Rio’s Taxi - Horsebox Hire

11/01/2025

The Arc Equestrian are holding their Spring Show over two days at Croft Top Equestrian Centre
Ridden on Saturday 31st May and In Hand on Sunday 1st June 2025.
There are classes for everyone along with TGCA, Quest and NCPA

Don’t forget to secure your transport with Rio’s Taxi - Horsebox Hire early to avoid disappointment.

08/01/2025

Some more useful tips for us to help deal with this cold snap that has arrived and try to stop the water from freezing at your yard xx

Frozen water supplies are the bane of our lives in this weather. Here are some ideas to help keep water flowing at the yard:

• Use rubber buckets instead of plastic or metal. Rubber is a good insulator and will slow down the rate of freezing. If you do not have access to rubber buckets, putting water buckets in a rubber tyre will also help.

• Banking any bedding, straw or shavings around the bucket in the stable may help to slow down the freezing process. You can also put your water bucket inside a bigger bucket and use straw or shavings to fill the space between the two for insulation.

• Think carefully about the position of your water buckets. Putting them inside field shelters or in front of hedges provides a layer of insulation and will slow freezing rate. On cold frosty sunny days such as today ensure they are placed somewhere that will catch the sunlight during the daytime and get as much warmth as possible.

• If buckets or troughs do freeze, do not just break the ice and leave it to float in the water, take it out so the water takes longer to refreeze.

• Another useful tip is to fill a plastic bottle with water and a cup of salt before putting the lid on and placing it in the water bucket. The salt will prevent the water within the bottle from freezing, the bottle will then float in the water which will help stop the water in the bucket from freezing over.

• Leaving a trickle of water running from the tap (if there is a drainpipe underground to catch the flow) is a good idea as running water rarely freezes.

• Wrap external pipes with insulation foam or old horse rugs to help slow the freezing rate.

07/01/2025

Some expert advice from North West Equine Vets for this despicable weather we are having right now and some ideas to help keep our equine friends happy 🥰 xx

Across our area, many of us are affected by snow and ice at the moment. Managing horses in these conditions is not easy and a balanced approach is needed.

• Frozen land
• Frozen schools
• Slippery yards
• Difficult to get vehicles to yards
• Horses becoming bored and agitated

Here are some things to consider and look out for with our equine friends:

COLIC
• Horses can drink less than normal when the temperatures plummet. If water troughs are frozen you must find a way of getting water to them, maybe also tempt them to drink more with a very sloppy mash.
• Ensure plenty of hay / roughage is available for your horse to eat.

WINTER LAMINITIS
• Low temperatures cause sugar levels to increase in the grass. Sunny winter’s days can be dangerous to those prone to laminitis. The bright blue skies with plenty of sunshine allow the plants to photosynthesise during the day, the following cold nights then lead to storage of the sugars that have been produced during the day. When horses eat the sugary grass, the amount of glucose in their bloodstream increases, this causes a rise in insulin which has been shown to cause laminitis. It is therefor important to keep horses at risk of laminitis off the grass in these conditions.

SOLID, RUTTED PASTURE / FROZEN SCHOOLS AND YARDS
• If turning horses out be mindful of the very hard ground and the injury this could cause. Horse’s prone to galloping, bucking, and playing in the sunshine and snow are at risk of leg injuries and lameness, worst case scenario, there is an increased chance of broken limbs.
• Maybe place piles of hay / haylage out for them to eat to try to keep them quiet. The piles must be well spaced out to avoid any bickering between field companions.

HORSES STOOD IN FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME
• This brings its own risks as inactivity is far from ideal. Boredom and poor behaviour could set in.
• If this is your preferred choice, maybe try vigorous grooming to keep the blood flowing and the muscles loose.
• Stable toys to occupy the days
• Other horses, neighbours around for company.
• Risk of impaction colic, ensure good access to water and monitor faecal output.

RUGGING AND KEEPING YOUR HORSE WARM
• Remember, horses have a much lower thermoneutral zone (the temperature range where they do not have to expend energy to keep warm) than humans. Horses 5 - 25 degrees. Humans 20 - 35 degrees. This means that if you are cold your horse may not be cold
• Horses have a caecum which acts as a giant internal combustion engine producing heat - the human equivalent is the appendix which produces no heat
• Remember every horse is different, be sure to check your horses ears, not just his body to see if you think he is cold.

DIFFICULTY GETTING TO THE YARD
• Maybe you can buddy up with others and share the work load if someone is struggling. Maybe some have a more suitable 4x4 vehicle.

There are no ideal solutions in these conditions. All yards are set up differently and all horses cope differently. We can all only do our best and keep our eyes peeled for any potential problems arising.

Do not hesitate to give us a call if you have any concerns about your horse or pony. 0808 168 5580 or 01254 888 600.

05/01/2025

Diary dates below for the 2025 / 2026 season with The Arc Equestrian.
Some are being held at Croft Top Equestrian Centre and some at
Thompson House Equestrian Centre.
Don’t forget to secure your transport with us here at Rio’s Taxi - Horsebox Hire to avoid disappointment xx

31/12/2024

Thank you to each and every client that has booked with us in 2024, it has been an absolute pleasure to meet you and share your successes throughout the past year 💕.

We are so excited to see what 2025 holds for us all 💖 and look forward to seeing you and your best friends again.

We love transporting your precious cargo, being part of your journey, watching your dreams come true and celebrating your successes with you is just the best feeling ever 🍾.

Happy New Year everyone, here’s to 2025, enjoy your celebrations and stay safe.

Love Helen, Jon & Rio xx

29/12/2024

First ridden show for Rio and Hayley Ashton today at Croft Top Equestrian Centre and they came in 2nd 😍😍.
Absolutely thrilled to bits with my little black beauty, she took everything in her stride, behaved impeccably well and the judge was very complimentary about her. Thank you Hayley for all your hard work, it is very much appreciated and we have an exciting future ahead with baby Rio 💖💖 xx

27/12/2024

Somerford Park Farm 01260299888 opening times for the Christmas holidays and the start of 2025
What are you waiting for, go and have some fun with your best friend xx

24/12/2024

New resolution for 2025. Shout out and a warm welcome to our newest followers 💖

Ellie Stirrup
Claire Towers
Sarah Fryer

Thank you to everyone who already follows our page xx

21/12/2024

Happy shortest day of the year.
The day all horse owners look forward to the most 🤣.
Let the lighter nights commence 💖 xx

20/12/2024

We all want to decorate the barn at Christmas and bring the festivities to the farm, so here is a few tips to keep your equines safe xx

19/12/2024

Dressage at Croft Top Equestrian Centre on Saturday 1st February and classes for all levels.
Don’t forget to secure your transport early with Rio’s Taxi - Horsebox Hire to avoid being disappointed.
Bookings now being taken for 2025 xx

Next Dressage Day!!!
Entries are open now online at www.horsemonkey.com

18/12/2024

Wishing all our clients a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thank you so much for trusting us to transport your precious cargo. We have throughly enjoyed meeting each and every one of you and of course your equine partners 💖.

We have shared some amazing moments together, had so many laugh’s and made so many new friends. Some of which I am sure will last a lifetime.

Yes some tears have been shed over difficult ponies 😭 (boy can they be stubborn at times) but lessons have been learnt, problems worked through and fantastic results achieved next time 👏. So give yourself a huge pat on the back.

If we’ve come home with a ribbon then that’s a bonus but most of all we have made some fantastic memories with our best friends 🐴, that we can cherish forever.

We look forward to seeing you all again in 2025 and hope that you have the most amazing time celebrating with family and friends.

Merry Christmas
Love Helen, Jon and Rio xx

18/12/2024

Croft Top Equestrian Centre are holding a Winter Workers Show on Sunday 5 January.
Schedule below so get your entries in and your transport secured with us whilst we have availability xx