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.

Introducing Feather & Fell

Well 2020 has started off very well! 🎉 With all three horses in work, the days starting to get longer and the competition season starting to get closer, it really does feel like 2020 will be a lot nicer to me than last year was. On top of all of that, I have some very very exciting news to share with you - which you already know if you follow me on Instagram or my blog's Facebook page (and if not, then you've probably guessed for the title of this blog post) but I am SO delighted to share with you that I'm officially a brand ambassador for Feather & Fell! 💚✨ This is a company that suits me down to the ground - country lifestyle gift boxes as well as products for both dogs and horses, and I know you'll love them too! Let me introduce them to you a little bit more.

So Feather & Fell is a small business run by a country couple who saw a gap in the country life market of subscription boxes.  Their aim is to deliver a touch of the country side within a luxury gift style box on a quarterly basis and for the box to be an ideal indulgence for all lovers of the country whether you're a full time farmer, happy hacker, a game keeper or an occasional dog walker. Their products range from practical to very very pretty, also there's something for everyone! You can find out what's inside these boxes by clicking here. And it's not just subscription boxes, there are also gift boxes for us equestrians which I think will be perfect for birthdays or Christmas, or whenever you're in need of a lovely gift! 🎁

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 🦄

#Blogtober Day 13: The Perfect Autumn Day

As I've already mentioned several times throughout these #Blogtober posts on my blog, I love autumn. The weather is still nice enough for you to stay warm enough though out the day even when you're outside all day, it's dark in the mornings and in the evenings but not yet dark in the afternoon, the countryside is made up of greens, yellows and oranges and it is BEAUTIFUL.

I’m a morning person and I love nothing more than getting up at the weekend. I love sitting on the sofa after feeding the horses at 6AM, drinking a big cup of coffee and watching the sun rise whilst catching up on the news, social media and blogging. Wiltshire is an incredibly beautiful place, and our house is in the perfect place to watch the sun rise above the hills 🌅

#Blogtober Day 12: Your autumn/winter routine with your horse

Do your routines with the horses change with the seasons? As autumn moves into winter (HELLO MUD, I really hadn't missed ya!) many equestrians will begin to make changes to their horse's routines.

So what about my autumn and winter routines? I wouldn't say that I have a routine for autumn and winter that differs a lot from the rest of the year. In the summer, our horses go out 7am and come in sometime in the afternoon and then I ride closer towards the evening when it's cooler. In autumn, the horses go out later - around 9am - and come in sometime around midday, but this depends entirely on the weather. On gloriously beautiful sunny autumnal days they are quite happy to stay out well into the afternoon, but on wet, windy and cold days they want to come in by 11am. Throughout the year our horses are stabled over night, and this will never change. In our family only our youngsters and retired horses live out 24/7. Our horses are all about routine, so making things the same for them every day in makes everyone's life much easier.

Does my exercise plan for the horses change over the winter? Not really... I mean, of course I've not able to take the horses out for a long hack yet because of the busy roads, or enjoy the back field for our canter work instead of the arena, but overall how much work my horses do doesn't actually change. I aim to work all of the horses five days each week with 2 x school sessions, 2 x lunge sessions, 1 x training session and 1 x canter in the field/hack/arena walk hack. This doesn't change much between summer and autumn!

#Blogtober Day 10 & 11: Autumn wardrobes

I mean if you're anything like me, your horse's wardrobe is more extensive than your own! For days 10 and 11 in #Blogtober, here are mine and my horses' autumn wardrobes during these cooler months ⤵️

Although our horses have what feels like a thousand rugs, with two or more for every occasion in fact (we have rugs for every eventuality), I do try keep my horses without rugs as much as possible, especially now that they're inside the barn. Luckily we have a thermostat in the barn so I know the approximate temperature inside, and if it doesn't drop below +13C, I don't use rugs - especially now that they are very hairy and haven't been clipped yet! When the temperature has dropped below that, the four rugs I have been rotating between already this autumn are the 0g rain sheet, light weight or fleece lined turn out rug (either high neck or full neck), the light weight 100g Mio rugs with no neck and fleece rugs.

I don't need more rugs but wouldn't this be cute on Basse?

I think when deciding on what rugs to use this autumn, remember that each horse is an individual. Some might be run hot whilst others can be prone to a chill. Vallu is a chilly horse whilst Erik runs hot, but currently Basse has the fluffiest coat ever so I've been using different rugs for each one, especially when turning out horses, who will move about in their paddocks to generate warmth if they are feeling chilly, which is why I would rather 'under rug' for turn out.

#Blogtober Day 7: Top things you love about autumn

Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, I ADORE autumn since I was born in October and I always feel a sense of relief after a long hot summer when the temperatures start to drop and the weather cools down a little.

🍂 Here are the top things I love about autumn: 🍂

1. It's the end of summer so no more flies! We have a lot of flies in this area, so I'm VERY happy to not have to hear anymore buzzing, and I think the horses are happy too as there's a lot less head swishing.

2. The colours of the leaves - gorgeous! I adore the colour of the changing leaves, sometimes I think that autumn leaves are more beautiful than any flower in the summer! Just recently as I was turning out the horses at 8am, I stopped to think how could anybody actually not like autumn?

3. Pulling out the winter warmers from the wardrobe - eing able to put our favourite snuggly clothes back on. We all moan about being cold when winter comes, but its now the time of year when we all start dragging our winter wardrobe out.

4. Clipped horses – I CANNOT wait to clip my horses. They dry quicker, they look so much smarter and it's so much easier to keep them clean!

#Blogtober Day 6: Handling the season change - top tips

Changing seasons can bring about potential problems for horses and their owners. Autumn months bring a variety of weather conditions that affect horse, their owners and riders, but whilst autumn weather often brings pleasant conditions (e.g. it's not so hot!!), it can also bring conditions that are frustrating and create extra work for both horses and riders.

It's been a long, hot, dry summer and at least our place here in Wiltshire is well over due some rain. I will happily take a bit of mud and colder temperatures after this summer! But my top tip for handling the season change when riding is to have longer warm ups: in the colder weather, especially when it’s a sudden drop in one day, it can decrease not only skin temperature but also muscle temperature. Be sure to give your horse plenty of time to warm up at the start of exercise, make sure the horses stay warm and dry. When it's around +10C during the day, I start using fleece rugs and keep it on during the warm up and cool down walk just to help my horses' muscles stay warm.

For the riders, autumn is here so embrace it. I feel that some people see autumn arrive and automatically go into a panic about winter. Stop! Take a breath, and enjoy the the charm and calmness of autumn, the beauty of nature during this in-between season before the proper darkness and colder temperatures arrive. I am an autumn baby (born in October!) so this is my favourite season but for those who aren't enjoying the season changes, dig out those jumpers and gillets to help you stay warm in the mornings and evenings but sunset views like these make it so much better 🌅⤵️ 

An InLinkz Link-up

#Blogtober Day 5: Autumn essentials for your horse

Yesterday's #Blogtober post was all about essentials for me, and today's is the autumn essentials for our horses! 🍁🍂

1. Rugs: ALL THE RUGS. I find it SO frustrating in the UK with the huge variety in temperatures - every day can be massively different (yesterday we had +20C and then today we have +11C), so our horses have A LOT of rugs. We have plenty of stable rugs but we have even more turn out rugs, ranging from no fill to 300g turnouts.

2. Magic brush: This brush is just the best brush ever invented, especially if you own a grey horse. It gets mud and poo and grass stains like no other brushes can.

#Blogtober Day 3: A day in the life of Roosa's Horsey Life

For day 3 of Blogtober, here's a quick look into what my life currently consists of... Coffee, mucking out, horses and blogging. ☕️🐴💻

6AM: Wake up to the increasingly annoying sound of my phone's alarm clock and crawl out of bed. I used to be really good at getting up to feed, but since it's been dark still as the days are getting shorter it's been a struggle to get up at 6! Give the horses their feeds and hay, check everyone has water. Decide that Melissa is too warm, so change her rug to a thinner one. Shout for the dogs who have decided to run off to the back field, and hope that they come back. Once they get back inside the house, crawl back into bed for a quick nap.

7.30AM: Wake up again, go downstairs for breakfast AKA a big cup of coffee. Watch the news, scroll through Facebook and Instagram and try to wake up my brain.

8.30-11AM: Morning yard jobs! Turn the horses out in rugs, fill up the water buckets in their paddocks and then decide it's too warm so take off everyone's rugs. Muck out, do feeds, put fresh hay and water in the stables. Electricians are back, this time they are doing the outside lights as well as putting up the new camera outside the barn. Plumber also arrives, so hopefully we'll soon have running water in the barn!

11AM: Back inside for more coffee and breakfast, feed the dogs, put the washing machine on and make tea and coffee for the electricians and the builder! Rush around trying to get everything done in half the normal amount of time which means I spill everything 🙄

12PM: Grab the horses in whilst the electricians are on their lunch break so that the horses can have a quick snooze without all the noise and chaos.

#Blogtober Day 1: An Introduction to Blogtober

Recently on the fabulous #HorseBloggers Meet Up group on Facebook which is run by the lovely Sam from Haynet, I saw a post about Blogtober which  is a challenge where you aim to do something for your blog every day of October, and I thought that this would be a great challenge for me! After a year of hard work due to my Master's degree and the thesis, followed by a summer of chaos moving from one side of Europe to the other with two dogs and five horses as well as a massive building project with the new barn at home, I thought it would create a focus back on the blog 🍁🍂

I'm aiming to publish a blog post most days, but I think for some of the topics/days I don't have any good blog content to post, so I'll be focusing on social media instead, so make sure you follow me on Facebook and Instagram ✅

The equestrian blogging community has jumped on this idea and the plan is to make Blogtober into one great big blog hop! This means that at the bottom of each post you will be directed to other blogs who are also taking part in this equestrian version of Blogtober! What a great way to discover new equestrian bloggers to follow 💕

An InLinkz Link-up

Stable renovation: part 1

In case you've been working why I've been a bit AWOL from both social media and from the blog it's because over the last several weeks I've been chilling out and spending some quality time with friends and family 💞 My brother came over from Finland for nearly a week with my nephew (who is 18 months old and the cutest little person in the world!) and we spent the majority of the time discovering new local places, going shopping and playing with Lego. We've had old family friends pop over for the day and I've had horsey friends come to visit. My grandparents are coming over for a week and we have a party planned for after the renovations are done 🎊🎉. Real life has a way of suddenly catching up with you and taking over your time unexpectedly!

But I'm finally feeling settled enough in our day to day life to be able to bring you guys up to date on one of the most exciting things that I've ever been involved with, which is the renovation of our American barn! When we first came to look at this place, we all knew that it would require quite a bit of money and work to get it looking like our own home. One of the biggest problems of the property was that the barn had only 4 stables, that it was 17 years old with a leaky roof and that it hadn't been looked after properly. Not only was it mouldy everywhere due to the leaking roof, the internal partitions creaky when a person just lightly leaned on them AND the entire barn was covered in cobwebs and an inch or more dust and dirt, which is so not the environment you want to keep your horses in, especially if you have horses like Basse is very sensitive to dust.

 

Luckily we were in contact with West of England Stabling who were able to come to have a look at the barn before we had even moved in and let us put the order in before we had finalised the purchase of this property, and we went with the Tintagel internal partitions (this design is different from their other fronts as the curve is made from tube rather than box section or flat) in a light wood and their classic American barn which is the same size as our old one, but this time we'll have 5 stables put in as well as a tack room and a storage room. The rest of the remaining space will be used for the storage of hayledge, straw and the horses' feed.

31 Day Social Media Challenge Day 14: Why do you do what you do?

Today's challenge was to share why you do what you do. So why do I blog? It's been nearly 5 and a half years since I suddenly decided to start blogging about my life and my horses, and I honestly never thought I'd have so many people interested in my options, my training diaries or my passion for equestrian style and trends. But since then I have gained followers from all over the world and even won awards for my blog. When blogging started (and I was already several years late to the game), the first blogs were really just online diaries, and in the chance of becoming a professional blogger and making money online was not the goal. And for me, it still isn't. But since then the blogging world has changed, developed and evolved, and now people blog for many different reasons. I think it's pretty easy to spot those who blog to earn money and gain products, and those who do it for a love of blogging and sharing their own personal journeys. I do it for the love of blogging, but there are also other reasons:

30 facts about me

Since so many people have joined in with this blog hop, I thought I’d join in too! Thank you, May As Well Event for this fun blog hop! Without further ado, here are 30 indispensable facts about me that you were probably not dying to know ⤵️

1. I've been riding since I was 5. Those poor Shetland ponies who had to put up with a super excited child.

2. My longest proper break from riding was 2 months when I was studying for my finals of college. Other than that I have never had a proper break from riding and don't see myself ever being able to stay away from horses.

3. My first pony was Briggsen. He was a little sh*t and threw me off everyday for the first 6 months I rode him, but he's the reason why I can sit to nearly all horses' bucks/rears/spooks nowadays! Thank you Briggsen ❤️

4. I was born in Kaarina in Finland, and we lived there until we moved to Reading, UK in 2001. We then moved to West Sussex in 2005 where I completed secondary school and did my GCSEs. We then moved back to Finland 2010-2012, then I spent 6 months in Germany at my brother's yard, then I moved back to Finland for a few months before going to university to Nottingham 2013-2016, and moved back to Finland in 2016. Moving back to the UK hopefully within the next 4 months and will hopefully be there for a good while!

5. I have no desire to ever go beyond advanced level dressage… I'm never going to be good enough/have a fancy enough small tour/Grand Prix horse so those levels are just are never going to be possible for me!

6. I love both dogs and cats 🐶🐱 We've always had dogs, but cats are still extra special to me because we've only had cats for the last few years, since moving back to Finland.

December Blog Hop: Year in Retrospect

This month's Equestrian Bloggers blog hop was the perfect topic for me! I've always done a favourite moments/best bits of the year blog post, but with my losing my grandma last month and her funeral last weekend, I've not had the motivation to create that blog post, so luckily Bridle and Bone had me covered! What were your success this year with your horses or your blog? Would you change anything?

My 2017 was a year of massive successes with my blog and my horses, with just one not so good memory with Vallu's leg injury! But we are already nearly back in full work, so it was just a momentary blip rather than the end 🎊🎉

Guest blog post: Team Tunnah Eventing

If you follow me on twitter it will be of no surprise to you that I find Sophie from Team Tunnah Eventing incredibly inspiring. She works so blooming hard all the time but still has time to ride and compete with Louie, keep her blog up to date and run the ever so helpful Equestrian Bloggers group on Facebook. I don't know how she does it! Since she won the 2016 Equestrian Blogger of the Year Award, I wanted to let the readers of this blog find out more about this wonderful lady! ⬇️

(I have also done a guest blog post on her blog, which you can read by clicking HERE!)
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Hello! I’m Sophie from Team Tunnah Eventing and I’m very lucky to have been invited to guest blog on Roosa’s Horsey Life this month. Why have I been asked? Well, it’s time to pass the ‘baton’ onto Roosa - that’s the baton of being Equestrian Blogger of the Year!

Back in October 2016, I was honoured to win the title of Equestrian Blogger of the Year. It came totally unexpectedly as my blog activity was very different then as it is today. But the lovely judges over at Mirror Me PR & Haynet enjoyed the “variety of quality content coupled with her light hearted sense of humour comes across strongly and makes for a great read and engaging content...posts are presented with an honest and very personable tone of voice, which runs seamlessly throughout”. So, I’ve tried to keep that tone & style ever since!

November Equestrian Blog Hop - What is your riding ambition? Do you have one?

Although I missed the October Halloween themed one, I'm so pleased to be joining in again for Heather from Bridle & Bone's third Equestrian Bloggers blog hop 🎉🎊 I loved taking part and reading everyone's answers for the first one, so I'm really looking forward to this month's theme which is: what is your riding ambition? Do you have one?

Despite the fact that my brother is a professional dressage rider who is aiming for the Olympics, many people always seem to be so surprised that for me, my riding ambition is not to get to the Olympics but to learn as much as possible and to continuously improve myself as a rider. This can be summed up in what Austen from Guinness on Tap wrote as a comment on another blog post of mine where she said that: "for most dressage riders, there is more joy in a supremely balanced, controlled, and forward medium walk then there is in riding a passage you can barely start or stop. The joy comes in doing it right, and in the confidence of your own partnership and skills". This is exactly what I want to be able to do! My riding aim is to be able to do 'it' right and to be 100% confident in my partnership with my horses as well as my riding skills.

Equestrian Blogger of the Year 2017

I am very proud and totally honoured to be named as Haynet's Equestrian Blogger of the Year 2017! 👑🏆

I'm very rarely speechless, but I must admit this has taken me a long time to write as I just don't know what to say apart from thank you 💕

Like I wrote earlier, it was an honour in itself to be in the final group as I didn't even think I would make it! There were 12 finalists all with different blogs, I think nearly all interests and disciplines were covered. I was really pleased to see more international bloggers in the final group too, which is why Haynet and MirrorMePR decided to embrace the ever-increasing presence of international bloggers and to surprise us all with a brand new award - the International Talent award which Tacchi A Cavallo won! The Recognition of Talent award went to Diary of a Wimpy Eventer  and the Rising Star award to How Very Horsey. Well done guys!!

Haynet's Equestrian Blogger of the Year Awards 2017 finalist

Well.... last night on Twitter things got very exciting as the 12 finalists for Haynet's Equestrian Blogger of the Year Awards 2017 were announced and I've been included in the finalist group for the fifth year in a row!🌟 (does a happy dance)

 Having seen how the equestrian blogging world has expanded massively this year, I didn't think there was any chance for me to be picked as one of the finalists so I was on Twitter purely out of curiosity to find out who the finalists were and to support the #horsebloggers community. Not for one second did I think that my little blog would have been included in this list, which by the way has some giant names in it and bloggers who have thousands of followers on twitter and Facebook 😱 So I'm still feeling pretty amazed to be included in such a group!

September Equestrian blog hop - Why do I blog?

One day during August as I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, I saw that Heather from Bridle & Bone had posted a question about the idea of a blog hop to the Equestrian Bloggers Facebook group and yes, I was very excited to join in. I've long taken part in lots and lots of equestrian blog hops simply because it is a great way of finding new blogs to read and providing content that is different to my usual blog posts, which is why I'm am really pleased to be taking part in the first ever Equestrian Bloggers one! 🎉🎊

September's topic is "Why did you start blogging? How did it all begin?"