear. One of the disadvantages of driving on our lane as I found out yesterday is Amelia has no awareness of whose side of the road is whose, so we had to rectify that a bit sharp. also she can either slow down or change gear but not both. Slightly hair raising moments with a cyclist. On they way back we did actually manage 4th gear, I tried to point out that if you slow down virtually to a stop in 4th gear you are going to stall when you try to pull away, I think after the 2nd time stalling she was getting this idea. My other responsibilities seemed to be the indicators and the handbrake, too much to manage and steer as well! Whenever I have spoken to anyone else who has a son/daughter learning to drive it always seems to be their mother sitting with them. Why is that? Later in the evening Amelia drove to Pontyclun, there were no parking spaces in the bays on the left so we drove all the way to the roundabout to turn round and park in the bays on the way back. After we stopped Police cars and vans with sirens on came pouring into Pontyclun, there were police dogs as well and a police helicopter. We hung about for a while to see what was happening but no one knew. Anyone got any Idea???

Posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 11:17 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Magic’s BSJA Debut

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

Having now decided Magic (Muppet) is not going to be a riding school horse we have been schooling him with the aim to jump him. Amelia has jumped him at a couple of our competitons and although he started by trashing most of the fences we have incorporated a few jumping exercises to improve his technique and he has been getting much better, despite the fact he bucked Amelia off last week. I registered him with the BSJA last week and took him too the Ponderosa on Sunday for the British Novice which is a 95cm class. The class was later in the day and we arrived at 2pm. Whilst putting on his bridle on the lorry he swung his head and smacked my finger into the metal edge, gashing my finger from the nail. Freya managed to find the first aid box and plasters to stem the blood flow. He was very well behaved in the practice ring, jumped a couple of warm up fences before his class. In fact he was very well behaved altogether, he knocked three fences down in total where he met them wrong or still needs to improve his technique and some he jumped with ease. The double did cause a bit of a problem though, he met the first part wrong and knocked that down and them seemed to hesitate before the second part I thought he was going to stop and so did Amelia and then he launched himself in the air and cleared the fence but in the process he smacked Amelia in the mouth with his head. When she came out of the ring she looked a right state her brace had cut into her lip and there was blood everywhere. Carys rode Magic around to cool him off and Amelia went to the first aid they cleaned her up and she has a very thick lip and a perfect indentation of her brace in it. On the whole we were very pleased with him though and are planning to go back next week.

Posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 12:15 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Point to Point

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

Today Sharon Leigh Jen Amelia and Myself decided to go to Brecon Point to Point. Point-to-Point racing is amateur horse racing over fences for hunting horses. Horses running in Point-to-Points must be registered thoroughbreds, except in Hunt Members races and certain other Club Members races. The horses have to obtain a certificate (Hunter Certificate) stating that they have hunted for at least 4 days in the season, in addition the Riders must obtain a certificate from the Hunt Secretary. Point-to-Point Regulations in the UK require all races to be run over 3 miles, but there are some exceptions. A 3 mile race is almost invariably two circuits of a typical Point-to-Point course. Every course must have a minimum number of fences and at least two fences must have ditches (this is usually one fence that is jumped twice). The fences should be approximately 4 feet 3 inches high and are made of birch, broom or spruce. On the whole they are at least 10 yards in width. The first fence in any race must be not less than 14 yards wide. We arrived in the village of Llanfrynach near Brecon and found a lovely country pub called the Swan (I think) for lunch. There were seven races on the card and we arrived in time for race three. We found a nice viewing point on the Hill where we could see the Paddock (where the horses parade before the race) and most of the course. We all picked a horse from the race and Sharon and I placed a £2.00 bet with bookies on the course. My horse was doing very well but fell on the second last. Amelia and I put a £1.00 bet each on a horse called Final Mick in the fifth race. He didn’t have good form an was an outsider he was in last position of the remaining four with two fences to jump. The horses then went out of our site for a short while and when they came back into view Final Mick had taken the lead and made an exciting finish winning us £14 each. Sharon picked the winner of the 4th race winning a tenner. The point to point season is coming to an end shortly but there is one more local one The Countryside Alliance will be holding their Point to Point on Bank Holiday Monday the 26th May at Bonvilston, Near Cowbridge. It costs approx £8 each for entry with under 16’s free that was the cost today anyway. They usually start around 2pm. If you have never been it is a good day out and especially if the weather is nice. There is always refreshments for sale including a bar. Buy a programme, Mark off the runners, have a look at the horses in the paddock and try an pick a winner. You can even have a flutter usually for as little as a pound or two or more if you want.

Posted on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 1:46 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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