Recent content by Chiffy

Don’t get disheartened Hop on Trot and certainly don’t give up thoughts of getting riding again. Go ahead with getting your confidence riding some different horses if you can, meanwhile just keeping an eye out for the right sort and don’t restrict yourself to a very specific height. The sort of...

Oh goodness, whatever next! When I started eventing, the lowest level was Novice, 3foot 6 in xc and 3ft 9 SJ. Then they invented Pre-Novice….I remember Mark Philips writing in H&H that it was a bad idea and lowering the Sport! Then some time later they brought in Intro, it looked ridiculously...

I doubt you will find a ‘ sweet dopey’ Connemara or even a Connemara cross, they have too much brain! Even if some people say they have a perfect one, it may not behave with a different rider. We had one that my granddaughter evented, she was good on her day, on the quiet side but she thought...

I quite agree, drives me potty! Keep a contact and pull up slowly! We were taught this for coming through the finish xc. The horse could easily take a false step and do a tendon. However, quite a few jockeys do throw the reins at their horse in a finish, but not the best ones in my opinion.

My daughter and OH are travelling down from Scotland today to go racing tomorrow. Could be a horrible journey! Hopefully racing will be on tomorrow although they have a house party down there so will have fun anyway. Hope the going holds up and all horses and jockeys stay safe.

Our neighbour had an Airedale , I really liked him. He was pretty big but had a lovely kind temperament and lived in the house no problem. I also know he sometimes commuted to London with his owner and spent the day in the office! Eventually they bought another , a bitch this time and she was...

Yes, we have a hay bar. It was an essential when my granddaughter’s new 14.2 kept managing to get the front of his rug caught in the haynet. First of all we bought him a new rug with a special fastening at the front supposedly just for this problem. Nope! Still got hung up, so a hay bar it was...

Our latest one, not a racehorse but a 14.2, 4yr old, we didn’t long rein at all. Yes, we used side reins for lungeing and actually at first when he was ridden! He is quite a lad, to put it mildly! They were not short or to hold him in a certain position as I have seen done with show ponies but...

Horse and Country Facebook page ambiguously led me to believe I could watch the dressage today but it wasn’t on there. Luckily the live scoring was very efficient. H&C are now saying they are showing the XC tomorrow, they better be right! 😡 Welldone the judges today with a marathon sitting.

Sad Artist didn’t win, he is such a beautiful horse but his SJ wasn’t up to the other two phases. Well done Felix. I didn’t realise Phelps was a dodgy show jumper, he was mega xc. Did anyone survive the SJ yesterday evening? Talk about stringing it out as they hadn’t many competitors. Thank...

I have two Julips, a grey and a dun. They have a complete set of tack and rugs. I bought them for my daughter, kept them when she left home and for the last 10 years or so they have been treasured by my granddaughters. Never thought about them being worth anything but I do love them and hope...

Just seen your post Clodagh. I thought your dogs were perfect! None of your grumbles are any trouble here. Mine will ask to go out, or go when told. No mud here either! 😁

Just popping in here to say hello to the Blenheim followers. I have CMH and personally like their coverage and though I mostly only follow eventing , I find plenty. Their coverage is far superior to H@C. I did notice yesterday some odd scoring from E, too much discrepancy for it to be just the...

Marshpiper, dressage and jumping scores are added together with a mark, that back in my day was called conformation but is now called suitability. The top ten come back in together for final judging and marks added in with a gallop. I know what I mean, hope that helps!

Another Burghley follower here, attended for 60 yrs but not possible at the moment. Thank goodness for Burghley TV. Family travelling down today and have a pony on board for the Sports Pony Gold Cup on Sunday.