Recent content by lauraandjack

I think I broke all the rules when I decided to try hunting aside! First tried sidesaddle on the mechanical horse on the BETA stand at Gatcombe last summer, and decided I'd like to try it on my own horse. We managed to get as far as jumping in our first lesson, and after 3 or 4 lessons and...

Mine isn't just a hunter, he's my allrounder so most years we get up to a variety of things. Plus, due to work commitments I only hunt once a week so he doesn't get hammered. He's having a little break at the moment as work is very busy, but we are planning on doing some side saddle showing...

Where in Wales? I think there's sales at Llanybydder, and there used to be occasional horse sales at Dolgellau cattle market.

I have to say I'm firmly in the "if you live in the countryside put up with country sights, smells and sounds" camp, but I confess I was pretty cheesed off with a rooster crowing at 1am the other week! Dawn is fair game but 1am in March is very definitely the middle of the night!

My de-cobbified sec D has a mane like a brillo pad, no matter how much you pull and shorten it, it is still incredibly thick and wiry. I find I can make much neater plaits if I pre-plait it the day before (just section and plait, don't roll) then undo the plaits and re-plait and roll, I can get...

Basically if you want to carry 2 horses legally then a 3.5t of any sort is not the right thing to be looking at! I have a Movano van conversion type. It weighs 2350kg without horse in (but with all the crap like spare tyre, fuel, jack, and some horse stuff in). Unless you have a horse that...

Head torch!

I think it's a very individual thing - do your research and make a decision. I've got a 3.5t lorry, and I love it. I went for a lorry over a trailer because at the time I needed to do my trailer test (and lived in the middle of nowhere in Wales so this was a logistical nightmare) and I had a...

It's a difficult one. The simple fact is that not many of us have £5k plus to spend on a horse. No matter how much we might like to. Nor does the average rider need something with too much quality/top end breeding about it, to be honest. I've done a fair bit of competing in my time, both...

Wow - what a difference! It amazes me the rubbish pics people use in adverts - especially in H&H, which let's be honest, is not cheap. A bad photo can make the most fabulous horse look like a donkey!

£60 Saturdays/£50 Tuesdays, cheaper for u25's and kids, various packages are also available for those that might do a few days a season but not subscribe. Autumn Hunting £10. Welsh Borders.

I don't think that the addition of stopwatches to the lower levels of BE will make it any more scary than it already is! I have experienced low level eventing, BE and BRC, both as a competitor and fence judge and there are some pretty shocking sights.

Do you have space over the cab? I bought one of those under-bed type storage boxes to fit up there tidily rather than stuffing things next to the spare tyre.

I've had a Collegiate Convertible dressage saddle for about 18 months. It's made by the same people as Wintec and Bates so has the adjustable gullet. My saddler described it as "a poor girl's Bates," although at £750 I'd hardly describe it as budget....... Lovely saddle, as with all new tack...

If you don't want to jump more than 2'9 definitely do your homework before you enter! The official height for novice on the Team Chasing website is 3'3 but some of the hedges on some courses are definitely bigger than that! We did intermediate at the Berkeley this weekend because their novice...