Equine Welfare

As well as trying my hand at Equestrian Journalism, I am a humble pleasure rider who has a genuine passion for horses; that is why when equine photographer (and friend) Fiona Crawford asked me to be involved in a campaign for equine welfare, I jumped at the chance.

We are inviting any Registered Equine Welfare Charities to contact us with regard to the work they do and suggestions for an awareness campaign to raise the profile of their charity. At the end of May, Fiona and I will select six of the charities that have contacted us to work with. We will work on one a month, for six months, devoting at least one day to capturing images and compiling the campaign story.

This really is a fantastic opportunity for Equine Charities to receive some free publicity at a particularly tricky time - what are you waiting for?

All Fiona's contact details are on her website http://www.fionacrawford.co.uk/. Or feel free to leave me a comment.

Typical!

So, the weather was still beautiful this weekend and I had planned a new route to try with Thomas. I arrived, map tucked under my arm, only to find that Thomas had lost a shoe...

Gutted doesn't even come close. However, both ponies did enjoy the glorious sunshine on their backs as we took their rugs off and it was great to see them full of the joys of spring.

The shoe is now back on, so roll on next weekend. Obviously the weather will be cold and windy, but who wants to be a fair weather rider anyway?

Sunshine!!

I think my finger crossing worked all last week as the weekend saw beautiful sunshine - perfect weather for riding. I took Thomas along a new route and it was fantastic. The views were amazing, we could quite literally see for miles. The lanes were so quiet and peaceful that we could almost have had the world to ourselves. Perfect.

Before my Mum bought Thomas nearly two years ago, I was a very nervous hacker. I had unfortunately had too many near misses on my Thoroughbred mare (who is now retired). It has been quite difficult at times, getting to grips with a new pony and re-building my confidence. However, rides like yesterday's make it all worth while.

Sunny riding - bliss...

The First Post

For my first ever Blog post, I hoped I would be able to tell a wonderful tale about a glorious hack in the warm spring sunshine. Unfortunately, last Sunday's ride could not be further from that vision. Approximately five minutes after we set off, the strong wind brought a heavy hail storm over us. In disgust, Thomas stopped still, in the middle of the lane, bum turned towards the stones of ice and refused to budge until it had passed over. To give him his due, he wasn't at all scared by the howling wind or the falling twigs - but he wasn't going to actually move in it!

After the shower had passed, the sun arrived and it was slightly warmer. However, we were both very wet and I was cold, so we cut our ride a bit short and just completed a forty minute circuit. It is a route we both enjoy; a little way along a quiet lane before dropping down a farm track and then climbing up a steep hill towards home. Great for me, not quite as relaxing for my husband who accompanied us on his bike!

Fingers crossed for better weather this weekend and a bit of sunshine.