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.

Blog: Famous horses I'd love to ride

The title is pretty self-explanatory, and to be honest, this list could be exhaustive if I really let it, but I've somehow managed to limit myself to four horses, which is nothing short of incredible considering the amount of time I spent googling this, trying to narrow it down!

1. Valegro

Seriously - just look at that extended trot! I think it'd be harder to come up with more reasons as to why you shouldn't want to ride him rather than why you would. I suppose one of the reasons (and this appeals to my inner pony kid) is that he is literally one of the best looking horses on the planet. Look at that elegant head, that muscular neck! Those floating hocks and well-rounded quarters! I bet he is an absolute drink on a stick to sit on, presuming of course that you can get anywhere near him with his millions of pounds price tag. And if you really did need any convincing, then Charlotte could just whip out her two Olympic gold medals and wave them in your face. Any horse that can do that is worthy of appearing on a list like this, quite frankly.

2. Star Appeal

Now I've made no secret of the fact that Mary King is my equestrian idol, and have also documented how I suddenly became a starstruck twelve year old girl all over again upon meeting her at Burghley (I'm not linking to the entry; it was embarrassing enough admitting it the first time around), so it was pretty safe to assume that I'd pick one of her horses in this list somewhere. I had one of her books as a teenager and was pretty smitten on both King William and Star Appeal, but Apple just about edges it for me. I'm a sucker for a good looking bay, particularly one that can win Badminton, but the story that really sells it to me is the one about him breaking his leg and having to stand in a cast for six weeks, and then on the day that he was due to have it off and be allowed to put weight on it, they got back to his box to find he'd snapped his ties and was rolling around in his stable, broken leg be damned...now that is my kind of horse! I would have chosen Imperial Cavalier, particularly after seeing his very amusing staring session at a giant horse poster he'd already seen three times at Your Horse Live, but that would be far too obvious after Valegro, so Apple it is.

3. Theodore O'Connor

I have to confess that I didn't know much about Teddy until later on in his career, only a year or so before he had his tragic accident that led to him being put down, but from the second I found out that a cheeky and incredibly talented 14.2hh chestnut gelding was being aimed at the Olympics and four star events, I fell in love. I am much more of a pony girl than a horse woman, and would take a nippy little 14.2hh over a huge striding 16.2hh horse any day (Valegro the obvious exception), and that is exactly what Teddy always seemed to be. Who knows how far he could have gotten if his life hadn't been cut short in such an unfortunate way? He was definitely the little pony with the heart of a lion.

4. Milton

I used to have posters of Milton all over my bedroom wall when I first became interested in horses, despite him having been retired for about two or three years by then, and my friend was so mad on him that I remember even buying her a Milton video from the Robinson's catalogue for Christmas one year. Even better, I believe she still owns it! She was always into her big greys, whereas I was cheeky chestnut or bay ponies, but Milton had such a presence about him that is rarely equalled. It takes a special kind of horse to become the first horse outside of horse racing to win £1 million in prize money, and I can only imagine what it felt like to point a horse of his calibre at a jump.

Blog: When real life gets in the way of being an overgrown pony kid

Between getting a promotion and my close friend having her baby early, I have had almost no time over the past fortnight to fit in more than six hours' sleep a night, never mind continue to mastermind how to buy Magic and find a way to fit her in my back garden in true pony kid style! I do hate it when mundane things such as work get in the way of my beloved horses but gaining a new godson is never a bad thing, he is absolutely beautiful.

The good thing about the promotion (aka let's increase your workload three-fold!) is that it moves me that much closer to perhaps one day getting my hands on my own horse to make my inner pony kid explode with excitement...

Magic in full-on donkey mode

Blog: Head vs heart

I will lay this on the table right now - I am a little closer to thirty than I'd care to admit in an online blog, and I have never owned a horse, despite having ridden since the age of twelve.

As a teenager, I had as many lessons as I could, helped out at my stables, even had a horse on part-loan for three years, but I've never been in a position to own my own through a combination of school, university and now a full-time job with varying hours. I come from a non-horsey family, and my dad in particular thinks I should be saving for a deposit to buy a house and stick to my weekly riding lessons.

The problem is that whilst my head agrees with him, my heart is screaming at me 'BUY A HORSE! That's what'll make you happy!', and whilst it has made some dodgy judgements over the years, this time I have the funniest feeling that it's right. I have just come through to the other side of a very rough patch in my life, and the one thing that kept me going some weeks is the beloved pony that I ride at my stables. I occasionally get laughed at at work when I say this, because I sound more like a horse-mad teenager than a grown woman, but it's the truth.

So now I'm in a position where I could make a choice, and everything feels so up in the air. I should be saving up for a house deposit, but is it really a viable option right now? If I bought a horse, could I forego all of the ridiculous things I currently waste my money on (for instance, I spent £15 on some shampoo today. Shampoo! If I don't wake up in the morning with hair to rival Jennifer Aniston then I'm off for a refund) and the occasional shopping trip to look after a horse? And could I really afford all of the unforeseen costs that horses inevitably bring with them?

I had a thought, a reasonably sensible one as well. I considered asking the owner of my riding school if I would be able to take Magic, the pony I ride, on loan for six months to see if I could manage the costs without tying myself down. The downside is that even working livery at my stables costs £80 a week (although that includes the horse being fully looked after, feed and bedding), but on the upside, if I struggle financially, I could hand her back at any time without worrying that I am harming her welfare in any way. At twenty two years old and considering her complete refusal to get in a horsebox, even while alarmingly highly sedated, it's unrealistic to believe that Magic is the horse I should buy to get many years of enjoyment out of, but is loaning her not the next best option? I trust her implicitly, I know her quirks, and after five years of riding her I know I am both capable of doing it and still enjoying it.

My other worry is that I wouldn't have the time to do her justice if I did take her on loan, but I suppose the joy of keeping her on working livery is that she would still be getting worked if I did have to work late for any reason. Oh, I don't know. This seems the most sensible option to me, but life is never that simple, is it? I knew a lot of stable management when I was younger, but I've forgotten much past the basics nowadays. I suppose that livery option would give me the chance to relearn it all, and let's face it, as long as the piggy fat mare has a rug on her back and some food in her stable, she's pretty content.

My dad would absolutely kill me, though...