I think the easy answer is probably that you can't, unless you manage to catch it mid rear as it disappears in to the sunset.  When you buy a horse the problem is, you never know.  They are an unknown quantity and will always be a risky business.  From spending over half million at a yearling sales on something that had some blood of some horse related to Red Rum decades ago, to spending a thousand pounds on a happy hacker, we simply never know what we are really getting. People spend millions on racehorse yearlings every year that couldn't beat a donkey and I have known 800 pound ponies turn in to superstars. 

Even horses we have had for a while surprise us.  I have had my mare for some time, yet the other day I find she is randomly lame.  Its nothing that I could have predicted, or stopped and I don't know when I will be able to ride her again, nor do I know what is wrong.  These things happen in the horsey world all the time.

Being a lawyer in my day job, from 9 to 5 I am risk averse, but, when it comes to horses I am a raving lunatic that will shoot for the lamest maddest thing I can find.  But at least you could say when you do that, you kinda know what you are getting.  I didn't know my mare would go lame, but what I do know is that these things happen and I refuse to stress or panic about it.

Instead, I have my lovely Arab coming on beautifully and a potential horse in for some behavioral rehab in the coming weeks.  There is always a silver lining to these things and I intend to make the best of it.  That's horses after all and us horsey folk are all marginally MAD.  I find the best way to deal with something like this is to just roll with it, smile and remember that no-one died.

To start, here are my absolute top three, I have had some absolutely cracking times on these rides and I look forward to them every year, I have had our transport for RAF Halton booked since November! My amazingly fun group would say the same from beginners to dressage divas and hairy hunters, these rides suit everyone.  Go at your own pace, bring a few hip flasks and enjoy the amazing company, views and fun.  You literally cannot beat it.

1. RAF HALTON, Halton, Buckinghamshire - 13th March 2016 - 50 amazing jumps for all abilities, over 12 miles - this ride gets booked up super quickly so get your online entry in now - http://www.haltonride.org.uk/;
2. Frensham Ride, Surrey - 17th April 2016 - 40 mixed jumps, 10miles - brilliant jumps - http://www.frenshamsr.org/;
3. South Oxford Sponsored Ride - October 2016 - 40 mixed jumps, 12 miles - perfectly manicured fences over beautiful scenery - http://www.sosr.org.uk/news.html;

Other great dates:

1) West Wycombe Sponsored Ride, Buckinghamshire (another massive favourite of mine) - Berks and Bucks Drag Hounds - 28 March 2016 - 45 jumps - 2 river crossings - 10 miles;
2) Kingsclere Ride, nr Newbury, Berkshire - Berks & Bucks Drag - 10th April - 50 fences - 8 miles;
3) Waddesdon Ride, Rotary Club, Buckinghamshire - May 2016 - 40 jumps, 12 miles;
4) Kingsclere Ride, Newbury, Berks, Vine & Craven Hunt - 5th June 2016 - 8 miles, 40 fences;
5) Stratfield Saye Ride, nr Reading, Hampshire - August 2016 - 10 miles - 30 fences;
6) Windsor Great Park Ride - 10th and 11th September 2016 - 8 miles - 20 fences - enter early, gets super busy;

So I have mentioned before about my foray in to Bareback riding spurred on by the amazing girl in New Zealand, Alycia Burton.  I used to ride bareback as a kid all the time and I can remember one day casually teaching my friend to jump 'top of the barrels' (YOU ARE OLDSCHOOL IF YOU KNOW WHAT TOP OF THE BARRELS IS ;) ) with no saddle or bridle and it was just another day at the yard.  I look back and think OMG, seriously need to get back there!

So, I was schooling Daisy the other day and once I felt half confident I had gotten the edge off of her (sounds like I have lost it already - oh to be 12 and fearless again) , I took off the saddle and hopped on - happy days.  Whilst my brain debated putting a jump up, I get a flashback of trying this about 5 years ago with my ex-racer and putting up a jump and promptly falling off -at which point I continued trotting around.  All was well and thanks to a fat broad belly, quite a comfy ride.

Having gotten the taste for this, the next time out I took my 4 year old Tonto, and feeling like an old pro, I didn't bother with a saddle.  Too much too soon I hear you say, well YES, perhaps.  So plus 1 dog on to the downs we go (after 12 when the racehorses are not around - that is a bridge too far) on a freezing cold miserable day hoping not to see anyone - off we traipse!  Tonto was pretty mellow and all was going well until an angry looking, huge seagull landed close enough to say 'Hi Tonto' and off I flew, straight into the mud with one pony and one dog giving me a very odd look.  So from trotting along thinking 'this is so easy why don't I do this more often', to 1 sharp spook and 10 seconds later, there I am face down in the dirt.

Fortunately Tonto is little enough at 14.3hh that I can hop on from the ground (thank God for small mercies) and I continued on my merry, if not slightly insane, way.  The next issue was dog who was being super well behaved decided that running in front of Tonto at regular intervals was fun with Tonto half passing across the downs, oh what fun we had.

So all in all, apart from getting dumped in the mud, the bareback riding is going well.  I do love it and it really help with my schooling Daisy, she stayed in a neat outline the whole time which is super unusual for us stargazers. Another round at the weekend I hope - although Tonto should be having his first jump, so we shall see !!

Dodgy pics am afraid, its hard watching a dog, while riding bareback, while holding your phone ;)

Hi Folks, I am always trying to keep a diary of Surrey area horsey events that I aim to go to, which never actually quite works out, but I like seeing them in the calendar and occasionally make it to the odd one!

Thanks to my amazing friends on Facebook, I have been given this list of eventing (and other) dates for Jan, Feb and March that I shall aim to shoot for, well at least to some.  Help yourself.........I know how nice it is to have dates in one place :)

Here goes:

1) Sunday 31st Jan - Merrist Wood - Indoor SJ and XC - 70cm to 1 metre - https://www.equineaffairs.com/eventdetails.aspx?id=208183 - NB Littleton is also on, on the same day BE90 and BE 100 arena eventing - https://www.equoevents.com/ViewEvent/ViewEventDetails/682;

2) 7th Feb - Coombelands Unaffiliated Arena Eventing - 60cm to 90cm - http://www.coombelands-equestrian.co.uk/events

3) 14th Feb - Coombelands - as above

4) 27th Feb - Gasstons Gynmastic Jumping Clinic - http://www.gasstonstables.co.uk/events

5) 6th March - HICKSTEAD (YAY) - Horsham and District Riding Club  - Arena Eventing - 70cm to 1 metre - http://hdrc.org.uk/events/details/new-arena-eventing-at-hickstead-competition

6) 13th March - RAF Halton Sponsored Ride - the DADDY of all sponsored rides over 50 excellent jumps, brilliantly organized, plus you can jump a plane, literally, its amazing.  My favourite day of the year by far - http://www.haltonride.org.uk/

7) 19th March - Gasstons Dressage - http://www.gasstonstables.co.uk/events

8) 30th March - Merrist Wood Indoor SJ and XC - http://www.merristwoodarena.co.uk/event-listing/

Out of eight dates, I must get to at least 4 of those !!

So, yesterday morning I think it would be a great idea to take the puppy, Bella, the horse, Daisy and myself off out on a hack altogether.  What the heck was I thinking, at the moment I am calling it post holiday madness.

Half hoping Daisy was in a calm mood and feeling confident that I could handle one horse and one puppy at the same time whilst riding, I was having a secret laugh with myself.  So imagine an extendable lead, with a dog running around in circles, with a horse bouncing along in that trot that throws you around as they really want to canter but are giving you a chance to gather up your reigns, except on this occasion there will be no gathering as you are too busy trying to untangle the dog from your hands and reigns.

So having battled with these issues for some time, including one dismount that included my briefly chasing the dog with Daisy following along, it only got worse when the racehorses came by giving my some very interesting looks and Daisy then got the confused feeling we were out hunting by combing the dog/hound with other fast moving horses at which point I thought best idea to move along at a fast trot and get the hell home.

The key to all of this was in fact a very short extendable lead, keep the dog on the left, keep the horse on a short reign and trot promptly home.  Do not repeat until a rainy Sunday afternoon when no normal people on this planet are outside. To be continued!

And, I have not yet even begun the bareback training, Saturday shall be the day for that with Tonto, my little dude Arab :)  

Hey Folks, sorry not to have posted for a while but I have been gallivanting around the New Zealand countryside/bush for the last 3 weeks and loving every minute of it.  The scenery is beautiful, the beaches are wide, open and with less riding restrictions than you could shake a stick at.  The place is a horsey paradise.

Having found my first riding destination in a place called Peka Peka Beach just outside of Wellington on the North Island, we gently cruised across the beach which just goes on for miles and miles whilst completely randomly being surrounded by an international XC eventing grounds that were just amazing.  The beach literally did not end and had a perfect accumulation of logs for popping as you went along.  The riding was amazing and my guide was lovely and she even happened to previously work with one of my vets, how random!  They say the horsey world all know eachother, well this was taking it to another level.  If you find yourself near Wellington on New Zealand's North island, you have to go here: http://www.stablesonthepark.co.nz/contact.html
 
My second horse riding destination was at Lake Taupo, North Island, NZ - http://www.taupohorsetreks.co.nz/index.html.   There is only one riding stables here and the guy that owns it is a true horseman.  He has a large heard of varying levels of horse that can suit everyone, from newly broken youngsters for the more experienced to absolute steady Eddies for those who have never ridden before.  The scenery was gorgeous and my guide, Baelei was super.  She actually told me that despite a massive horse population, there are very few livery yards as most people own a postage stamp of 10 acres at the minimum, ahhhh, one can dream……….the horse in the front garden….one day perhaps!
 
Anywho, after rambling on, my next blog should be on my bareback riding endeavors, having been inspired by this young lady https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz-m4kbgjS8 , I plan on getting back to my childhood skills and giving this a go, I’ll let you know how it goes ;)

And take a look at my Facebook Page - Pony Patters -  for my first GoPro attempt at covering my day at Tweseldown yesterday in the pouring rain, still masses of fun !!!