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The Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead

July 30, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Day two and Irish rider Shane Breen wins the Amlin Plus Eventing Grand Prix.

Another win for the Show Jumpers as Shane just beat event rider Gary Parsonage with Irish event rider Mark Kyle and Step in Time in third. Horsemanship at its best with a flowing clear round - compulsive viewing even though I was watching highlights at nearly midnight and should have been in bed!

The Nations Cup is today and you can either watch this live on FEI TV or tune in to Sky Sports 4. An FEI TV taster is FREE to view on the Home Page of this website - another plug....!

I spent the afternoon at Aintree International Arena - the warm up for  their three day indoor show which lasts until Sunday. Then Will Midwoods birthday drinks party this evening. When in Cheshire, Will lives in a tiny cottage conversion which used to be a potting shed in the old walled garden of Peckforton Castle. His daughters Florence and Erica held this surprise party and we all arrived on time singing Happy Birthday to a startled William!

Oh to be at Pony Club Camp - seeing photos of Ella Quigley and Archie Bailey who have both won prizes and done very well at their junior camps fills me with nostalgia. With Clare attending 13 Camps - Cinny the same - Jack went to 3 and Skye 11 - 38 camps in all - I do miss the fun that they had and the fun that I had watching them and being involved. 

Everything from running the Cotswold Junior Camp for three years to helping with catering, evening entertainments, setting up, prize giving and being team show jumping manager (Cotswold PC).

Helping my four learn their first (and in Jack's case last) dressage test, D Test, C Test, C+ Test and even B Test. The effort that they and I put into cleaning their ponies - with Cinny being such an expert tail plaiter that she managed to plait most of the ponies at the Cotswold Camp with the other children handing over most of their pocket money for this service!

We had three years of all four being at Camp at the same time with the elder two camping and the younger two going daily. Our supply of buckets, brooms, wheelbarrows, tack cleaning and grooming kit was stretched to the limit.

Nick was given this cushion which just about summed it all up!

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Equestrian website.

July 29, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

A busy day in the office working with Steve our website designer to come up with ideas for a new equestrian website.

I am closely involved with the PR for this site and with a video   being shot next week which will then be placed on the front page of the site there is much to do.

Iscoyd Park is quickly becoming a very popular wedding venue. A young couple called in this morning to take samples of our huge range of Coloured Linen Hire too Iscoyd for a trying out session. This worked well and an order for their September wedding was placed. July is a very busy time of year for linen hire with upwards of 70 linen orders going out per week.

Margaret is busy packing and despatching each order with the correct paperwork and then making sure it arrives at the right place on time. With delivery firm  City Link making huge changes to their system we have had a fortnight of challenges! By sending the linen out a day earlier than normal we have managed to give ourselves extra time to sort out their mis-routing problems. We have been assured that all will be sorted by 2nd August - let us hope so.

I plan to visit Homme Horse Trials at Much Marcle next Tuesday and am fence judging this weekend at Malpas. Homme is a new event with Valentino Vollante (8 years old)  and Broadway Star (7 years Old) both down to compete.  I bought these two from Holland through my good friends Meinte Jensma and Paula Lakke as four year olds and had lost track of Broadway Star as his name was Wild Wind (William) by Manhattan - no wonder I could not find him on the BE website.

I have had very little luck keeping up with most of last years crop of youngsters. I would like to trace 12 who are either not competing or have had a name change.

When you are trusted with buying or finding horses for suppliers or friends I do like to follow them through and see how they turn out. Some get sold on to very amateur riders who do not even compete and that can be frustrating!

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Watch FEI TV on our Home Page now.

July 28, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

We have now embedded the FEI TV player into the Home page of this website and all visitors to this site can watch some news clips of recent Equestrian events for FREE.

If you wish to watch LIVE events then you need to become a member of FEI TV.  Please click on the link on our Home Page just below the TV screen and join up.

The cost is very reasonable and you can either take out a daily pass for £6.99, a monthly pass for £9.99 or a yearly pass for £59.99. There is Live action from The Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead starting in two days time. You can also watch videos of many events that have taken place over the past few months as well as a review of the build up to the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky this Autumn.

Our house is very quiet as Skye has moved into her rented cottage just a few miles from here and Jack is in Polzeath, Cornwall.

For the first time in our 24 years of marriage we are down to just one (Jack) living at home and the washing, cooking, cleaning and ironing for just Nick and I for this week has been a breeze!

When we downsize and move to a smaller house I will notice the difference even more and am so looking forward to less chores and more time to get out and about!

Top of the list will be spending a week or more in Cornwall - we have not managed to get down there since May 2009 and with Jack staying with George Bromley Davenport right now we are missing it even more. I had a quick look on the webcam that can be accessed via The Atlantic House Hotel and Doom Bar website - the surf looks good and Jack is using my new body board, so he should be catching some good waves!

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Glorious Goodwood starts today.

July 27, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Todays Group 3 Gordon Stakes could be the stepping stone that Dandino needs to win in order to follow in the footsteps of Harbinger.

Both are by the stallion Dansili and Dandino looks as though he is a similar backward type who will come into his own next year as a four year old.

Harbinger won last years Gordon Stakes before going on to win Saturdays King George V and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in record breaking style can Dandino do the same?

I have been helping Sophie Gent of Equiscan for the past few weeks and the more that I see of what she does the more interested I have become. Sophie has show cased the camera to equine vets at the very top of their profession and has received very good feedback.

There are two areas of possible confusion - the first is that Vets think that they have got the same camera. They then realise that this is incorrect as this camera has only just been developed, there are only 2 in the UK and previous models do not do the same job. They are  not accurate to 0.01 degrees and therefore of very limited use to the vets who own them.

The second is that this new camera is backed up with clinical thermographers in the USA who study the thermograms and send a report back to your vet and yourself. This professional diagnosis is hugely important as correct information is given to your vet so that he can use it in order for him to prescribe the correct treatment.

The camera photographs sympathetic heat responses within the body BUT only a few of these will be significant. Knowing how to interpret the thermograms from this camera is crucial and the demonstrations that Sophie has been giving to professional riders, vets, physios and osteopaths has confirmed to them that this really is something new and exciting.

The camera's maker Professor Peter Leando is currently in Australia but is planning to come to the UK in October to host a series of lectures and seminars to explain Equiscan to the top end of our equine industry.We already have interest from two veterinary hospitals and huge progress has been made in a very short time.  

The word is spreading and those that are interested are getting in touch. It will not be long before the camera attracts interest from Racehorse trainers and their vets as there is no doubt that they would find it a very useful tool.

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King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes won in record time.

July 26, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

I was watching the race with Guy and Fiona Churton having called in to borrow a two seater sofa for Skye's new cottage.

How wrong can one be as with Workforce failing to settle it appeared that his pacemaker Confront was not going fast enough! In fact the race was run in a record time for the new course and the winning margin a record distance! In the end the only horse Workforce (English Derby Winner) did beat was Confront and the runaway winner was his less fancied stable companion Harbinger.

Harbinger made the other runners look as though they were galloping on the spot as he surged to the front with a quarter of a mile to go. This progressive four year old is now being talked about as the most impressive winner of this race that there has ever been and even being compared to the mighty Ribot! And let us remember that I thought that the race looked slow - and yet the camera never lies!

The German Grand Prix was farcical and it was pleasing that the rule to stop race fixing was used and Ferrari were fined! Felipe Massa was the best driver on the day and would have been a deserved winner. Where is justice when this poor bloke was nearly killed a year to the day in this same race when a stray spring fractured his skull?

Why cannot motor racing be like horse racing and reverse the first wo placings for (outside) interference? A fine and a ticking off means nothing in this sport - surely actions would speak louder than words?

Chirk Car Boot Sale saw Nick, Cinny, Sara and I out looking for bargains at 8.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning! With over 1000 cars already there many had the same idea.  A kitchen table and 6 chairs for £10, a bedside table for £2 and a hall mirror for £1 were our best bargains! Most are destined for the cottage Skye has rented from Elaine Quinn at Threapwood and with these new additions it is taking shape!

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Cones on the final day.

July 25, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

The final day of the Welsh National Driving Championships and the cone course tests the suppleness and obedience of the horses after the marathon and the skill and competence of the drivers.

The course consists of approximately 20 obstacles marked by cones placed between 20 cm - 8 inches and 40 cm - 16 inches wider than the carriages! In other words you only have 4 - 8 inches to spare on either side.

Scoring involves penalties being added for each ball that is dislodged from the top of the cones as well as additional penalties for various other mistakes! The groom must remain seated during this phase and cannot help like they do in the marathon.

This is like the show jumping phase of a three day event and it must be easy for your pony, horse or 'team' to have become lit up during yesterdays marathon and want to flatten every cone!

The park at Erddig is such a beautiful setting for these trials and we took the opportunity of going round the house, stables, and gardens of this unique property. I first went to Erddig in 1970 when Mr Philip Yorke who was the final member of  the family to live in the house showed us round.  There were buckets everywhere as the roof leaked and the house was in a serious state of disrepair.  This was mostly due to subsidence caused by intensive coal mining under the house.  The house had sunk by over a metre (42 inches) at one end and the Yorke family could not afford the repairs.

In many ways this lack of money helped Erddig as it was never brought into the 20th century and nothing was ever thrown away by the Yorke family who had lived their for over 200 years. A secret house - with carriages, hay carts, horse drawn ploughs, penny farthings and the complete contents of the house in a time warp waiting to be discovered and brought back to life.

The National Trust have done just that and it is well worth a visit.

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The Marathon at Erddig.

July 24, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

This is similar to cross country day in three day eventing and a quick explanation by Paul Strafford who breeds and owns showjumpers ridden by Lee Williams brought me up to speed.  Paul's partner Debbie Daniel was leading after dressage in the Intermediate Pony Section and it was good to be able to ask them both lots of questions!

The object of the marathon is to test fitness and stamina of the horses and the judgement and pace of the driver. The course is surprisingly long - 20 km and divided into three sections. Each section has a specific requirement with the most exciting being Section E which incorporates eight specially designed obstacles. These are made up of a flagged sequence (red on the right as in eventing) and have to be driven through in the correct sequence as quickly as possible.  The grooms play a vital part as they make sure the back wheels do not hit a solid post and they literally bounce or lift the carriages round if the driving line is a little tight!

Cinny and her friend Sara who had arrived from London for the week end  and together with Nipper, Wilson and I walked quite a few of the obstacles and they were very complicated. They were also very narrow with 180 degree turns - not easy when driving a horse team at speed.

Many of the countries top drivers were taking part including George Bowman, George Bowman IV, Boyd Excell and Pippa Bassett.

Show jumping was represented by James Broome - who unlike the rest of his famous family who own and run the Wales and West Show near Chepstow, decided to make his name in this sport instead.  

With a craft tent and trade stands and FREE entry we had a great afternoon - Wilson managed to 'cock his leg' at every opportunity including peeing on a lady who was wearing white trousers and also on the table cloth covering a trade stand in the craft tent - so embarrassing and many apologies were made!!

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Welsh National Horse Driving Trials

July 23, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

These Championships are held at Erddig - a unique family home now owned by the National Trust that has captured the way of life of a bustling household community during the early years of the last century.

This is the third time the Welsh National Horse Driving Trials have been held at Erddig and today was dressage day. The test which is driven from memory is a set sequence of movements completed in an arena measuring 100 mx 40 m and 80 m x 40 m for novices.

With nearly 100 entries ranging from Intermediate Pony classes right through to the Horse Teams there was plenty going on. The purpose of the test is to judge regularity of paces, harmony, impulsion, suppleness, lightness and ease of movement of the horses, who must display the correct outline both on the move and in halt.

I walked round the lorry park and I was fascinated to see that 'driving' horses and ponies bring their own stables.These highly efficient constructions are attached to the side of the lorry and there are quite a few different designs.

Competitors had traveled from as far away as Essex, Kent, Devon, the Isle of Man and Lanarkshire and trying to bring up to 6 horses, a carriage and stables is a mammoth task!

This was my very first visit to a Driving Championships and the marathon tomorrow looks interesting!

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FEI TV.

July 22, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

I have received an email on behalf of FEI TV asking if The Horse Exchange would like to promote FEI TV, which with live stream and video on demand footage from the worlds most prestigious international events - is the ultimate online TV destination for equestrian enthusiasts.

We have now applied to join and will receive a FEI TV video player that will be embedded into this website. Throughout the year we will be able to show FEI video highlights from the competition calendar, including interviews with top riders and equestrian stories.

We will also be able to direct visitors from this site to FEI TV so that they can take out their own subscription and see the action as it happens rather than the video highlights that we will be showing.

The link to subscribe is actually working - so just click on FEI TV if you wish to join up NOW!.

I am currently deleting 5% of the new adverts that are being put on this site - approx 5 per day. If your name, address and postcode is incorrect or incomplete your advert will not go live! We do not show your address on the site - so you are protected - but we do need to be able to contact you and know who you are!

I receive calls from a few of those who have been deleted and they all express surprise when I tell them that we have a problem with them providing misleading information! How can a buyer trust what is being sold to them when the advertiser cannot even be truthful with their name and address?  Interestingly very few re advertise!

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Stacey Westfall demonstrates her style of riding.

July 21, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

I was sent this amazing Video by Tiddles Tellwright - an unbelievable   performance by Stacey Westfall.

Who needs a bridle or saddle when you can achieve these results and be so at one with your horse! This gifted lady must be an inspiration to riders all over the world. I think you will agree that the mutual trust and respect between Stacey and her horse is awesome. 

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