Recent content by Widgeon

Mine like Dengie Meadowgrass with herbs & oil - it smells really minty. It is just a regular chaff but it's soft and smells so nice. Maybe worth trying to get a sample.

It does make sense if it's a tactical purchase and you have the setup for it - and I can see the benefit in having two horses, so long as they're both fairly straightforward. Eggs split across two baskets, etc. I would probably see how Atlas comes on in the next year or so and then see where you...

This is also excellent 😆 - "but she didn't want them"

Surely nobody can beat this.

I always give the insides of the pads a good brush with a stiff bristle brush to get most of the hair out before they go anywhere near the washing machine. In the summer rather than doing a full wash every time I sometimes just brush and hang inside out on the line in the sun. Obviously if...

That is beyond frustrating - for you and the horse who's had an extra few days of being hauled around. At least you know he's travelling well and the transporters are obviously taking very good care of them.

I just have very minimal requirements now! My first horse I selected very carefully and paid an accordingly fairly high price for - found what I thought was a really reputable breeder etc etc, he was exactly what I wanted (bay gelding, 7-10 years, hacking nicely etc) except that he turned out to...

Fun rides, yes that's a good one. Thanks. I think people don't always appreciate the logistics of running these sort of events - running them under the existing umbrella of the hunt facilitates their existence in a lot of areas.

Oh don't say sorry for that! I have personal experiences of the harms of trail hunting :rolleyes: Unfortunately the harms are even harder to quantify than the benefits, but yes I agree.

Thanks, I agree this (IMO) is probably the big one that is very difficult to quantify. All those social activities build links within the community, sometimes across people who might not have met otherwise. That's hugely valuable and very hard to pin down!

Haha! Yes, when I started considering a second horse my only criterion was "no greys" - I already have a coloured and his legs are enough of a pain to keep clean. I've ended up with a Connemara who is pretty well white already at the age of two. But his temperament was just SO good, and he was...

Thanks, yes I did flag both of those and suggest they took a look - I will have a read myself as like you say, they'd be the first places you would think would gather stats on this kind of thing.

I've made some of my own saddle pads and for those I used second hand thick wool blankets, the kind your granny might have had on the single beds in her spare room 😆 Usually cream with a stripe somewhere, you used to be able to pick them up at charity shops but I'd probably try neighbours /...

After a conversation at work (we're scientists so everything comes down to the quality of the evidence, even lunchtime chat!) I've been having a think about whether it's possible to quantify the impact of hunting, particularly trail hunting, on rural communities. I.e. what services (if any) do...

Yes that's a really good point - I forgot that. Once you've pulled the little slider really tight the length of the loops is far to short to be able to get them off the bar.