2009 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. 4 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
I posted 4 photos on Facebook in the album "Amelia and Jaffa" http://bit.ly/cGBWie 1 week ago
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Archive for May, 2009

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BHS Stage 1 Dorset

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

‘Anyone wanna buy a Riding School’ I think I need a change of career. I took Jen and Paris down to Dorset on Thursday to take their BHS Stage 1 exam on Friday and we stayed over night in a B&B. So now I’m thinking this is the way to go, £60 a night for a double room with a bit of breakfat thrown in, in the morning, How hard can it be they don’t have to arrange lessons, organise pony club, train students, spend hours doing NVQ files, registers and other college pointless paperwork, organise and run competitions, print schedules, Sell useless horses, buy useless horses, ride useless horses, employ staff, get rid of staff, Feed and keep 33 horses and numerous other thankless tasks. As far as I can see, change the sheets, run the hoover round and a bog brush round the toilet cook the breakfast wash up and thats it ready for the next guests. Think I’ll be looking for a B&B. Jen and Paris took their exam at the RAC Saddle Club, Bovington, Dorset. Its a Military owned riding school which serves the public, It was very well run with 90 horses on the premises. The Military don’t actually ride at the riding school but train tank drivers there. Jen and Paris found it rather alarming to be riding in their Stage 1 and have tanks driving past and because they have a tank museum there Jen and Paris found themselves riding to the music from Phantom of the Opera during their exam. Not being able to observe any of the exam I don’t know how it went needless to say they both felt some parts went well and some parts didn’t go so well, we will have to wait a week for the results. I spent the morning in Weymouth which as a seaside resort was like a step back in time. The buildings, beach huts and railings on the beach front were very Victorian but the atmosphere reminded me of a miners trip to Barry island in the sixties – Candy floss, red white and blue beach huts, deckchairs, Punch and Judy, Open top Buses, and minature beach promenade train. Because the weather was hot the beach was packed by 10.30 with families marking out their 6ft square of sand and although quaint and intereesting for the day the thought of a weeks holiday there would be horrific. I managed a quick stop at Osmington to take a picture of the White Horse etched into the mountain and a short visit to Lulworth Castle before picking the girls up at 1pm. On the way back to the exam centre I found myself driving behind a tank with an L plate on which made me wonder what you do in a Tank driving test i.e roundabouts, traffic lights, 3 point turn, emergency stop or do you just have to prove you can drive over what ever is in front of you whilst firing a few rounds of ammunition. We left the exam centre at 1.15pm and arrived home at 7.15pm. 6 hours of being stuck in queues of holiday traffic I was not happy. That night we were invited to a birthday party, well 3 cans of lager and I fell asleep.

Posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 3:03 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Countryside Alliance Point to point

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

I like to go to the local Point to Points but as they are usually on a Saturday its not always possible. The last one to be held in this area this year on Bank holiday Monday was the Countryside Alliance Point to Point, held at Bonvilston. Despite the ominous weather forecast after the lovely day we had on Sunday several of us decided to go, armed with coats and wellies, it wasn’t the nicest of days weather wise but at least the rain held off. We arrived just as the first race was finishing. I did my usual £1 each way on every race, managed to get a 2nd place in the second race and that was it. It always amazes me how people can gamble large amounts of money and by large I mean anything over a fiver. When I was about eight I put all my holiday money in the slot machines in an arcade on the first day of my holiday and lived to regret that decision when I had to spend the rest of the week penniless, so I think that cured any tendencies towards gambling at an early age. Sharon placed a £2 bet on the last race and won £20 although my horse was in the lead til the last 2 fences but then decided to walk home. We watched the first of the pony races before we left and Connor Flint won the 13.2 race followed by Oscar. Each time Ive been to a point to point this year Connor flint has won. Does anyone know if Oscar has ever beaten him? or if anyone has beaten Connor? Nice to see the kids doing so well though. I also thought the horses were in better condition this time than the previous point to point at Bonvilston, I don’t know whether this awful rain and wind we have been having had caused some severe weight loss but quite a few horses looked like dreadfully poor.

Posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 1:37 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Tongue Piercing

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

My daughter Martha and I had a discussion a couple of weeks ago regarding tongue piercing, I said I wasn’t very happy about it and when asked why I stated that it was common Martha said it wasn’t loads of people have it done which proves my point, it’s not unusual or rare therefore it must be common, seeing that I wasn’t going to win on this basis I told her that if she could find a member of the Royal Family who had a tongue piercing then I would agree. She thought this was unfair as they weren’t likely to have it done, Carys Rev appeared at this point in the conversation who then went home and researched it on the internet only to inform Martha 2 hours later that Zara Phillips has a tongue piercing. Martha came home today with Tongue pierced. The garden pond is now intalled. Leigh put the finishes touches in with rockery effect and moss, my kids are not impressed with the size of the pond. Amelia called it a feed bucket and Martha refers to it as a puddle I preferred Jackie’s suggestion of using it as a wine cooler. I just need the pump installed hopefully tomorrow then I can have a grand water feature opening

Posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 12:40 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Horse Adoption

Monday, May 18th, 2009

So far the horse adoption scheme seems to be going very well. Nine are adopted out and can be ridden tuesday wednesday friday around lessons and sunday. There are no lessons on a sunday so this is the main day when people can spend as much time with their horses as they want. From June we will be starting shows every fortnight so there will be competitions to enter as well. Hopefully the weather will start to improve soon and more riding can take place in the fields. We ran this scheme several years ago and the people that took part improved their riding and their confidence around the horses so much. This weekend has been a bit of a washout for riding anywhere other than the indoor school. We were supposed to be going outdoor showjumping today but cancelled it because of the heavy rain. I did manage to ride out with Amelia and Leigh who is home from Italy between the storms. Having stayed indoors most of the day as I try to make it my policy to pay other people to get wet I decided to take a drive to the garden centre. I’ve been wanting a pond in my garden but can’t find anyone to dig the hole. Anyway I bought a liner and a pump and several steps for the water to run down which I thought would make a nice feature and decided to dig my own hole. The top 6 inches was fairly easy as the ground was wet and clay like, I managed another 3 or 4 inches of chipping away at loads of stones which took ages. I think I need to go down another foot, I will try and enlist some help tomorrow or it will take me a fortnight and I want to start digging out for my patio.

Posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 12:48 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Chloe Reakes

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

I’m sure lots of people past and present at talygarn know Chloe Reakes who has been riding at Talygarn since the age of 9yrs. Chloe started as a beginner and has worked her way up through all the levels and currently rides in the adult lesson on Thursdays, Chloe has always been keen to participate in activities and has been a very keen Pony Club Centre member representing Talygarn on many occasions in team events, horse care competitions, quizzes etc. Chloe is the senior member of the Talygarn Pony Club Centre quiz team who won the National quiz at Warwick this year and last year. Chloe has trained for her BHS Stage 1 and 2 at Talygarn and passed them both and teaches some of the lessons on a Saturday. I wanted to do something to mark her 18th birthday which was back in February but due to some computer problems have not been able to manage it till now. So Ive put together this U tube video to mark some of her time spent over the years at Talygarn.

Posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 1:17 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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