When I went to see Ran Arbels young event horses on Friday I took some videos and I have now formatted them and they are here for you to view.

The first horse with white socks is four years old and has just started jumping.  The bay horse with a white star is five years old and is jumping a course of fences. The chestnut with a large white blaze is also five years old and also jumping a course of fences.

Although bought as young eventers these youngsters move well enough for dressage and the trace clipped bay five year old looks like a show horse already! 

For further information please contact Ran on 07710802768. 

I received an email from my niece telling me that she has a new web site www.veryfineanimals.com. Georgia is an artist working mainly on commission and her paintings are quite unique in every sense of the word. 

She is very busy with four exhibiitions coming up before Christmas and commissions as well and I think you will agree that her work is capitvating and humourous and very very skilled.

When visiting the website please click on OILS and then all the sub categories and you will see a huge selection of paintings of animals, fish and birds that will blow you away.

My photos today are of three of her works, but please visit her website as there is much much more for you to see!

 

I thought you might like a quick round up on news from some of our clients and contacts.

Eventer Will Coleman has been training with Joe Fargis who was the 1984 Gold Medalist in Los Angeles and the Team Gold Medalist in 1988 in Seoul. Will is so fortunate to have such a world class trainer living on his doorstop in the USA.

I think Will is then heading for the show jumping barn of Andrea King at Aiken later this week.  Andrea has the young Venezuelan rider 21 year old Angel Karolyi as her pilot. He has just finished 2nd in the President's Cup at Washington International and was the leading International rider there.  He has only been in the US for 12 months so this is pretty amazing.

We are just about to start building a web site for Andrea and Angel will be helping us with all the photos.  Andrea is a good friend and client of Maria Wynne and we will be working closely with Maria to get this whole project up and running.  

Maria tells me that her son Theodore's godfather Lee Pearson has shot off to Buenos Aires for a couple of weeks in his role s the FEI Athletics Committee Chairman.  It will be interesting to see if any progress is made on the FEI Dressage Committee front which is quickly turning into a public debacle after Princess Haya called for their resignation.  

Closer to home the Charles Owen Pony Racing final has recently taken place at Aintree. A previous winner Rhys Flint has now moved on to the senior ranks and won on Fair Along at Cheltenham last Saturday. Could Rhys be the first champion jockey to have started his career pony racing, you never know!

Junior European Individual and Team Gold Medalist, Sienna Myson Davies is in Solihull going through the World Class Performance Funding Selection process. Hopefully this will be secured on the strength of her dual gold medal success this year at Thirlestane.  Now that the eventing season has drawn to a close Sienna is keeping heself busy by attending a Cordon Bleue cooking course and a TV presentation training course. But we will have a chance of seeing her  at the London International Horse Show at Olympia where she will be parading with other equestrian medalists including triple Para Olympic  gold medalist Lee Pearson!. 

Photos today are of Will Coleman, Angel Karolyi and the pony racing gang at Aintree!

A few hours in the office and then I took Nipper and Wilson for a walk before heading off for a Sunday lunch party where Nick and I spent the rest of the day!

The friends we had lunch with, have a home that overlooks Donald McCain's schooling grounds and I wish I had bought my binoculars and camera as then I could have taken photographs of the stunning facilities that he has on the Cholmondeley Estate.

The life of a stable lad or lass in a racing yard is still very hard with many yards only giving one and a half days off a fortnight.

It is not surprising that there is such a high turnover of staff as the equine industry seems to have a mental blank when it comes to time off! Larger yards are slightly better as they tend to operate a half on, half off policy on alternate week ends. The smaller yards find it harder, as they give their staff time off in the week and so are permanently one or two short, as they try and carry on as normal. 

For the sake of the small wages they receive why not employ one or two extra? They are never all going to be working at the same time (due to the rotational time off system) and the extra help would actually mean that the yard was functioning at the right ratio all the time. Alternatively why not employ some OAP's? and then perhaps the full timers might sometimes get two days off a week like everyone else!

When I was a trainers wife we operated the first system as we employed 25 and had over 60 horses. But the big difference was, that our work force did include OAP's (old age pensioners) who came in on a part time basis as Yard Men.  They mucked out the stables whilst the horses were being ridden and did all the sweeping up and manual chores such as washing out water buckets, mangers and mash/feed barrows.

They did not handle the racehorses at all, but were still a vital part of our team. They worked at a slower rate than the much younger lads and lasses but were very thorough.  They could not earn a huge wage as this affected their pension and could only work 15 hours per week.  Five hours, three times a week gave them a chance to get out of the house and keep active and living close to Wantage and Didcot we were never ever short of volunteers. 

On Christmas Day, James and I took over and did the whole lot ourselves which was about 30 each whist everybody else had a lie in and then a huge Christmas lunch in the stable lads hostel. Then into the office to run my Racehorse Transport business.  This involved speaking to all the racehorse trainers who used us and making plans to get their runners to the many Boxing Day race meetings. 

Just as everything was finalised we often heard that a meeting had been canceled through bad weather and then all the plans had to be altered! Jenny Pitman was one trainer whose transport I organised and when Burrough Hill Lad ran in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day we had to send two lorries just in case the first broke down and he did not get there.  With so much ante post betting money at stake we could not take the risk of a lorry breaking down.  It was also a great secret as to which lorry he was traveling in. You might think we had read too many Dick Francis novels, but remember most of those story lines are based on fact! 

    

I went to South View for a short time and watched Skye jump a lovely five year old mare for Q Sport Horses. The mare has a huge jump and was a joy to watch.

I noticed huge improvements to South View with a brand new loo block including baby changing and disabled facilities. Charles Britton has worked so hard since becoming the owner of South View and the huge entries and popularity of this venue is testament to his vision and effort.

South View is used by many equestrian sports with the Riding Club using the facilities tomorrow following todays BSJA show jumping.

On the way home I was listening to Five Live with commentary of England's rugby match against Australia.  They seemed to be giving endless penalties away, which was similar to the woeful effort on Friday night when Sale played Worcester.  Nick and I returned home very subdued as we can cope with defeat, but throwing the game away with endless errors is hard to bear!

We spent a lovely evening outside, with a Barbecue and fireworks to celebrate Flo's 20th Birthday. Flo is one of Skye and Jack's closest friends and it was sad that Jack could not get over from Ireland to be there as well. 

I always have a read of Kim Bailey's blog and it was interesting to hear that prices at the latest Sale were predictably high with Kim having to go to £85,000 for a point to point winner for one of his owners.  Yet more proof that decent horses hold their value!

  

 Please read the message below which I have received in an email from Sue Clark.  I am always delighted to circulate anything like this and thank you Sue for sending this to me.

Subject URGENT- Unknown person gained access to yard in Norfolk!!

I have just received a call from a customer saying a man had just come onto
his yard, stating he works for Farmkey and needs to see the passports of
their horses to check they have a record of the Freezemark number on the
passport!!

We think the man has gathered that the horses are freezemark by Farmkey
from the gate sign that they have on the paddock. When the customer queried this the man he produced a card with the Farmkey logo and photograph id and said his name was Martin!!

We don't have a technician called Martin and we don't give photograph ID!!
Please can you circulate and warn ASAP, please advise people to not allow
anyone onto their yard without a prior appointment or checking with the
office before allowing access Office number 0870 870 7107.

If you get any more reports of this please let me know.

Kind Regards

Amanda Done
Farmkey Team Leader
Genus/ABS

Tel. +044[0]8708707107
Fax. +044[0]1270 616702-

 I spent three hours looking at Ran Arbel's latest four and five year old young event horses that have just arrived from Holland.

I am often asked if I have seen any nice young horses and regularly pop up to Ran's yard near Oswestry to have a look. The quality of the youngsters that I saw was superb.  They do have a lot of 'blood' in their pedigrees and with good looks, straight elastic movement and athleticism they all look the part.

 It can be very expensive and time consuming tearing round the country looking at horses and so many buyers like to view at least three in one place.

All the horses at Ran's are bought specifically as future eventing stars although many have the movement for dressage as well and you would have many more than three to choose from when visiting his yard. Logistically the yard is on a limb for those living in the South but the opportunity to view so many nice horses in one place more than compensates for this and with prices ranging from 6K to 15K you will find true value for money. 

My photos today are of five of Ran's youngsters, please call him on 07710802768 to arrange a visit.

 

I am sure most of you will agree that there is nothing more sickening than the horse of your dreams failing the Vet. You have gone to all the trouble of finding the perfect horse and then the phone rings and your trusted vet gives you the bad news.  Then the dilemma, do you start all over again, do you get  a second opinion or do you just kick on and buy the horse anyway! 

The first and third option is not possible if your horse is to be insured as a vets certificate is vital although NOW many top class insurers realise that we may need to change our way of thinking.  They now prefer to put an exclusion clause in the policy in the unlikely event of the problem that has been found, causing any further trouble.

What problems am I talking about, you might ask!  Well today, I am talking about failing the vet due to wind problems, heart problems, chips and stable vices.

 My ex husband James trained a wonderful flat race horse called Prominent whom I believe still holds the course record at Goodwood for 10 furlongs. He stayed in training until he was 11 years old which is very late for a flat horse and made a noise because he had 'gone in the wind' from the age of 2. He won many times and was placed many times and he was home bred.  He would never ever have passed a veterinary inspection and yet he won every year that he was in training. 

There is a very interesting article in the official magazine of  The British Horse Society  with Jeanette Breakwell talking about Over to You her horse of a lifetime.  They are regarded as one of the most remarkable partnerships eventing has ever seen and Jack has just retired aged 20 years old.  Together they have won an astounding seven team medals made up of four European Gold Medals, Two Olympic Silver Medals and a World Team Bronze Medal. 

Jeanette was asked 'what is the secret of the longevity of Jack's career'.   

Her answer is as follows-

Not many people are aware of this but Jack has a heart murmur, basically it misses two beats out of every five when he is stood still, at rest. He obviously has a big heart, which is why it doesn't have to beat as many times and I suppose if you think how many times his heart has beaten in his lifetime he's done a lot less work than most horses because he has missed  beats!  Thats my theory as to why he has lasted so long!

In a nutshell Over to You's heart murmur has helped him not hindered him!

Chips are little bone particles that have detached themselves from a joint and can show up on an X Ray.  I feel that the panic over chips has been caused by the insurers.  Years ago X Rays were not required when insuring a horse but now they are de rigeur and we have gone chip mad!

Well we HAD gone chip mad, but in the last year or so insurers have calmed down and tended to put in an exclusion clause instead of refusing to insure.  Why should they do this? Because on nearly all occasions, nobody has any proof that chips cause problems and if they do, it is  possible to remove them. People now realise that, you cannot necessarily condemn a horse because it has a chip . There have been some very good horses competing at the highest level including this years Olympics in Hong Kong who all had chips!

Stable vices such as wind sucking, crib biting, box walking and weaving.  In my experience my best horses have wind sucked and been crib biters.  They are usually highly intelligent and very competitive.  I am happy to buy ponies and horse with these vices as they are usually cheaper and very affordable due to the the prejudice attached to these problems. 

Box walking and weaving can often occur when a horse or pony has moved home and is unsettled and also if your stable management is at fault and your horse needs to spend less time in the stable. Here again these horses can be cheaper as these vices have to be declared at  the time of sale and you can send a horse back if you discover these problems after the sale.

Do these problems really affect their performance and make them unsound for the purpose of a Sale?  In many cases the answer is NO and that is why we need to have a radical re think of the whole veterinary procedure!

All the examples I have given to support my views are very subjective and there will be wind, heart and X -Ray problems that are very different to the above and must be treated accordingly.

Photos are of Freddie who would not have passed a Vet and Samba the windsucker!!  

 

I was fortunate enough to be invited by The Trustees of Anne, Duchess of Westminster's Charity to The Clwyd Special Riding Centre Race Day Lunch at Bangor on Dee Racecourse.

Anne, Duchess of Westminster, Nancy to her many freinds was the owner of the immortal Arkle or 'himself' as he was known by all in Ireland. She was Patron of the Clwyd Special Riding Centre for many years and the Trustees of the charity were delighted to support the Centre through sponsorship of the Anne Duchess of Westminster Steeplechase in memory of one of this country's greatest racehorse owners, who always enjoyed her racing at Bangor on Dee. Arkle won three Cheltenham Gold Cups and many would argue that he was the best National Hunt racehorse of all time.

Three hundred and twenty guests sat down to a delicious lunch with a Table Raffle, Auction and Silent Auction all to raise money for the Centre.

I had a brilliant time seated next to Geoff Heap on my right and Andrew Clowes on my left. Geoff's wife Susan is International event rider Polly Wiliamson's mother. 

Geoff and Sue have a homebred youngster that they want to put into training and they have managed to name him Tiger Woods.  They always say top class horses have good names, so I reckon they have a Cheltenham winner at the very least!  

The winner of the fifth race was Grizebeck (IRE) trained by Nicky Richards and owned by John Hales and his daughter Lisa.  These two are very well known owners of successful racehorses but they are also the owners of rider Nick Skelton's top two show jumping stallions Arko and Russel. Both have very recently retired from competition and will be greatly missed.

National Hunt Racing, and Show Jumping often tie in and it was only a few weeks ago when I was racing at Bangor that Nick Skelton's son Harry rode yet another winner as he pursues a career as a jockey.   

Photos today are of Geoff Heap, Sue, the Raceday Programme and John and Lisa Hales, having received their trophy.

 

A minutes silence at t he start of the day at the Mary Howard Christmas Fair at Hullavington.  Then it was a case of 'the show must go on' with brisk business and no sign of the credit crunch, a fitting tribute to Mary.

Our thoughts are with her family and the strain of carrying on with the four day sale with 'business as normal'.

The top two photos are taken by my roving reporter at the Sale! The second is of Adam Norton owner of Gizmo and Widget, THE place to buy silly presents and jokes!  

I have received an email from Susie to say that she has launched a daily blog of life in British Columbia. This is very good news as I know many of my readers are from the USA with a few from Canada so please log on to www.livinginbc.net and see what she is up too.

Susie and Donny live in a stunning location with views of the ocean as you can see from this photo of the beautiful sunset taken from their terrace. 

Susie owns Paris who is now with Dave and Shaz Quigley with the plan for Skye to jump her in some novice classes to further her education.

Skye has received news of Creata Van Ten Biesen her six year old chestnut mare sold to Florida, USA in May. She is getting on really well with her 15 year old rider and was placed second in a 1.35 m class at their first show together. This is fantastic result and Skye is thrilled to bits. Yet another success for Q Sport Horses as Dave originally found Creata and then sold her on Skye's behalf. For all my readers in the USA, if you want a top class horse, you now know where to go!

 

 

Just before setting off for the Christmas Fair at Bangor on Dee Racecourse I received the very sad news that Mary Howard had been killed in a car accident.

Mary was the founder of the famous Hullavington Christmas Fair and this starts tomorrow in the old aeroplane hanger at Hullavington near Chippenham. Mary's tragic accident occurred near this venue as she was a tireless organiser of this huge event.  I believe Mary started her Christmas Fair's in order to raise huge amounts for Charity and to pay for her children's school fees. The success of the Fair at Hullavington quickly  spread and Mary now has similar 'Mary Howard' Fair's at York Racecourse and Sandown Racecourse.  

Many of the stall holders at Bangor on Dee were off to Hullavington this evening in order to set up before the opening of the four day fair tomorrow. As you can imagine everybody was very subdued and saddened.  

The Bangor Fair supports Elizabeth Finn Care who are the UK's leading direct grant-giving charity dedicated specifically to helping those in poverty.

If you were unable to attend the Christmas Fair please click on today's photos and they will enlarge so that you can read them. These are all the stallholders at the Fair with their telephone numbers so that you can call them and do your Christmas shopping by phone!  

Skye set off to Bold Heath to ride a young horse belonging to Q Sport Horses. I received a text from Skye to say that she had a double clear and this news made my day! I have nicked the picture of Henry and Skye from the QSport Horses website, - Shaz nicked mine of Will Young supplied by Maria Wynne!!!

Nick's first cousin John and Susan Higgin came for lunch and whilst I was preparing the lunch I watched the laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph on the television.  It is so sad to remember the many thousands of men and women who died for their country. On the whole these were all young men and women at the start of their lives. 

Clare and Wilson are in Scotland staying with Gavin and Philippa Tweedie.  Their son Alex was a very dear friend of Clare's and was killed in Iraq.  Alex was at Newcastle University with Clare and then went to Sandhurst before joining the Blue and Royals.  His close friends always try and spend Remembrance Sunday with his parents. 

Alex was only 25 years old when he died and had he survived he would have needed support from Help for Heroes the wonderful charity founded by the cartoonist Bryn Parry that supports wounded soldiers.

Charlie Blomefield came to stay this evening as he has a stall at the Bangor on Dee Christmas Sale which takes place tomorrow with a special pre sale drinks party this evening.  Charlie and Gina run Direct Import and have three shops in Chipping Camden, Tetbury and Burford. Earlier this year Gina partook in a 300 mile bike ride to raise money for Help for Heroes, a brilliant effort. Direct Import have brilliant Christmas presents so please visit their web site or come to the Sale at Bangor on Dee.

It was so good to catch up with Charlie as Nick only sees him once a year when he comes to stay for this sale.  I do see him more often as Direct Import has a stall at Badminton, Burghley and Gatcombe Horse Trials.

 

Some more info on Will Young from my close friend Lavinia.

Morning !

Have just had a catch up with your blog - Funnily enough Serena (Lavinia's daughter) sent me this You tube clip of Will's video this morning, http://uk.youtube.com:80/watch?v=1agz_QGfv1U

Christoff (Lavinia's husband) is godfather of William's older sister, Emma, and shared most of his schooling with Robin, their father. A little known fact is that C and Robin were the only 2 boys at Rupert House school, Henley, who were not allowed on the climbing frame due to weight issues !! Nowadays the whole school would be banned in order not to offend the fatties!

Will's brother is to speak at Exeter University this week, to the excitement of one of Serena's housemates. He set up a charity earlier this year called The Mood Foundation to help those like him who suffered from depression. He was fortunate that his parents could afford diagnosis and treatment. A sponsored pedalo trip down the Thames set it off - Christoff merely sponsored as it was not thought wise for him and Robin (Will's father) to share a pedalo!

I am off to help Christoff's brother Adam at the Mary Howard Christmas Sale at Hullavington this week. C's brother is staying with his http://www.gizmoandwidget.com stall. Everything you could possibly want and an awful lot you that you wouldn't even know existed, but a brilliant website all the same and great for stocking fillers or for those who have everything.

The video of Will is brilliant and I see that he starts off doing dressage and ends up show jumping - Yeh!!

Lavinia's husband Christopher is co owner of Norton and Brooksbank, pedigree livestock, auctioneers and valuers.

Lavinia's daughter Serena owns Jonjo bought from Nicolette Gidley Wright who was selling Jonjo on behalf of Sallie Copper. Toni Fowles produced Jonjo for Sallie who originally bought him from Ran Arbel. I made the introduction for Lavinia to buy from Nicolette and Jonjo is turning out to be a star eventer. Jonjo's smart name is Next Optimist and Serena and Jonjo are hoping to move up to Intermediate eventing level next year.

His early grounding as a show jumper has been a big help to his career and he very rarely has a fence down in the show jumping phase of eventing.

So now we have a thread from a pop star to Jonjo the eventer, small world!

The second photo is of Jonjo wondering what is going on inside the lorry! The third and fourth photo are of Jonjo 'at home'!

I was sent this photograph of Will Young dressed in full show jumping attire.

Will is better known as a winner of Pop Idols who has gone on to reach the very top as a singer. The clothes that he was wearing were supplied by Simon Middleton of Zebra Products and he was dressed as a show jumper for his latest pop video. Will is wearing top of the range Konig boots and I believe that Zebra Products also supplied Katie Price with the tailcoat that she was wearing at The Horse of the Year Show when performing her Dressage display.

Will's father was/is co owner of The Pheasant Inn, Shefford Woodlands, Near Hungerford, Berkshire.  This pub is extremely well known as a racing pub where owners and trainers socialise.  When I was working as a racing secretary in Lambourn this is where we used to go, virtually every evening. I hope Kim Bailey will read my blog today as he will have up to date information on the pub as he went there only a few days ago for a meeting with the Aintree directors. Please read his blog of 21st October. My daughter Cinny knows Will and last bumped into him in a coffee shop in Notting Hill about 18 months ago. She often popped round to see her school friend Mary Fellowes who shared a flat with Will, before and after his stint in Pop Idol and I can remember trying to drum up votes in Malpas on the final night of Pop Idols to make sure Will beat Gareth Gates!

It is great when pop stars switch their attentions to an equestrian sport and although I have no evidence that Will is going to become a fully fledged show jumper at least he looks the part when wearing the kit!

 

Skye, Cinny and Jack have bought Clare a Jack Russell puppy for her birthday and Wilson has now been with us for three days.

Wilson came from Geoff Billington's yard and he is six weeks old.  Nipper sees himself as a father figure to Wilson and frets and fusses over his little buddy from dawn until dusk!

We put newspaper down for Wilson on his first night with us so that he could pee on the paper.  Nipper got totally carried away and has reverted to being a puppy again.  He drank Wilson's milk, ate his puppy food and then peed on the paper and Wilson lasted the whole night!  Night number two and Wilson fell into our huge dog bowl full of water .  The dogs do not need such a huge bowl but it is there from the days of Spider our very large Deer Hound/Grey Hound long dog who died three years ago! Wilson needed a drink lent over the side of the bowl and then fell in! He then tore round the utility room scattering all the newspaper on the floor as he attempted to dry himself!

Wilson's father belongs to Geoff Billington and his mother belongs to one of Geoff's grooms. He is definitely going to have a huge character and Clare is thrilled to bits with him!

 Ran Arbel has now returned from Holland but did not have time to go and see Paula or Ariva. He plane was delayed because of fog and then he was always up against it and could not change his flight home for a later time. Please read my daily blog of 4th November to fill you in! He is keen to make another plan and next time I might be able to go as well and see how Ariva is getting on for myself

We are getting a steady flow of enquiries from people who avertise on our Products and Services database as they are keen to have a website or wish to update their exisitng website.

I am in the process of emailing everybody on the database with up to date news on the type of websites that we build and whether we can help in any way.  It amazes me that I can send out over 10,000 emails at the press of a button. The only problem is that many do not reach their destination, mostly due to being caught up in spam filters.

Emails are becoming more and more unpredictable and when I am emailing somebody for the first time I try and telephone the recipient to make sure it has been received.  This does not mean I will be making 10,000 phone calls in this instance!!

We received news and a photo from Nick's cousin by marriage, Dick Taylor who has just caught his first salmon!  This fresh fish was caught on the River Tay and weighed 20lb. It was the ony fish caught on the Tay on that day and is now smoked and in the freezer, well done Dick!

I often write about Paul Hill of Edgemere Ltd and it is good news that eventer Oliver Townend has signed a sponsorship deal with saddlery and accessories brand Kentaur. Paul Hill is owner of the brand's distributor, Hills Wholesale(Edgemere Ltd) and is delighted to have Oliver on board as their first offical UK sponsored rider.

Edgemere Ltd is my nearest equestrian retailer being based at Hampton Heath, Malpas and the Kentaur collection will offer Oliver a huge array of equipment. Photo is of Paul (seated) at Bolesworth Show during the summer, I am in the bright pink cardigan on his left!

I managed to go to the Opening Meet of our local pack of foxhounds and as you can see from the photographs there was a huge turn out.

I do not think I have ever seen so many car/foot followers and it always surprises me how many people manage to sneak away for a few hours just like I have done!  I somehow feel justified in doing this because of writing this blog and love to get out and about and snap away. Hunting within the law is gaining in popularity and even though the Hunting Act is a very weak piece of legislation, it has produced some extraordinary benefits that few would have predicted prior to its introduction!

The main benefit that I can see is that more and more people are going Hunting both on horses and as car followers.  There was a huge fear that it would die out and hounds would have to be put down and the opposite is true.  Hounds are being bred using the best bloodlines available and country folk have united as never before.  I love my photo of the lurchers who simply had to come along and offer their support.

My third photo is of a dun five year old of 15.00 hands owned by Bella Higham.  Bella bought Skippy form Devon last year as a four year old who had seen hounds a few times.  One year on this bonny little horse would be an ideal all rounder as he is showing talent as a showjumper and loves cross country and dressage. I love dun horses and if you are interested please call Bella on 01829 782420. 

Maria Wynne has sent a few photos from the British Eventing Ball in Birmingham.  Maria represents Sienna Myson Davies and these stunning photos of Sienna show that you can be beautiful and also be the 2008 Junior European Individual and Team  Gold medalist.

Ran Arbel called me from Holland, he had been delayed for five hours due to fog at Schipol airport.  Ran makes regular trips to Holland to buy top class young event horses. Many of the top professional riders buy from Ran as he has superb contacts in Holland and knows exactly what they are looking for.

If Ran has time, he has promised to visit my friend Paula in the north of Holland and check out Ariva the three year old that I bought from Paula a few weeks ago. I value Ran's judgment so am keeping my fingers crossed that he likes him!!

The usual busy Monday in the office and I spent rather a long time trying to account for 36p as the Coloured Linen Hire books refused to balance!

It is the opening meet of our local pack of foxhounds tomorrow and so there was an urgency to try and get everything done so that I can go to the meet.

John and Jane Godwin came to supper and I am now on a mission to see if the equine health care product Pernamax which is available from www.maxavita.com can help Jane's twenty year old hunter recover from arthritis so that she can take him out hunting.  He is all clipped and ready to go but he is also lame and I am really confident that Pernamax will do the trick. 

The basis of Pernamax is the Green Lipped Mussel and the original discovery that this may help arthritis was made by American researchers looking for treatments for cancer from the sea in the '60's.  The New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel was one of a number of shellfish being screened. During this research it was coincidentally discovered that Green Lipped Mussel has anti-inflammatory properties which are unique to this particular mussel.

For generations the native coastal Maori population of New Zealand has eaten these mussels as a primary part of their diet, not realising the full benefits that they were gaining.

Pernamax has proven to be effective within seven to ten days, allowing animals to maintain pain free mobility.

Pernamax is available as a feed supplement, gel or patches for maximum effectiveness and ease of application

Peranamax is proven and tested by leading UK Vets to be effective in the support of joint management.

 Pernamax is highly effective on horses, dogs and humans, so why not give it a try, you have nothing to lose.

Maxavita sponsor Skye and she is delighted to be associated with a company that has such outstanding products.

Photos today are of Broadstone Lady's Man who used Pernamax when competing with Skye in the National under 18 Championships at the Scope Festival in 2006 and 2007.  Blakey is a successful International Grade A showjumper and BSJA performance stallion owned by Nicolette Gidley Wright. He is an ideal sire to cross with any type of mare. His stock inherit his superb movement and show great presence and athelticism for both dressage and show jumping. 

The superb indoor photos were purchased from Jessie Ambridge on 01450 850661 or 07885 232718. 

I awoke slightly the worse for wear after running and walking for miles following the Beagles and then having a pretty late night with all Clare's friends. Photos of friends in our kictchen, Vincent the Beagle puppy and Vincent and Viper with our own dogs, Marmite and Spider!

A quiet day with lunch for eight to cook and a few hours in the office updating the new adverts placed on the site.  There is a huge number of adverts going on to the site each day and quite a few of these are very cheap horses and ponies trying to find new homes.  I study these adverts very carefully especially the FREE ones, but there are definitely some bargains to be had!

This was not the case at theTattersalls Horses in Training Sale at Newmarket which has been going on all week.  They achieved their third best turnover ever, a fantastic achievement considering the current economic climate one would think, but is it really that surprising? 

I have always held the view that you get what you pay for and the down turn at the recent yearling sales was due to over production at the bottom end and regardless of whether money is tight, the simple fact is that moderate specimens with poor pedigrees do not sell.!

This type of  clear out is needed and the top end of the yearling market held up, although some would argue that this was due to the gentlemen from the Middle East buying up all the stock produced by their own stallions! They must be relieved that oil prices are so high!!

 Move on to last week and the sale of horses that have run on the flat and are now moving onto a career in hurdling and steeple chasing. This sale is largely made up of three and four year olds  horses that have proved themselves and won or been placed. There was plenty of money for these horses and this more than proves my point.

 All is not gloom and doom and the recession could be very good for the equine industry as investing in sport horses whether they be racehorses, dressage horses, eventers or show jumpers is now being considered by the serious investor to be a very wise move! Please visit www.qsporthorses.com  www.willcolemanequestrian.com and www.kimbaileyracing.com if you also consider that investing in the equine industry is a very wise move. 

I received a lovely email from Paula concerning Ariva's progress.  Henrik is getting on well with breaking in Ariva and after a few days of bucking, Ariva is getting the hang of things and progress is being made. I do not think we can predict when this task will be completed as horses and ponies all progress at very different speeds.  If all goes well and Ariva copes he could come over here in six weeks and then Skye can carry on producing him until she  leaves for The Sunshine Tour in early February.  

The other plan would be for him to be broken in and then tick over in Holland before coming over in April or May. All up in the air and changing on a daily basis! Bottom photo of Ariva asleep following a hard days work!!!

I watched the last few laps of the Grand Prix, which was thrilling with Lewis Hamilton's first World Championship win in doubt, until the very last corner.

A fantastic  result and Lewis is a huge inspiration to the youth of today.

 

A stunning frosty morning and friends used our yard to park their horseboxes prior to going hunting.  The meet was a brisk twenty minutes away, just long enough to get the horses settled.  I popped along to  the meet on my way to taking Nipper to the vet and took some photographs of members of the field waiting for the hounds to arrive.

Since the Hunting Act of three years ago hounds can hunt a line or flush a fox but they are not aloud to kill it.  This is only a very brief description of what is a confusing, complicated and badly worded piece of legislation. But saying that, Hunts have managed to work within the law and we are fully supportive of their efforts to do so. 

We then hosted a meet of the beagles later on in the day and this involved making loads of sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, and biscuits for the beagling tea. Clare had six friends staying and none had beagled before so they had the whole procedure explained to them before setting off to run with one of the whippers in. Since the Hunting Act, these beagles hunt a flannel soaked in ferret pee and then dragged across the fields by a runner.   

We met in our yard whilst the runner set off and after what seemed like a very long time of chatting in the yard, the beagles set off.

Our friend Howard was dressed in the traditional Beagling attire and my third photo is of Howard with Mark who lives in Australia and Sophie who is a lawyer in London.  Mark was most amused to be told by Howard that what he was wearing was the height of fashion as the pop group the Artic Monkeys wear tweeds which are very similar to his attire.  Who said country folk were out of touch!  

We all had a lovely walk and run around the Cheshire countryside and I was able to photograph some mallard all sitting in the middle of the pond out of harms way.

Then the best bit of the day TEA! Such a treat and virtually everything was eaten.  Twenty of us crowded into the kitchen and stuffed ourselves with all the delicious food that we had prepared earlier and also cakes and egg sandwiches that had been provided by other followers. 

Sadly I was unable to get to South View Equestrian Center where Skye was competing in the Foxhunter Class, more a case of not being able to be in two places at once! 

  

Maria Wynne the well know equestrian and marketing consultant has sent me photos from a very special event last Sunday.  Maria and Paul's son Theodore Denman was christened at St. Mary the Virgins' Church, Overton on Dee.

It was not possible to invite The Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman to the christening and I wonder how many other small boys have such a famous middle name!

The top photo is of Theo with his grandfather. The second photo is of Theodore's' Mum Maria and you may wonder why she is wearing three Olympic gold medals round her neck?

She is wearing these medals because Lee Pearson MBE OBE, just happens to be one of Theo's godparents and my third photo is of Maria and Lee and fourth of Theodore' grandmother wearing a gold medal and Lee.. 

This brilliant dressage rider won 3 gold medals at the Beijing Paralympics, three gold medals at the Athens Paralympics 2004 and three gold medals at the Sydney Paralympics 2000. That is a total of 9 gold medals and 100% over  three games!    

The following are reports from the Daily Telegraph:

 'I feel lucky that I have found my talent, what riding has given me is respect'
By Robert Philip

When Lynda Pearson gave birth to the youngest of her three sons by Cesarean section 30 years ago, she was kept sedated for 36 hours after the operation. When she finally regained consciousness, Lynda knew something was worryingly wrong when she heard one nurse hiss to another: "Sssshh, she's coming round."

Having been told of the subsequent events when he was of an age to regard the incident with black humour rather than mortification or anger, Lee Pearson takes up his mother's tale. "The nurses wouldn't reply to any of her questions and although mum's very passive, when riled, she's a force to be reckoned with. 'If I've got a live child - whatever the circumstances - I want to see him or her right now,' she demanded. 'And if I haven't, then I want to be told.' "

What happened next is a shameful scene from the Dark Ages. "She was put in a wheelchair and pushed down a corridor surrounded by a team of about 10 doctors, nurses and psychologists. Finally they stopped at a broom cupboard and there, in the middle of the pile of mops and buckets, was a crib with a cloth over the top.

"Remember this was 1974 not 1874, but I suppose I was not a pretty sight; my right foot was wrapped round my left knee, my left foot was wrapped round my right knee, my arms and hands were horribly twisted and I had an ugly birthmark covering half my face and the top of my head. Mum took a gulp, picked me up and gave the first of a million cuddles."

Born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita - "the muscles in my arms and legs grew as scar tissue in the womb" - which left his matchstick limbs bent and warped, the baby in the cupboard has grown into one of the nation's most successful sportsmen. Wearing plastic splints running from his backside to his heels, Pearson has won 9 Paralympic games dressage gold medals (three apiece from Beijing, Athens and Sydney), five World Championship and three European titles, plus a notable victory in an able-bodied national championship event at Hickstead. "That meant a lot to me, as did being voted BBC Midlands Sports Personality of the Year, because it's nice to take on and beat athletes without disabilities."
 

What an amazing story and worthy of a true champion.  Well done Lee, many have been inspired by your courage and determination.

  

I received exciting news that Mary King is to officially open the Park End Equestrian Center near Simonburn in Northumberland.

Park End (see photo opposite) is my mother's family home and the equestrian center is the brain child of international eventer Charlotte Ridley who just happens to be the wife of my first cousin Nick Ridley. Nick and Charlotte live at Park End with their young children Matthew and Laura.

Charlotte is a registered BHSII instructor and recognised horse trials specialist who has ridden at the highest level and has been both long and short listed for World, European and Olympic squads. Charlotte's best know horse was Mistatiger, a home-bred by Java Tiger.

When we lived in Gloucestershire, Charlotte used to base herself near us and sometimes stay with us during the month prior to Badminton. She used to join forces with Ian Stark in the days of his flying greys, Glenburnie and Murphy Himself and take in a local event prior to Badminton itself.

 I can remember rushing round Cirencester looking for ice as I had received an SOS from Nick (Ridley) as ice was needed to cool down Mistatiger during the ten minute period between the roads and tracks and start of the cross country at Badminton.  We cleaned out Victoria Wine in Cirencester and just managed to arrive in time.  Mistatiger and Charlotte went clear!

Mary King will officially open the center in the New Year and her appearance is great for the center which opened for business this summer. Mary has won four team gold medals in the World Equestrian Games and European Championships and she has been our own British Three Day Event Champion on four occasions, which is a record. Mary has also represented Great Britain at the last five Olympic Games, a pretty impressive record by any standards!

Mary is a perfect choice to open the center as she loves to see new riders coming into eventing at all levels. Mary herself did not come from a rich and famous background but her drive and grit and determination and the luck that this has created has made all her dreams come true. 

 Charlotte has wanted to open a top quality indoor riding arena in the region and I feel sure that this much needed facility will be a huge success. 

Second photo is of Charlotte's super horsebox, used to transport Catch Me MG when he qualified for the Burghley Young Event Horse Finals first time at Thirlestane in 2007 (third photo). The bottom photo is of Charlotte and MG at Burghley. Charlotte is a renowned BYEH producer and when I needed this qualification for MG I knew where to go!  

 

My brothers three year old flat race horse is due to be sold tomorrow at the Horses in Training Sale at Newmarket.  He is a very good looking, sound horse and the winner of one race.  It is hoped that he will catch  the eye of a National Hunt Trainer who will buy him for hurdling and then steeple chasing. 

The bottom appears to have fallen out of the Bloodstock market. There has been a huge over production over the past few years, with moderate broodmares being sent to moderate stallions. The produce have been selling for around 12K as yearling's, which is a very healthy profit for this type of stock. No wonder that anybody and everybody who has a few acres, also has a moderate broodmare and full marks to all those who had a go, whilst the economic climate was strong enough to support them.

With interest rates now at 1% in the USA and with the chance of them being cut to 1/2 %  it is hoped that those, who still have cash, will invest in anything and everything that offers a better return than these very low rates. This will kick start their economy and for all those who have small businesses in the USA, now could be the time for you to enjoy a purple patch. 

Interest rates in the UK have not fallen to this level as yet, but if/when they do, the same opportunity for small businesses will occur.  There is already talk of the Government setting up a sort of Dragon's Den scheme which enable big cash investors to either buy up small businesses or invest heavily into them.

Successful small businesses generate a steady income and so this could prove to be very attractive to those with cash on deposit which only earns 1%.

I have often felt that running a small business in the UK is the toughest job of all. Nobody is really interested in helping you, the Banks are a complete pain and all legislation is geared to large businesses, and many of these would not survive as a small business because they are so badly managed.

So if you run a small business hang on in there, our time may yet come!

Photo's today are from three small businesses that I have promoted. Daisy & May Ltd. Belinda Noble and Flora Blackett

 

Quite a few emails to sort out  from visitors to this site. On the whole they concern problems with getting hold of advertisers who often leave incorrect telephone numbers.

The 070 system that we have in place to hide advertisers land line numbers also causes confusion.  Many advertisers put a mobile number in the land line box when placing their advert and so this means that the number will not work when the 070 number is automatically allocated to numbers placed in this box. 

I always go in and check the database and tidy up all these little problems before the adverts go live, but if the telephone number is incorrect to start with then whatever I do will have no effect!

I also receive many emails concerning  the 070 numbers themselves.  Advertiser place their advert  and then go back in and check it out and spot the 070 number which they do not recognise. I then get a call asking me to change this number as it does not belong to them! I now have a standard reply which points them at all the info on the site concerning 070 numbers and why we use them!

The site is being revamped as we speak, and I hope t he new look site will be a lot simpler to use.

Photos are of today's beautiful frosty morning taken at 7.15 a.m.

The usual busy Monday spent in the office but I did not mind as it poured with rain on and off for most of the day and was freezing cold.

Skye has a new horse to compete as Paris belonging to Susie has now arrived at Q Sport Horses.

Paris is  four years old and will benefit from a spell of indoor show jumping during the winter months.  She appears to have a correct and easy loose jump and I am very much looking forward to watching her progress.  This is part of her all round education and I do hope that she will enjoy the experience.

Dave and Shaz Quigley have a stunning new indoor arena and the superb jumping surface will be perfect for Paris as she learns the ropes. It is often hard to educate youngsters throughout  the winter months as the fields    are too wet to use and some outdoor arena's are either too small or they can become very heavy and unsuitable for jumping.

An indoor school is vital for the preparation of top class competition horses especially when the mornings and evening are dark and the weather cold and wet!

The top photo is of Paris jumping on the lunge and the bottom photo is of the beautiful new indoor arena that she will be using.

 

I wrote an article about Whitsbury Manor Stables on 22nd October and made the comment  that I could think of no better place to have a racehorse in training. This stunning yard and gallops can now add a Breeders Cup winner to the Oaks, Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup winners trained there.

Muhannak trained by Ralph Beckett has just won the Santa Anita Breeders Cup Marathon over 1 mile 4 furlongs.  This is the first British win since 2006 thus ending our  Breeders Cup drought. 

Ralph has now trained an Oaks winner and a Breeders Cup winner in the same season, a fantastic achievement by any standards.

The late great Desert Orchid was trained at Whitsbury by David Elsworth. Dessie won 34 times from 70 starts and died in 2006 aged 27 years.

David moved to Whitsbury after James and I moved out to buy our own yard at Downs House, Chilton, near Didcot. We were both 30 years old and were thrilled to bits when another young trainer moved to East Hendred near Chilton. This trainer just happened to be Kim Bailey and we have been friends ever since.

I am always worried that my articles might prove to be 'the kiss of death' to all those mentioned, but the opposite seems to be happening, which is very encouraging.

We have had a busy weekend socially with a family party for Nick's mother's 80th birthday and we also went to Guy and Fiona Churton and caught up with old friend Hugh Fetherstonhaugh whose sister Vic is Clare's gomother. Vic lives in Hobart, Tasmania, a very long way from her childhood home near Abergele.

Guy and Fiona have recently acquired a point to pointer by Roselier and are  looking forward to next season when daughter Camilla will take the ride.  

We have just received a huge water bill and have decided that this must be due to a leak in the pipe leading to the drinking  trough in the field.  There has been a soggy patch fairly near the trough but with all the wet weather that we have had this summer we did not think it significant.  This wet patch has now become very significant when it is attached to a £500 bill!!!

With the eventing and flat racing seasons drawing to a close and dressage and show jumping moving indoors and the clocks going back tomorrow winter is just around the corner.

The Home Pony International is being held at Southview this week end and for many 14.2 riders this will be their last big show before they are out of the class. Youngsters  have to be under 16 years of age on January 1st of each and every year and many do not manage to complete their last year in ponies because they are already too tall  Four years ago Skye suddenly shot up and the Grand Prix at the HPI at Southview was her best result and also the saddest.  New Inn Summertime managed to finish 8th and jumped 1.50m in the third round.  But he was barely 14.00 hands and Skye was too tall for him and could easily knock the fences down with her feet. 

When they came out of the ring I was besieged by people wanting to buy and Paul Hill of Edgemere Ltd came to my rescue and started negotiating a deal and Freddie was sold to a very small rider from Ireland. We never did manage to find a full up to height replacement for Skye for 2005, her final year in ponies.

Top photo is of Skye and Freddie jumping the last fence in the Grand Prix jump off.  Bottom photo is of Paul Hill on the left and Tony French on his right of Edgemere.

  

Nipper spent yesterday at the Vets because he has a very itchy skin and had to have a skin biopsy. I was then able to have a long chat via Skype with Susie who lives in Canada and Susie then sent me loads of information concerning Atopic Dermatitis.

I know that Susie reads this blog every day, so THANK YOU Susie, Nipper is delighted  that I now know a bit more about this inherited condition and can help him sort it out once and for all.

I was delighted to read in Mark Phillip's column in this weeks Horse and Hound that our client Will Coleman and Twizzel were an exciting new combination to watch out for as we head towards Lexington and the Olympics of 2012.  Mark is responsible for America's Three Day Event Team and Will caught his eye at Fair Hill where he and Twizzel finished third in the CCI***.

Will's daily news blog is written by Maria Wynne who looks after Will's communication and administration from the UK and we are all so thrilled that he is doing so well.  Will has a huge following in the USA and the website that Nick has built for him has been well received by his many fans. This is extremely important to us as the USA eventing fans are very well informed and seriously follow this sport.  Will is thrilled to bits with the website and from the amount of emails that he now receives through the site we can see that new opportunities are presenting themselves day by day. 

Websites must work for you, to enhance your existing profile and help create new opportunities, and that is what we try to do!

I spent most of today with Maria and a new client who has a very exciting project in mind. 

Top two photos are of Nipper and the bottom is of Will Coleman.

 

I am now the proud owner of an unbroken three year old gelding by Sydney.

I saw Ariva in August 2007 as a nervous two year old with a cheeky outlook and a huge loose jump. He is a lovely Grey roan colour or I should say he was when I saw him, as I have not seen him since!

This all sounds highly irresponsible and to buy a horse that I last saw 14 months ago is not what I would normally recommend! In this case I am buying from my good friends Paula and Meinte and Ariva will stay with them until he is ready to come over here in a few months time.

We all decided that Ariva needed to be broken in and ridden away before coming to the UK. The whole experience of trav