10 Questions For October

Thank you to the wonderful Viva Carlos for doing another set of brilliant questions. In case you don't follow her, you really should - I love her writing and have been following her blog for years!

1. What discipline do you ride? What would you ride if you could pick any other one?
I'm going to be sticking to dressage, but if I was braver then I'd love to give eventing a go. All my horses have been bought for dressage so I can't see myself doing any jumping shows with them, the boys can just about canter over poles, and Melisse gets so hyper that she jumps everything and forgets about steering and half-halts totally so I don't think we'd survive an actual round of jumps!

2. How many horses have you ridden in your entire riding career?

I have no idea! I'm guessing it must go well into the several hundreds... Considering I started actually riding when I was 7 years old and since then I've been lots of riding schools, had my own pony and own horses and ridden friend's and employee's horses, there's no way for me to be able to count how many I've been lucky enough to ride.

3. Most bizarre activity you’ve done with your/a horse?

Not my horses, but when I was at a summer confirmation camp organised by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland when I was 15 years old, one day we took all the horses out for a swim at a local lake  🌊 I'd never ridden a horse bareback in a swim suit and swim with it before and don't think I will ever again - but it was SO COOL!

Rocking E Cowgirl 10 questions July blog hop

Rocking E Cowgirl returns with another great set of questions for the second blog hop! 

1. If you could trail ride anywhere this summer, where would you go?
TO THE BEACH! 🌴🌊 I have always dreamed of taking my boys to the beach and riding in the sea ever since we had a family holiday in Ireland when I was 12 and I got to ride one of the ponies at the beach. We also rode up a small mountain/hill but that was not fun for me! I can just imagine Basse stumbling and us all falling down the side of it.

2. Tell me your all-time favorite joke.
Well this is not a joke, instead it's a funny line from one of the Blackadder episodes: "I think I'll write my tombstone 'here lies Edmund Blackadder, and he's bloody annoyed" simply because I've said this so many times throughout my life when I've been pissed off but everyone has always just laughed which has now made it into my favourite joke-y line to say, probably because I grew up watching all of the Blackadder episodes!

Rocking E Cowgirl 10 Questions June blog hop

You all know I love participating in blog hops, and these questions come from Allie at Rocking E Cowgirl who has one of the prettiest equestrian blogs ever! #bloggoals

1. What is your earliest, clearest horse memory?
When I was 6 and was having a riding lesson at a riding school and we were riding in the outdoor arena, I was on a slightly naughty pony who knew that he was stronger than me, and he kept stopping to eat the grass at one end of the arena and I can clear as day remember sobbing to the teacher that "I can't do it, he won't listen to me" and her reply was, "ponies give nothing for free, figure out what to do or you'll spend the rest of the lesson there"! At a very young age I was taught to figure sh*t out myself or be stuck there crying!

2. Describe the perfect summer day.
It's sunny, not too hot and the horses get to be out all day in their field. In the evening I get to go for a long hack with friends and I haven't had to rush at all throughout the day! I think the not having to rush at all would make any day perfect tbh.

'Come what May – 10 questions' blog hop

I love answering questions from blog hops and can always use the help with creating more content so much thanks to Rhiannon from The Horse Is Not Black for creating this fun little blog hop! 👏🏻

1. What are your summer goals?

To enjoy the horses! The summer months are the best months for having horses, it's warm and everything is beautiful! I want to get the boys hacking out as much as possible, going training as much as possible and then having them out on the grass paddocks as soon as there is enough grass! 🌱🌿 I'm also looking forward to having a proper photoshoot done again this summer - our last one was over a year ago!

2. Do you have any tips or tricks for fly control?

Lots of fly spray in the mornings and turn the horses out as early as possible! In the middle of summer ours go out 5am-10am and then again late in the evening when there are less bugs, flies and horseflies. I also couldn't live without our fly masks and fly rugs, especially for Vallu who is super sensitive to the flies and he will come through the fencing if they have annoyed him enough!

3. How often do you bathe your horse? 

I wash them down with warm water after every ride if they've gotten sweaty, especially when we are using lots of fly spray. Apart from the first spring bath, the horses only get proper baths before a show, training session or a photoshoot.

4. Do you have any upcoming travel plans? Equine related or otherwise?

Yes indeed! We are moving back to the UK at some point, but I'm hoping it will happen at the end of summer. This means we will be going to Sweden and Germany with the horses as they travel and we'll hopefully get to stay at my brother's yard in Germany, which is stunning.

10 Questions for December

Once again, massive thanks to Viva Carlos for doing these questions! I love reading everyone's answers

Does your horse need shoes? Yep, all of our horses have shoes because they all need the support, and because for the winter months they also need to have studs in so that they don't fall over! Basse also has had a 'special shoe' with a wedge pad on his left front foot since his injury in February to try and keep the hoof/foot in the correct position to aid healing and to try to prevent a new injury if he slips again.

What do you think of the barefoot vs shoes debate? I would love to try having our horses barefoot IF we were in a country where this was possible but in Finland, I would never have a horse barefoot because of the long winter. For those who keep their horses barefoot and healthy, well done.

Favorite season for riding? SPRING TIME!🌱 🌺 🌷 🌼🌿 🌸 💐 When spring arrives, we've survived the horribly long winter months, the air is clean, everything is turning green and everyone is happy! It's not too hot yet so I still get to wear more than a t shirt (I love my layers) and I'm not constantly sweating or having to run away from wasps and flies!!

10 Questions for November

The wonderful Viva Carlos to the rescue with her 10 questions for November!

How old is the youngest/greenest horse that you've ridden? I think a 4 year old Basse like maybe once a week when he was being trained by the professionals but I wanted to have a go! I think all I did was trot and canter in a circle but it was fun to be riding a youngster.

How old is the oldest horse you’ve ridden? Probably around the 20+ year old mark. Nelli was 20 the last time I rode her but I'm pretty sure I rode a few older horses when I was young before I got my pony.

10 Questions for October

Copied from the wonderful Viva Carlos

What do you consider “jumping high” for yourself? Anything over 60 cm if I have to jump! For anyone who does jumping on a regular basis then I consider anything over 1m to be high and really quite impressive.

What are your short term goals for riding? Do you think you’ll reach them? My current short term goals are to have both my boys in full work. That's it. I'm nearly there with Vallu and Basse has just started doing trot work so within a few months if everything goes as it should then both boys will be back to full fitness.

Long term goals for riding? Do you think you’ll reach them? I definitely would love to compete at the higher levels and at do a PSG at least once in my life!

Bigbro winning the GP Freestyle at the Helsinki International Horse Show 2016

How many barns have you been at in your riding career? 5 in UK before we moved back to Finland, then our current yard that is our home and then the 2 yard that Vallu stayed at whilst we were in the UK for my university degree. I have also been at my brother's yard in Germany.

How many different trainers have you been with in your riding career? I've had so many trainers that I don't even know what number to guess? I had several different trainers and went to many different clinics with my pony, I don't even remember how many trainers have helped me with Basse over the last decade - jesus I feel old! With Vallu I've had three really good trainers (Ville Vaurio, Andrew Fletcher and Lili Brooksby Dalby) who have trained me and Ville for the longest time.

Ever worked at a barn? What did you do? For the first half of my gap year I worked at my brother's yard in Germany,where I was a groom so this included helping with the tacking up, grooming, clipping, lunging etc of the horses that we were stabled with him. I also went to the vet checks and to competitions and got horses ready for prospective buyers.

Scariest thing that has happened at your barn? I've been incredibly fortunate to have never had anything incredibly scary happen at the barn. The worst was when Basse managed to tear his nostril open and there was a lot of blood, and then when a couple of days later when he managed to tear the stitches open again and there was even more blood!

Have you ever given a lesson? What level was the rider? I've given 'green' beginner lessons to people as well as helping out my friends when they've been riding. I've also assisted more experienced riders by just reminding them of the basic stuff either at home or at competitions.

What is your opinion on the accuracy of critiquing riders online? I prefer minding my own business. Unless someone is training and competing at a higher level than me, I don't want or need anyone else's critique. I also prefer praising others' for their achievements instead of trying to bring them down with criticism about their riding skills.

What is the ideal height of a horse for you? I like anything above 160cm, but I think the best ones are about 168-170cm. Vallu who we think is about 178-180cm is definitely of the upper limit for me. No bigger than that thank you!

10 Questions for August

From the best that is Viva Carlos, of course! :)

1. What is your biggest source of caffeine that gets you through the day? (drink, not just brand): 

Coffee! Lots and lots and lots of coffee. Did you know that Finnish people have the highest consumption of coffee in the world, at 12 kilos per person per year!?

2. Do you honestly think your trainer is the best trainer for you?:

I don't currently have a trainer, but my trainers whilst I was in England Andrew Fletcher and Lili Brooksby Dalby were both equally fantastic and I couldn't have asked for better trainers! Both were incredibly motivating, talented at picking up my faults yet even more talented at helping me fix them and I loved every lesson.

When your trainer makes your horse look like this!

3. One token of advice a fellow rider/trainer/horse person told you that you still remember to this day.

Your riding position is the shape of a box and you shouldn't stray outside of that box.

4. If riding meant costing your family so much money that they’d be basically on poverty line, or making your family terribly unhappy (if they were not supportive or understanding, etc.) would you still do it?

No. As much as I would hate to give up horses and riding, I would if it would make my family happier. Fortunately horses make my family happy and everyone is very understanding about how horses and competitions come first, the rest later.

5. (Girls) would you ride while pregnant?: 

NO BABIES YET!! (for a while yet at least!) I think it would depend on the horse and how many times I'd fallen off. I would ride both Basse and Vallu as late as possible because I trust them both, but a youngster maybe not?

6. How do you tell when a horse likes someone/has bonded with you or someone else?:

I think it's very specific per horse as they are all so different, but with Basse I knew we had bonded when he decided not to kill me on the gallop track when he was 5 years old, and with Vallu it was when I got told by several friends that he appeared really unhappy whilst I went home to visit family! 

7. Are horses capable of loving, in your opinion?:

Yes I think so.

Public displays of affection 

8. If you could have one horse from your past come back for 5 minutes, who would it be, why, and what would you do with them in those 5 minutes?:

I'd LOVE to have my pony back for even just those 5 minutes and go gallop with him across the fields. I miss how fast that pony was and how he would gallop until he was done and there was no stopping him!

9. Should a trainer also be a friend, or should it be a student/teacher relationship?:

I've had both, and I've always been more comfortable when the trainer has been a friend or at least a closer acquaintance than just a stranger. When the trainer is a friend I've found it a lot easier asking for advice and for help and not feeling like a total loser when I didn't understand something the first time. 

10. One piece of advice/training you were given by a trainer or mentor that you look back on now and view it as incorrect?:

A physio had once told my trainer and parents that Basse should be pts as soon as possible because his back muscles are so sore and that he would never be able to carry a person, be ridden or have a happy normal life due to his slight kissing spine... Safe to say that Basse's back has improved, he's been happy and healthy and we never saw this physio ever again!