College | Chris's Blog

Twitters from Talygarn

I posted 3 photos on Facebook in the album "Staff & Students 09 - 10" http://fb.me/B5aPtTnk 4 days ago
I posted 21 photos on Facebook in the album "Julie and Sharon" http://fb.me/G1cqtI46 4 days ago
Big Thank you to everyone who stayed and helped with the party tonight :) will be putting on a free ride tuesday... http://fb.me/FxoLfNk2 5 days ago
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Another busy week

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

With less than two weeks to go before the Open Day there is still much to organise and its been another busy week. We have one more practice for the musical ride, the dress rehearsal next week and several other practices to get in for the other displays. The practices have been going very well but unfortunately we had a disaster last weekend when practicing one of the Gymkhana games and Zoe Hughes fell and broke her wrist. On saturday Jen came in the house asking if Paul Curnock could have a cold wet towel for a twisted ankle. I have to admit my first thought was ‘Oh No Emily can’t be injured she is in the Musical ride’, but it was ok is was his wife Kath. No sympathy there Kath just relief Emily that was ok but the next day I was panicked again when Emily fell off in the Mini Hunter Trials. I have asked her to sit in front of the TV for the next week. The Mini Hunter trial was very successful and busy but the ground was very hard. I’m glad to say we only had a couple of fallers and they were ok. Its good for us that England are now out of the football as the World Cup final is on the same day as the Open day although it doesn’t start till 7.30pm and we should be finished by 5.30ish. Mini Show Jumping on Wednesday was a bit quiet this week. The weather was good enough to hold it in the outdoors school. Kate Owen rode Hannah in two of the best jump offs I have seen in a while. Well done Kate. I think those jumping clinics with Amelia and Jo have really paid off. Last Tuesday I drove up to Warwick for Amelia to have a look at some horses. We went to a yard speciallising in competition horses with approx 50 horses. Amelia looked at some 4yr olds 5 yr olds and a 7yr old and eventually decided on the 7yr old which she picking up tomorrow. I am staying home as I have the students, the farrier, the sawdust, and the washing machine mechanic coming out. I also have to get to tescos and and organise the lessons for tomorrow night. Open Day Sunday July 11th gates open 1pm.

Posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Easter Holidays

Monday, April 12th, 2010

What a fantastic Easter Holidays we’ve had at Talygarn. The week before Easter Talygarn were placed third in Warwick at the National Quiz Final with our Centre quiz team. The Dressage finals at Talygarn were on April the fourth and Kate Owen and Hannah Centre member from Talygarn won one of the classes. Our Horse Care Senior team qualified for the Championships in Derby. This week was the finals for the Team Jumping series. Talygarn teams won the points for 4 out of the 5 classes with Glamorgan Pony Club winning the last class. There can’t be many riding schools that can put together 10 teams who have held their own competing against pony clubs and riding clubs, these riders don’t have any extra lessons or help its just what they learn in their lessons and their own motivation to be here and take part in competitions. All of the teams from Talygarn did well picking up placings and wins throughout the series. Team jumping pics can be found on the Gallery. Pony Days, Mini Pony Club and Show Jumping for Riding school clients have all gone well during the holidays. Mini Pony Club for 4 to 6yr olds will be starting back next saturday, and will be fortnightly from 2pm to 3pm. Kelly Galsworthy runs the yard every other Sunday and she’s brill, its the one day I don’t have to have anything to do with the yard and after such a busy Easter hols it was nice to have that day today. We built a chicken run Saturday night, well when I say built I mean put together from a flat pack. Although it was impressive we managed to follow all the instructions with Sharon’s help (Sharon wants chickens and hasn’t got any so she is trying to muscle in on mine) We did have quite a few screws left over so thats a bit worrying but never mind perhaps they gave us extras. I painted it with wood preserver today So now I just need to get the chickens. Jimbob has been hacking out over the hols and we have progressed to the main road now. I took him out for over an hour this morning with Libby and Freya and he is very good going over the motorway bridges although I had no brakes at all cantering behind Freya, I’m glad to say at least he stopped when she did. Will have to do something about that. Managed to get lunch in the pub, do some gardening and even went to my Salsa Class tonight. Back in Student/Lesson mode next week and Show jumping next Sunday.

Posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 1:33 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Horses and BHS Exam results

Monday, March 29th, 2010

There’s been a few changes since we got back and whilst we were away. Storm disappeared whilst we were away. I had asked her owners to look for a new home for her as she has not settled to riding lessons very well and is also difficult to turn out here as she fights with Phoebe and didn’t get on too well with the ponies. I gave them approx 6 weeks notice to look for a new home but when they took her we got an hours notice and she was in a lesson that night. Treat others as you would like to be treated I was always taught and I wonder what their reaction would’ve been if I’d given them an hours notice to move her. Murphy’s owners did a similar thing and whereas I thought it was time he left many clients were very fond of him and upset at not having the opportunity to say goodbye. Fortunately it doesn’t happen very often and most people are happy to leave on a good note and then of course they are always welcome back, ‘don’t burn your bridges’ was another saying I was taught and ‘you never know when you might need someone… I could go on for ever. We were straight into work on Sunday with a jumping competition which I was going to jump Jimbob in but as he had spent the week in the field I decided not to but I did jump him in the clear round on Wed, 2ft and fillers, thats the biggest he has jumped so far and he got his first clear round rosette. We have also made good progress hacking this week and he is now going out on his own with no napping. A new horse arrived by chance on Wed. It was brought down to jump around the clear round and the owner mentioned it was for sale. So straight into Storms old stable it went and has stayed for a few days trial. It is a 4yr old welsh cob approx 14hh called Foley. It’s been in several lessons and although a little green seems to be ok. Splash will also be going home soon but not sure when yet. We had some students take exams whilst I was away and their results came through this week. Jennifer Rogers and Medi Warburton passed their Riding and Road Safety, Kim Evans Adele phillips Carys Morgan and Amy Bartholomew passed their BHS Stage 1 and Gareth Evans passed his NVQ 1 Riding, Well done all!!!

Posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 12:16 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

BHS Exams

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

The week before last two of my students took BHS Exams. Eleri took her stage 1 at Pencoed College and Jess took the riding part of her stage 2 at Bicton College in Devon. I was away in Portugal last week so I was anxious to here how they had got on. Eleri felt she had failed the riding as one of the horses she rode was very difficult and in canter it literally took off and she ended up standing up in her stirrups to stop it. Fortunately Eleri did pass both the riding and care section. The stage 1 exam does not involve jumping but in the stage 2 exam candidates have to ride on the flat and jump two horses. Nowadays you ride on the flat first and you are not allowed to go through to the jumping section unless you pass the flat section. Jess obviously rode fine in the flat and continued to the jumping. The first horse she was given put in a very dirty stop and Jess came off. I was very surprised to hear this because in all the time Jess has been here (over 2 years now) no matter what she rides she rarely comes off. Anyway she remounted and continued, the horse stopped again reared vertical and Jess came off the back. The examiner then removed the horse from the exam as unsuitable (several other horses were removed and deemed unsuitable too) and told Jess not to worry it wouldn’t affect how they judged her on her next horse. It really makes you wonder if these examiners are on the same planet, of course its going to affect the way she rides the next horse. Surely the BHS has a duty to check out these exam centres. They try to tell you that the examiners see all the horses ridden before the start of the exam but I have to say I have taken many candidates to exams and generally arrive before the examiners who certainly don’t see any horses being ridden. A colleague of mine recently took a candidate to a stage 1 exam where four horses were removed as unsuitable. It costs Jess £31.50 (£55.50 over 21yrs) for a years membership which she has to have to take the exam. £130 exam fee. Petrol money, B&B and meals plus 2 days lost wages for her mother to take her. I understand that horses can be unpredictable and we have had bad weather recently which may have resulted in horses that normally live out being kept in and therefore may be more of a handful to ride but personally I think if candidates receive unsuitable horses for exams they should be given a free resit. Jess has not yet received her results.

I frequently hear many tales of unsuitable horses in exams. I can’t comment on them as know one is allowed to watch exams but I had a very unsuitable horse for my stage 3 which I overheard the groom saying she was surprised it had been used as it always has people off when jumping, it had both candidates that rode it off and many years ago when I took my PTT (Preliminary Teaching Test) at Bicton College a few weeks before the exam I was staying at a friends in Devon and we decided to go and visit the centre. When we arrived we were not able to look around as there was a Stage 2 exam in progress. Although the exam had been halted as they were waiting for an air ambulance to collect a candidate who had come off in the jumping. Also during my PTT in the lead rein lesson an 8yrold child was bucked off a very fresh 15hh TB looking horse. Maybe the BHS should be a little less greedy and book less candidates into exams if centres do not have enough suitable horses for jumping. Examiners are generally very encouraging but it must be very frustrating and difficult for them to have to examine candidates on unsuitable horses.

Pleased to say Jess Passed. Well Done Jess

Posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 2:39 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Feeding Horses

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Last week during our student theory lessons I was teaching feed including calculating feed rations for horses in different enviroments, some students were having a little difficulty working out feed rations so I found this piece on the internet which I thought maybe of interest.

The Impact of Cold Weather The following formula is used to calculate the increased DE (daily energy) requirement for a horse as a result of cold temperatures and wet, windy conditions: critical temperature – actual temperature = % increase in DE required.

Adjusting Energy Intake: An Example The following example clarifies how to adjust energy intake for a dry environmental temperature of 30°F with a wind chill that results in an actual temperature of 25°F. The example applies to a 1,100-pound horse at maintenance.

Step 1. Subtract the actual temperature (including the wind-chill adjustment) from the critical temperature (accounting for wet conditions if necessary): 45°F – 25°F = 20% increase in DE requirements.

Step 2. Because a 1,100-pound horse at maintenance requires 16.4 Mcal of DE per day and because the horse in this example requires a 20% increase in DE, you multiply as follows: 16.4 Mcal x 20% = +3.28 Mcal increase. The requirement thus increases as follows: 16.4 Mcal + 3.28 Mcal = 19.68 Mcal DE/day.

Step 3. Next you need to determine the amount of feed necessary to supply these increased calories. A 1,100-pound horse typically consumes 19 pounds of ration daily (1.7% of its body weight). Because the recommended DE level of the ration (concentrate mix plus forage) fed to a horse at maintenance is .90 Mcal DE/lb of feed, we can calculate the increase in feed as follows: 3.28 Mcal ÷ .90 Mcal = 3.64 pounds of additional feed to provide 19.68 Mcal DE/day.

Step 4. Determine the total amount of feed the horse requires by adding the 3.64 pounds of additional feed to the 19 pounds of feed the horse requires under normal conditions: 19.0 + 3.64 = 22.64 pounds per day of total ration.

Makes it all the clearer but I think I will stick to double the height and minus 5

Posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 1:56 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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