Chris's Blog » Horses

Open Day 2010

Chris Rogers — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:43:26 +0000

Open Day
What an absolutely fantastic day it turned out to be, worth all the stress and extra hours of putting it altogether and there were a few problems this year. Both Cleo and Lucy had been lame and both were in the bigger jumping last year. Lucy was ok but as she was in the musical ride we decided not to risk the jumping and with Cleo out as well we were a bit short of horses. All the riders in the jumping did extremely well with Chloe winning on Michigan. Kate and Hannah were amazing jumping the 4ft planks but I could have cried tears of joy for Carys who has worked so hard over the years to improve Blue’s jumping and was so excited to have a go on Blue but was sure she would knock a few down, on the day Blue did Carys proud and didn’t knock down a single fence. I also felt for Zoe Hughes who should have been in the jumping display but had broken her wrist in a gymkhana practice which put her out of a few displays but Zoe showed true spirit and came along and helped out and took part where she could. The bareback jumping went well but I think the audience like it when a few fall off and they didnt disappoint with Sarah and Carys falling off Buffy after the first fence and Libby and Molly falling off Gem before they even got to the first fence. I had not seen the dalmations in costume before the day and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them in the kitchen where they had got ready. The musical ride always goes down well and they rode it perfectly and looked very smart as ballroom dancers. Some of our students put together the Polocrosse display and we rounded up the afternoon with an exciting gymkhana display. As you can imagine an awful lot of time goes into practices and organising the day Amelia gave up a lot of her time to help with practices and did an amazing job on the day of organising all the displays but we still couldn’t manage without the help of parents etc. All students come in on the day and give their help. Gaynor Blake, Jackie Morgan and husbands and Sue Reville did a brill job on Burger van, Mini Pony CLub Mums Leanne, Lisa, Nikki and Sarah ran the shop, Sharon ran the pony rides, Sue Owen carried bucket after bucket of water down to the yard to wash the horses. Several people helped with making costumes and Tracey Bushrod did an absolutely brilliant job of face painting all the dalmations etc. So a big thank you to everyone that helped and I hope I haven’t missed anyone out. Photos are on Website curtesy of Tim Lambert and Julie Whiles and Martha is working on a DVD of the day

Another busy week

Chris Rogers — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:04:43 +0000

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.

Potential Show Jumpers

Chris Rogers — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:17:32 +0000

Every year this seems to be the busiest time ever I think this might be because as well as the usual running of the riding school, student training, shows etc I try to add other activities into my already busy day such as Open day organising and gardening (which although quite rewarding does take up a lot of time). Also now that Amelia has sold Destiny she wants to buy herself another horse to show jump therefore I am also trying to make time to go and see horses with her (mainly because Amelia is not to keen on driving long distances on the motorway) Last sunday Amelia found two horses that she wanted to see in Kent. As we didn’t have a show that day Steve and I decided to go with her. So armed with google maps and directions we set out. Both horses are 4yr olds just broken and come over from abroad in the last 10 days. Neither had done much under saddle but both had exceptionally good breeding. Amelia rode them whilst I sat armed with video so she could watch them afterwards. Both moved extremely well on the flat and she jumped them over a small fences. My main thought whilst videoing was I hope she is not expecting me to ride these. The first one had quite a bit of spirit (I did like that one) and tried to buck several times when cantering and the 2nd one was also very sharp. Over the years I have often ridden Amelia’s horses to keep them in work when she has been away and when she broke her foot. Destiny although was a bit of a handful when we first had her at 6yrs old has been a dream to ride and I often rode her. Leo is also very good but has a lot more power than Destiny and is sometimes a bit too quick for my liking and a bit too much spring for my older bones but I must admit I think I’m getting a bit past sharp youngsters nowadays. I think I’ll stick to Jimbob who is a lot steadier although having said that he is only 5yrs old and he reared and napped on the road the other day (when I say reared my definition of rearing is front legs 2ft off the ground any higher and I think I would jump off) He had a smack for that one and hasn’t tried it since. Anyway Amelia wasn’t too keen on either horse the first one was the nicest but maybe a bit too inexperienced and the second one tapped the fence a few times and didn’t seem bothered about hitting it. Personally I like to see a youngster that hits a fence come round to it again and put a big jump in, its good to have horses with the sttitude that they don’t like hitting a fence. So off to Warwick on Tuesday to see a couple more.

Bye Bye Destiny

Chris Rogers — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:43:41 +0000

For many years Amelia has competed in show jumping along side many other horse related sports by the time she reached 15 Amelia had decided she wanted to take show jumping more seriously and join the BSJA. By this time Amelia was getting a little tall for ponies and we decided to buy a horse for her. We went to have a look at Destiny (Ami De La Destinee) at Emma and Kate Bevan’s yard in Abergavenny in 2006. They offered to take Destiny to a local show at the Ponderosa for Amelia to jump her in a BSJA class on a ticket. Amelia won the class and we decided to buy her. Competition horses are a different kettle of fish to riding school horses and it’s also a big jump coming off ponies. Any competition horse that has the potential to be good has to has to have a bit of spark and are usually quite intelligent especially mares I think. Amelia had not long recovered from a cracked vertebrae and 4 cracks in her pelvis from a nasty injury riding a racehorse which reared up and fell on her, At that time she was a little nervous of horsers playing up when Destiny found that weak spot she tried it on a bit as competition horses often will. She made me very angry one day and I got on her and it was soon sorted out. Once Amelia’s confidence grew with her they have never looked back. In fact she is very well behaved now. Amelia has had four really good years with her mainly show jumping where she has won her out of British Novice and Discovery and had just started jumping Newcomers. She is such a fast horse in a jump off Amelia has won so many classes with her. When we first bought her Amelia did some Dressage with her and qualified for the Pony Club Champs in Nottingham. She has also hunted her and done a bit of cross country. Amelia only ever fell off her once and that was at a recent cross country event, as she hadn’t done any cross country for a few years Amelia decided to go in the pairs behind Fred, feeling confident that Fred would go straight through the water Amelia was taken by surprise when Fred stopped, Destiny obviously thought if your not going I’m not going either, spun to the side and Amelia slipped off her. Amelia has had such a lot of fun with her and so have I, riding her in lessons and hacking her out. We have been saying for the last year that we really must sell her now because Amelia has really outgrown her ability and needs to move on. Two weeks ago we advertised her in Horse Mart and Horse Quest and have had several replies. Last monday whilst I was away some people came to see her for their 14yr old daughter to start out on horses. They liked her and after she was vetted on friday decided to buy her. On Saturday Amelia took Destiny out for a last hack and I took Jimbob. At 3.30pm they arrived to pick her up. True to form Destiny put up a show of refusing to go on their Trailor then after 5 mins just walked straight on. As they were driving up the lane we could see Dest in the back of the trailor and she turned her head back towards us and gave a neigh as if to say Bye Bye.

Horse/Pony Adoption

Chris Rogers — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:17:35 +0000

We started the adoption scheme last year when lessons were a lot quieter due to large hints of a major recession by the press. We are now finding that we need to use the ponies/ horses again for lessons and more people wish to participate in shows, although some people are quite keen to carry on with the adoption. As most people only ride for an hour anyway we have decided to run the adoption during the afternoons on a fortnightly basis. Another issue that has been brought up is that some parents would like to adopt but due to other commitments and holidays do not wish to be tied to the scheme therefore the Adoption scheme will run fortnightly from May 8th to September 12th inclusive this is a total of 10 sundays and ponies may be ridden between 2pm and 4pm. If you would like to adopt a particular pony and stick to that pony this will be payable up front and will cover all ten sundays. Any other ponies will be available to adopt on a first come first served basis and it will be possible to adopt a pony for only one sunday at a time (dependent on which ponies/horses are available). Adoption will not be linked to lessons but it is not a replacement for lessons and anyone not having lessons on a regular basis will not be able to adopt a pony.

Show Jumping Horses and ponies have been allocated to riders to take part in competitions on a Wednesday. There are still some Horses/ponies available to jump at the Sunday competitions which are held monthly. If you are a Pony Club Centre member and would like to be considered to enter show jumping competitions please let us know.

Hunter Trials

Chris Rogers — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:41:00 +0000

Its lovely to have such nice weather but we really need rain for the grass to grow. The fields are looking reasonably good after they have been harrowed and rolled but the couple of centimetres of grass is not going to feed the horses for very long. I was contemplating several extra long hose pipes and a sprinkler system. The sprinkler system would’ve consisted of all the kids on a saturday holding the hose pipes. On the plus side we have had quite a few lessons out in the field doing Cross Country and the horses have been amazingly well behaved. With the exception of Jimbob who decided to leap in the air last week and cracked his head against my ear. Many apologies to those who might have heard me swear at him. The XC has done wonders for Rupert who didn’t have the faintest idea of what to do with a show jump. He’s got the hang of it now though. Just have to hope we have good weather for the Mini Hunter Trials we are holding at the end of May. We have three Mini Hunter Trials planned this year. The course is small with no ditches or water and suitable for the nervous or novice horse and rider. There is a lead rein class max height 1ft along with pairs, novice and open class maximum height is 2ft 3. The light evenings have also mean’t we can hack out a bit more as the roads are a little less dangerous in the evenings when there are not so many lorries. Jimbob is going through a temper tantrum stage at the moment, last week I put a pony martingale on him as he was throwing his head right up and then I had no brakes, he is very cross about this and is now half rearing spinning round and refusing to turn right. He managed to upset Cleo whilst out hacking on Monday Cleo gave a bit of a jump and spun round and Jen caught her hand on her neck causing quite a bit of pain to her hand and little finger which has now turned blue. We did call in casualty but there was a four hour wait so we went to the chicken farm instead and got another two chickens, I have four now all different colours. Next I want to get a couple of ducks. Another new horse arrived on trial last week named Harry a 15.2hh section D Cob. He has a shadow in his left eye which his owner did not realise and is probably a result of an injury maybe when he was quite young. The vet is seeing him on friday so we can try and work out what damage is there. Now the weather has got warmer my garden is keeping me busy in my spare time. Some one told me that as women get older they either take up religion or gardening so I thought it better be gardening. I’ve added another tree to my orchard. If you can call three trees an orchard. I’ve expanded the vegetable plot and am trying out several new varieties after my success with lettuce and runner beans last year. The patio has been laid and also the base for my greenhouse which involved moving the clothes line but at least its straight now and not threatening to fall over.

Easter Holidays

Chris Rogers — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:33:49 +0000

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.

Dressage

Chris Rogers — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:05:20 +0000

The Winter Dressage series has proved to be very popular. We have run one a month since September except for January which we lost to the snow. Today was the last in the points series, a bit of a shame this one fell on Easter Sunday as it was quieter but I can’t say I minded after the busy week we had last week and another very busy week to come. Jimbob did his second test, not great but better than last time at least he didn’t mind the flowers so much. Class 1 under twelves walk and trot was very close with Ellie McVay on her pony Midi winning the series by one point. Ellie Dix won the over 12’s, Ellie has been very consistent throughout on her pony Moss. Kate Owen won Class 2 prelim under 16’s by two points riding Ty Ysgubor Hannah. We bought Hannah with her half sister Heather approx 6 years ago unbroken. Emma Davies who taught here at that time broke them both in and both were in the riding school for several years. Martha was very successful jumping on Heather and eventually she was bought by Emily Groves and is still doing very well. Kate bought Hannah and its lovely to see her doing so well at the Dressage and the Show Jumping. Elaine Burt won Class 2 prelim open and also class 3 prelim on her lovely grey Silver Codie. Unfortunately Meryl Hanmer couldn’t be here today but had picked up some very good points throughout the series and was the winner of Class 4 the Novice Test. Pictures can be found on the Gallery The next dressage series will start in October. We haven’t organised any for the next few months but some people have asked us to run them as they are qualifiers for Cricklands. Keep an eye on the website and if we can fit any in we will. Which just leaves me to say a big thank you to all that took part, all the judges for their time and patience and everybody else who has helped out. Team jumping Wednesday.

Horses and BHS Exam results

Chris Rogers — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:16:13 +0000

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!!!

Jimbob

Chris Rogers — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:29:21 +0000

Jimbob is a 15.2hh old Palamino Gelding rising 5. He came on trial for a couple of weeks from Carmarthen. Can’t say I like the name but I think he is going to be stuck with it. We bought him this week and I am going to take him on myself for a while at least until he is better schooled and jumping. I took him into the indoor school after the jumping competition a couple of weeks ago, the course was still up at the time and Jimbob was really alarmed, we put the fences down to poles on the floor and spent ages leading him over them working up to riding him in trot over small cross poles. They’ve got a little bit bigger over the last couple of weeks although still small enough for him to realise he must go over them now he is jumping about 1ft 9 with fillers underneath. Hopefully he can go in his first class on Sunday. Last week he did his first dressage test. We did the walk trot test and he was 5th – out of 5 so there’s room for improvement, the flowers scared him, and he was not very straight but at least he behaved as we normally have an issue with the bottom end of the school. We’ve had quite a few issues napping when hacking out but I’m winning and he is getting better. We went out on the road yesterday for the first time and again tonight with a sensible horse for company and he was very well behaved – building up to riding over the Motorway next. I have to say RCT as a council are so not horse friendly, there is no where to ride at all without going over motorways or dicing with death with quarry lorry’s. Jimbob can have a few days in the field this week as I am away on holiday. Steve was away on Sunday so I drove the lorry to Pencoed College for Amelia to jump Destiny and Leo. Its been awhile since I’ve driven it as Steve normally drives so many apologies if you happened to be stuck in the tail back behind. Amelia won the class on Destiny and was 3rd on Leo. Angharad Davies took Sid to her first competition away from Talygarn at Sunnybank on Sunday and did tremendously well, being placed 4th and 6th. Well done Angharad.