25 questions

Thanks Viva Carlos for the blog hop!

1. What is the first thing you do when you get to the barn?

I sing "goood morninggggg" 🎶 to them as I always get to the barn first thing in the morning at 5.30am to feed the horses. I give them their hard feed, give them their hay and check that everyone has enough water. Then I stumble back home to have a large cup of coffee! 

2. Is there a breed that you would never own?

I've always believed in never say never, but being my height and size I can't see myself owning or riding anything extremely small and dainty, so as much as I love the TB it probably won't happen. I'm hoping that at some point in my life I'll find myself with a very chunky Lusitano or a PRE, but they'll have to be at least 16.2hh.

3. Describe your last ride?

Like in the photo above, a bit wonky but the attempt was there! I last rode Vallu after a week of very little work due to the miserable weather we've been having and we were both a bit stiff and a bit wonky. I think we'll need several rides to get back on track and I desperately want to go for a nice hack next weekend, fingers crossed the weather becomes a bit more summer-y! ☀️

4. Have any irrational riding fears?

Not any irrational fear, but I do have a sense of self-preservation so I will not put myself in a situation with the horses where I or my horse might be in some danger. This means that if I'm going to a new place I want to go check out the place before taking my horse there, just to be on the safe side.

5. Describe your favorite lesson horse?

I don't have a favourite lesson horse since I've not been to riding school since I was about 10! But before I got my pony I was utterly in love with a grey pony at the last riding school I went to and I think this is where my love for greys comes from 🦄

6. Would you ever lease out your horse?

Unlikely! I have leased out Basse when I was at college and didn't have time to ride more than one horse - but after the experience of it, the idea makes me incredibly nervous. 

7. Mares: Yay or neigh?

Mostly neigh for me, but yay for others. I have only owned geldings and only ridden a few mares in my life. As much as I love Melisse, she's just given me more proof that I am too hormonal myself to have to deal with another living creature that's a bag of hormones. I do love mares, just not for me having to ride them. Although my boys can be moody, they're still boys and I think my life will always be full of geldings!

8. How many time per week do you get to see your horse?

Every day! And I LOVE it ❤️ 

9. Favorite thing to do on an “easy day” with your pony?

Hack around the big field, or sometimes they'll have a spa day where they get bathed, groomed and trimmed. If it's their day off then they'll also get turned out again or a long hand graze.

10. Conformational flaw that bothers you the most?

Hooves that are far too small for holding up big bodies. It might just be me that has this problem as I've had to give up a lot of dreams with Vallu and have had such much heart break with him because of issues stemming from this conformational flaw. Although accidents happen, I've had several vets, farriers and other professionals tell me that if he'd got bigger hooves and legs some of the issues we've gone through could have been prevented with better breeding. So if you're ever buying a big horse (Vallu is 17.2hh) make sure it has big hooves and legs too!

11. Thing about your riding that you’re most self conscious about?

Honestly, my weight and my body type. The 'ideal' dressage rider is a tall and slim person and even at my slimmest, I am shorter than I want to be and no matter how much I try to diet, eat better and exercise more I will always be a more sturdy rider than you see in catalogues and all those amazing Instagram photos. It's been a long journey of self-confidence to find myself being mentally OK with what I've got.

12. Will you be participating in No Stirrup November?

Unlikely... This might sound obnoxious, but I feel like my balance is one of the least things I need to work on - my seat is very secure, I ride several different horses who all like spooking and testing my stickability and I ride without stirrups at least once a week.

13. What is your grooming routine?

My horses are mud monsters, so I always start with a magic brush and a soft plastic curry, then a soft brush to flick the surface dirt off. Normally with Basse I also have to use a damp sponge with a bit of shampoo to wipe off any remaining mud/poo marks. I then use Carr Day & Martin Mane & Tail conditioner on their tails and manes to get them nice and shiny.

14. Describe a day in the life of your horse?

Everyone is given a feed and hay at 5.30am, and then one of mine gets exercised before I go to work and before leaving everyone gets turned out 🌿 Their stables are mucked out & new bedding, hay and waters put in etc sometime in the morning. They come in sometime between midday and 1pm, get a lunch snack, then I show up late in the afternoon after work to ride or lunge the other two who didn't work in the morning. Once I'm done with riding then between 8 and 9pm they get skipped out and given dinner. 

15. Favorite season for riding?

Spring!! I like the cooler weather and I enjoy how lovely everything seems after a miserable winter. Everything seems to come back to life, we get to see more sunshine and less rain, grass starts to grow, it's warmer but not too warm and I don't have to put on rugs on the horses 😎 Summer tends to be too hot for me, I don't enjoy constantly being too warm and having to do battle against flies and other bugs. Autumn is my second favourite season for riding, but I hate knowing that winter is coming!

16. If you could only have 1 ring: indoor or outdoor?

Although I don't mind riding in rain, the winter season does make me want to have an indoor arena. And in the summer when it's boiling hot under the sun I'd love to have a roof over my head to keep things a little bit cooler, so yeah if I could only have 1 arena it would be an indoor arena for sure.

17. What impresses you most about the opposite discipline (english vs. western)?

Western horses seem to be the most chilled out and well behaved horses. Although I have very little experience with them, this is the impression I've gotten from years of following people with western horses on Instagram and Facebook.

18. You have unlimited funds to buy one entire tack set for your horse, what is he/she wearing?

I'm very lucky that I already have my dream saddles and my dream saddle pad and bandages, so the horses already have WOW saddles, and any of the matchy I own is what I'd use. If I had unlimited funds I would buy all the horses their own PS of Sweden bridles, but I would need unlimited money to buy 5 bridles (3 snaffle bridles, 2 double bridles) 💸

19. How many blankets do you have? When do you blanket?

LOTS. And we seem to use them all. Over winter when the horses are in full work and are clipped, they need turnout rugs and several different weighted stable rugs, fleece rugs, woollen and waterproof exercise rugs. In the spring and summer we're lucky and don't seem to have to use any rugs apart from the occasional fly rug when it gets very warm and the bugs attack!

20. What is your horse’s favorite treat? Favorite place to be scratched?

Sugar cubes and polos 🍬 And my ponies have no favourite place, they love to be scratched ALL OVER! 

21. Something about your barn that drives you crazy?

Nothing! We designed the barn ourselves and had it built to our specifications so for what we need and the amount of horses that we have it's perfect in my opinion. We have a few more additions to make, like building a hard standing track to the paddocks so next winter it'll be easier to turn out and bring in and hopefully I'll get my way and we'll also build an outside wash box so that we could give the horses baths in a safe place.

22. Roached manes, pulled manes, or long flowing manes?

I can't stand pulling manes and I am not a fan of the look of long flowing manes unless they are pristine, so I use scissors and keep my horses' manes long enough to plait them, but tidy! ✂️

23. Can you handle a buck or a rear better?

I've always said I'd rather have a horse that bucks than one that rears, simply because I worry that when they rear they'd flip over and land on top of me. Luckily it's never happened to me, but having seen how dangerous it is, I couldn't cope with a horse that rears.

24. I would never buy a horse who ___________________?

has been made dangerous by other people. I don't believe that horses are born angry or evil, but the bad treatment they experience due to people can make them dangerous. Although I feel terrible for those horses, I don't want to own one.

25. Favorite facial marking?
I do love a bay horse with some white facial markings!