Thank you to everyone who helped today for the first day of our working party, and those who were unable to make it this weekend but are always there ❤️
Day two tomorrow, hoping for some better weather! We have so much bbq food so even if you can’t help out for the work part, join us for the party part!
Thank you Em for doing such a good job on the tack room, Chloe for helping us fence in the p*ssing down rain, Dad for always being my hero, Luke for looking at Dan’s car, Jun for tractoring all afternoon and everyone who would be here but couldn’t be this time.
Love Team Hesteyri!
Tulip, Menin Gate and Stag at CCR on Wednesday!
Sales livery, Tulip (in Bluebell) was first up with a 70 and an 80 and she absolutely flew, didn’t look at anything and jumped beautifully, with scope to go much higher! Hopefully, you can all see for yourself how cool this mare is, we are looking for a brilliant home for her, one where she will get to do what she loves! Absolutely loves going out for parties, and she’s super smart so someone who will enjoy having a play on the flat as well as jumping would be amazing. Her price will increase with the more she does but she is currently a bargain at mid four figures so don’t hang about.
Menin Gate (burgundy) did 80 with Lauren and I was so proud of them both, she doesn’t get as much time with our unicorn as me and it was a foot perfect round! He then did his first 90 and was so brave to jump everything first time! Hopefully the transport woes are behind us (thanks to Luke, Emily’s dad) and we can get him to some parties!
Stag Horn (in sage green) was next with a 90 and then his first 1m and he was absolutely amazing! So proud of him. I came out and practically fell into Lauren’s arms and we had a little cry for our JJ. CCR was his home from home, and I always feel him jumping with me when I’m there. Grateful to have the best sister ever, who knew when I walked out of the ring. She just held me and said “he’s still here.”
Thank you so much to Emily for being an absolute super groom with some extreme horse juggling, and still managing to take awesome video and pictures! And she got us breakfast to have on the road too! Such a legend! Have more thank yous but I've run out of space so will put them in the comments!
Here’s our little Princess smashing a double clear at British Riding Clubs Eventing Championships to finish on her dressage and come 9th out of a sizeable section of almost 50 horses!
We are so lucky to have her and to have had more than ten years with her building that trust she shows so often.
This weekend has been absolute carnage, with people getting time and faults in a show jumping round that used the terrain to make for interesting challenges, and people getting eliminated left right and centre cross country with the fewest clears I’ve ever seen at an event.
Our little mare isn’t a brave horse but she trusts we’ll never ask her to do something she can’t do, even when she’s negotiating slippery terrain or coming to a fence that’s giving her the heebie jeebies. This weekend, that really showed because she trusts Lauren 100% to bring her home, and I trust both of them completely, to get back safely and together with smiles on their faces. They did that and more today and I couldn’t be prouder. Rose was so happy all weekend and it was adorable, and so special to be still having adventures with her.
Thank you so much to our amazing riding club for making this weekend possible. We are endlessly grateful for Hereford & District Riding Club and the amazing people we’ve met on the way!
Well done to our team mates, you were amazing and I can’t believe we came 2nd in the quiz! Thank you for the laughs, support, cider and late night conversations about ponies!
Huge thank you to Jo and her partner for coming all the way out to volunteer for us! You are amazing!
Thank you to our girl, Emily, for all your help, and making this weekend so special. And to Em’s dad, Luke, who has managed to get the lorry back on the road!
And to our long suffering family who make everything possible. For sending us with food, gas and everything we might need, right down to a heat proof board so that we didn’t singe the grass with the bbq! Thank you for looking
Off to British Riding Clubs with best club (Hereford & District Riding Club) and the best ponies: Stag, Rose and Menin Gate. And we’re being joined by super groom, Emily too! Thank you for coming with us and all your help!
Thank you so much to J S Teamwear for managing to get all of our kit branded up and back to us before we left, you are beyond amazing and everything looks on point! And of course, the best bit was Emily’s hoodie arriving this morning after she said yesterday (when she took a day off work to come with us) “I might need to borrow a Hesteyri jacket.” With no idea that this was on its way!
Huge, huge thank you to Phil and Sharon for taking our big unicorn up and settling him in his stable for us!
Thanks to Sarah and all the Lawrences for our bag of chocolate, being awesome friends and… well… the lorry!
Lauren and Jaffa for our snacks, all your help, cooking for our boys at home and doing the horses at home!
And Dan and Dad for having Hugs and the animals! And allowing us to go on another adventure!
Sales Livery, Cornsay Aurora, doing her thing at CCR, and smashing out another win with a fast double clear in the British Novice, having also bagged 3rd place in the 85 Amateur qualifier (already qualified for second rounds).
Annie is looking for someone to show the ropes to Show Jumping, she is such a school mistress to jump and has gone clear/placed/won everytime out with us since we first started taking her out at the end of November 23.
Absolute teenager’s dream, fun while still being safe, and knows her job inside and out.
Hacks alone and in company, will occasionally have a look at a plastic bag but has been fine with all farmyard traffic and dirt bikes etc. Have had my 5 month nephew up front to hack and school and she will bimble around babysitting him all day.
Brilliant to box, load, shoe, clip and up to date with everything.
Full details on our website.
Thank you mum for filming and coming to watch and support, the Lawrences for letting us use the box, Lauren for driving said box, and Dan for haying up before work in the morning!
Cornsay Aurora ~ Mendip Plains ~ 03/03/24
Sales livery, Annie (Cornsay Aurora) was an absolute star at a new venue for her, Mendip Plains. 2nd in the Amatuer qualifier (she has qualified for second rounds) and 4th in the British Novice.
Her jump off turns are so easy and she's become a real show jumping machine, she's gone clear and/or been placed every time out with us since we started competing her in November 23.
This mare is such an exciting prospect for someone who just wants to get out on a true show jumper who knows her job and just needs her pilot to show her where she’s going and not get in her way when she gets to a fence!
Full details on our website, linked below.
Stag Horn | Rose ~ Areas ~ Hartpury ~ 17/02/24
So, so proud of Stag and Rose representing Hereford & District Riding Club in the areas at Hartpury , where they both qualified for nationals!
Stag is the baby of the team, he only had his first competition a couple of weeks ago! But he managed a very fast clear in the first class, to come 1st in the team and 3rd individually (.7 of a second off winning). So proud of how cool he was, he was just loving every second and living his best life!
He was a little too over excited for his second round and I tried to tame the crazy (“we’re not in the jump off yet Stag”) but I should have just matched his crazy because he only likes a long shot and is his happiest when going as fast as possible (still early days in show jumping rather than steeplechasing and hurdling), so when I steadied him and he came in a little short, we rolled a couple of rails, but he still came 2nd in the team (mostly thanks to Lauren)!
Lauren went for broke because I’d had poles so she knew Rose was only getting to nationals with an individual 1st. But of course they got it, Rose has already been to nationals twice, she just loves it so much! The most consistent little lady who is aging so gracefully and has her happy height now. So chuffed with her, not only for her individual 1st but also for bringing the team up to 2nd!
Here’s the long bit, but I never want to be one of those people who act like they’ve got where they have on their own. No one has, it takes so many people to run just a single horse! So, thanks to our wonderful team!
Firstly the girls, Chloe and Emily, who have been beyond amazing the last few weeks, with some really late finishes and early starts. Thank you for all of your help, for turning up and being where we need you without anyone having to say a thing. Thank you for filming and for the endless support even when, or especially when, life gets tough. You two have now seen us through losing two horses and the inevitable breakdowns that followed. And you still sh
Agent Gibbs | Menin Gate | Nala ~ Somerford Park ~ 15/02/24
Here are the clever boys (and girl, little cameo from Nala at the end) at Somerford Park for cross country training! We basically went to meet up with Beca and Angela because it’s been actual years since we saw them! And we’ve never met Nala, despite seeing her grow up from being a baby to being a seriously cool girl under the careful guidance of Rebeca! Thank you so much for planning and booking, and all your help, and the lush catch up in the café. Absolutely love this friendship, there are just some people who come into your lives and make everything brighter, and you are one of those. How many friendships can exist almost solely online and be as easy as ours? We’re so lucky!
First in the video is sales livery, Agent Gibbs, who proved once again that he’s a total cross country machine! He didn’t look at anything, and was just flying. So wish we’d had this boy earlier, as much as we’ve loved spending the winter building on all of his disciplines, he’s an eventer through and through and we’re so excited to get him out when the season starts! If you’re looking for the kind of horse who will bail you out and be an absolute school master in all three phases, he is the one for you. He will take any stride, even if you miss, he’ll carry you around a dressage test, and look after you on the cross country course. He’s the kind of horse who will always bring you home, and that’s priceless.
Menin Gate had a real step up, he’s been doing a lot of home work and we’ve really been working on his straightness to his fences, so we were over the moon at how well he did, he worked so hard and thought about every question asked of him, despite being slightly distracted by the other horses. We usually cross country school them on their own so it’s more like a competition and they don’t have their friends there as support, but it was quite useful to actually add another challenge in. He just needs to run around a flagged course now and get a bit mo
Pea | Leyland Court | 14/02/24
Sales livery, Pea, absolutely smashing an 80 course at Leyland Court Equestrian! She continues to be the coolest five year old ever, we are always proud of her, but more so when she goes to a brand new venue and jumps every filler without looking at them! Had to overcome the scary end of the school which butts against a busy road too!
For more details on this absolute diamond, who is going to make someone very lucky, please head over to our website, which we will link in the comments!
Thank you Chloe for the very good filming from horseback!
Annie | Swift ~ Aberhall ~ 01/02/24
We took Annie and Swift to Aberhall Equestrian for some arena eventing training and they were both perfect princesses of course!
Sales livery, Annie, is up first in pink (to make the boys wink) and she was absolutely fabuous, so proud of her!
Then was Chloe on Swift and the difference in this girl is absolutely mental!! I am so proud of how far you have come Chlo! Keep getting better and better!
Yesterday, we took Annie and Swift to Aberhall Equestrian for some arena eventing training and they were both perfect princesses of course! It’s a fab new venue, and we’re thinking of running some clinics there if thats something of interest. It’s Ross way (I think, my sense of direction is awful) and the dates will probably be late February!
Here’s them just warming up as I switched to the big camera half way through.
🩷 Sales livery, Annie, is up first in pink (to make the boys wink) and she was absolutely fabuous, so proud of her!
🩶 Then was Chloe on Swift and the difference in this girl is absolutely mental!! I am so proud of how much you have changed @Chloe ! Keep getting better and better!
#exracehorse #horses #equestrian #exracehorsesoftiktok #jumping #fortheloveofthehorse #exracehorses #thoroughbred #horsesforsale #showjumping
Pea | Agent Gibbs ~ Allenshill ~ 20/01/24
Here’s the video of Pea and Agent Gibbs at Allens Hill Competition Centre at the weekend! It was a BD and unaffiliated competition so it was nice to know how the ponies would be marked under a BD judge.
Sales livery, Pea was first up in the intro and just settled beautifully, she warmed up incredibly with two other horses, one of whom was a very well behaved stallion. I think she really show cased how genuine she is and how much she’s improved in just two outings. Also loved the fact she didn’t even seem to notice the white boards! We were over the moon with her performance in general but then to get 60% and 63% and two wins, we were absolutely made up. Thank you so much to Rose and Chloe for coming to support the best baby, she has such an exciting year ahead of her and we are so grateful for all of your support!
Agent Gibbs was up next and he was a star, I didn’t go in particularly prepared because I absolutely can’t learn two tests at a time and if I don’t know it and get it called, I’m in the same position, feeling a little harried! He still managed a 62% and 4th which we were pleased with. Then to the Novice with Lauren, and the difference between his prelim and novice frame was incredible! His test sheet was more than half 7s and he finished on 66% for 2nd! His canter let him down slightly but I left it in because when you think he’s not been schooled properly since before Christmas because the arena has been frozen for 2 weeks solid, losing a bit of balance in a simple change is pretty amazing for his second time in white boards. Thank you to Team O'Shea for trusting us with the golden boy!
I am a real perfectionist, and things are rarely perfect so I nearly cut all of my stuff out. I haven’t done ‘proper’ dressage for a year since we were out with Nellie, and that was just for fun. So I’m a bit guilty of putting pressure on myself and tearing myself apart because I can’t perform under pressure and I’ve never ‘tested’ well.
Our amazing Sales liveries doing their thing a couple of weeks ago!
In pale blue, we have the brilliant Agent (Angel) Gibbs who was pinging like an absolute star! We just love everything about this boy, he has so much to give and we truse him completely with everyone!
In green, we have the very lovely Pea! Unbelievably, this little one is just 4 years old but has been carefully produced since being backed in the summer, she was hacked for months by both her owner and us, so that by the time she went in the school, she was balanced and brave!
In grey, we have Swift and Chloe! So proud of Chloe, the improvement is insane, shes doing such a brilliant job!
Full details linked below.
Jimmy
I haven’t posted this video up until now because “words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic” and I couldn’t find the ones to do my boy justice. But that’s because no words can adequately sum up the bond and love we shared.
This horse save my life and mended parts of me that I didn’t even know were still broken. He came to me when I was at my lowest and gave me something worth fighting for.
Some horses have sparkle but this horse had soul and watching him just graze in the garden breathed life back into me. To the world, he might be just a horse, but to me, he was the world. A horse capable of giving me my love for life, my job and everything else in between back.
I don’t know why he had to be taken from me so soon, but I know he was my guardian angel and he’ll be back one day. The day he died, he was so beautifully Jimmy. Lauren road him out with me and I admired him from the little pony I was on and I was just like “he looks so amazing!” and Lauren replied “he feels so amazing!” When we were hoe, that evening we were chatting about how perfect he is with a friend.
I had no idea that I would be saying goodbye to him a few hours later.
He kicked the tractor bucket repeatedly just outside the garden just before midnight and I knew something was wrong. I ran down in my pyjamas, and literally in the time it had taken me to run outside, he was down and Menin Gate was standing over him. I called Lauren at the same time as trying to get him up, she usually doesn’t have her phone in her room, but because she was having contractions, I’d got her to keep it with her. I had got him from the garden to his stable because it was raining so heavily, but I could tell it was bad when he was sweating and trying to get down. Lauren had already called the vet and she was an hour out so we knew we needed to hand walk him. We walked him in the school and he was still trying to go down.
We buted him because of the amou
Trying to explain the pole exercise using spoken word instead of written word was slightly unsuccessful but let me know if you need more of an explanation!
This is a particularly good exercise for teaching flying changes, and improving the quality of the change, if you have a horse who has mastered the incomplete change, this gives them the time and space to change behind over the second pole if they only get a partial change over the first.
Coaching availability next week, in the week days or evenings as we have lights.
If you try this exercise, take a video and pop yours in the comments below if you want to!
