Woolley Moor Equestrian

11/07/2024

Welcome to Woolley Moor Equestrian!
We have a new website to accompany the page!

08/07/2024

Equestrian Services at Woolley Moor Equestrian

Livery - full, part, DIY and schooling livery. School hire and professional coaching for you and your horse. A full range of farrier, equestrian massage and physio, equine dentistry and more are also available on request.

08/07/2024

Livery Services at Woolley Moor Equestrian

Full, part or DIY Livery available for long term contracts. Schooling Livery is also available for shorter term contracts Please contact Sarah on email: sarah@woolleymoorequestrian or phone 07411775852 to discuss your needs

08/07/2024

Oh....LOOK.....

Proudly presenting our new website:
woolleymoorequestrian.co.uk.

It is still in development but please check it out and let us know what you think!

We offer a full range of livery services from a new custom built barn, sand school and individual paddocks

03/07/2024

Nice to be back behind these ears again!

Emerald originally came to me in May to be brought back into work. She spent 3 weeks at home but never really settled so she’s back here long term now and is very happy.

02/07/2024

Tom had his visit from Auntie Paige today. Paige is a McTimoney Chiropractor for animals. She does an amazing job of keeping Tom straight and strong as he’s always had a habit of being lopsided in his pelvis.

Now his work load is increasing he’ll get stronger and less likely to fall back into one sidedness. As he progresses, Paige will see him every two months to keep him on track.

Paige also treats the other horses as and when they need it.

He really loves his treatments and gets lots of cuddles and kisses!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071468388108

30/06/2024

Jackets a bit tight after 3 years out of the game! Tom and I qualified for TeamQuest and MyQuest in 2021 and attended the regional finals at Chard Equestrian.

Recently I decided to have a go at the Petplan Area Festivals. The winter season doesn’t start until tomorrow, 1st July, but we decided to go out today and test the water even if today’s scores won’t help us qualify.

To qualify for the Petplan Arena Festival we have to obtain 3 scores of 63% or above in each section. Today we achieved 64% in one, and 62.8% in the other! Slightly irritating mistake in the second test cost us a couple of points. 🏵️

We’re starting with Preliminary level tests and once we’ve gained enough scores we can step up to Novice, with a bit of luck we’ll see the year out at Elementary level. Fingers crossed 🤞 I haven’t now jinxed us!

Tom was an absolute superstar ⭐️ 🌟 🐎 He hasn’t been an easy ride in the 9 years I’ve had him but he loaded and travelled like a professional and everyone keeps commenting on how well behaved he is nowadays. I love this horse, we’ve been through thick and thin together and he looks fabulous in the gorgeous photos my lovely friend Lyla took of us today. Thank you Lyla for your help today as show groom!

26/06/2024

We are blessed to host Katy Malone Livery and Coaching at Woolley Moor Equestrian.

As our newest neighbour to Woolley Moor (right next door on our West Side) we welcome Katy and her business to our yard.

In its own right, Woolley Moor Equestrian also offers standard livery (DIY, part time, full & also schooling livery). All with secure turn out, a 20x60m floodlit ménage and amazing local hacking.

Woolley Moor Equestrian also offers full coaching services (BHS Stage 3 coaching in: - dressage, showjumping and XC and more to come....).

Liveries obviously have open access to the ménage on a bookable basis and will enjoy great deals on coaching and lessons.

We are also happy to accommodate visitors to our yard to access our ménage on an hourly hire basis or why not combine school hire with a BHS accredited coach?

Follow our page or call Sarah on 07411775852 for updates.

Sarah is currently bringing on her 2 newest recruits (Bear & Fox) who are both Penpont ‘ponies’ to be broken, backed and taken to shows and hopefully win rosettes. They are both gorgeous horses and I love them dearly but in due time they will probably find a forever home unless Sarah can’t live without them at our yard.

Our stables in the new barn will be done by autumn 2024 to include a lovely mezzanine for socialising and R&R of tired equestrians, above a large and secure tack room.

25/06/2024

Well that’s Bear finally backed then - my latest new horse to break in!

I started lunging Bear a few months ago but there was something not quite right. I knew his teeth needed rasping as he’d had two visits from Harriet Franklyn our lovely equine dentist, but he needed to be sedated for rasping as he was proving too wriggly and Harriet wanted him to have a nice experience rather than a wrestling match. So I got the lovely Charly from Penbode Vets to do him. Turned out he did have some ulcerations from sharp teeth on both cheeks likely causing pain.

Thanks to Charly - now he is is fine and he lunged like a dream yesterday and also today, and then was happy to accept 2 different riders.

He’s going to be an amazing horse and totally loved the attention.

Already 16hh and only 4 years so more growing to go. His mum is shire x TB and sire is GFS Supanova.

We all love him to bits at Woollley Moor Equestrian - he’s a gorgeous boy.

Watch out for him at competitions in the next year or two - he’s an amazing boy.

18/06/2024

Following on from my previous post, as part of getting to know me better I’ve decided to start a series of stories from my past. These stories will centre on individual horses and I will include photos if I can but I have very very few precious photos because I didn’t have a strong supporting family when I was working with horses and was often discouraged from buying photos as they were ‘a waste of money’.

Today I will begin with Tommy T and I don’t have a photo of him.

Tommy was a coloured Gypsy Cob around 13hh and I’ve no idea how old he was. He lived on full livery at a yard in Herstmonceux in East Sussex and belonged to a local ex jockey turned builder who had him as a driving pony.

As a working pupil at this yard, aged 18 and not yet experienced enough to ride the more competitive warm bloods, it fell to me (because no one else would!) to ride this pony occasionally to keep him fit as he wasn’t driven very often.

Eager to ride anything I could get my hands on and claw my way up into the ranks of the more competent riders I relished the opportunity to prove this pony could in fact, not only canter on the correct lead, he could also jump.

One day his determination NOT to canter on the right leg lead on a 20 m circle outdid my determination to get him to do so. We’d spent about 15 minutes of trot canter trot canter trot canter transitions with me trying everything I could in my limited experience get him to strike off on the right lead to no avail.

Eventually, he tripped over his own front feet, pecked the floor and dumped me unceremoniously onto the school rubber surface. Arms outstretched to save myself I landed on my ribs, sprawled across a stripy jumping pole. At the time I was certain I’d broken a couple of ribs as they were very tender for quite some time after!

Undeterred however, once fully healed I continued to ride Tommy, and we both improved massively. One day, the yard owner, Penny, came back from teaching to see a rather substantial jump built in the Sandschool. Not having hired the school out to anyone that day and there was only supposed to be me riding in there she asked me “who jumped that!”,
“I did” I responded not sure why I felt like I was in trouble! “On WHO?” Came her response. No doubt she thought I’d been naughty and got one of the horses I wasn’t yet allowed to ride out. “On TommyT” I said, still worried I was in trouble, her demeanour instantly changed and turning on her heels to walk away she said laughing, “Right, well you can take him showjumping this weekend!”

The jump I’d jumped was a spread, as wide as it was tall, the front rail a cross pole, the back rail was on top of a pair old steel oil drums, the green and white Castrol ones. Sure it was meaty enough, in old measurements I sort of knew it was around 3 foot, I was thinking about this story yesterday and looked up the height of these old oil drums, 876mm I think Google said, or 87.6cm, add a solid wood showjumping pole and we’re talking about a fence almost a metre in height! Penny was a fantastic trainer I’m incredibly grateful for, because she pushed me and I was more afraid of letting her down than I was of the horses!

So, I took him showjumping.

It was on grass at the Eastbourne Show. The first class was probably 2’ or 60cm. Mostly it went well, except, and as far as I can remember the jump before the last was a blue and white double heading directly away from the ring entrance after a right turn at the gate. Remember, TommT’s right canter lead was not his best feature! On the approach to the right turn I could feel him pulling left towards the ring entrance, a mere rope strung between two metal stakes, opened and closed by the steward to let each competitor through. We just about made it over the double as his focus was clearly back in the lorry park, and went on to finish clear.

Next class was 2’3” and I anticipated he would be focused on the gateway again in that corner. He was a lot stronger and more determined this time and I over compensated a little, pulling him right with all my strength and we broke into trot and circled between the gate and the next jump earning 4 faults. Other than that he jumped each element clear.

Knowing that TommyT was not daft, didn’t care much for show jumping, or my pride that was at stake, I knew in the next class it would be even harder to get him round that troublesome corner into the penultimate fences. Back at the lorry park I hurriedly began taking the 3 ring gag bit of Boxit’s bridle as I knew I needed a little bit of extra power if I was going to get through the 2’6” class. Unfortunately, Penny ran over to see where I was, as I was late and was going to miss the class. I tried to explain I needed a stronger bit but she wouldn’t let me change it and I had to jump in his usual mild snaffle. As predicted he was more determined and stronger than ever and this time, he was ready for me! We got round the first 10 or 11 jumps with no issues as before but as we approached the corner again between the entrance and the last turn, there was no way he was going to pass up on the opportunity to seize his chance to escape! He darted left, his strongest canter lead, and bolted full pelt ducking underneath the white rope, wiping me off with the full force of the ‘clothesline’ move in wrestling, and almost running over his owner!

Took some time to catch him again, we didn’t win any rosettes, and I had to spend the rest of the show shamefully sporting grass stained breeches.

We never took him show jumping again and no one else tried either! It did however earn me some well deserved brownie points on the yard and it wasn’t long before I could ride more of the other horses and Tommy T could relax in peace.

12/06/2024

After setting up Woolley Moor Equestrian a whole year ago already, I thought it was about time I introduced myself properly.

I am Sarah Foster BHS Accredited Professional stage 3 eventing coach. Twenty odd years ago I worked on eventing and hunting yards breaking schooling training and competing for my employers, also trained at Ditchling Common Stud in Sussex. Competing my own horse at pre-novice level eventing with is todays equivalent of BE 100.

In 2014 after a 10 year complete break from horses I ‘accidentally’ bought two Dartmoor hill ponies with my husband George. Shannon and Glen, these two were totally feral and never been handled, George and I have some hilarious stories of trying to move them when the farmer needed his field back and the other one was on the other side of the village! These two started me back on a road to training young horses again. One now belongs to a lovely young family and is a Pony Club pony, the other is in a lovely loan home as a companion pony because he definitely wasn’t suitable for children!

My next two projects were Tom & Jerry who have a forever home with me and I keep trying to get back out affiliated BE eventing! But horses are great levellers and I think I’m doing ok considering I fractured 3 vertebrae in my spine in 2017 and between the three of us we have overcome lots of other injuries and illnesses too.

In between I have also produced and sold on another couple of young horses and have two more in the pipeline.

Seven years ago George and I bought our home with 21 acres and have slowly been building Woolley Moors facilities ever since.

Last year Katy Malone BHS APC stage 4 dressage coach joined our team and manages the livery whilst my husband and I have been spending most of our time building and maintaining our facilities here.

We are in the process of completing a new barn to house 14 new stables to complement our existing 10, we have a lovely 20x60 fibre surfaced arena and 20 acres of turnout of mixed native woodland and grass.

I have limited availability as I am still busy with building and maintenance work but I occasionally have space for breaking, bringing back into work and schooling livery’s. We can also accommodate short term livery’s if you are going away on holiday and need someone to accommodate your horse while you are away.

12/06/2024

Seems to be a theme of bringing horses back into work after some time off at the moment!

I own Jerry and he’s been off work for 8 months due to issues related with his genetic HWSD (hoof wall separation disease).

Luke Cottier DipWc has been putting ’casts’ on his hooves to enable shoes to be used.

The first day I got back on him I realised I didn’t have his saddle! So ba****ck it was. He is such a happy horse and was delighted to be back out and about.

25/05/2024

Gorgeous Emerald went home today after staying with us for a month to be brought back into work for her new owner, Brooklyn.
Wishing you both the best of luck together and a future full of fun beach rides! ❤️

10/05/2024

Day 10 - The Shed is finished. Only the supports for the dung walling left to go - yay!!

08/05/2024

Day 9 - sorry…missed a day. Doors coming in a couple of days and then the shed is finished!

06/05/2024

Day 7 -May Day Bank Holiday Monday -the roof is finished - it won’t be long now!

06/05/2024

Anyone who knows me and Tom know how injury prone we are! He’s finally sound after a knock on the leg a few weeks ago and able to start doing a bit of jumping again. He was such a good boy and we both really enjoyed it. Thanks Lyla (and Tiny!) for putting them up for me.

05/05/2024

Day 6 - 2/3 of a roof is on

02/05/2024

Day 5 - walls up and roof starting to go on

01/05/2024

Day 4 - we have walls!

30/04/2024

New paddock cleared.

30/04/2024

End of third day

25/04/2024

25/04/2024

Day 2

24/04/2024

Now it’s all getting very real - from dig out to end of the first day building a new shed for the stables….and finally the sun is shining at Woolleymoor ☀️ 🌞

16/04/2024

16/04/2024

14 pits ready for the new shed - exciting times!