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As some of you folks know already, our lovely big horse has been having some issues of late. As a bit of a timeline, just to give full context: 6th March he pulled a shoe; with hindsight we think this might have been the start of our issues. He was sound at the time but farrier did comment that...

Sneaking in here first since I think for a lot of us, the weekend starts tomorrow?! This week I’ve been doing a bit of this again: Monday did 15 mins walking in arena, yesterday did 20. Day one he felt a bit uppity but was totally chilled last night. Going to do a bit of road walking...

I just typed this out and the page reloaded and deleted everything.. great! We have been having a few issues with our big lad, he’s been off now for about a month. Initially thought he had jarred his fetlock messing about in field (it all coincided with a pulled shoe and a decent amount of...

Good people of HHO, I am MAYBE going to my first ever stay away show this weekend. We will have a better idea today/tomorrow once farrier has been out and instructor has given his opinion. Just for background, horse wasn’t quite 100% but have seen vet who thinks we stand a fairly good chance of...

Second week of Feb already! Thought I’d mention that in the title as last weeks thread is still quite active, some really interesting discussion going on about the mix of contributors etc on here and how things have shifted over time - makes for really good reading, actually. So how is everyone...

No thread yet, although I don’t actually have any plans so nothing useful to add (yet!). What’s everyone up to?

Just curious to know if anyone has any experiences of riding in / buying Voltaire saddles? Feel free to pm if you prefer - might be looking at them later this week, but don’t know a huge amount about them, aside from what I’ve read on their website etc. Thanks 😊

I’m gutted, I had to have my old boy put to sleep this morning. I’d had him for almost 10 years and he was retired for over half that - but he was a really super horse and much loved by all who knew him. He had been a bit off colour at the start of the week, nothing hugely concerning, but went...

I didn’t have a pony of my own as a kid, so now I have a horse & access to transport, we are out and about a fair bit and are fortunate enough to have gathered a wee collection of rosettes over the past couple of years, and I love them 🤣 Anyway, just wanted to share this - it is fab for...

Has anyone ordered from westropphorseboots.com recently? I am thinking of buying knee / brushing boot combo, just checking the website is still in action etc! Thanks 😊

Hi everyone, I thought I’d post a separate thread on this as it was so good! Today Big Unit & I attended a dressage day hosted by Bluegrass feeds at a local equestrian centre. Along with a weighbridge (he is 661kg) and chats about feed, we also had a lesson with Irish international rider Kate...

Oooooh excited to start this… maybe a bit early?! I have a lesson tonight with my regular instructor - looking forward to it, haven’t had one for a few weeks. On Saturday I am going to a dressage clinic with Kate Dwyer, there’s a lesson and then some classroom-y type things too which will be...

Anyone have any recommendations for a bridle? It’s my birthday and I’ve got a few quid (not much) and thinking I might buy a second bridle. Atm we swap bits between flatwork and jumping and it’s becoming a pain 😆 Horse is 17hh with a fairly big head, currently in an extra full Schockemohle...

OH had to go to his mums this morning, so he went in his work van and I took car to yard. Hitched up trailer because I am now a professional trailer hitcher-upper. Fed horse and took fat retiree Arrow down to the field. Packed kit, loaded horse independently and then our pal came to the yard, to...

I thought I would share that last night I was INCREDIBLY brave and went for a spot of sj & xc schooling. We have plans to pop around a local 2 phase at the weekend (75cms woo! About knee height on this giant horse) so thought a bit of jumping wouldn’t go amiss. I bought a skull cap and...

Hi everyone, I will discuss with my trainer of course but was interested to get some suggestions on what are the most difficult Novice BD tests / easiest Elementary tests? I would like to dip my toe into Elem at some stage this year, so thought I would see what you all thought. Also, if anyone...

Hi everyone It has been post overload from me the past few days... thanks again for all your help & support. It really means a lot. I just wanted to remind everyone to please, please think ahead about their individual horses and consider what level of medical intervention would be appropriate...

After all your kind comments yesterday, I thought I would write up a bit of a tribute to our lovely Coop. After we arrived home from saying goodbye to her, I noticed a piece of jewellery I had carelessly left on the kitchen counter on Friday afternoon, removed moments before I had left to go...

Our little sparky nutcase mare has colic. Vet has been out twice this evening and still not out the other side, suspected impaction and done all we can for now. Alarm set for early doors but doubt there’ll be much sleep anyway... Can I ask for some of those famous HHO healing vibes please? She’s...

I am investigating the possibility of sending my old boy away to retirement grass livery. For background: he is a 25yo ISH, bit arthritic, retired about 5 years ago due to a few soundness issues and mild KS. Field sound & loves being out. Our current yard does offer year round turnout however...

Anyone have any recommendations for where to get RSVP cones? Already have the others! Googled there but I don’t recognise any of the websites, thought I’d check with you lot. I can improvise with random stuff round the yard, handy to have the proper letters though! Cheers 😃

Any recommendations? As you’ll all have sussed by now, I’m female so this isn’t going to be one of those creepy “oh but the frontal regions are too tight” threads 🤣🤣 On the lookout for a nice top and hat silk for OH and hoping some of you wise folk might have some ideas.

Does anyone have one of these on their trailer? Considering getting one, but not actually seen one in the flesh!

Need to buy a new bridle. Horse stood on reins today and snapped headpiece of nice Kieffer bridle...great. I remember people raving about Evison bridles a few years ago. Are they still decent? Prices look good... but no experience of them myself! Also recommendations for nice snaffle bridles...

Getting a new car in the next couple of weeks. We currently tow using OH’s work car, no plans to change at present, but new car will be used for the occasional outing. What is the general consensus on fixed vs detachable? The idea of detachable does scare me a bit, but presumably they are safe...

Last week, after a glass* of wine, I was browsing through FB and saw a local rider was running a dressage clinic this weekend. As we had no other plans, I booked OH for his towing services and booked myself in. *might have been a bottle I hadn’t ever attended a clinic before but realistically...

I’m sneaking in early, only because DPD have just delivered a new saddlecloth and brushing boots to me, and I need an excuse to show them off!!! With a sideways photo lol. So, what’s on the agenda this week? We have another 3 day weekend, so still trying to decide what to do & where to go. The...

So the last couple of months have been pretty quiet, in the context of the global pandemic etc... but now that things are easing a wee bit, it seemed like a good idea to update again on our new boy 😀 Once the lockdown started, things obviously changed a lot but we were very fortunate that we...

Does anyone know if there is any difference in the Charles Owen YR hats vs the adult ones? Horse decided to eat the harness on my Ayr8 🙄 and the YR version is substantially cheaper. The only difference I can see is the harness is nylon in the YR.

Took a few photos of my lovely gelding A this evening and noticed just how grey his mane has become! I have had him 8 years now, since he was 16. He has always had a few silver highlights but now he is getting older, they are becoming more prolific. I really do not understand colour genetics...