Dear diary,

I’m a day late but Happy Halloween to you all. Several people have asked if I was going out trick or treating to celebrate, but to be honest, Halloween isn’t something that I can get behind. Not because of any issues with the concept of pagan worship — if treats were on offer, to be honest I’d worship at the altar of thoroughbred racehorses and yes, I am shallower than a paddling pool in the Nevada desert — but more because every day of my life is fright night; I live with my mother…

This time of year is worse than ever because whenever I am invited to the cult event Your Horse is Alive, mother goes into a spin, labouring under some bizarre view that the world will judge her horsewoman skills by the length of my nostril hairs and will remove her right to ride if I have fur, like anywhere. The fact that two minutes in her presence would confirm that the only thing she should be left in charge of is a rocking horse is clearly beside the point. I have to be de-furred, de-haired, de-moustached and de-moralised all in the name of mother’s pride: yep operation “from feral to fabulous” is well underway…

This year the person tasked with turning me from roan (I refute the fact that I am ginger-in-the-wrong-light) to seal pup grey was Aunty J. Aunty J is an individual who has clearly been a bad bad, bad girl in a previous life as she is the one tasked on a weekly basis with trying to instill some sort of ability into mini-mother and the pint-sized piebald pain in my posterior. What crime she committed to be saddled with such a herculean task one doesn’t even want to contemplate, but she’s clearly a very religious woman — she can oft be heard muttering “for the love of God, why me?” as she plasters an encouraging smile on her face (think air stewardess with rigor mortis), while the deadly duo massacre yet another circle.

Anyway, this week at least she got a treat, as she got to lay her hands on a real horse, one whose masculine physique was (at the time) cocooned under a three inch thick man-blanket while I wafted a moustache that Colonel Mustard would have been proud of rakishly in her general direction. Fast forward two hours and I have hair envy of Right Said Fred, the facial hair of a prepubescent Daniel Radcliffe and an ass colder than relations between Boris and Jeremy. It’s so cold my Hovis sausage has gone so far into hiding a US Seal team couldn’t find it. The few remaining lone cat hairs on my inner thighs are forlornly swaying like backing singers at a Kanye West concert — superfluous to requirement and painfully aware of their imminent demise; in my hair’s case because my mother’s middle name is Edward (think about it), and in the singer’s case — well Kanye, needs I say more…

Aunty J did have to phone she-who-has-a-fuse-shorter-than-the-career-duration-of-a-british-prime-minister and admit to having slipped while de-furring my back leg, and thus my leg lines are slightly lower than the morals of an alley cat. If all of you coming to see my at Your Horse is Alive could make an effort to point that out, I would be grateful — I have a mental sweepstake as to how fast I can get the mothership’s blood pressure into outer orbit. Plus, if you lot point it out, then she has to be polite which will mean I get to enjoy watching the muscles near her jaw twitch as she grits her back teeth and channels her inner Jaws (the bond villain not the fish — she’s not that good a swimmer). Whereas if I draw her attention to it then my life expectancy drops lower than the chances of us leaving the EU before my 30th birthday.

Not that I will probably live that long. Certainly not if Aunty Em McSnitch of Snitch-ville insists on posting videos of me manfully protesting the enormous civil rights violation that occurred earlier this week. Now, it’s worth bearing in mind several key facts here, because unlike Mother McJudgey (why I’ve gone all Scottish here I know not but bear with me), you should not jump to conclusions.

Firstly, in life there is a hierarchy. We might not like it but there is. Call it Darwin or Fred for all I care, but the reality is I’m more senior than the cowardly coblet — be it in years, talent or social standing. So thus, manky mane should NOT come in before me. Like ever.

Secondly, I am Celtic.The green blood of the Emerald Isle of my birth flows through my veins like water down the River Shannon. Thus, when I protest I do it in suitable style, conveying my ancestry as well as my angst; River Prance was my interpretative masterpiece and NOT as critiqued by some uneducated heathens “a mini-tantrum”.

Thirdly, and quite frankly most importantly, I have NO hair. I am NAKED. Equine Dougal looks like a walking pompom — he could house an entire family of field mice in his mane and his fur is thicker than he is. He could have stayed out a few minutes longer while I was fetched in and allowed to defrost like Olaf working on his suntan.

Continued below…

Hovis’ Friday diary: Women are impossible. Especially my mother

‘Many things make mother sad; the size of

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Thus, I think I was totally within my rights to protest. As for the allegations of “doing an impression of Puff the Magic Dragon” — I was not snorting I was swearing in fluent equine. Hey, if it’s ok for mother then it’s ok for me. For those of you who have viewed the video on my Facebook fan pages, then behold my moves.I’ve always told you Viagra has nothing on me — there’s the proof…

Talking of Viagra, I understand he’s coming to Your Horse is Alive next week so I look forward to it. Very few times in your life do you get to be in the presence of your hero, a world beater who has changed the very face of British Equestrianism. Don’t worry though — I’m sure he will handle it just fine…

Laters,

Hovis

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

Restrictions on the use of fireworks on private property in Scotland are among options being considered by a new review group.

The Scottish government announced an action plan on 29 October after its public consultation on firework use, which found 92% of more than 16,000 respondents felt there should be more control on how fireworks can be used.

As part of the action plan, a firework review group, made up of key organisations including animal welfare charity SSPCA, Police Scotland, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), has been set up to consider current legislation, and the “opportunity to explore” a number of options has been identified.

Proposed changes include the introduction of restrictions on the use of fireworks on private property, a notification system before fireworks can be used, tightening of the dates and times fireworks can be set off and the introduction of no-firework zones around locations such as retirement homes and hospitals.

Scottish community safety minister Ash Denham said: “The group will carefully consider how the current legislation around where and when fireworks can be used can be tightened to help ensure that people can enjoy fireworks safely and appropriately.”

A spokesman for the Scottish government said the introduction of a notification system would require those intending to use fireworks to notify a relevant authority, and the surrounding community, in advance of fireworks being set off.

“This would have the potential to lead to a reduction in the volume of fireworks being set off, and would ensure those who need to take preventative measures before firework displays, such as those with livestock or people with sensory issues adversely affected by fireworks, are able to do so,” he said.

Article continued below…

Sainsbury’s praised by welfare charities for not selling fireworks

Sainsbury’s has not confirmed the reason behind its decision, but the move has been welcomed by welfare organisations

‘People want change’: pub cancels fireworks display in support of animal welfare

The pub plans to make an animal-friendly display the focus in the future

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The group is due to begin work “imminently” and will present its final recommendations to the minister in the summer of 2020.

Other actions announced in the plan include a campaign launched on 21 October with the SSPCA and the SFRS to improve awareness and understanding of the impact the legitimate use of fireworks can have on people and animals.

“The campaign encourages people to attend organised public displays, and is supported by a published list of public firework events across the country which is publicly available on the SFRS website. This is supported by a programme of communications run across social media, local press and radio,” said the spokesman.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Comedian Ricky Gervais is among those backing a struggling charity that specialises in rescuing mistreated and abandoned fly-grazed horses and ponies.

SAFE, which is based near Reading, Berkshire, has had to stop taking in new rescues after running low on funds.

The organisation appealed for help and its post was shared by Ricky — who is from Reading — on his Facebook page.

“We’re lucky we have a connection to him through his niece and he was decent enough to share the appeal for us,” said SAFE’s founder Alison. “We have had a few donations come in since, even from some people in the US.”

The charity’s appeal fund now stands at around £7,000 but Alison said the day-to-day running expenses are still mounting.

“We spend £300 a week on hay at the moment,” she said. “Although we don’t have any money, we never scrimp on top quality feed. Everything that we take in goes into quarantine, is strangles-tested and blood-tested and the vet is constantly out — it all adds up.”

The charity runs from basic premises that do not have running water.

“We have always had to ferry water in with a bowser,” Alison said. “I think people see us on social media and know we are a successful charity and they think we have rolling fields and lovely shiny stable blocks but it’s far from the truth. We do what we can with the limited resources we have but we have been struggling for a while.

“We are successful rehoming our horses and have found lovely homes for many of them but the equine crisis carries on.”

Alison reassured supporters that the charity is not closing, it does not urgently need to rehome horses and that support for the horses it has rehomed will continue.

“I have seen a lot of posts saying we’re closing — we’re not but we can’t take in any more until we have our funds sorted and are sure we’ve got enough to last the horses currently in our care through the winter,” she said. “Other than that, we are carrying on as normal.

Continues below…

‘We’re at capacity’: horse charity unable to carry on if horses aren’t rehomed

Volunteers say they have nine horses ready to go to new owners, and that they need to free up space,

Miniature pony trots down red carpet to collect award on behalf of stablemate

Kellogs, a 26in high pony, attended the 2015 Animal Hero Awards on behalf of his best friend Twiggy, who was

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“If we do come across rescue cases we will work with the landowners to try and find somewhere for them, find another rescue or post on our Facebook page looking for homes. We will still do home checks but will not get involved financially, but we’ll still be at the end of the phone and email and Facebook messenger doing what we can to help people.”

Alison said what the charity needs more than anything is a regular secure income, and appealed to horse owners to sign up for a monthly donation of “just the price of one cup of coffee”.

“We have more than 10,000 followers on Facebook, so if they all did that we would be secure,” she said.

More about SAFE and options for donating can be found on its Facebook page or its website, where there is also a list of horses and ponies available for rehoming.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Enjoy some of our favourite updates from equestrian social media channels during the past week. From eventing mums flying around five-stars to a pony in a kitchen, it all happened on social media this week.

Don’t miss the exciting competition on this weekly page. Our favourite tweet each week will win either an Apatchy mini tablet case or an Apatchy cosmetic bag, personalised with your own initials. For more information about the competition and to find out who this week’s winner is, go to the bottom of this page.

Equestrian social media posts of the week

Hours of fun

This pony looks to be living the dream

When you win your first five-star

How sweet

Inspirational

The commentator should have fun with this one

Sarah Skillin

Possibly the BEST Team Chase name in history!!!

And congratulations to this week’s Social Media Post of the Week winner

Three five-star super-mums juggling babies and competing at Pau

If you like this, why not follow @horseandhound on twitter today?

Tweet of the week competition

The winner of the Horse & Hound tweet of the week competition can also be found by searching Twitter for #HHTweetOfTheWeek. The winner will receive an Apatchy mini tablet case (pictured left) or an Apatchy cosmetic bag (pictured below right), personalised with their initials.

Apatchy are designers and makers of bespoke lifestyle gifts. Their ranges include wash, cosmetic, travel and sports bags, which can be instantly personalised or customised without the need for sewing, gluing or ironing. To find out more about Apatchy’s unique personalised products and their wonderful gift wrapping service, visit www.apatchy.co.uk

Here are 12 hairy superstars we wanted to steal and take back to our own yards this show season…

1. Pillheath Prince Charming

Brook Kehoe and her own Welsh section B stallion secured their first ticket to Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) at the Royal Highland Show in July.

2. Ballagh En Vogue

The Hall family’s Welsh section D yearling was crowned M&M in-hand supreme and overall NPS silver medal champion at Lincolnshire County show.

3. Thistledown Snowstorm

As well as standing junior Heritage champions, Talia Aristodou and the nine-year-old Welsh section A stallion trotted to the overall reserve supreme M&M title at the 2019 Royal International Horse Show (RIHS).

4. Greenholme Warbler

Claire Wigley’s 15-year-old stallion came out of retirement this season to win his HOYS classes at both Lincolnshire county and The Great Yorkshire with Katy Marriott-Payne in the saddle.

5. Crusheen Shadow

The six-year-old Connemara and Abby Macey stood top of the RIHS junior ridden championship at Ponies UK spring classic.

6. Wells Reliance

The 11-year-old Shetland, owned by Harry Sleigh, clinched several titles during the season, including taking the Sanderson Trophy at the Royal Highland Show.

7. Southerton Jasper

Helen Jeans’ Dales took home a HOYS qualification and the section reserve at Derbyshire Festival with producer Jess Talbot.

8. Betws Onid

The three-year-old Welsh section A colt landed his first Cuddy ticket this season as well his section title at the National Welsh championships.

9. Stuffynwood Daffodil

The overall supreme at NPS Area 4 was clinched by Everett Hayes and Sarah Nobles big-moving Dales mare

10. Dunmere Glayvar

The Dartmoor stallion took his RIHS open ridden qualification at South Suffolk show.

11. Gloves Blakehill William

Ella Kivlochan rode her own Connemara gelding to clinch his Olympia place at the BSPS summer championships

12. Wagtail Echo

Karen Shield led the stunning youngster to land the foal championship at the NPS Area 4 summer show.

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

First off, I wanted to THANK YOU ALL for your prayers, thoughts and donations for Jo, our October Emergency Bucket Fund horse.

A note from Theresa at BHFER.

Oh my gosh, this is amazing!  We truly appreciate this – it was very unexpected and I’d say pretty successful!  Thank you for doing this!  This was truly a surprise and a great thing for the horses and those trying to help them – this makes a difference!

Our Pay Pal receipt.

ALSO… I just saw this on my local FB feed!

Most of you have probably heard on the news about the fires in California.  They are all around us, but not near us.  We have the smoke, but no fires.

Well, we have two very large, Olympic qualifying Three Day Eventing venues within 10 minutes of our house.  One is 10 minutes to the North, and the other is 10 minutes to the South.  The one to the South, I pass every day.  It is called Paso Robles Horse Park.

They are done with show season, so they thought it would make perfect sense to open up their stalls to horses in need of shelter from the fires.

Yay Paso Robles Horse Park.  Good on you!

Here is a news story about it, plus some stills I took from the news video.

The Paso Robles Horse Park is setting up temporary stalls to help those who have had to leave everything behind due to the wildfires burning throughout the state.

The horse park is hosting two nationally rated horse shows for hunter jumper competitions this weekend and next, but some competitors impacted by the fires are arriving a little early.

“It is great that we got to move in a little bit quicker here because it left room for the evacuees to come into our barn,” said Holly Charlebois, West Marin resident.

Charlebois brought 20 show horses down from Northern California to the Central Coast for the Paso Park Fall Classic Series. Moving those horses frees up space at her barn where they have, in turn, taken in 20 evacuees.

“You know I feel horrible for the people that are more affected than we are. We are happy to help any way we can and hope that if we were in the same situation, they would do that same for us,” Charlebois said.

Those at the Paso Robles Horse Park are also doing what they can by installing temporary stalls to house horses that may need to leave their homes due to the blazing fires up north.

According to park leaders, they started receiving calls days ahead of their typical load in time from people wanting to see if they could bring the animals they consider family to a safe place.

“Particularly being affected by the Kincade Fire, looking to get out of the poor air quality and into a safer zone,” said Amanda Diefenderfer, Paso Robles Horse Park Director. “We also had some people calling and asking to pull in a few extra stalls to bring a few horses that may not be competing but they wanted to get them somewhere safe.”

The park has set up about four barns to help close to 40 horse owners keep their equines safe.

“Luckily, we are really glad to be able to expand and doing everything we can to accommodate. We have actually brought in a few extra stalls from down the road to really work to help out everyone we can,” Diefenderfer said.

This comes the same day as the Easy Fire broke out in Simi Valley. Horses there, like across the state, have also required rescue. Many of those horses are being taken to the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara.

Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

You can see the smoke in this one… it is just in the air, there are no fires near us.

The post Our OCTOBER BUCKET FUND RECEIPT and… Yay! Cheers to our neighbor, Paso Robles Horse Park, who set up stalls for horses of the California fires! appeared first on Horse and Man.

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Police are urging owners to be vigilant after a horse who sustained such serious wounds in a malicious attack had to be put down.

The 18-year-old mare sustained a significant wound to her neck and shoulder between 4pm and 6pm on Tuesday (29 October) in a field in Mendham, Suffolk.

A spokesman for Suffolk Police said the mare had been wearing a rug, which it is believed was removed by the suspect before the attack.

“The horse had to be put to sleep as a result of the wound,” he said. “Officers investigating believe it to have been a deliberate attack.”

Sgt Brian Calver, from the rural crime team, said: “We would suggest other horse owners review their security measures in their paddocks and stables, and we are also urging the wider public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.

“This is a particularly disturbing attack and one which we don’t want to see repeated. It’s vital we catch those responsible as a matter of urgency.”

Anyone with information on the incident should contact police, quoting crime reference 37/65784/19.

In this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, out on Thursday 31 October 2019, don’t miss our vet and National Hunt specials — packed full of interesting features, interviews and much more, including why equine legs swell up and what to do about it and how National Hunt trainers approach jump schooling their horses. Read our feature on how to minimise your horse’s distress when it comes to fireworks and some vet advice on what your horse needs to stay healthy this winter. Read our reports from across the disciplines including eventing action from France, racing from Cheltenham and much more.

Good horsemanship starts with a feeling for horses, and knowing your horse is invaluable. In dressage we seek to replicate the natural movement of the horse, but the horse in nature doesn’t repeat these movements while bearing a load. So what can we do to achieve our goals and keep our horses sound and happy?

In an ideal world, repetitions would be kept to a minimum. Sometimes professional riders are lambasted for working their horses at higher levels too soon. However, often the benefit of the rider’s experience means they know how to present the work to the horse in a way that is easy to understand, and so the horses have actually done fewer repetitions of the movements than they may do with a rider who is doing it for the first time.

Learning to train different horses to grand prix is a very different skill to riding one that is already trained, and it requires great patience. I don’t start my horses at small tour until they are eight as I like their seven-year-old year to be one of consolidation, but I have started several at grand prix aged nine. It doesn’t hold them back.

Good eyes on the ground are invaluable, and sometimes it is best to swallow your pride and let a more experienced rider show the horse a new exercise, particularly if you are trying to keep the repetitions down.

Make your training short, sweet and meaningful. Strengthening the horse’s core by riding on different surfaces, up and down hills, walking on roads and incorporating some polework is key to building an athlete that can cope with the demands of the sport.

Know your horse

“Feel” needs monitoring. We’ve had fun at home with a new app that tracks us riding in the arena, and shows the route we take and how long we’ve spent on each rein and so on.

We use sleep monitors on some of the older horses as, if they don’t lie down at night, it can be a sign of orthopaedic pain or stiffness. Or you can simply check your horse’s rugs to see if he’s been lying down.

Repetitive strain injuries are common in dressage horses, but often there are signs, such as leaning heavily on one rein, that can be picked up by the rider.

Of course, ideally you would start with a horse with good conformation. But know your horse’s strengths and weaknesses and use common sense: if your horse has an upside-down neck, then you will have to focus on keeping his back strong; if your horse has long pasterns, make sure your shoeing is tip-top so he doesn’t end up with collapsed heels, causing more pressure.

Many anecdotes can be brought up about top horses having long careers despite bad conformation, but top horses will have balanced riders. Rider fitness is our responsibility and crucial to being an easy load for the horse to carry.

Keep your horse off his forehand. It already has you, the saddle and much of his natural bodyweight over his front legs. I see too many young horses trotting round on their forehands whacking their front feet down, which is far more damaging than the horse being one centimetre behind the vertical at times.

Social media trolling has made some riders terrified of picking up their reins. Learn to ride in balance and save those suspensory ligaments!

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

Patrik Kittel has been one of the leading lights of international dressage for over a decade and next week will compete for Sweden on Well Done De La Roche CMF at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon — his 11th championship. He is also currently standing for the position of rider representative on the FEI dressage committee, at the same time as preparing to welcome his first child in October. Life is hectic for the 42-year-old, but he finds the time to tell H&H about the riders he most admires.

When asked which other riders he has most admiration for, two names dominate Patrik’s response.

“Isabell Werth continues to amaze me all her time — she has such willpower — and then there’s Charlotte Dujardin,” he says.
“You define a good rider, not for doing well with one horse, but with several. To really educate horses and stay on top for years— that’s an amazing rider and there’s not many who have done that,” he points out.

“When I watch Charlotte ride I get really jealous — she has the most amazing position in the saddle. You watch her ride at lower levels, like elementary, and her horses already look like potential grand prix horses; it’s very impressive to see that. She’ll be back on top of the world for sure — the good riders always climb back up again.

“Success is not about luck or money, but about the ability to educate and the science of keeping horses sound and happy. Everyone has a different approach but it’s the riders doing that who still inspire me every day.”

Patrik and his wife, Australian Olympic rider Lyndal Oatley will welcome their first child this October, a daughter.

“I really hope my daughter will be as good as Charlotte one day,” says Patrik. “I’ve joked with Carl about him training her up to be a new Charlotte.

“My little girl can do whatever she wants to do in life. But horses give people lots of responsibility, and kids who have been involved with animals from a young age generally grow up to do well and have more responsibility in life.”

Read the full interview with Patrik in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, out today (6 September). For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

Are you considering a career in equestrian media? Then don’t miss Horse & Hound’s exclusive Q&A session, which will take place at 8-9pm on Wednesday 9 January on the H&H facebook page.

Horse & Hound’s editor-in-chief Sarah Jenkins will be joined by website editor and social media expert Carol Phillips as well as senior news writer Lucy Elder to discuss the opportunities and challenges for those looking to break into the equestrian media industry.

Whether you are at school, college or university – or out at work but looking for a career change – then come and join us for an informal chat about what it’s really like to work as an equestrian journalist and what other roles make up the world of equestrian publishing and the wider equestrian media.

Sarah explains: “If you’d asked me when I was 16 what I wanted to do for a career, I’d have said be an equestrian journalist working at Horse & Hound. I’m living the dream, though I have to admit it’s not quite what I expected and it’s changed a great deal in the past 15 years.

“Join us to find out what it’s really like, what jobs exist and what they entail, and anything else you’ve a burning desire to know about equestrian media — we’re looking forward to it.”

This Q&A session is part of Horse & Hound’s careers special, which is running across our website, magazine and social media channels this week. The action kicks off today (Monday 7 January) online, followed by our careers Q&A on facebook on Wednesday, prior to the magazine going on sale on Thursday 10 January.

In Thursday’s magazine Andrea Oakes talks to young equestrian professionals to find out how their education choices set them on the path to their dream jobs and Hanna Lindon investigates options in the equine industry for those looking to change career — at any age. It will be well worth a read.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday