Helen Bell Equestrian

Helen Bell Equestrian Helen Bell is a British Eventing Accredited Riding Instructor and Top Event Horse and pony producer, with Event Horses and ponies for sale and for lease.

Go to www.helenbellequestrian.co.uk for more info or call: 07708708967 With an extensive knowledge and broad network within eventing, I have a proven ability as a competitor and coach working with riders and horses to ensure they deliver their best possible performance. Former Young Rider National Champion and successful International senior event rider:
European Championships 1992
World Championships 1993
3rd Badminton 1991
Completed 18 four star 3 day events (1986-1998) 6 Top ten placings.

26/08/2024

Event Breckenbrough Horse Trials This Thursday 29 th Entries are still open for training 2 and 3 phase event.
Come and have a practise with no pressure 80 cm 90 cm 100 cm and 1-10 cm
Pick and mix around the XC courses
All entries on horsevents.co.uk
And will close tomorrow Tuesday pm

2 and 3 phase training event eventing with no pressure of competition
18/08/2024

2 and 3 phase training event eventing with no pressure of competition

Last weeks training event went very well with lots of happy horses and riders.
The next and last training event this year at Breckenbrough Horse Trials is Thursday 29 th August
Entries are on horsevents.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/sjMdV3uMS8EfACyo/?mibextid=WC7FNe
05/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/sjMdV3uMS8EfACyo/?mibextid=WC7FNe

In training, the rider’s legs and reins acquire learned associations with retraction, protraction, abduction and adduction of the horse’s limbs in the stance or swing phase of the various gaits.

These associations will be gradually extinguished if signals elicit responses that are impossible to fulfill because the horse’s legs are in positions that make responding difficult. Even more impossible is when the reins and the rider’s legs attempt to stimulate responses simultaneously, as seen in some contemporary training methodologies as a way of producing what is known as engagement.

The horse cannot simultaneously retract and protract the same limbs and so is placed in a confused state.

Decarpentry (1949), one of the great masters of French equitation, maintained the importance of separating rein and leg cues with the famous French maxim ‘hands without legs, legs without hands’.

This should be re-embraced as an important ideal that allows optimal learning and eliminates the potential for confusion for all equitation disciplines.

Signals must be elicited singly and any set of signals should still be separated and elicited consecutively.

Derived from a chapter in Equitation Science, 2nd Edition - by Andrew McLean, Paul McGreevy, Janne Whinther Christensen & Uta König von Borstel.

Entries are open
04/08/2024

Entries are open

14 th August and 29 th August
2 and 3 phase training ode Breckenbrough Horse Trials
Come and have a practise run in 2 and or 3 phases Dressage show jumping and XC over flagged educational courses.
Enter the height you are happy SJ Pick and mix heights as you ride around the XC
80 cm to 1-10 cm
All entries on horsevents.co.uk

On behalf of a friend This horse is for loan And the home must come with references We have owned Poppy 16 hh  (17yo, wa...
22/07/2024

On behalf of a friend
This horse is for loan
And the home must come with references

We have owned Poppy 16 hh (17yo, warm blood mare) for the last eight years and she has been nothing but a joy to have in the family, she is very much a glorifed pet and every member of the family rides her (I also taught several uni friends to ride on her during her stint living at uni with me, she's seen it all and looks after ven the most beginner/hungover jockey out hacking!).
She has taken me round both our first intermediates, competed at international 2* several times - she loves an occasion!, won too many novice events to list, including a hatrick in our first season together. She then did a deep flexor tendon mid-season having been sleected for the Scottish under 18 team, and we took her recovery very slwoly, she returned to full work then did her hind suspensory ligamenet in a horrible field accident where anothe rhorse jumped out and terrorised her all afternoon. This being said, she returned again to full fitness during the first lockdown and we had the best time. We swam ba****ck most days throughout the summer, hacked for hours and as a result she returned to intermediate level eventing upon lockdown restrictions being lifted and moved down south to uni with me for a year. She was known as my 'perfect pratise pony' who let me make endless mistakes that my other horse wouldnt tolerate, she is beyond forgiving and doesn't know the response, 'no'.
She is a gem to do in every single way, she has lived out with no rug/hard food during the winter for three years in a row between injuries, with multiple other horses, predominatly geldings, she is so un-mareish and is in no way dominant in the field, she is everyone's friend. She loves attention, I have done uni work sat on her back whilst she is lying down in the stable before, she's loves people.
Her only flaws are she MUST be turned out/ridden in front overreach boots as has a miraculous way of pulling off front shoes which makes her foot sore. She requires no medication for her previous injuries, and is never sick or sorry but can't do intense work day after day, she is also older now (17yo) so likes an easier, fun-paced life instead. She never gets fresh and we can leave her for a couple weeks then jump on and pop round a course away from home. She also MUST be turned out with one other horse, she screams and runs around if left alone, so always is brought in first to avoid this, she also tends to be bullied if turned out with more than one horse so this is best avoided. She can spook out hacking, nothing at all dangerous and I ride with my feet out the stirrups with one hand on the reins absolutely fine, even after a week off. It is never at anythign scary and she is beyond familiar with all farm machinery, cows/sheep/dogs/cats etc, as she has lived alongside them all over the years. Due to my new job commitments, it’s my 50-odd year old mum and her friend who have been keeping her ticking over, so she really can be trusted with anybody on top.
She goes in a snaffle, flash bridle with just a neckstrap, no gadgets needed.
We are looking for a hacking /very low key RC home to be BASED in Northumberland or YOrKSHIRE

Poppy would be very happy to do clinics, dressage competitions and is still jumping around in our arena at 90cm/95 level .She is 18 years old.
Please contact by text in the 1 st instance the owner
Mary 07779 990203

Very reliable in great condition
18/07/2024

Very reliable in great condition

18/07/2024

We are open again for XC schooling for 10 days
Courses for 70cm to 1-10 cm
All open
Inc 3 water complexes
The ground has dried up very well with perfect going at the moment
All bookings on horsevents.co.uk

Re advertising due to being messed around for the last few weeks To Lease on behalf of the ownersI have coached Sophie o...
05/07/2024

Re advertising due to being messed around for the last few weeks
To Lease on behalf of the owners
I have coached Sophie on Maple and she is the most safe genuine mare

Lux Quality
16.2hh, 7yo, mare, Irish bred - by OBOS Quality, out of a Lux Z dam.
Maple is a complete yard favourite, not mare-ish at ALL and will excel in whatever avenue her new rider chooses to take her down with a smile on her face. No quirks or vices.

She has competed successfully BE and her results include:

🥇 - Chillington BE100 - 20dc
🥇 - Bishops Burton BE100 - 28dc
🥈 - Breckenbrough BE90 - 22dc
🥈 - Askham Bryan BE100 - 29dc
🥈 - Breckenbrough BE90 - 28dc
🎖️4th - Shelford BE100 - 27, 4fs, clear XC
🎖️4th - Bradwall BE100 - 24dc

Maple has three very smart paces, a lovely jump, and is very straight and rideable XC. With no BE points she is eligible for grassroots classes.
We are wanting a lovely home to lease for a minimum 1 year to start with.
This horse is fit sound and ready to compete
She is ridden and competed by a young rider .
For more information please text message or call owner Sophie
07469 172134

A lovely gentleman and a joy to have around
29/06/2024

A lovely gentleman and a joy to have around

A Must Read for anyone that owns a horse 👍https://www.facebook.com/share/p/XqiXnG9mge3t1Wc3/?mibextid=WC7FNe
29/06/2024

A Must Read for anyone that owns a horse 👍

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/XqiXnG9mge3t1Wc3/?mibextid=WC7FNe

What is the longest a horse can safely go without food?

More and more I see horses and ponies stood for long periods of time with no hay or haylage. Usually under the guise of a “weight control diet”. So how long can a horse be without food before damage is done? And what damage is done?

For those with a short attention span, I’ll give you the answer to begin with - 4 hours, maximum.

Why?

Horses are grazers. They are designed to eat constantly. They have no way of storing their acids and digestive enzymes, they’ve never needed to. They have no gall bladder to store bile and their stomachs release acid constantly, whether or not there is food in the stomach and intestines.

A horses stomach only holds approximately 8-15 litres. Depending on the substance eaten, it takes on average 4-6 hours for the stomach to completely empty. After this, the acids and enzymes start to digest the inside of the horses stomach and then the intestines. This causes both gastric and intestinal ulceration. It has been estimated that 25-50% of foals and 60-90% of adult horses suffer from ulceration. But I won’t go into detail about this, there is a lot of information around about ulcers.

So is that it? Are ulcers the only concern?

No, having an empty stomach is a stress situation for a horse. The longer they are starved, the more they release stress hormones, cortisol predominantly. Cortisol blocks insulin and causes a constantly high blood glucose level. This stimulates the body to release even more insulin, and in turn this causes fat tissue to be deposited and leptin resistance. Over time this causes insulin resistance (Equine Metabolic Syndrome). All of these mechanisms are well known risk factors for laminitis and are caused by short term starvation (starting roughly 3-4 hours after the stomach empties). Starving a laminitic is literally the worst thing you can do. Over longer periods, this also starts to affect muscle and can cause weakness, and a lack of stamina so performance horses also need a constant supply of hay/haylage to function optimally.

Let’s not forget horses are living, breathing and feeling animals. We talk about this stress reaction like it’s just internal but the horse is well aware of this stress. Door kicking, box walking, barging and many other stable vices and poor behaviour can be explained by a very stressed horse due to food deprivation (we all have that Hangry friend to explain this reaction). Next time you shout or hit a horse that dives for their net, remember their body is genuinely telling them they are going to starve to death. They know no different.

But surely they spend the night asleep so they wouldn’t eat anyway?

Not true. Horses only need 20mins REM sleep every 24 hours (jealous? I am!). They may spend a further hour or so dozing but up to 22-23 hours a day are spent eating. So if you leave your horse a net at 5pm and it’s gone by 8pm, then by 12am their stomach is empty. By 4am they are entering starvation mode. By their next feed at 8am, they are extremely stressed, physically and mentally.

Now I know the cob owners are reading this mortified. I can almost hear you shouting at your screen “if I feed my horse ad lib hay he won’t fit out the stable door in a week!!”

I will say that a horse with a constant supply of hay/haylage will eat far less then the same horse that is intermittently starved. They don’t eat in a frenzy, reducing the chance of colic from both ulcers and over eating. Cobs included.

However I’m not suggesting you sit your cob in front of a bale of haylage and say have at it! There is a difference between ad lib and a constant supply. There is much we can do to reduce calorie intake and control weight whilst feeding a constant supply.

The easiest is small holes nets. There are many. Trickle nets, greedy feeders, nibbleze, trawler nets etc. My personal favourite is the Shires Soft Mesh 1”. They don’t cost the Earth, they are easy to fill and they don’t have knots so are much gentler to the teeth. Now often I suggest these types of nets to owners and the owner tells me “Oh no, *** won’t eat out of those” 🙄 this is nonsense. If he was left it, he would. Remember, you can give a normal net and one of these for them to nibble at after. Better than leaving them with nothing at all.

A few other tricks, hang the net from the ceiling/rafters, it’s harder to eat out of a net that swings. Soak the hay, a minimum of 4 hours to be effective. Mix with straw but be sure to introduce the straw slowly and make sure it’s top quality and a palatable type eg Barley or Oat, otherwise they won’t eat it.

Don’t forget exercise. The best way to get weight off a horse is exercise. Enough exercise and they can eat what they want!

And lay off the bucket feed and treats! Horses on a diet require a vit/min supplement in the form of a balancer but that’s it. The odd slice of carrot or swede won’t do any harm but no licks, treats, treacle, molasses, cereal based rubbish. Even if it says low sugar or the marvellously misleading “No added sugar”! Your horse would rather have a constant supply of hay, I promise.

Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS

A few edits for the critics-

Firstly, feeding a constant supply does not mean ad lib feeding. It means use some ingenuity and spread the recommended amount of daily forage so the horse is never stood with out food for more than 4 hours. I am not promoting obesity, quite the opposite, feeding like this reduces obesity and IR. This can be done whilst feeding your horse twice a day as most horse owners do. Just think outside the box for your own situation.

Secondly I am in the UK and this post is UK specific, use some common sense when reading. Yes in warmer climates, soaking hay for 4 hours is dangerous and studies show 1 hour is plenty in hot weather but in the UK’s arctic climate, a minimum of 4 hours is required. Equally the UK feed exclusively grass hay. I can not comment on other types.

Thirdly, yes every horse/pony and situation is different, but this is a law of nature and all horses have this anatomy and metabolism. How you achieve this constant supply is individual, the need for it is not.

Fourthly, the use of hay nets in the UK is very very high. I’d estimate 95% of horses I see are fed this way and very very few have incisor wear or neck/back issues as a result. Yes, feeding from the ground is ideal, but a constant supply, I feel trumps this. Again with ingenuity both can be safely achieved.

Finally, straw can be fed to horses safely, introduced very slowly, with fresh water always available, plus a palatable and digestible type of straw which will depend on your area. Again many horses in the UK are bedded on straw and most of them eat it. This is not a new concept to us.

Final finally 🤦‍♀️ and I feel I must add this due to the sheer number of people contacting me to ask, feed your horses during transport!!! I am astonished this is not normal in other countries! Again in the UK, we give our horses hay nets to transport. We don’t go 10 mins up the road without a haynet and a spare in case they finish! Considering we are a tiny island and we rarely transport even 4 hours, we never transport without hay available. I have never seen an episode of choke due to travelling with hay available. If you are concerned, use a slow feeder net so they can’t take too much in at once.

If you get to the end of this post and your first thought is “I can’t do this with my horse/pony, they’d be morbidly obese”, you haven’t read the advice in this post thoroughly.

25/06/2024
Plenty of entries are in now so get your entry in if you want a run
23/06/2024

Plenty of entries are in now so get your entry in if you want a run

Entries are closing tonight for ODE next sat 29 th June Breckenbrough Horse Trials
80 90 100 cm classes
All entries are on horsevents.co.uk
Fabulous ground with educational XC courses

Humans welcome too !!
22/06/2024

Humans welcome too !!

20/06/2024

To Lease on behalf of the owners
I have coached Sophie on Maple and she is the most safe genuine mare

Lux Quality
16.2hh, 7yo, mare, Irish bred - by OBOS Quality, out of a Lux Z dam.
Maple is a complete yard favourite, not mare-ish at ALL and will excel in whatever avenue her new rider chooses to take her down with a smile on her face. No quirks or vices.

She has competed successfully BE and her results include:

🥇 - Chillington BE100 - 20dc
🥇 - Bishops Burton BE100 - 28dc
🥈 - Breckenbrough BE90 - 22dc
🥈 - Askham Bryan BE100 - 29dc
🥈 - Breckenbrough BE90 - 28dc
🎖️4th - Shelford BE100 - 27, 4fs, clear XC
🎖️4th - Bradwall BE100 - 24dc

Maple has three very smart paces, a lovely jump, and is very straight and rideable XC. With no BE points she is eligible for grassroots classes.
We are wanting a lovely home to lease for a minimum 1 year to start with.
This horse is competing at Alnwick Ford this weekend so may be watched there if anyone has interest
She is ridden and competed by a young rider .
For more information please text message or call Helen 07708708967

18/06/2024

Still time to enter
NRC ODE at Breckenbrough Saturday 29th June

Classes 80cm 90cm 100cm
To Enter. https://horsevents.co.uk/events/?e=46093

Show jumping will be on Arena

XC courses some of the fences are being moved and changed onto new ground to create the best going

Entries close Saturday 21st June or earlier if over subscribed with 100%refund if withdrawal before 21st June

In case of cancellation entry fee less £10 will be paid

Bramham has been a great educational week for all our horses competing expertly ridden and produced by Charlie DonaldThe...
08/06/2024

Bramham has been a great educational week for all our horses competing expertly ridden and produced by Charlie Donald
They all learnt so much and it’s such an experience for them in the fabulous grass arena

Dry weather forecast at last 👍
01/06/2024

Dry weather forecast at last 👍

XC courses 70-1-10 cm open Breckenbrough Horse Trials
With a good dry forecast.
All bookings on horsevents
Also available to hire is a BS built course out on grass and dressage arena
Message helen to book 07432267331

After all the rain amazingly it’s dried up very quickly so we can open again.probably the horrible windy weather 🙈
31/05/2024

After all the rain amazingly it’s dried up very quickly so we can open again.probably the horrible windy weather 🙈

XC is open again for hire Breckenbrough Horse Trials
All bookings are on horsevents

30/05/2024

I love you so, so much.

This is my favorite photo of my beautiful wife. It’s from our wedding day in 2021 and it was the best day ever. People will talk about G's smile, and it was incredible—it would make you feel like you were the center of the universe. But what I love about this photo is how it captures her strength. She was a strong, beautiful, phenomenal woman who just loved everything and everyone.

Working in the equestrian world is not an easy life; there are a lot of knocks and dark days. But G would navigate this by throwing so much joy and love at every situation. She would get as much joy from having a Greggs tea on the way home from the gallops as she would teaching a client in the pouring rain or jumping and galloping around biggest courses in the world. It was just incredible to be at your side and feel this energy.

I’m so proud to be your husband.

Rest in peace, my beautiful girl.

I don’t want this to sound like a thank you speech, but there are some people that I’d like to acknowledge and thank. The team at Bicton, who were beyond words in their care for Debbie, Diana, and me in the immediate aftermath; Tim, Jonelle, and their beautiful kids for getting me through the first 24 hours; and the Wolf Pack for being there ever since. There have been so many incredible messages of support, and I’m sorry for not getting back to more of you, but please know that they have been read and are so appreciated.

Seeing the purple and white ribbons has been amazing. But on an even more basic level, when you’re out competing this weekend, please just smile at each other, don’t feel awkward about laughing, and above all, try and love everything and everyone.

💜🤍🕊️

Address

Thirsk

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