Lockdown horse interviews

I thought I'd join in on a fun lockdown horse interview that I spotted floating about on Facebook. There are quite a lot of new followers & readers on here so I thought it would be a nice way for you to find out a little bit more about my horses! I have no idea who created it despite searching (if this is something you created, let me know and I'll obviously tag you) I hope you join in and share this wide and far, god knows we need things that cheer us up at this point 🙏🏻

Registered name: Val De Mar

Barn name: Vallu

Nicknames: handsome, pig, William

Colour: bay

Gender: gelding

Disciplines: dressage

Personality: happy, kind and genuine 😍

Hates: puddles, pigeons, not being able to go in his paddock

Favourite treats: EVERYTHING! 🐷

Age: 18

Height: 17.1hh

Funny habits: likes giving kisses, will lift his hind leg up if he wants belly scratches and snores when he sleeps

Best feature: biggest heart, kindest soul, knows all the party tricks

Worst feature: costing money from numerous vet visits, having crappy legs!

How long you have had them: 8 years

Brinicombe Equine Think Fly spray review - sponsored blog post

Whilst warmer weather and longer days means more hours to spend with our horses, after a very wet but warm winter, it seems like we're going to have a summer that is full of flies, bugs and other annoying insects. It's only mid-April, yet I'm already having to use fly rugs and masks as well as using fly spray to keep the horses happy when turned out. Which is why when Brinicombe Equine got in touch with me about their new fly spray, I was more than happy to trial it out!

For me, the best fly sprays are long-lasting so that there isn't a need for constant reapplication, as well as being highly effective. I think it's pretty nifty if they don't smell horrible - a few that I've tried out over the years have not been a pleasant experience for me, never mind for my horses with their sensitive sense of smell!! The design of the spray on the bottle also plays a big part for me, especially if your horse is anything like mine where finding a gentle and quiet spray with good coverage is 100% important in order to have a calm and stressful turnout routine. Vallu is the most ridiculously sensitive creature to noisy sprays (as in if it's too noisy he won't let me anywhere near him when he spots the fly spray) so it's been fabulous to notice that he isn't getting tense at all about the Brinicombe Equine Think Fly spray being used before he gets turned out 🙌🏻

Feather & Fell limited luxe equestrian sweater review

Now that I've had the sweater at home for a few weeks and had the chance to use, test and wash it, I'm so excited to share with you my review of Feather & Fell's limited edition Luxe sweater. And as we're in lock down, I've only had the chance to wear it at home but it is the sweater that I always go to grab whenever it comes out of the wash. The limited edition Luxe sweater looks lovely whether you're riding or going out to the shops or grabbing a bite to eat (whenever that's allowed again!)  For only £30 I think it's great value for money, and if you use the code ROOSA10 you can get -10% off! Everything always comes beautifully packaged, which is a lovely touch 🤍

I think it's a gorgeous sweater - it's SO soft & incredibly comfortable. It's not too thin or too thick, so you can wear it for pretty much the majority of the year, right through from autumn to spring very easily. I hate when I end up buying a sweater or hoodie that is too thick and then there's only a limited amount of time throughout the year that you can wear it, but the Luxe sweater has got just the right amount of thickness. I have practically lived in it, and despite washing it constantly the logo is intact which in my opinion is a rarity, and the sweater itself hasn't shrunk in the wash either. I've lost so many sweaters to this, so I'm over the moon that this one looks and feels EXACTLY the same each time it comes out of the washing machine! It's a sign of great quality when it doesn't shrink and the logo stays in tact, and unsurprisingly this Feather & Fell sweatshirt is definitely a quality product! The reason why I waited to share this review was so that I could have the chance to test it out, to make sure it withstands day to day use in order to be able to tell you guys everything about it 🙌🏻

10 things you can do to cope with COVID-19

With the country experiencing a lockdown it's no surprise that competitions and arena hires have been cancelled, all but essential travel has been banned and most full care livery yards going into lock down and owners not being allowed to visit and a lot of people not riding at all, I know that a lot of horsey people are struggling. Not only is the situation terrifying, but to then also lose what keeps us sane means that 2020 is turning out to be a bit of a disaster. With the government recommending to practice social distancing and self-isolation, I’m sure a lot of people have found themselves es with some extra time on their hands and not quite sure what to do with it.

So, aside from riding/exercising your horses (if you're allowed to go to the yard and if you want to ride!), here are a few things you can do to keep yourself busy:

Blog hop: Gratitude

Through several blogs that I follow, I found this fabulous blog post from Liz who started a blog hop guaranteed to put a smile on everyone's face. She writes: In an effort to introduce a bit of positivity and happiness amidst uncertain times, I thought I would share some of my gratitude items here in the hopes that our lovely little community of bloggers will echo back with some of their own. It's been awhile since a blog hop has gone around, but perhaps our little group can come up with a suite of them in the coming weeks to ease us through these unknown times?

I have so much to be grateful for at the moment. In no particular order, I'm grateful that:

1. My horses are at home - having seen so many yards go into lockdown and not allowing owners to come and even look at their horses, I am so conscious of the fact that I am very lucky to have mine at home. I don't know how I'd cope without them. On Tuesday the only time I actually laughed out loud that entire day was when I was riding Vallu, so if I didn't have that I don't quite know what I'd do. I really feel for those who can’t see their horses or ride at this horrid time - it’s horrible to even think about.

2. My family and friends are still safe and healthy. I have several friends who are nurses, paramedics  and other GP support workers, and family who are doctors who are all spread around Europe and so far everyone is doing okay. Nothing would be greater if we all made it through this pandemic without having to lose someone.