Competing from the field.

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lilpinkdonkey4

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Hello!

I really dont know what to do with my mare at the moment. She is currently at livery at a small yard which has FAB facilities and is generally lovely. However i am the only livery and it gets quite lonely. The other livery went back to our old yard.

(can i just add here that all my friends are leaving this month to go on theirgap year travels so having people to talk to is quite important as i can only take so much of my parents and the people i work with!)

Basically, i could probably take her back to our old yard where i have lots of friends and has OK facilities (it has 1 smaller school but no gallops etc etc (i think ive been spoilt by current facilities!!!)) BUT she would have to go on grass livery as there are currently no stables free... I think i may be able to borrow a friends if i want to bring her in during the day... All the horses will prob go out end of march ish....

So, my main question is...

How do people find competing from grass...? i have only ever really stabled her (and at the moment she is only out 2 hours a day... another reason to leave)... am i completely mad to think of putting her on grass... i have SO many rugs so i figure i could rud her up to her ears...?!?!

She is a TB x WB and doesnt keep weight on too well but then gets as fat as a house in the summer. She also gets quite sensitive to flys in the summer so used to come in during the day... im hoping by then we may have a stable or i can steal one off someone who keeps it out in the summer.

Oh and im off to Uni in october so it will only be for 6 months... (she is comming with me).

hmmm sorry for the ramble... please tell me im being stupid if you think i am... AHHHH ireally dont know!

Thankyou and cookies for reading my ramble!
 
Last year we were unbeaten in Driving marathons and obstacles phases of driving eventing, and they were kept out.
Personally I wouldn't go where there was no stable, what would happen in crazy weather, snow, floods etc.
 
Competiing off grass is fine as long as your prepared and your obvously thinking about this propperly. Just make sure you have the right rugs/fly repelents/feeds etc and you'll be fine. atmosphere is really important at a yard, people to have fun with and all, as long as your mare is happy, i dont see the problem.

Oh and when you get to uni join your universitys riding society and you can compete against us! lol

p.s. unless you happen to be coming to the university of the west of england where I'm the president! hehehe
 
Rara; Im Hoping it doesnt snow between now and october... plus it never snows where i live! Yard is on a hill so no liklihood of flooding they have a spare stable for grass liveries incase of needig box rest!


Ezme Thanks thats what i wanted to hear- I have a larger wardrobe for her than i do myself.!!! No im not going to UWE but i am going to bristol!!! DO people join the riding club even if they have a horse with them??? does this mean we will be rivals!!!??!! hehehe
 
lol, i knew it was a long shot but still bit of a coincidence! You know I have to hate you now if your at bristol propper! lol To be honest most of our members have their own horse or did untill uni. its just a great way to make friends and, i dont know about bristols one but we go to just about every demo there is, on riding holidays, clinics, some to the big shows/events, lessons, hacks as well as the BUSA league. We may compete in Varsity (what anything bristol V UWE is called) but i dont think we have this year... been southampton, plymouth, exeter in our section, oh and we had a freindly at swansea so far. We got to regionals this year and have one riding in the nationals so you better watch out! lol
 
we used to even out of the field - from about may until october he was out 24/7 and with daily exercise, had no problem keeping him fit enough for novice eventing. Certain things are trickier - like having to plait up on the morning of the event, since no plaits were going to stay in overnight with him rolling, and being covered in grass stains to clean up, but you are saving so much time with no mucking out and not having to stick to such a tight schedule of turning/out bringing in, that I can't complain (and wouldn't want to do it any other way)

Yard rules and quality of turnout meant that 24/7 wasn't possible through the winter, but I would have continued if I could - ram enough rugs on, and don't trim the leg hair, and I think you can keep going all year - even with a bit of a clip. Won't manage to look as smart as the stabled ones, but it's at no detriment to performance. Mine was always happier out than in anyway.

I wouldn't want to do it unless there was the option of being able to use a stable in the case of emergency or box rest - sounds like this would be ok on your yard though.
 
Mine lives out from about Easter till October. I have no facilities at home either. We do PN eventing and will hopefully manage some N this year. He copes fine with it. I strip graze the whole year to manage his companion's weight so that's not an issue for me.

Also have found that if you plait but don't roll the plaits up then you can turn out in a lycra hood and they'll stay put, even on my very enthusiastic roller! (I did use plenty of hair gel!)

Good luck
smile.gif
 
I've always competed in every discipline (at RC level) from 24/7 turnout - you save so much time and money that you can enter loads more competitions!! I just get up early to plait up, keep planning to keep my boy in the night before but I hardly ever do, he's so much more chilled after a night out. Maybe you could borrow the box rest stable occasionally if you have a really early start?
 
I had a bonkers mare and was told that I should just let her eat grass and event her from the field. I never put this to the test because I was expecting my 2nd baby.
 
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