Sam Taylor Equestrian Services

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Sam Taylor Equestrian Services

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15/01/2025

Who else is longing for warmer longer days, clear blue skies and sleek summer coats?

These grey, damp and short days seem to be making people book their holidays and adventures. The dates for my bespoke cover service are flying in at the moment.

Don't forget to give me your dates as soon as you have confirmed your holiday booking. It's also a good idea to check my availability before you go ahead and make plans just in case we need to tweak your dates.

📸 Photo credit goes to the gorgeous Blackbird. She is a regular cover booking in my diary along with the rest of her horsey herd and chickens too.

31/12/2024

Wow what a blast I've had for the most part of my job in 2024. Every single day that I go out to work I remind myself just how lucky I am to be able to be so passionate about my job.

I've taught amazing lessons where so many people have ended their session with big smiles and great achievements. Holiday cover bookings were fantastic once again - it's always an honour to be trusted to care for your horses while you're away. Clipping has been pretty full this year too - I'm definitely feeling older as after a long day clipping my back and shoulders ache more than they used to.

Normally I round off the year with my favourite photos. This year though I am going to round it off with just one photo. A photo of a lady who is an absolute inspiration and who never gives up regardless of what is thrown her way.

This lady has been on this earth for just over seven decades. She has a large Welsh gelding who has an incredibly large character. He isn't the easiest and I'm not sure he ever will be. He definitely regularly tests his owner - and me too come to think of it. It isn't a match made in heaven and there are plenty of other horses out there that this lady could wander around the countryside on. Even after a broken shoulder from a nasty fall and some incredibly stressful times she chooses to stand by her boy, with me right behind her every step of the way. The courage this lady finds to continue day after day is truly inspiring and if I gave client of the year awards she truly would earn one.

Happy New Year. Thank you for being part of a fabulous work year and I am super excited to working with you all again as well as meeting new clients too in 2025.
x🥂x

25/12/2024

Happy Christmas to you all 🎅✨️🎄

My clients have once again been so very kind and I have many gifts nestled under my tree. I look forward to opening them once the horses are sorted.

Wherever you are and whatever you're doing I hope you all have a magical time.

~xXx~

22/12/2024

When I was in my early teens and working in my local riding school as the weekend girl, one of the things I loved doing most was making up feeds. Especially in winter when we had the boiled barley and linseed going - oh that smell was just the very best.

Making feeds is still a favorite thing of mine now. I am very lucky that a shop local to my yard gives me the fruit and veg that is passed its best to take to my horses. This last week I've had a lot of cucumbers and lettuces come my way. When I get more than I can handle for my own yard, I distribute it amongst my clients.

When I made feeds for my cover boys earlier this week the added extras went down a treat.

There's so many fruit and veg items that people don't know their horses can eat, so my client was surprised when I turned up with these. She was also super grateful too and amazed when she learned just what fruit and veg horses can eat apart from apples and carrots.

Remember though, every tasty treat should be fed in moderation.

14/12/2024

Earlier this week I had the Mum of a client book a lesson. Her daughter has gone off to university and Mum is in charge of looking after the lovely Fudge as well as keeping him ticking over from a work point of view.

This lady has not had a lesson in many, many years and never had a lesson with me. I teach the daughter but I hadn't seen Mum ride before ever. We had a quick chat about riding history and then we cracked on. Despite it being a first lesson in years I pulled out the poles and put the pair through their paces.

We had a super time and have agreed to make a regular thing of this lesson malarkey. I'm definitely excited to see how we progress with our lessons.

07/12/2024

😴🐴Who is in the clipping sleepy club?🐴😴

Many of the horses I clip require a little help with sedation to make the process safer for everyone but also to cause the horse less stress (and the humans too) and make it an all round positive experience.

I'm often asked what the difference is between the two types of oral sedation and why I mostly request the most expensive one.

🔵Domosedan - is a blue gel.
This prescription drug must be administered under the horse’s tongue and not like you would give a wormer. It is absorbed through the mucous membrane of the gum. If you give it like a wormer and it is swallowed you will not get a satisfactory result, and sometimes it fails to work at all when administered incorrectly. Used correctly at the right dosage it gives a good level of sedation enabling me to clip. This is always my preferred choice of oral sedation and I along with a lot of my clients call it 'smurf juice' as most people can't say Domosedan easily.

🟡Relaquine or Sedalin - is a yellow gel.
This prescription drug is given into the mouth exactly as you would give a wormer. It gives a calming effect without the sleepiness of sedation and I would only ever use this on a very slightly anxious or fidgety horse. It is not my preferred use of drug because I've had it fail to provide the desired amount of calmness too many times which leads to an unclipped / part clipped horse or a horse that I have managed to clip but still given it a negative and stressful experience.

ℹ️Oral sedation is the owners responsibility to get, ready for the date of clipping. Vets will normally happily post this out to you. It is not something your clipper should be providing to you and if they do then you really need to ask some questions as both types of oral sedation are prescription only drugs.

💉For really tricky horses I will sometimes insist that the vet attends to give IV sedation. This includes horses that tend to wake up quickly and may require a top up - I'm fast when I clip under sedation but some horses do come round super fast. Horses that just generally for whatever reason hate to be clipped sometimes need the vet to attend. As well as horses that have very sore legs and still try to kick requiring a deeper level of sedation which can only be given IV by the vet.

Oral sedation must be given 30 - 40 minutes before clipping. I will always send you a text to let you know I'm 30 minutes away and that you can administer the sleepy juice. Please don't give it unless I've text you - there's nothing worse than me getting held up and I arrive to find the horse is already half way through their snooze. If you are not happy administering it yourself then I will do it and you can make me a cuppa while we wait for it to kick in.

I'm currently taking bookings for 2025 clipping, so if you know you'll need the vet to attend let's get organised and get a date booked. Tying up two diary's can be hard work, but if you want a specific vet then tying in a third diary can be even more tricky so let's get booked in folks.

04/12/2024

In the spotlight today is a lovely lady and her sweet little mare Pasha who is home produced.

When I first started my little business this client was one of the first people who ever dialled my work number - that was a very, very long time ago! Fast forward almost two decades and I still enjoy enjoy working with this client. Her original horse Kira who she contacted me about in the early days is now happily retired in the field, and the younger horses are the working horses now.

Pasha is around 12 years old. She was a completely blank canvas when my client got her and everything that has been done with her has been done kindly and at home by her owner. Mainly these two enjoy hacking out and long distance rides together.

This summer though I was asked to do some work in the school with these guys. There's talk of wanting to pop a course of jumps and maybe even have a go at a little dressage test.

Pasha is definitely more whoa than go in the school and my first task was getting her to move forward and cover more ground. We've a lot to do still in the new year, but this little horse really does try her heart out considering her background is mainly a hacking one.

The use of poles and raised poles has been super beneficial for this horse to start to engage and use herself a little more. We've started to cover more ground and slowly but surely she's finding that she does in fact have an engine and can move out of economy mode sometimes too.

This was the very first time this mare came through a set of raised trot poles. They done the exact job I wanted and we did indeed see improvement in the trot that day and in the following sessions.

I'm really excited to see what the coming spring and summer holds for this pair. Those brighter days seem so far away right now, but I'm already making lesson plans and setting goals for all my clients ready for when those days finally do arrive. Getting this pair to an arena hire and popping a small course of jumps is definitely on my goal list for them.

27/11/2024

Lovely Leo had his first clip in at least six years yesterday. His owner Elisabeth Finch has never had the need to clip him so had absolutely no idea how he would be. This year though she's got her bum in gear and Leo is doing enough work to warrant a little clip.

I didn't think he'd be a problem as I know him very well from weekly lessons and he's generally a good boy. However I've been doing this job for many years now and know that you should never take for granted that a normally laid back horse will be good to clip.

I reached for the battery clippers in my clipper family - I really do mean family too because the only make I have in my extensive clipper collection is the Heiniger make! Not knowing how Leo would react meant that if he wasn't as easy I had hoped he would be by using the battery clippers I wouldn't need to worry about the leads getting in our way.

I used my Xplorer (blue) clippers for the bulk of his Irish clip, and then swapped to the Saphir (purple) clippers for the tricky areas and his face. Leo was such a cool laid back dude that next time I'll plug in my Xperience corded clippers as he's going to be absolutely fine with the leads around him.

Thanks Heiniger Equine UK for making the very best quality clippers - I really wouldn't ever use another brand now and I'm really hoping Santa might deliver me the Opal clippers this year.

25/11/2024

This morning my cover boys were on high alert. They told me that there were most definitely monsters beyond the hedgerow of their field.

Turns out it was just a farmer and his sheep. The boys were in fact safe from those horse eating monsters that often lurk in the hedgerows of Colchester.

17/11/2024

What does P and P stand for in your riding lesson? Nope, not postage and packaging. It stands for planning and preparation.

Out of interest who can tell me the stages of jumping? All nine stages or just some of them?

I've had a super morning teaching in Autumn sunshine. A hairy afternoon clipping a wriggly Rusty, followed by one of my favourite holiday cover mares. I'm now doing my yard before heading off to more cover.

What a busy Sunday.

Who thinks I've earned pizza tonight as a treat for a busy day?

14/11/2024

Throw back Thursday to a photo of one of my favourite holiday cover mares. This girl and I always enjoy good smooch every single time I have the pleasure of looking after her and the rest of her herd.

If I were to post a recent photo (which I might in the comments) you wouldn't recognise her. As she's got older she's completely lost her dark colouring. She's never lost the need for a good smooch though.

Love, cuddles and smooches are always included for every cover horse🥰

11/11/2024

Beautiful Eric after his Irish clip this morning. Just look at those gorgeous dapples 😍

💈What is your favourite type of clip?💈

The Irish clip seems to be one of the most popular clips that I get asked to do, along with a hunter clip.

Perfect morning clipping in Autumn sunshine.

31/10/2024

🎃👻🕷🕸Trick or treat 🕸🕷👻 🎃
🦇Who has given their horse pumpkin?
🦇Who has been out to a Halloween show?
🦇Who has carved a pumpkin?
🦇Who is going trick or treating?

I would love to see photos of your costumes and pumpkins.

🦇🎃🧙‍♀️✨️Happy Halloween ✨️🧙‍♀️🎃🦇

27/10/2024

Who forgot that the clocks changed and is now confused what time it is? Just like that British summer time came to an end whilst we were fast asleep.

I don't actually mind the winter with horses, yes it's tough going sometimes but it is a way of life that I'm used to. I'm hoping for many more beautiful autumn days before winter sets in though.

🍁How are you all feeling about the months that are ahead of us?

❄️Does anyone have any great tips to make winter easier?

Spring is 146 days away - so let's embrace winter 2024 and keep making memories with our horses. Even when it gets really tough.

📸 Photo credit goes to Crunchie, the sweetest little pony ever who I have for cover at the moment.

18/10/2024

Clipping season is certainly in full swing now. If you're on my October list but haven't received your date yet please don't panic. You will not be missed and you'll have a message pop up from me very soon.

November and December lists are looking busy with re clips, and some late season first clips too. If you need to be on one of those lists pop me a message and let me know.

I've had some super clean horses so far this season which makes clipping so much easier. Remember the cleanest horse gives the best top quality finish.

Thank you for all the mugs of coffee, tea and snacks I've been provided with whilst clipping too. Keeping your clipper lady well fueled is massively appreciated on busy days.

13/10/2024

If I asked you to grab your tail bandage and wrap your horses tail for me would you know where it was? A lot of horse owners own a tail bandage, yet when asked for it they can't locate it. Some people don't even own one - which amazes me as it's something I've always had in my essential first aid kit.

Wrapping a tail up can be useful when I am clipping. Big thick tails can get in the way when clipping hind legs, or smack you round the head while clipping under tummies if you've got a ticklish horse with a swishy tail. It can also make doing lines easier too if it's all neatly tucked out of the way.

Here's a tail that I plaited and wrapped so it was out of the way. Not too long ago this boy was seen by super vet Craig for a little procedure. He had a squamous cell carcinoma growing inside his private parts and it was causing him some issues. The treatment that we opted for was to sedate him and use cryotherapy to freeze it and then inject it with a chemotherapy drug. This boy has a big thick cob tail so getting it up and out of the way was essential for his treatment.

It takes just a couple of minutes to plait and wrap a tail so it's up out of the way and it's incredibly useful to whoever is working on your horse - me for clipping, the vet and even your trimmer or farrier would benefit from some tails being wrapped.

So, where is your tail bandage?

07/10/2024

I'm not normally at matchy matchy person.

Setting up at this lovely arena hire today I had a choice of pink and black poles, or pink and white poles to go with the black pole raisers.

Who is matchy matchy?
Who would have picked the pink/white 🩷🤍?
Who would have picked the pink/black 🩷🖤?

I initially pulled out the pink and white poles, but looking at the black pole raisers with them I was getting all twitchy. So I just had to swap to the pink and black so they matched.

Once my colour twitching was sorted we had a super lesson.

05/10/2024

One of today's clients making easy work of these little bounce fences in their lesson.

It's been a full on week this week with an awful lot of clipping. I managed to group lessons together so I had teaching days, and clipping days - it's nice to have some completely hair free days!

Today has seen me hopping from lesson to lesson in glorious autumn sun shine having a super day, and this evening sees me on duty for one of my favourite cover herds again.

Once again I'm feeling very blessed to have the best clients and a job I love.

Address

Colchester

Website

http://www.equestrian-services.co.uk/

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Videos

Earlier this week I had the Mum of a client book a lesson. Her daughter has gone off to university and Mum is in charge of looking after the lovely Fudge as well as keeping him ticking over from a work point of view. This lady has not had a lesson in many, many years and never had a lesson with me. I teach the daughter but I hadn't seen Mum ride before ever. We had a quick chat about riding history and then we cracked on. Despite it being a first lesson in years I pulled out the poles and put the pair through their paces. We had a super time and have agreed to make a regular thing of this lesson malarkey. I'm definitely excited to see how we progress with our lessons.

In the spotlight today is a lovely lady and her sweet little mare Pasha who is home produced. When I first started my little business this client was one of the first people who ever dialled my work number - that was a very, very long time ago! Fast forward almost two decades and I still enjoy enjoy working with this client. Her original horse Kira who she contacted me about in the early days is now happily retired in the field, and the younger horses are the working horses now. Pasha is around 12 years old. She was a completely blank canvas when my client got her and everything that has been done with her has been done kindly and at home by her owner. Mainly these two enjoy hacking out and long distance rides together. This summer though I was asked to do some work in the school with these guys. There's talk of wanting to pop a course of jumps and maybe even have a go at a little dressage test. Pasha is definitely more whoa than go in the school and my first task was getting her to move forward and cover more ground. We've a lot to do still in the new year, but this little horse really does try her heart out considering her background is mainly a hacking one. The use of poles and raised poles has been super beneficial for this horse to start to engage and use herself a little more. We've started to cover more ground and slowly but surely she's finding that she does in fact have an engine and can move out of economy mode sometimes too. This was the very first time this mare came through a set of raised trot poles. They done the exact job I wanted and we did indeed see improvement in the trot that day and in the following sessions. I'm really excited to see what the coming spring and summer holds for this pair. Those brighter days seem so far away right now, but I'm already making lesson plans and setting goals for all my clients ready for when those days finally do arrive. Getting this pair to an arena hire and popping a small course of jumps is definitely

What does P and P stand for in your riding lesson? Nope, not postage and packaging. It stands for planning and preparation. Out of interest who can tell me the stages of jumping? All nine stages or just some of them? I've had a super morning teaching in Autumn sunshine. A hairy afternoon clipping a wriggly Rusty, followed by one of my favourite holiday cover mares. I'm now doing my yard before heading off to more cover. What a busy Sunday. Who thinks I've earned pizza tonight as a treat for a busy day?

One of today's clients making easy work of these little bounce fences in their lesson. It's been a full on week this week with an awful lot of clipping. I managed to group lessons together so I had teaching days, and clipping days - it's nice to have some completely hair free days! Today has seen me hopping from lesson to lesson in glorious autumn sun shine having a super day, and this evening sees me on duty for one of my favourite cover herds again. Once again I'm feeling very blessed to have the best clients and a job I love.

Come with me back in time to April 2019. It was a grey, damp and slightly chilly day. The type of day where I got soaked time and again while out teaching. I remember this day so very well, because despite the weather everyone tacked up and mounted up, what's more they had fabulous lessons and I had the best day teaching. The rain paused enough for me to capture some moments of just one lesson that day. This team and I had a blast back then, and in 2024 we still have a blast. I came across this video because I was freeing up some memory and deleting dodgy shots. It's amazing just how many photos and videos us horsey folk take whilst trying to get 'the one' Needless to say this video is still taking up space on my phone and is a keeper.

Jillian Scott The Clipper Queen I stopped off between clients today to grab a drink of Fanta. With me being in Colchester, Essex and you being in Scotland there's a lot of miles between us, but for some reason I thought of you... I can't think why though? Can you? 😂🤔 Ah wait a minute, it's come to me! Check out this link if you're wondering why I thought of Jillian👇 https://www.facebook.com/share/r/EuBfh1DQfNJ7JNo7/ Who is off to see Beetlejuice on the big screen? #Beetlejuice #Fanta #Essex #Colchester #Scotland #HorseClipper #Horse #Clipping #Cinema #BeetlejuiceMovie #TimBurton #ItsShowtime