Time for a giggle N23

Time for a giggle.. serious giggle mind.... Nov 23 test arrived in the post from Sparsholt EC. 

Glad I left an envelope despite thinking it wasn't worth the read when we were travelling home that day.
It was a low marking class but I felt judge was very fair and generally comments reflected marks.

A little disappointing with the 4 for my first attempt of Med Trot change rein, but if it looked as awful as it felt, then justified I guess, although he didn't break the trot just got very heavy in front and the next attempt got a 5.5. We know we dont have that established by a long way as yet. It will come when Alfie works out what is needed.

He did hollow in his canter G&R and I felt out of control in the first Med canter back to working trans. Considering in the second Med where I totally lost it, instead of coming back to working canter we crashed back down to trot so the 4 was generous for the one.

I love the understated comment at the end halt 'Needs to be more att in halt' I wonder what gave that away the slamming on the brakes when nothing happened when I politely asked or the quarters swinging to one side as horses head comes up to see what is going on elsewhere.

The bad bits were bad but not all the test was bad. A few 7s dropped in for the trot
The giggle moment of reading the test was the walk 7s whooo hooooo. Put my finger on the line to read across just to make sure they had made their way onto the sheet. Yes indeed 7s for our walk.
Does this mean we have finally got a walk worthy of a dressage test... Watch this space and all hooves crossed this is the start of great walking

Naughty Ninja

The Orange Ninja has been up to tricks again

Digging holes in his bed at night

Helping out with the rug organizing

Designed his own turn out rug ventilation

Then designed his own off the wither look turn out rug

Getting himself into places he should not be
For such a small scratch this one produced quite a lot of blood

You have to be careful as he is always playing with wheelbarrows.
I left the full one unattended for only a minute whilst I got the fork to spread the bedding

Then gives me that innocent eye and all is forgiven

Renapur Review

Being Part of the legupfortalent progamme means I get lovely goodies from Renapur

I have always used the cleaner and try to get the Balsam when on offer at a show but now I have my own special pack to keep me going. 

Along with the RenaSan goodies I have already received my tack is fully protected from all the elements

The Leather Cleaner is great natural way to clean and doesn’t strip away the leather. Although I do have to admit I forget to dilute it when I am in a hurry and as it’s effective with up to 50 times water I really should be more savvy

In the damp wet conditions I firstly spray with Renasan and wipe off all that horrid stitch eating mould you find. 

That furry stuff seems to suddenly spring out of nowhere when you got put your tack on.

The Renapur Leather Balsam is fantastic for that older tack that needs some tlc and nourishment. 

I was about to throw away a drop noseband and a pair of spur straps I thought were coming to the ends of their days. 

After two treatments of the Balsam both items have been restored and could even be passed as part of my good tack rather than my tattier working tack

Hands as soft as Balsam !

The hands that do leather are as soft as your chaps with mild natural balsam

A little goes a long way with all these products and after cleaning your tack your hands don’t feel dry and rough. The Jojoba oil and Avocado oil does a mean job of conditioning my skin as well.

The Balsam has polished up and waterproofed my leather show chaps and boots to perfection, even giving them that new look.

I have a few items I have had in storage and some items from a friend that have been stored in a bundle so the first job before posting sale pics will be to restore their softness and make them look as good as new.  

  

Bye bye those days of polish n buff with sweat and arm ache to get a shine

One product I haven’t used before is the Renapur Hi-Shine. This is Carnauba wax, derived from the leaves of the Copernicia Prunifera a Brazilian palm plant. It also contains a mild cleansing agent to dissolve surface grease and grime and tea tree oil to actively protect your leather and stitching by killing the spores of mould or mildew.

I have had a little tester session on my show bridle and it gives a strong natural shine with hardly any effort from me.

I am saving the rest for 2016 for when my RoR showing season begins

 

 

Not having much spare cash around I keep odd pairs of boots in a cupboard at home, much to my husband amusement as I am forever wearing out the same foot. 

But I have finally after years of saving lots of left boots made up a pair to keep me going.

Ok so one is black and one is brown but who is going to see me mucking out in the winter darkness

Thanks to Renapur I have given a left boot back new life and kept a right boot going a little bit longer for this winter. 

Last week on Face Book Renapur announced a Suede, Nubuck Protector. So that needs to go on my Xmas list for my chaps and dressage saddle

November Catch Up with a few Mumaathel outings

November has been jam packed for myself and Alfie.

As the wind starts to blow the leaves and helicopters off the trees my mornings and weekends have been spent raking up the fields so the horse's don't eat any of those horrid poisons.
When we notice more helicopters than we can handle at any one time blowing onto the fields we add a dose of Charcoal to the feeds to help mop up any toxins that might get into their system. 
Dad kindly paid for all the paddock trees to have a much needed trim back this year. I have noticed such a big difference. I feel so much happier and more confident that my fields are a much safer place for the horses to be. 

 

          Outfit Blog on FB 







We have been showing off some of our fab outfits from Premier Equine. We have been so lucky winning such a massive competition. The full wardrobe for myself and Alfie has been a really fantastic early Xmas Pressie. Both me and the horses only get a new wardrobe when friends give us clothes they no longer want / need or if we can find bargain discount brands to buy. So to get a full brand spanking sparkling new wardrobe for us both was an absolutely smashing surprise.

Alfie decided to help the farrier again this month by taking his front shoe off. 
Luckily only a day's wait before new shoes were due. 
So on went the boot just to make sure no bruising occurred.







We had a bit of a scary moment  one day when stray happy birthday helium balloons landed in the field next door. A lot of snorting and running around but luckily no accidents/injuries to horses or fencing.
******** Did you know Helium is an irreplaceable element used for MRIs

Started our new walking routine with hubby (without Alfie). Just once a week round the village after work. But it was a good excuse to pop into the Sports Direct Sales and treat myself to some walking boots and his n hers florescent jackets. 
Xmas pressies sorted. Gosh we know how to treat ourselves ahahhahahahhaaaaahhha

My car was broken into so that meant November was a tad expensive with a new back window unit needed for my car. Luckily Dad let me use the Terrano to get to work so I didn't need to hire a car. Still really annoying, why anyone would go onto a private drive that has a security light on, and have the nerve to smash and grab whilst the residents were in. They didn't get my handbag but they got a bag with my diary in it which I live and breath by. The bag also had a few personnel details within some of the paperwork as I had been sorting out the house insurance that day. Then I realized they had got away with my vouchers Alfie had won at various shows. No value to anyone else but to me over £100 of vouchers towards entries I was about to send off. 
Although I had to go through all the worry and panic, November has been a very lucky month. The bag was thrown over a garden wall down a local footpath and thanks to a plea on facebook I got the bag and its contents back. All a bit soggy from the downpours but once dried out all the vouchers were still use-able. PHEW


When I added up how much the Stromsholm vouchers were worth I was speechless. 

Clever Alfie only managed to win a new outfit for me hubby and dad, as well as a few items for his hoof care. 

As part of the Legupfortalent Scheme we are given a Renapur pack of goodies. 
I have been spraying all my leather with RenaSan due to the damp mould starting to settle around the stitching. 
A few blasts of the spray and we bid farewell to the mould. 
With dark evenings preventing me from riding all my tack has had some much needed TLC and my boots have had a good buff with Renapur to add a much needed waterproof layer. 

One boot may be black and the other brown but no one will notice in the dark 
Hubby laughs 'cause I have a cupboard full of odd boots. well the collection has paid off, I have made a new 'old' pair. Every penny saved = more pennies for pony playtime.



Alfie has been busy competing gather RoR League points
We had our final draft run through of our new DTM floorplan at the RoR clinic. Can't wait to get my finished CD back from Amanda Birch Dressage Music
We have been out attempting the odd Novice test Unaffiliated with some lovely comments from the judges. 

We had a few Racehorse moments at our last BD comp of the year. Luckily we didn't need those last minute regional points. Wasn't quite the high we wanted to leave 2015 with but its all good experience.

Mr A was struggling more than normal with his straightness so being unsettled generally created tightness in both tests. I was quite hard on myself and Alfie in the warm up as things werent going to plan, but we did stick to the plan, just about, and found some togetherness eventually. Although we never truly secured the confidence through into the contact. 

After the show we watched the Video (such a valuable tool). It wasnt all that bad, some good work on the left rein and some good canter work. I reminded myself we had a 3rd and 4th at the same venue the week before. So I told myself If I end a bad day on 64% that's not exactly disastrous... Just feels like it when you are there at the time and that horrid free walk jig jog reappears after a long absence!! 

Imperial Coffee Nov Update

November has the wet mud theme. 

31st Oct I allowed an hour to get the ninja worked before we headed off to the show with Alfie. I spent the whole hour brushing, so no time to exercise. 

It may be mild weather but with a full time job and lack of daylight the lightweight rug has come out of the wardrobe. It means I can exercise him rather than spend all my free time cleaning him 

This was his clean side. 

A little apprehensive for today (1st Nov) after a week with no work but need not have worried. He wasn't particular confident on the slippery grass but gave me some trot work when I asked for it. A few sticky moments where he needed time to think but we got through them. Another big step forward for the orange ninja and my confidence.

Hopefully this is the start of positive new beginnings. After two weeks off, and onto the fresh grass today (Nov 14th) we girthed up without a twinge. Fields super muddy so we only did some walk / halt transitions but big steps in the right direction.

We normally have to do the girth up super slowly but today went straight onto third hole. Which also means fingers crossed some of that belly is one the move as well.
Weigh Tape tomorrow to check we are within our targets....... 

Weigh Tape... Oppps well no weight gain but no loss either. Still that is positive

18th Nov we found the brave pants, or was it just stupidity, who knows but we survived. Took the ninja down to Blewbury for some skl hire in the rain and high cold winds.
Tractor unloading hay.. not an issue.
Car driver reasonably fast through a puddle up close to back of trailer... not an issue.
Flapping plastic on a stack of shavings a little bit of an issue with the path narrowed by a van parked, but we got through with a few snorts and tail lifting.
Noises from the stables extremely scarey!!!!

Not the ideal weather to take the Ninja out of his comfort zone but needed to be done at some point so heck why not today.
A bit disappointing we didn't get any trot work, but we were on hyper alert, so to get onboard and walk round with him finally listening to me and not what was going on elsewhere was a good note to finish on. 

Nov 20th Decided we needed another trip out before we compete in the Intro at the weekend.

Not the run through hoped for before Sunday. But there was lots going on and we didnt have a complete melt down, that's a positive. 

Got on almost straight away after a few lunge circles to stretch out whilst girth being done up. Did get into trot so that's a positive, stayed on that's a positive. 

Doubling supl dose for the next few days as not sure if he was just upset with new routine or uncomfortable as we had some gulping of air again when asked to trot. 

Traveled nice and quietly to and from venue so that's another positive

22nd Nov well we did it we went and competed in the intro class. One moment in the warm up I was glad to be on the end of a lunge line and not on board but it came to nothing in the end. Mounted in the arena so his first trot of the day was down the CL so a bit sticky. I cant blame him for the irregular contact as I didn't get my confidence till second half of the test when all of a sudden we both found our confidence and forward button so much so the attempt to halt at the end was shocking. 

Decided to let him watch the others in the warm up afterwards but actually ended up walking around with another horse cantering around him.
All in All very happy and now looking at the next date we can venture out together

And we got to show off our CHN Magazine Saddle Cloth which reminded us we can do this. He even won one of the CHN Style Ridden Qualifiers a few years ago.

Global Herbs Ltd have kindly let us take part in a Brewers Yeast Trial. This is one of their new products and we are quite excited to do a field test for them. 

We have entered another local Intro class for the 20th Dec. Lets see if the Brewers Yeast is the magic potion we have been hoping to find.

27th Nov.. yes that day when we all hoped to find bargains but not sure we have enough in the account to keep pressing yes.... I lasted till about 10.30pm and then gave in and pressed buy. So on its way is a brand spanking new Back on Track Rug for the Ninja... God I hope it's worth it... lots of £££££ just gone out my account. 

Throughout November the Ginger Ninja has still kept up his cheeky side. 

At the beginning of the month I planted some lovely young herb cuttings to fill the hedge gaps. Whilst mucking out a few days later I noticed odd earth clumps dotted about. Then I realized I was looking at the left over root system with no cutting tops left... He only went and ate all of them. 

So I got some bigger Lavender cuttings as they are supposed to deter them from pulling the whole plant up... Well my lovely stripped and prepared cuttings I left by the tack room door didn't even make it past the field gate. 

uhmmmm culprit in the act !!!!! 

The Ninja Sarcoids are now famous 

I finally got to shout about the sarcoid product we had on trial from Feedmark. This was a great trial with great results. 

We have some blemishes still by his eye and a small shriveled section on his chest to get gone but overall super happy with the results and the reset of his immune system. 

Just waiting for the Feedmark days of Christmas offer so we can buy some more. 

Here is our full sarcoid story 

Sarcoids: The ugly bits The gory bits and The finally getting better bits