Recent content by Gin O'Clock

You cannot get rid of ragwort by topping a field! That's akin to shaving your legs. If it's really bad then spray it - spot spray by hand. When it is well and truly dead, I would dig it up and burn it. Ultimately, the best way to get rid of ragwort is to dick it up. Every last bit of it. And...

Crikey there are some veritable drinks parties going on around here... We would normally be offered a sausage roll (mini) and one other thing, eg cocktail sausage or a piece of fruit cake. Plus a small glass of port. If any of the above are served above 4 degrees celsius, I consider this a huge...

Dear Ron, I think you may have a personality disorder and are, in fact, a show pony. Why else would you not go hunting because where I come from, we are fully clipped, rugged and live outside 24/7. All of us. Even the skinny bitches (the ones that used to race and are throughbreds...

Have PM'd you [Pixie].

We have a family shoot and not a penny of income from it. Just expenses on a gamekeeper. We do not own good hunting country so there is little demand on us to provide a meet. That said, we happily let the hunt run through our land (little/nothing to draw) outside of the shooting season. The...

I've been thinking about the inevitable fall out [to Patey or not], and knowing Gems as I did, I don't think she was the sort of person who would want to be held up as a poster girl for safety over tradition. Clearly, this is just my own opinion but Gems stood for nothing if not hunting and all...

My TB in Amigo. Barnsby and albion saddles have fitted well (high withered horse). I would not dream of doing barefoot though despite having great feet. Just too prone to crumbling compared to my non TB horses. I think that's asking for trouble! Save your hoof feed supplements for shoes instead...

There will always be better riders than you, and worse ones. It's how it is. YOU know deep down what kind of rider you are. If you were truly as this email purports, then you would already know this. The fact that it has so upset you just shows how far off the mark she is. Probably having a...

Hunts are always very pleased to see new supportive faces and chances are when you get there, there will be lots of mutual friends anyway, either mounted or on foot -that's the way of the countryside and the "hunting fraternity". With such a mobile workforce in this day and age, you often get...

Buying a saddle, like clothes or shoes for us, should be done with time, choice and a degree of expertise. It is not a case of one size fits everytime. I'm a soes size 6 but it does not mean that when I buy a pair online that they will fit me. Yet my friend who is also a size 6 will find the...

They are on fresh grazing full of long green grass plus it's autumn and pasture holding plenty of water = sloppy poos. Entirely normal. Mine are in the same boat. Recently moved onto 10 acre grass field. Grass is actually of poor quality (a lot of twitch in it) but plenty of it. Lots of sloppy...

No way would I buy a special jacket if it was my first time hunting and I didn't know if I would continue. You could borrow a friend's tweed if you are that worried. If it's really cold, then a tweed shooting coat might be better! Clean and tidy is your mantra. Yes you will get sniffy types...

When I fell out of love with eventing, I fell in love with hunting. All the adrenaline - just cheaper, not stressy and more fun!

I've wintered out plenty of TBs. If not in work and unclipped, some don't even need much rugging, especially youngsters! Certainly a couple of our happy hackers did all winter on grass/ad lib hay and medium weight rugs (no neck) and no feed. And still were as fat in April as they had been going...

Nothing better than several weeks out with Dr Green imo. Let down/relaxed - no stress. If not much grass, then hay. TBs, in particular, don't absorb masses of hard feed in one go. I'd go for as many small meals as you can bear to give him in the day (3 or 4?). I rate micronised linseed too.