Quick Query & User Updates

I may just be being paranoid, but page views & comments are definitely down since I updated the blog url to pampered-ponies.blogspot.com - methinks people are either no longer being updated or have just lost their way to my blog...this makes me sad!

Google Images

If you do still read, please leave comments as I love to hear from you!

Google Images - how I feel when I get comments

I have joined haynet.co.uk, in the hopes of finding even more awesome people to bond over ponies with! 

I haven't quite figured out how to add the badge to my page yet,
but hopefully soon!

In order to help any newcomers I may or may not get through haynet, I have created two new pages (links on the right-hand tab) for background info About Us & my Equestrian Bucketlist which I hope to update as I get new ideas/actually do stuff and cross things off the list.

Quick Kika snapshot after our spin on Tuesday

Update on the girls:
I had another good lesson with Nancy and the Guru on Monday evening, I felt like some of the tips from Sunday's lesson had stuck and was very happy with both of us.
Obviously there was a lot of repetition from the previous day - i am never going to be perfect (who is, right?!):
- continuous reminders to keep my heels down,
- move my legs forward/back as appropriate,
- turn head to the inside (making me consiredably straighter)  on my bad rein
- softens grip on the reins & DON'T "pull" against her if/when she leans, sadly my instinct when she leans on my hands is to close my fingers on the reins and try to stop her...nasty habit!
An argument I can never hope to come out in pole position as she is so much stronger than I am and I fear making her hard mouthed *blubber*
L wants me to almost throw the reins at her (figuratively of course) when she tries to lean so that she has nothing to lean against and has to pick herself up on her own or fall on her nose. Gotta love horsies testing the boundaries & seeing what they can get away with.


Kika got worked by the Guru on Monday afternoon as she finished work earlier than me and had asked if she could take her for a spin - she said she was very good to start, K got a bit snitty about walk/trot transitions so ended up doing lots of them till they were no longer a big deal - Kika is such a silly billy! Always looking for ways to avoid work only ending up making it worse for herself *roll-eyes*

Tuesday was Nancy's day off & I got a good spin in on Kika, much improved on our Sunday session; in which she got herself a bit hot under the collar about I can't remember what and we ended up cantering till she sorted her brain gremlins out. We worked on the basics, w/t/c calmly & softly in the contact without fussing or blocking/tensing her neck - lots of circles & changes of rein mixing it up with transitions and posting + sitting trot. She was lovely, soft & responsive which left me with a self-satisfied smile and packed me off for a happy evening at home.

Today is Kika's day off and I'm not sure what time (or if the Guru is coming this evening), so I shall play with my Nancy-Belle myself and hope we can continue in the good vein of form from the two lessons. *fingers-crossed*
I am off work tomorrow as flying to Ireland in the evening, so hoping to get both girls ridden in the morning before turning the three gee-gees out for the day and leaving my girls in the Guru's capable hands for the weekend. Hopefully I can snap some pics & get the blog updated with our shenanigans before I jet off!

PS: I hope this post doesn't come across as whiney/attention-seeking...that is not my intention at all. I just love getting feedback, tips & suggestions from readers and am afraid people might be missing out on updates after the url name change. Although admittedly, we don't get up to much exciting LOL!
I don't know if maybe it might be best to "un-follow" and then "re-follow" with new blog url...

Rider Review: EquiKozy Socks

Sadly Wednesdays are my busy day at work, so like today I may not always get to the barn on those evenings. Thankfully I do (more often then not) still get to go at on my mad-dash lunchtime visit. If the Guru has to work Saturday mornings (happens minimum once a month) she sometimes has Wednesdays off work - in which case those days she turns the little darlings out.
She saved my bacon this evening, having already asked if she could jump Kika today & she also brought Nancy in afterwards as I was just too knackered to go to the yard after work.

#LeSadTimes

Right, well enough about that - this post is supposed to be a rider review of EquiKozy Socks

I first discovered these super socks at the RDS Dublin Horse Show in 2010 I think, they had the best priced socks on offer & so many options that I spent ages trying to settle on only three pairs. What I found fascinating was that they spoke French, but being of the shy-type I didn't say anything to them besides usual small-talk while making my purchase.

They always have 3 pairs of socks for €12 - which is a way better price then I typically found on other stands where one pair of socks was costing €6 and the EquiKozy designs & colours were so eye-catching I couldn't not splurge on three pairs. Sadly while perusing the website just now I cannot find a picture of my third pair which were an awesome chocolate brown colour with sky blue polka dots.

Red & White stripes to support my
Rugby Team (Munster) & my mother's
GAA team Cork

And these funky Yellow Puzzle ones

Two years later I was back at the RDS, this time with the Guru in tow and we hit up this fab stand for their socks (again for me) & L's first time. We speak to each other in French, when the people running the stand heard us they were super sweet and asking us where we were from & what brought us to Ireland.
Needless to say I got three more pairs of socks, as I loved my first ones so much; L also picked up ankle socks as she isn't as fond of the knee high ones as I am.

Blue Triangles 

Burgundy Argyle

Blue Swirls
although mine had white swirls

We next encountered these fab sock sellers again in March 2013 at Equitana in Germany (links to my adventures there: first, second and third). I sadly didn't splurge that time but L did, so we continued our patronage of these fab products. Lol!
We did ask if they had a website or anyway to order from them online, however at the time they did not :(

Google Link
One cannot but love Monty Python & the Holy Grail though

We were very pleasantly surprised (although as they are French we really shouldn't have been) to find their stand at the Salon du Cheval in Paris which we visited in December (LINK to post) - so needless to say we both had to splurge on three more pairs of socks...although to be honest I live in mine & love them so much that it isn't splurging so much as necessity shopping. *sniggers*

Classic Blue Argyle

Red & Blue Pop Argyle
although mine have some yellow

Green & Purple Pop Argyle

While in Paris, we discovered that not only have they launched a website but we can place orders online and they will deliver to Luxembourg!
Think we were excited?!

Google Images

I just placed my first order this evening, so I am super excited to see if their online service is as good as their "in-person" service at trade fairs.

Some Pros & Cons (necessary for a balanced review right...although it is pretty obvious that I am damn biased when it comes to this product)
Pro - socks come in diff sizes (ankle/knee) as well as shoe sizes
Pro - fab colours & designs
Pro/Con - (pro) different colour/pattern combos for kids & adults - (con) sometimes I like the kids colour schemes but they aren't in my size!
Con - and this might just be me & how I overuse them (and don't tie my trainers/shoes properly), but they tend to wear at the back of the heel. and sadly my red & white stripes, yellow puzzle and blue swirl socks are no more. Actually come to think of it I must have purchased more at some stage as I also have a pair of blue puzzle piece socks too...I wonder what other ones I bought with them then & where they are now - I'll have to report back when my newly placed order arrives!

To say I live in these socks would be an understatement!
I (of course) ride in them, but also wear them for every-day wear either under jeans in winter and/or over skinny jeans when tucked into boots. As they are made mostly from cotton they are also super comfortable to wear in the warm summer months...although then I do only wear them to ride in!

PS: I just want to say that I have not been contacted by the owners of this company to do this review & I am in no way connected to them bar loving their product & friendly and approachable staff when I have met them at Equi-expos.
Although in saying that I am not opposed to receiving promotional merchandise or sponsorship for a giveaway if people in positions of power there feel so inclined ;)

PPS/Disclaimer: Also all sock images & EquiKozy images in the post have been borrowed from their website with links back to them - no media in this post is of my own making!

PPS (and then I'll shut up - I pinky promise!)

List of upcoming stand dates, in case any Euro readers are in the neighbourhood.
I might see if I can organise myself to get to Ghent (Gand) in Belgium ;)

Lunchtime Lowdown

A rough step-by-step photo guide of my daily lunchtime escapades to turn out the three horses on my break. Features public transport, power walking & time-limits ... however none of these can be depicted in photos LOL!

My preparations start at 11.50 when I change out of my office clothes (usually heels & dress/skirt) into jeans & my trusty Ariat Windmeres.
At 12 o'clock on the dot I leave my desk and am usually out the front door of the building by 12.02 at the latest (I badge in & out - so I know useless facts like this), I catch the first bus that arrives and get off two stops later to wait for my next bus which arrives at 12.20. When traffic is in my favour I get to my stop by 12.35 - when traffic goes against me it can be closer to 12.50 before I get off Bus #2 - No Bueno!
I then walk the routes marked out below: Teal is going up-hill & Purple (thankfully) downhill

F = Field, S = Stable, B/B II = Bus Stops and then H = Home, just for reference as to how lucky I am

I have a quick turn around in the Stable itself as I stop first at Nancy's door, where she heart-warmingly greets me with a whicker/whiney every day depending on how famished she is *sniggers*

I love her, but she is so difficult to photograph as she is all up in my business & then has such a hurt look on her face when I push her away to try and get a picture where her huge noggin is not the main focus *sigh*

Off topic, but I have to  briefly (*ahem* or as briefly as it is possible for me to share anything in writing) share a cute story from last night. Achieve1dream over at @Equestrian Journey recently shared a really cute story about Chrome, her lovely Friesian X Arab following her around & playing like a puppy dog - her story reminded me so much of Nancy & wouldn't you know she went and provided her own tale of cuteness yesterday evening.
When I got to the yard around 7.30pm L had already brought in and ridden Kika, so her horse O & Nancy were in the turnout area alone. L was schooling another horse for another yard friend so I figured I'd bring both girls in, refill the water and sort the haynets for the following day. (When I get back on track with my Lunchtime Lowdown post you'll better understand why the haynets are filled the night before ;-) )

Yes I was a meany & shoo'ed her away to snap the dressing process

Nancy was adorable and shadowed me as I collected the three haynets, then stood guard as I refilled them (in a separate area that they cannot access - theoretically although both Nancy & Kika have previously foiled us and gotten in/out via there *knock-on-wood* not for a few months...long may it last. I've had my fill of Horsey Houdini stories)





I then popped her lead rope on & O's headcollar + lead rope combo and looped ropes around their neck so that they wouldn't step on them as I hung up the haynets but could catch the pair of them before they'd start eating the hay destined for the following day. Nancy again followed me around like the sweetheart she is - but the most heartwarming bit about this tale...NOT ONCE did she try to eat from the newly filled haynets!!!!
 
Right sorry for going so far off topic, but it was too cute a story not to share - sadly no photos as it is winter & at 7.30+8pm at night it is too dark for photos & when a flash is used the horses just end up looking like aliens...Not unlike some of the photos in this post, flash was required as all taken inside with poor lighting - hence bugging/alien eyes in some snapshots.


So back to my lunchtime lowdown!

Nancy greets me, I pop into her stall to put on her "coat" outdoor rug on over her stable rug as it is not a heavy turnout and I would hate for the little darlings to be cold. I do up the neck, put on her headcollar, tie up the lead rope as otherwise she plays with it and give her her lunch - 1/2 a scoop of muesli the YO leaves for them in a bucket outside their stalls in the morning.

Yes - she had been scolded,
 check out that happy head

Then it is Miss Kika's turn, who as I'm sure you can imagine has not been waiting the most patiently, in fact you can spy her mischievous head in the background of the last photo of Nancy (top right). She typically gets yelled at by me multiple times as I sort out Nancy as K kicks the partition with a front foot demanding her turn and/or runs her teeth up any available metal surface...how she has any teeth left in her head is beyond me! What makes it worse is it is totally an attention thing, if anyone else is inw ith any of the surrounding horses she couldn't care less - but the minute she sees me and she isn't receiving the feeding she thinks is her god-given-right she makes a scene.

She too gets wrapped up in an outer layer with a hood and once headcollar et al is on she too gets her lunch the same as Nancy.








Oddly, the pair of them take the least amount of time, poor O eats up a good portion of my allocated time in the stable buildings before turnout. As I have to remove her stable protections - she has back on track type boots that go on overnight to help the circulation in her legs as she has navicular in her front feet. :(

Neatly tucked together once removed

O doesn't get an extra rug as she has a stable with a view (window) so L prefers to keep her in a turnout rug day & night, however I do add her neck cover if it is forecast to be particularly cold & or wet.

Hood with lots of finickety buckles = not user friendly IMO

O is slightly spoiled compared to my girls as I allow her to eat her portion of lunch (a handful of muesli - she's too good a doer & because of navicular L has to try to keep her weight down) while I am handling her - my girls are not even allowed to sniff their hay while I am foostering at them - yes I am a mean mammy!
Although in saying that I spoil O, if she isn't finished with her handful by the time I am ready to take her out, she has to leave it behind as I'm on a time-limit. She then gets tied in the washbay between my girls stalls & the exit to await the arrival of Nancy & Kika. I then manoeuver the three of them out the door and we make our way to the field.
Typically they are locked into their turnout with their haynets & happy as larry before 1pm, so that I power walk back down the hill and usually make the 1.10 bus back towards work.

Sorry not so easy to snap three of them with a cell phone

So there you have my typical lunchbreak during the long winter months, they don't go back out on 24/7 turnout until May 1st. So from November 1st to April 30th, I am lucky enough to get my horsey fix at lunchtime as well as in the evenings! :-D

We'll have to see how long I keep up the walking routine when I get the car I bought before Christmas insured... my daily exercise quota/regime will more than likely have the stuffing knocked out of it. But in saying that, it currently takes me a little over an hour and a half from when I badge out of my office till I badge back in. If/when I drive this run on my lunchbreak - I might be able to squeeze in riding or at least lunging one of them on my lunchbreak and not feel guilty about only being able to ride/work one in the evenings!

...

I guess we'll have to watch this space

Learning Lessons

Or at least trying to ;-)

Nancy & I had some eyes on the ground this morning to help us (read:me) with tips & advice. We had the main arena to ourselves which was nice and plenty bodies passed for a gawk as we were working - including a dad & kid who for some reason was sat up on the side of the arena.
All I could think was thank god I was riding Nancy and not Kika as K would've flipped if something that big and distracting appeared "out of nowhere" in her field of vision. However Nancy is so level-headed & genuine that after two no-fuss small circles to give her a chance to get used to there being a body where it hadn't been before - she then cantered right passed without so much as blinking an eye let alone telescoping or side-stepping as Kika would've done.

Happy Head on me & Nancy -
I'm not usually one for photos of myself but I LOVE this one!

Things mentioned to be worked on:

- Keep tension in outside rein
- Soften inside rein and move hand towards knee to encourage N to look in and bend to the inside
- Move outside leg back and inside leg forward (L can't figure out how I manage to ride so lopsided)
- HEELS DOWN (as always...consistency is key right?! *snigger* Although to be honest I would rather eventually eradicate this nasty habit)
- Turn my whole head (thereby moving my shoulders & hips) to the inside while on the right rein (my bad side and consequently both girls poorer sides too)

L must have been on the same wavelength as my musings from yesterday & had us KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) - she had us work a lot
- on transitions,
- circles and
- changes of rein.

My Knight Horse

She reminded me to
- play with my reins and
- keep my leg on, release my knees and wrap my lower leg around N.
She says that by gripping with my knees I am unable to put on leg and it also swings my leg backwards...I guess it keeps things fresh as usually my legs swing forward.  *roll-eyes*

All in all it was a great lesson, plenty to work on as always but nothing so awfully startling that I was left bereft & utterly incapable and undeserving of the girls; like I had sometimes been feeling in the last few weeks.

Patiently waiting for me to finish setting up the poles in background

Kika was up next for me to play with after L went home for lunch with her family. She was very good to stand like an angel after I decided at the last minute to put down a couple of poles and she was good to warm up in walk & trot on a long rein. Sadly once we took off the quarter sheet and tightened the girth her brain checked out and she choppy-strided her way around the arena. Not so much tucking her head into her chest as holding tension in her neck and she is so fussy about her mouth that when I try to take up contact when she is in this  mood she throws her front legs about, tosses her head and threatens to rear.
Rather than pander to her whims and bring her back to walk, from which she can rear much easier IF that is the mood she is in - I pushed her up into canter for a couple of laps to keep her moving and change her thought patterns as to how the spin was going pan out. Took a bit of time to re-locate her brain, but we did get some lovely soft work without choppy strides and lovely canter work interspersed with the trot poles. As with N, Kika had to contend with a lot of transitions and changes of rein while maintaining her shape & suppleness.
Bless her she was knackered afterwards - but it serves her right for trying to be a muppet & wanting to start with me.

Sweaty Kika post-spin

It wasn't the best start to my spin with Miss Kika but we got there in the end without either of us going into meltdown and tossing the toys out in temper. I had another super day in the saddle with both girls and the opening weekend of the Six Nations panned out as I'd hoped it would.
So all in all I am one happy camper. :-)

I was talking as this was being taken,
 but Happy Heads all around sums up my weekend. :)

The provisional Plan of Attack for the Week is:

(we'll have see if I can be any better at sticking to it this time then previously)

- Monday: the Guru asked to ride Kika and offered me another lesson on Nancy

- Tuesday: Nancy will get the day off - I hope to ride Kika

- Wednesday: the Guru asked to jump Kika - I hope to lunge Nancy

- Thursday: Deserved (I hope) day off for Kika - I hope to ride Nancy

- Friday through Monday: I am going back to Ireland for family gathering/spreading of my uncle's ashes.

The Guru will mind the girls for me & hopefully have fun riding them, fingers crossed I can still ride one side of them on my return!

Patience & Polework

Kika was first up for my attentions this morning and was an angel despite a less than ideal arena sharing situation. She hadn't been ridden since Wednesday & I myself hadn't ridden since Sunday - so K had ample excuses to be a twat but thankfully didn't even swish her tail in annoyance at any stage!

There were three other riders in the arena with us, one of which was getting a lesson and for some reason insisted on riding on the inside track yet wasn't really leaving enough space outside her for the rest of us to pass her safely. Add to this that her mare would pin her ears & swish her tail if another horse got too close - which was sadly unavoidable as it was such a squish to pass her on the outside.
The usual riding rules here is left-hand to left-hand but she made this so difficult to maintain, it was almost carnage a couple of times.

I was so impressed with Kika who at one stage had to do an emergency handbreak stop from canter, which if she had been in the wrong mood could have been curtains for me as I sadly had to take quite a hold of the reins which she does not like at all & can (on a bad day) result in rearing. She was so good, I cannot say how impressed with her I was & still am. She gives me the warm fuzzy feelings when I ride her...long-time readers of this blog, did you ever think you'd see the day? I have to admit, there was a dark period in our partnership where I couldn't see light at the end of the tunnel!

I was glad I was on Kika for that spin, as although Nancy is typically the calmer and more level-headed of the two; she reminds me of trying to operate heavy machinery (although I haven't ever actually worked with heavy machinery) and takes longer to slow & stop.

Thankfully the arena was much quieter when it came to Nancy's turn. I again placed some poles in the arena as I really appreciated having them last Sunday. They give both of us the option to concentrate on something else when we work on canter/trot downward transitions which have been a bit of a bogey for us of late.

As always, apologies for poor paint skills

Again I was super happy with Nancy, who hadn't been ridden since Tuesday - I really am blessed with two such wonderful girls. I really must remember to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) - we did have some sticky canter departs on our bad side, but she came back to me well & we managed to keep things soft and simple thanks to the polework distractions to keep us from getting bogged down in a battler of wills/strength.

However I have decided I need to get myself straightened out, my bad side is also the bad sides for both girls...what came first the chicken or the egg? Either way I can get fixed so I shall look into getting myself fixed.
Now I just have to figure out whether an osteo, chiro or physio is the best professional to sort me out.
Any readers have any experience with any of them?
What would you recommend?

I am now looking forward to an afternoon of Rugby viewing as the 6 Nations has kicked off for 2014. I'll go back up to the girls later this evening to bring them in and tuck them in for the night. :)

Friday Flashback II

I'm not sure how well the first installment of this feature was received or whether comments are down due to the url name change & people no longer finding their way here.
Hopefully it is the latter case and people will find their way back sooner rather than later & perhaps I might get to spend more time in the saddle and actually give you guys something to read ;-)

Anyways no more waffle from me - here are today's Friday Flashback photos of what could have been my first pony back in '88/'89. Sadly not meant to be as my dad got a job offer in Luxembourg and the whole family moved at the end of 1989 and I had to wait until a few months after my 21st birthday when I moved back to Ireland to finish my degree after a year abroad to meet Kika in 2007.

Again no helmet -  I have no excuse other than I don't know what my parents were thinking

However I did own a helmet in & around that time as evidenced from the below...

Proof of helmet

And just for funsies, here's another gratuitous early riding pic, sadly again no dates on this pic but I reckon it was taken before the ones above. I look a lot smaller...although then again the pony is larger than a shetland...

Yes - a helmet...but no hands or stirrups, lol, pity I didn't turn into a horse-riding prodigy

All these images are mobile phone pictures of printed pictures...apologies for any loss of quality!

Sunday Saddle Time

As is sadly becoming more frequent than I'd like - I did not get to spend as much time in the saddle as I would have liked last week. Nancy was last ridden on Monday & Kika Tuesday. Although to be fair...I don't think they'll be heard complaining ;-)

Due to my last couple of rides getting me down in the dumps (LINK), I decided to try a change of pace this afternoon & set up some pole work for the three of us; which it turns out wasn't a bad idea at all if I may be so bold as to say so. My issues are far from resolved, but having something else to work on while riding gave me a much needed confidence boost to keep plugging away and trying to fix my issues - a battery recharge if you will.

Poles Picture taken from N's back after we'd finished.
Figured it'd be better than my poor Paint attempts.

I started with Kika, she was good if distracted to warm up - I took my time in walk before moving up to trot work when she proved she wasn't going to settle any further in walk & in fact was only going to start looking for ways to entertain herself if I didn't change the question...Message received my dear - and work she did. Silly sod, can't just take life easy when it's being offered to her! We warmed up with w/t/c before starting in on the poles. Doing each set in both directions before linking some of the sets together with changes of rein in between. We finished with some lovely canter departs immediately after the poles staying nice soft & balanced for a circle and one long side of the arena before coming back to trot changing direction over more poles and repeating the exercise in the other direction off the other rein. I was super happy with her, we haven't come close to resolving my crooked or poor riding issues, but changing the scenery was just what we needed to re-find our feng shui & get back on the same (misguided) page.

Nancy was also a very good girl, having the poles to concentrate on and change our focus really helped both of us today. Typically myself & Nancy get on great until the first piece of canter work after which everything tends to go down hill...I know the snowballing badness is my fault as I must be tense or closing my hands on the reins and stressing her or something to make things go so wretchedly after what is usually nice canter work in itself. It is the trot work afterward that gets stressy & her head comes up as she starts fighting with me - I am trying to work on softening my hold on the reins but struggle with it as I don't want her to careen off with me...practice / practice / practice and we'll get there I hope. Fingers-crossed I don't ruin he ruin the mean time! *blush*

Anyway, sorry got off track there!

The poles really helped me with Nancy as it gave us both something else to concentrate on and helped me re-focus, relax and release my death-grip on the reins. The split second "break" in concentration needed to line N up with the poles allowed my brain kick into gear and remember to not do the things I wasn't supposed to be doing...Sorry, that probably doesn't make sense at all - but it deff helped! We even got more lovely relaxed canter work followed by stress-free trotting combined with the pole work. Perhaps I should include some sort of pole pattern in all my rides on Nancy until I can get my brain & body conditioned into riding her properly & not stressing the little things - thereby making me tense & having a knock-on effect on her and snowballing our bad ride experiences...just something to think about.

This weeks Plan of Attack for the Week:

- Monday: Lunge both girls

- Tuesday: The Guru has asked to ride one and I'll ride the other

- Wednesday: L can either ride both or again just one and I'll ride the other

- Thursday: Probably a day off

- Friday: I hope to ride both

- Saturday: Pole work with both

- Sunday: Either lesson with the Guru or flat work on my own

Here's hoping I am better at sticking to the PoAftW then I was last week - sometimes I really am a shambles!!