Weston Mill Stables

03/04/2025

Oh yes 🤣🫣❤️💙🩵💚💜

💯

03/04/2025

Your mind is your biggest asset.

03/04/2025

☆5 Stables available
☆Winter & summer paddocks
☆individual paddocks
☆ automatic water feeders
☆ fully working kitchen with utensils
☆ working toilet
☆ small friendly private yard
☆offer livery services/ holiday cover
☆ offer sales livery / working livery
☆retirement livery
☆ cctv / with the opportunity to set your own cameras up in your stable with our WiFi.
☆ Weekley yard hack outs
☆no stallions /no colts
☆ lorry/trailer storage (free)
☆ personal private feed/tack room
☆miles of countryside hacking off road & on road
☆no stallions / no colts

02/04/2025

Another beautiful day at weaton Mill Stables
Sun is shining birds are singing
Fields poo picked. Horses looking amazing
And I'm feeling great
Hope everyone has had a lovely day 💜

02/04/2025

Fantastic ride yesterday 😍💙🩵💜 was well needed
Happy Wednesday everyone

30/03/2025

Happy mothers day 💕💙

29/03/2025

28/03/2025

Are you aware?

A strong topline is essential for strength and optimum performance in your horse. Learn how to assess and build your horse’s topline muscles.

28/03/2025

Friday focus…over complicating feeds!

We all want the very best for our horses and ponies and this in turn makes it very easy to end up with lots of different feeds and supplements going into their feed buckets! You can very easily end up spending a lot of money and get into a situation where you do not know what is working and what is not. This is something I see a lot!

When we are feeding / supplementing for a specific health issue, our management also usually changes to help support whatever it is they have going on. But our management frequently gets overlooked and feeds / supplements often get the credit for any improvements. However, I would never underestimate how much your management has an effect on your horse and any health issues they may have, as this can have the biggest impact on them!

If you feel you are putting too many items in the feed bucket, that their feeds are over complicated and you are not sure what is working, I would definitely recommend stripping everything back, getting the base of the diet right, so you know you are feeding a balanced diet and then add any extra supplements in from there if they are needed.

Keeping things simple, ensuring a good basic, balanced diet is always a good place to start. You can then build on this if it is needed and cut down on unnecessary products.

24/03/2025

Friday focus...soaking hay!

Soaking hay will help reduce water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), but that is about as factual as soaking hay gets!!

There is no hard and fast rule that says soaking hay for so many hours, will reduce WSC (sugars and fructans) by however much. Not helpful to most of you, but that is unfortunately the case!

The main factors to consider are; why you are soaking hay, the non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) content of the hay you are soaking and how long it is soaked for.

The length of time you soak for will depend on why you are soaking. If you have a horse that has respiratory issues and you are soaking to remove dust and mould spores, then soaking for 10-20 minutes will do the trick. Although haylage may be a better option for these types.

If you are soaking to reduce sugars, fructans and digestible energy (calories!) for a laminitic horse or pony or one that needs to lose weight, then I would soak for 6-12 hours. Soaking hay has to be practical and fit in around your yard visits! Most of us visit our equines at least twice a day, so if you do an AM and PM visit and your horse is in 24/7, then I would soak the evening ration during the day and the morning ration overnight. So if the day ration gets soaked for 14 hours and the night ration for 10 hours, then that is absolutely fine; it has to be practical. Below are some soaking tips!

• Always use fresh, clean water for every net you soak - putting a net into dirty water where a net has already been soaking, completely defeats the purpose and it will be extremely unpalatable for your horse or pony!
• Try to soak under cover or in the shade away from direct sunlight. This is particularly important during the summer months; it does not take soaking hay long to sour in the heat!
• Use soaked hay straight away! If you leave it to drain through the day to feed at night or vice versa, you are creating an ideal environment for mould and bacteria. It’s fine to leave to drain for 20 mins after taking it out of the water, but don’t leave it for long.
• Dispose of the water your hay has been soaking in carefully; it is considered a contaminant.
• Ensure you provide adequate vitamin and mineral supplementation; this is a requirement for EVERY horse and pony!

The most important part of lowering WSC is to ensure that the hay you are using is the right type and has the appropriate NSC content for your horse or pony to start with. You are looking for later cut, mature hays low in digestible energy (calories!) and NSC.

The bottom line is that soaking is variable in outcome and it may not result in a substantial change in the WSC content of some hays. So source the right hay to begin with and soak through the day or overnight if you are worried about sugar and fructan levels.

I will be covering what to look for in a forage analysis in another post!

Thank you to Emma Taylor and Louise Hare for this weeks inspiration!

23/03/2025

A must read for anyone looking to purchase a pony or horse for the first time. Especially a heads up for parents contemplating buying one for their child or children. On a serious note getting a horse or pony will change your life for the better ❤️

Horse Ownership Readiness Training, A Reality Check 🫣🫣

Before committing to the financial, emotional, and physical rollercoaster of owning a horse, it’s important to prepare yourself for the unique challenges ahead. These exercises will help you build resilience, patience, and an unwavering ability to smile through chaos.

1. The ‘Get Off My Foot’ Endurance Test

Drop a heavy metal object on your foot. Do not move it. Stand still and repeatedly shout, “Get off my foot! Get off my foot!” If possible, recruit a friend to ignore your pleas while scrolling on their phone.

2. The ‘Relax, It’s Fine’ Challenge

Sit in a car and accelerate toward a solid wall. As impact approaches, practice deep breathing and tell yourself, “Everything is under control.” Bonus points if you can smile.

3. The Monthly Wallet Sacrifice

Withdraw £1000 from your bank account. Toss it into the wind. Do not chase it. Repeat monthly to simulate vet bills, emergency farrier visits, and the time your horse eats something very expensive.

4. The Lead Rope Gauntlet

Find a friend with a car. Attach a lead rope to the vehicle. Hold on tightly while your friend slowly accelerates. Try to stop the moving car without letting go. For an advanced version, use a freight train.

5. The Impossible Half-Halt

Attach reins to a moving train. Attempt a delicate, controlled half-halt. Maintain a cheerful expression as though this is going exactly as planned.

6. The Dream Fulfillment Drill

Owning a horse means being bitten, kicked, slobbered on, thrown off, rained on, covered in mud, financially drained, and occasionally stranded miles from home. Smile, your dream is coming true! Practice grinning in all of these situations.

7. The Spoon Theory of Riding

Spend two hours daily attempting to bend a spoon using only your mind. No physical force allowed. Keep trying. Keep believing. This is excellent preparation for schooling a stubborn horse.

8. The Money Extraction Technique

Sit on the toilet. Focus. Through advanced sphincter control, attempt to extract cash from your body. This is an essential skill, as your finances will soon depend on it.

9. The Horse Catching Marathon

Go to a large field. Place a halter on the ground. Spend the next three hours attempting to convince the wind to walk into it. If you feel frustration creeping in, refer back to exercise #2.

10. The Trailer Loading Experience

Buy a large, uncooperative inanimate object. Attempt to push, pull, bribe, and sweet-talk it into a small enclosed space. If unsuccessful, call a friend and argue about whose fault it is.

11. The ‘Just a Quick Ride’ Time Warp

Set a timer for 20 minutes. Begin an activity. After the timer rings, look at the clock. Realize it is now four hours later, and you’re late for everything. Accept this as your new reality.

12. The Rugging Up Drill

Go outside in hurricane-force winds. Attempt to dress a moving toddler in a snowsuit while wearing oven mitts. If successful, immediately remove all clothing and repeat the process.

Final Notes:
Exercises #3 and #8 should be practiced frequently to ensure full preparation. If you excel at all tasks and still want a horse, congratulations, you’re ready!

23/03/2025

Celebrating baby triggers 2nd birthday today 🩵💙🎊
Home made cake for baby trig 😍🩵💙

22/03/2025

A must read for every rider if you’ve never had to deal with a bolting horse 🐎 not many riders are prepared for when this happens and believe me it will happen to you at least once in your riding lifetime so ask yourself if you would know what to do? Would you panic ? bail ? I’ve personally had to deal with this 3 times over the past 15 years and I’ve managed to safely steer out of the situation using 2 of these methods, 1 rein stop is my preferred style but unfortunately I have had to apply a different method as I was on the straight & flat but it petrified me and luckily enough I’ve not had to do it again. Knowledge is key so please have a quick read.

No matter what your skill level, riding a horse that bolts is never easy. Some spook at something and run off in a panic. Others have learned that bolting gets the rider off their back, and a few have a neurological glitch that sets them off. I have trained all, except a couple neurologically impaired horses, to stop bolting. There are several techniques.

The left image shows the most ineffective way to stop a bolting horse. Besides the rider having their reins too long, pulling evenly with both reins has a very low probability of success. Some horses will actually speed up against this kind of bit pressure.

The right image shows the best method for average riders to stop a bolting horse. The rider has pulled the horse's head and neck around to one side and bends them around their inside leg. Some call this a "one rein stop". This very skilled rider demonstrates optimal core strength in the application of the aids. Their body position allows them to very precisely put their horse into a bend that usually ends with a circle. Sometimes with this method you have to "pump" the rein to get the horse's neck to bend.

Highly skilled riders do not panic when a horse bolts. They look for the best place to use the "one rein stop" technique, and then they execute the stop. They have the presence of mind from years of experience to correct a bolting horse. The problem with most riders is (1) they lack the experience and thus the required composure to correct a bolting horse and (2) they lack the required core strength to apply the aids correctly to stop a bolting horse. Therefore, most riders had best take their horse that bolts to a qualified trainer.

There are other methods to stop a bolting horse. As a horse trainer and polo player for 25 years, I found that many polo prospects when they first encounter a wide open 10 acre polo field with other horses galloping around as players hit a ball, can at first cause them to panic or get excited and bolt. With most of these horses I use the "Is that all you got?" bolting correction method. With a polo field being 300 yards long there is plenty of room to run, so I let them run to see what their top speed is. Top speed is very important in polo and once the bolting horse is at top speed, I use my whip to cause them to go faster. A few times doing this usually ends their bolting impulse.

Another method I call the "Scared straight" method. This is dangerous but it works, and it is sometimes needed for hunt horse prospects that bolt. I do not recommend trying this method unless you are an expert terrain rider. Basically, in this method I use the changes in terrain or footing and natural obstacles to make the horse pay attention to their surroundings out of self protection. For example, running a bolting horse over the brink of a slope will stop them from bolting if before the brink you use heavy contact, and as you both go over the brink you drop the reins. This puts them on their forehand as they enter the slope, which creates a scary balance that they must deal with by slowing down.

Training hunt horses involves riding fast in the woods. A horse that bolts in the woods is the scariest. Skill number one in this specific circumstance is to learn to ride with your head down by the horse's neck such that your eyes are level with the horse's eyes. This way you can ride and not have low branches in your face or hitting your body. Horses usually avoid riding into tree branches at their eye level.

Riding a bolting horse in the woods and using the eyes "at the horse's eye level" position, I wait until there is an open space to apply the "one rein stop" technique in the woods. Occasionally a bolting horse experiencing this stop technique in a forest will bump or scrape on a tree trunk. Experiences like these will teach them to slow down. It shows them that the rider has control of them even when they bolt.

My summary advice is to take a bolting horse to an experienced horse trainer. Fixing a bolting horse is dangerous work and the cost of the trainer is a lot less than the cost of even a small injury.

*Check out my new YouTube channel. The link to my channel is in the ABOUT section of this page, or you can go to YouTube and put in the search line. Sorry for the inconvenience. Facebook shuts down the reach of any post with a YouTube link in it because they compete with Google in the video and reel space.

17/03/2025

Weston Mill Stables ♡
a Little Piece of Heaven 😍
A place to call home 🏡💜

15/03/2025

Diy, full, part livery available

Diy Includes:
Stables
Summer & winter paddock
Automatic water feeders
Electronic fence from mains
Grass mènage
Bathroom onsite
Fully working kitchen with appliances
Free lorry/ trailer storage

Please message me for more information on part& full livery
We have 3 Stables available 💕