Teresa: October’s Antics

Eaton Mascott Teresa and Sharon

Rudge funride 20th Sept

Included in the four of us that traveled off to the Rudge funride, was a nervous young ‘newbie’ to the group with her pony. On setting off we realised that the pony may need more brakes – cue Corky – who closed the door at every attempt it made to disappear over the horizon which then resulted in the young rider by the end feeling confident enough to have a couple of canters and to date with a change of bit has completed the funrides with ease. Corky done good.

Corky’s first clip

We also did our first clip of the winter season ! As usual, stood very nicely but  . . . .I hate doing lines !! As I write this he’s been clipped again a full one no lines.

brush fence eaton mascott funride

Eaton mascot funride 4th October

Yard outing to Eaton mascot funride ( 5 vehicle convoy )

Corky’s happiness at being at the front from the start suddenly turned to horror !! When it became clear that to pass through into the next field he had to squeeze through a small gate with about 10 cows noses within touching distance. Having conquered these we were then faced with a very steep slope down to the left  . . . We survived !! through forests, streams, uphill and down dale through beautiful scenery with a plentiful variety of fences including a brilliant hedge which corky jumped ( to my surprise) in proper hunting style. A proud moment !!
A variety of brush fences, bales and barrels in the last field finished what has to be said  it was one of the best funrides we’d ever done.

Tim Pages Yard visit 26th October

On eventual arrival at Tim’s yard (due to traffic – m6 )
I was greeted by Rachel  and given my Honeychop jacket and cap from my goody bag and then joined the other Honeychop stars to meet Tim and his horses.
We all went to the outdoor arenas for a demonstration it was at this point, that  I learnt rhythm on the flat is quite possibly the biggest key element to leaving the ground.

Tim page and Teresa

This I now realise is something I need to address with Corky and I’ll also be practicing the grid we were shown as I feel it will improve Corky’s momentum and encourage me to sit up.

Alicia then gave us a demonstration also with her 14 year old horse. Tim gave her a course to jump and explained how/what she was doing throughout.  Some great tips were given when we walked the course afterwards. With Tim explaining how best to walk a course to enable us to prepare ourselves better next time we are at a show.
We then stopped for lunch, all lovingly home made by Robert ( Mr. Honeychop) the constant flow of tea and coffee was brilliant.
Rachel and Susie then gave us a talk about the company Honeychop and how and why it was started 30 years ago.
We then had a talk about the products available and how best we could spread the word about the Honeychop stars and the products.
Next was a talk with the vet who covered fat scoring/ weigh taping/ and general health observations.

Tim then gave us another demonstration with his speed horse showing a different horse ridden in the same rhythm and showing us how to get a constant rhythm to much bigger fences..
All in all it was a fab day it was lovely to meet the other Honeychop stars and leaving with a big bag of goodies and lots of vouchers for friends to try whichever Honeychop product they choose.

Many thanks for all the warm and friendly welcoming hospitality by Tim and staff, everyone at Honeychop, Briony from Redpin publishing and especially Robert for the cupcakes!! Who definitely should enter the British bake off!!

Teresa & Corky doing Tim’s exercise

Tim’s 1st Exercise

I also received my first exercise from Tim was to jump a was to jump a series of jumps by riding through a figure of eight.Never before had I thought to try something this complicated particularly the idea of jumping across the short side of the school wasn’t something I’d thought of doing before.
However, after a few initial ‘hiccups’  – being

A- Unable to turn to the fence at X and then regain control enough to turn again.
B- Having mastered two fences on the same circle we then struggled to jump X changing from one rein to the other rein.

C- Corky was getting longer in frame as he progressed through the figure of eight exercise resulting in a number of steering issues.

Then . . . The penny dropped for both of us, I gathered him up more, shortened the canter which then resulted in better steering and a more balanced change of direction making the exercise slightly easier.

Watch me and make sure you have a go yourself

Teresa & Mark from Sandy Acres

Sandy Acres

And I’d also just like to say a big Thank You to Mark at Sandy Acres as he has started to stock the Honeychop for me and I have even managed to get him a few new customers from my yard.