Riding School | Chris's Blog

Tweets from Talygarn

Mini Show Jumping Tonight 5.45pm 2012/02/08
Mini Show Jumping Wed 8th feb 5.45pm Schedule A To be held indoors. Classes LR 1'6 1'9 2' 2'3 2'6 Entries £7 per... http://t.co/tY4nnghO 2012/02/01
Dressage Feb 5th cancelled Next Dressage Sunday March 4th 2012/01/28
25th Jan Wednesday evening show jumping 5.45pm starts with 2' clear round then 2'3 2'6 2'9 &3' qualifiers for... http://t.co/lKilSp6L 2012/01/25

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Horse Sales

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

The maddening thing about trying to buy horses from private sellers is the time it takes. Once you have found a suitable advert, tracked down the sellers, cleared at least half a day off work, travelled 30 plus miles and thats if its local, got lost then eventually found your destination invariably one of the following occurs – the horse/pony takes 3 steps forward and you can see its lame (the owner can’t or doesn’t want too), It has sweet itch, its 14hh (was advertised 15.2), It is not quiet in fact bordering on wild, it has several confirmation faults. I tend to find one in twenty matches the advert. I try to see at least 3 in the same direction if that is possible and I’ve been known to have to take the entire day off to do this then find none are suitable, get stuck in traffic on the way home, forsake the diet and buy a very unhealthy meal to ease onset of depression. The other option is to visit the horse sales, easier because there are several horses to look at in one place but not without its problems. When buying the private horse the owner will lovingly tell you everything about the horse down to what it eats for breakfast, they even tell you things that eventually put you off buying the horse. At horse sales the majority lie at every opportunity, favourite saying when selling small ponies is “only selling because I don’t have anyone small enough to ride it” , one wonders why she bought it if she doesn’t have anyone small enough to ride it. The other classic is we have to many so we are selling some from our riding school, on that basis would you take the best or the worst to the sales. Most of these people are dealers. You do get the odd genuine people at sales but it is hard to work out which is which and some people are very unscrupulous. Being short of ponies we decided to take a trip to Leominster Sales. The sale starts at 11.30am with the biggest horses and works its way at a rate of about 40 an hour to the smallest ponies. We decided to aim to arrive about 12 noon in order to give us time to look at the ponies before they went in for auction. Unfortunately half way there the engine overheated and set fire to the insulation under the bonnet. Slightly worrying but glad the diesel tank is at the back. Arrived at the sales just before one but in time to have a look at the ponies. I marked off a few in the catalogue to look at in the ring. A small palomino and a grey I was interested in were bought by the same person, both looked lovely but didn’t look sound and a couple I liked the look of were much sharper and spookier in the ring. In the end we settled on a 12hh bay pony who appeared to have a laid back nature, called Evan and still stopped on the way home for an unhealthy meal of pie and chips. I am glad I am not a dealer I don’t think I could cope with buying and selling horses every day, its bad enough just trying to buy for the riding school now and again.

Posted on Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 12:46 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Open Day Practices

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

This time of year most of my time is taken up with practices and preparation for the open day (and NVQ files). Originally we started the open day with a BBQ and a few riding demonstrations which were performed by the kids that give their time freely to help on the yard on the weekends and evenings providing they rode at a good level 3 and up. Today the demonstrations have grown in size considerably and with costumes although I still try and stick to selecting the kids and the kids of parents that give their time free to help throughout the year. At the end of May beginning of June I start the practices on a saturday after lessons. Everyone thats here helping on the day has a go and we and then we choose who is in by whether they can do it. The Bareback jumping always starts with loads having a go. They all jump through a grid with their saddles and bridles. Each time their jump down the grid we remove something like their stirrups, then their reins, then the saddle. No one has to take anything away if they don’t want to and they are not allowed to if they don’t look safe. By the time we get to no saddle no hands we usually have half a dozen or so riders left that are then in the display. The next practice involves taking off bridles and two on a horse. This is done in the outdoor school over 6 fences. Generally some one falls off and on this occasion Katherine and Katie fell off 3 times trying to do pairs. The riders in the musical ride are chosen from the level 4 an 5’s with a couple of good level 3’s for the youngest ones again with emphasis on those that help out. Last saturday we practiced the the vaulting and the gymkhana. I still have lots of costumes to organise for Pony Club (delegating to Lisa Vukashin). The musical ride have had two of their 4 practices and I am impressed with how quick they have picked it up. The bareback jumping and vaulting is organised just need more practices. The pony club display and gymkhana still need organising and we were going to do a horse football display but that is not working to well in the outdoor school so that may be changed altogether. The open day will take place on Sunday July 10th gates open 1pm tickets are £2 everyone welcome. Everyone needs to start keeping fingers crossed etc for good weather. Needless to say after all this stress and organising I do feel the need for a holiday, so I’ve booked the flights to Romania 9 days backpacking, Bear watching, dracula hunting and bird watching from a floating hotel.

Posted on Thursday, June 16th, 2011 at 12:40 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Summer Shows

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

During the summer months May to end of September I prefer to hold our show jumping competitions in the outdoor arena instead of indoors. The winter dressage series finishes which is replaced with Mini Hunter Trial events throughout the summer. Last year we were very lucky and managed to hold all Mini Hunter Trials and most of the show jumping outdoors. May this year has been a bit of a wash out, so far we have managed only one Show jumping in the outdoor school (I’m glad we have the option of going indoors) and we had to replace our first Mini hunter trial with indoor Show jumping last Sunday. Lets hope June and the rest of the summer is going to be better. The initial tryouts for the Open Day take place randomly in May and priority is given to level 4 and 5’s and some level 3s that have given their time free during the year to help out on the yard. Most of the try outs for the Open day have been done now except for the Gymkhana and serious practices start next week. It is only 6 weeks to the open day and there is a lot to organise. Horses for displays are going to be difficult this year as we seem to be going through a phase of having a lot of new horses some being a bit on the young side, although we have got some exciting displays and a couple of new ones this year. The open day is Sunday July 10th. Gates open 1pm, tickets are £4 to raise money for the Pony club. Refreshments available, everyone welcome.

Posted on Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 at 1:29 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Easter Holidays

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

I can’t believe its only just over a week since I was in Greece with Martha. I knew Easter was going to be busy and going away for the week leading up to the holidays was probably not the best idea, I arrived home from the airport at 2.30am a week last Sunday and my busy week started at 6am with a trip to warwick for the pony club national quiz. The Talygarn Team consisted of 4 members Carys morgan, Millie Bushrod, Kate Owen and Sophie Thomas. The team were lying in 5th place at half time and and took 2nd place at the end. The team also received a runner up prize for their mascot which was based on riding and road safety. The winning mascot was based on the royal wedding. Many years ago it became a tradition to stop at McDonalds after Area Competitions. Nowadays its 2 stops, breakfast on the way there and meal on the way back. The following morning Amelia took her horse to Stratford to a show jumping yard for two weeks and I went to Cardiff for the Pony Club Horse and Pony Care Competition. Talygarn were had 2 junior teams and two senior teams. The junior teams were placed 3rd and 4th and the one of our senior teams was placed 2nd. Tuesday was a manic day with riding and road safety badge pony club centre and lessons. On wednesday we ran a cross country clinic which turned out to be very successful and we were extremely lucky with the weather. Friday was another busy day with a riding school show jumping competition. We also had 3 new horses arrive on friday 2 8yr old mares and a 4yr old 16.1 gelding. (Sunday got the garden rotovated) Monday we took Sarah and Buffy and Carys and Jimbob to the hunter trials at Sunnybank. They day started well with Carys driving the land rover into the wheelie bin but did improve. Both horses had a few stops in the first class then both jumped a clear in the pairs and took 3rd place. Tuesdaya Pony Day was busy and today we have Team Junping, which is looking like another long day. We will be holding a riding school jumping competition on friday for those who don’t wont to be watching the royal wedding. With all the lessons to run as well its been a long week and I’m thinking I need a holiday.

Posted on Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 at 8:22 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

R.I.P Simply Blue

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Last Thursday at 8am Blue was found in her stable and appeared to be cast. She struggled to stand but seemed unable to hold her wait. The vet arrived and on investigation discovered that she had broken her leg (Femur). I am not sure how long we had Blue I think she was a 7yr old when she arrived and she would be 12 now so around 5years I guess. I remember the evening that Blue arrived on the yard, it was cold, dark and raining. I didn’t know that she had arrived as they had unloaded her at the top of the drive and walked her down. I assumed that she hadn’t travelled well as she was quite worked up and had a cut on her head. We had prepared a stable for her and soon discovered that she had quite a phobia about being in a stable. if something alarmed her she became extremely upset and pannicky. Over the years she had become a lot calmer in the stable although still somewhat temperamental and prone to biting. She could never be tied in the stable but was fine to tie on the yard. She was difficult to shoe and impossible to clip. She was an attractive 16hh black mare but despite her moodiness many people enjoyed riding her. She never reared bucked or ran away. When she first arrived I rode her for awhile. She was excellent in traffic and good to hack out. I had assumed she may not travel well as she didn’t like being in the stable but she was fine on the lorry and I jumped her over a few small courses at Sunnybank and Broomes, she wasn’t very careful or talented then. Eventually Carys Morgan took her on. Carys persevered with the jumping and improved Blue no end. They had a wonderful partnership and I truly believe that Blue trusted Carys completely. Carys gave her confidence and she became easier for others to jump but she was always at her best with Carys. No one would have thought Blue would have jumped the 4ft planks at the open day and leave them up but she did for Carys. She will be missed by many and it was a sad and tragic day to lose such a nice horse in the prime of her life. Our thoughts this week have been with those who loved and cared for Blue especially Carys who had a special bond with her.

Posted on Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 at 1:07 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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