Dance pony dance!

I am such a sucker for adverts at the moment, but I am absolutely loving this little gem!



And even better...go and have a play with The Pony Mixer! My Sunday morning just got a whole lot better for watching a bunch of hip hop Shetland ponies moonwalking to Run DMC...

Somebody hand this girl a toothbrush...

'There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.'

Whoever said this (was it Winston Churchill or is the internet lying to me again? I haven't trusted the internet since I started university many years ago now and was warned that Wikipedia wasn't a valid source. Turns out, they were right) had it so very, very right. Any week that is paid holiday can be counted as a good week, but even during the nice times it's still lovely to have a four-legged beast like Madge...

Gosh, I am a proud and noble looking beast. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I WAS NAUGHTY TONIGHT? I CAN STILL HAVE A CARROT RIGHT?

I am fabulously witty too. See, you're all laughing.

 

Wait a minute...YOU! YOU THERE! Empty your pockets and prove there's nothing edible in them!

DO NOT BELIEVE YOU. SHOW ME THE CARROTS!

 

What do you mean, have I ever heard of Colgate? I have someone to do that for me!

 

Maybe if I keep doing this, they'll hurry up and give me my tea...

 

You on the other side of this wall! Share your carrots?

I've had enough now. There's a wisp of hay on this door that amuses me far more than you do, lady with phone stuck to her hand.

 

You know, I have things of so much substance that I could post here, but sometimes I just like to post pictures of my crazy (and slightly naughty) beast and marvel at just how happy she makes me.

Magic would never do this...

Never in a million years...but I am still a sucker for a good old emotional advert - don't get me started on the John Lewis snowmen!

 

Bettering myself for free

We all have a sticking point in certain subjects - in the equine world, some people are extremely knowledgeable on the ground but they lack the confidence to ride a horse well, others excel in the saddle and sometimes forget the more detailed parts of horse care. For some, however, the point at which they come unstuck is far more generalised - and I am one of those people. The one thing I have always struggled to get my head around is feeding a horse - I have an honours degree and many qualifications, but I will stare blankly into feed bins for a good ten minutes at a time before admitting defeat.

Half of the problem is that I am not involved in horse care on a daily basis, much as I would like to be. I was in the Pony Club as a teenager and learnt so much through that and working at my stables, and I even remember earning my feeding badge, but I also remember that it was a lot of hard work at the time, and that was a good decade ago.

So, with some vague mumblings about wanting to become a horse owner at some point in my life, I've always known I have to sharpen up the areas I'm lacking in - because a decade old feeding badge from the Pony Club is almost certainly out of date, not that I can remember anything from it anyway - before I take the plunge, for my peace of mind as much as the welfare of any horse that finds its way into my life. Reading Horse and Hound magazine and Your Horse's Twitter account, I found out about a free equine nutrition course being run through the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at Edinburgh. Basically, the course is five weeks long, it aims to teach you not just about what to feed and when but also physiology, dietary management and how to understand all of it. And the best part? Did I mention it's free?

I've signed up for the course - 3-4 hours a week can easily be fitted around a full-time job - which is entirely online, along with over 10,000 other people, in the hope that this time around, something might stick in my head!

To learn more about the course and enrol, click here.

Shame on you Tesco...

Horsemeat found in beef burgers

I KNEW there was a reason I didn't eat burgers...

New Year's resolutions

So with my last post being a horsey Christmas wishlist (sadly I didn't find Magic under the tree, despite my best efforts), it makes sense to find some horsey resolutions that I will have the best intentions of keeping, at least until February, where I will probably forget all of them and slip back into old habits. But hey, it's a tradition!

1. Be able to ride Magic around a course of jumps without a) frightening anybody or b) killing (or at least seriously injuring) either of us
This is easier said than done with an ex-showjumper. Never mind adjusting your horse's stride; Magic takes every jump on whichever stride she fancies (often from about twenty feet out), and also at about a million miles an hour. When you try to point out this isn't perhaps the best way, she rewards your efforts by putting in a dirty refusal and tipping you over her neck. The best riders I know have given up and just let her get on with it, so I follow their lead, but making it around a small course in one piece would feel like an achievement to me after the manic efforts we've put in before...

2. Make it back to Burghley
Okay, so this isn't so much a resolution and instead is more of an aim, but no harm in putting it on here. Burghley was one of my highlights of 2012, and I am determined to make it back there again in 2013. It was worth every penny and more.

3. Get a bit braver
I would be a much better rider if I stopped overthinking everything and imagining what could go wrong, so I need to make the effort to be more positive, and when that's under control, I need to feel the fear and then DO IT ANYWAY.

4. Seriously look into loaning a horse
I thought of an option that I hadn't even considered before, and what's more, it's also very practical, realistic and totally affordable. I can't claim the credit for the idea, but that doesn't matter - making it happen is far more important! More on that at a later date...

The hardest one for me on here has to be number three, without a doubt, but it's something I need to get over and work on, I worry far too much. The easiest to keep will be number two, because that's not exactly a hardship (although I had better start saving now...). Have you made any horsey resolutions?

All I want for Christmas...

I know it's hard to believe, but every now and again I do occasionally want the odd thing for Christmas that doesn't involve horses in the slightest. It's the horse things that tend to be the most exciting however, because who wants to hear about that DVD I wouldn't mind watching along with 13,456,239 other people in the country on Christmas day? I often ask for something like a new hat or new boots and chaps with not a lot else, but after a significantly more horse-filled year than the couple before it, I've found my list has grown quite substantially. My parents, brother and close friends literally live in fear.

Half Chaps

I am far too embarrassed by the state of my chaps to display them on here, but needless to say I strongly suspect they will soon get up and walk out the door themselves, or just fall apart at the sight of another horse. I've had them for a good four years and although I don't ride all that often (once a week most of the time), it's still often enough for them to be covered in all kinds of interesting things (mainly thanks to Magic). My bigger-than-average calves limit me and I find it hard to get a pair that fits well, which makes me even more reluctant to go chap shopping, but in a perfect world I would wake up on Christmas morning to find a brand spanking new pair that fit just right (and somehow make the calves look a little smaller too, or is that just being greedy?).

Short riding boots

Old school I know, but I literally can't think of anything comfier to ride in than a pair of these with half chaps. When I first started riding it was all the rage to wear just jodhpur boots, but having seen the state of the inside of my chaps, I can't imagine how my leg took the wear and tear back then! Then things progressed onto the long riding boot, but since getting back into these bad boys I only have dim and distant memories of how restrictive long riding boots really are. My ankle can flex and turn! My giant calves aren't stuffed into boots that cut off blood supply to my feet!

Muffler

Because my long hair can only keep my ears so warm. Because it's Joules, and Joules is awesome. But mostly because it's called a muffler - nothing that is called a muffler can be considered a bad present.

Personalised phone case

This has been on my shopping list for months now, and I still haven't gotten around to buying it. I love my iPhone, I can't remember what I did without it. I also love Magic (even more than my phone, incidentally). Why wouldn't I want to combine the two?
(this is from a website a friend recommended to me, Bags Of Love. I will be ordering this case very soon, I WILL)

 Magazine subscription

Okay, so this is a bit of a cheat, as I already subscribe to this magazine, but renewing this subscription would made me very, very happy. And to be fair, this is probably the one thing off this incredibly ambitious list that I will receive. And it will make me very, very happy. I like to buy Horse and Hound every week but find that I end up flicking through the bits I'm not very interested in (cough, racing), whereas I read Your Horse cover to cover and enjoy every one. In fact, if Your Horse wants to start going fortnightly, that'd be great thanks...

Magic

There was literally no way on this earth I was going to write a Christmas list without putting Magic on it. Just in case Father Christmas is reading, you know. I might be in my twenties but asking for a pony for Christmas will never get old.