Twitters from Talygarn

Posting tweet...

Powered by Twitter Tools

Navigation:
Categories:
Archives:


Website From Only £70 Banner
Meta:

Archive for May, 2009

Badminton HorseTrials

Monday, May 11th, 2009

It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision to go to Badminton Horse Trials on Saturday but the weather had given out dry and believe me there is nothing worse than Badminton in the rain. Amelia and I left a little later than intended and anticipated long queues and although we did queue a little bit they weren’t that bad. We arrived at 10ish and did a tour of the shops for an hour Amelia wanted to be in the main ring to see the first one start and the last one finish. Just before 11am we made our way to the main arena to watch William Fox Pitt start after which we proceeded to walk the course. I think its a shame they’ve taken the roads and tracks and steeplechase out, its probably better for the competition but I use to enjoy marching the kids miles across the park through the airplane parking to see the steeplechase and the 10 min halt box. The following year they refused to come cause they had to walk so far and I got a nice day out minus kids. We walked part of the course and then found seats in the stand by the water and stayed put for a while. No one fell off in the water but one did hit the trucks and the rider catapulted over the horses head. I’ve read a bit about the new body protectors and body cages available  but this is the first time I’ve seen what I can only describe as airbags for riders. The air jacket is worn over the conventional body protector and is attached to the front of the saddle when the riders falls from the horse the connection is broken and the air jacket inflates. I noticed many riders wearing them I also noticed that a rider was eliminated after a fall and I thought they could remount so I’m wondering if the rules have changed and is this down to the air jacket because I’m guessing you would be there sometime trying to deflate it. We returned to the shops for a while in the afternoon to have something to eat there is always a lot of food stalls at Badminton offering all sorts of tempting overpriced food. We had had fish and chips earlier in the day The curry was inedible the chips barely edible, the fish was ok but most of it went in the bin. The strawberries and cream were worth paying for though. We made our way back to the main arena stopping by the big screen for a while to watch the crosscountry. I thought it would be difficult to get seats in the grandstand but we had no trouble. The first fence and the last are situated in the main arena so we watched the last few start and finish. Oliver Townend was in the lead at the end of the day and was the overall winner after the show jumping phase on sunday. Its a good day out if the weather is good, Saturday is the cross country day  when the biggest crowds go and they charge the most, I didn’t think it was as busy as it was last time I went even though there were thousands of people there. At £23 a ticket and £10 to park the car, overpriced food and there is not the bargains there used to be its an expensive day for a family. Not so bad when the kids have grown up and can pay for themselves though.

Posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 1:17 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

BSJA Discovery

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

After Sundays Mini Hunter Trials I was shattered so getting up at 3am to take Jen to Cardiff airport I could’ve done without. By the time we left drove there and back, I got to bed at 4.45am only to get up at 8am to go with Amelia to Wales and the West showground for her to jump Destiny in the Discovery and the 1.05metre. Amelia walked the course for the Discovery which consisted of fences 1 – 8 and then straight into the jump off fences 9 to 14. By this time the weather had turned cold and windy and picking with rain. Destiny jumped well and went clear with a good time that put her into the lead but Amelia realised that she had missed a fence out although no one else had not even the judges. Amelia decided that in the interest of fair play she would not want to win a class she had not won properly and promptly informed the judges. Having paid £37 entries it was good to watch £50 winnings disappear and the 1.05m was not so sucessful the ground was becoming slippy and destiny did slip at one point and took two fences down in the jump off. We arrives home around 2.30pm and the horses at home had not had any food since first thing but as we intended to turn them out today after the winter months this was a good thing as they were more intent on eating the grass than racing around.

Posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 12:11 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Mini Hunter Trials

Monday, May 4th, 2009

The weather in this country doesn’t make it easy for planning outdoor events, last year we advertised three mini hunter trial dates but only one had good enough weather to run.  So ever optimistic I have advertised 3 dates for this year the first being last sunday, after spending a week 0f crossed fingers and watching weather forecasts every few hours,  things were looking hopeful and if one person asked me last week if it would run a hundred must have asked, so just  for the record I have temporarily mislaid my crystal ball so I am unable to predict – the weather – what time class 5 will start – how many will turn up – how many rolls we will need to make (although I do now know that 94 was too many) – or whether the horses will jump the fences. I’m glad I didn’t see the heavy shower that Sue told me we had at 5am otherwise I would have been less than impressed having worked all day saturday till 10pm to get everything organised. Anyway the weather was good and we had a good turn out of competitors. The lead rein class  is very small but its a long way to run, a couple of parents looked like they need an oxygen mask on return. I believe Ashton who was 5th on Smartie was the youngest competitor at 4yrs of age and Carys Morgan ran with him. Martha took photos throughout the day and thanks to the sales pitch of Sheena and Sue has sold quite a few which will be ready by next weekend.  I’d like to thank everyone that helped without which we would not be able to run it. Sue and Sheena did a great job on entries although Sheena was a little put out when I explained that she didn’t get to share the takings with Sue. Leanne spent most of the day in charge of the refreshments. Sharon, Martha  and I turned the kitchen into a little cottage industry turning out the rolls the night before. Graham did the scoring. Jess and Malissa on the Gate and Rob on Clear round Amelia collecting score sheets and Billy in the Car park. Fence Judges Jenna Gareth, Helen, Sian, Jen, Gaynor and Sue Reville. Poor Sue is probably still traumatised the time section is not the easiest espescially when lots of people in the pairs had the knock down fence down.  Gaynor was timing and we kept seeing Sue running across the field to put it back up and each time it happened Sue would radio us and shout ‘Fence down and I’m running’ but she would forget to radio us and tell us when they were out of the time section which is the bit I couldn’t see. Everyone had a good time despite a few falls and a few out of control horses Buffy being one which was quite funny to watch, Adi fell off three times over two classes but another youngster fell off three times in the same class. Molly fell off Lucky and everyone went running because she didn’t move but it turned out to be her back protector preventing her from getting up. Several others parted company with their mounts but everyone was ok.  See Results and Activities for the next Mini Hunter Trial Dates.

Posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 11:38 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Dressage

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

The first Olympic Dressage games were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1912. These equestrian games were only open to cavalry officersThe first Olympic Dressage games were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1912. These equestrian games were only open to cavalry officers, and the dressage test consisted of collected and extended gaits, rein-back, turn on the hocks, four flying changes on a straight line, and jumping five small obstacles, one of which was a barrel rolled towards the horse. Hilarious, I wish they would bring it back, it would be so much fun to watch especially at an unaffiliated level. Can you imagine our horses/ponies? I’ve got some nice big bright blue barrels, Maybe I’ll try rolling them at the horses in lessons next week I would need a little disclaimer though along the lines of sign here if you wish to gallop very fast in opposite direction or hit floor at speed. I can think of half a dozen off the top of my head that would be gone for dust. Fred for example who is terrified of stationery objects would have steam coming out of his nostrils and eyes on stalks

Posted on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Main Site Links

Riding Lessons

Riding Lessons

BHS/NVQ Training

BHS/NVQ Training

Pony Club

Pony Club

Competitions

Competitions

Gallery

Gallery

Horses/Ponies for sale

Horses/Ponies for sale

Website From Only £70 Banner