I never thought I’d be wishing for rain!

I never thought I’d be wishing for rain!

In Scotland – I know right, the ground is SO hard it’s unbelievable, the odd shower here and there just isn’t cutting it. We need a downpour, a storm even!! Please! The grass is trying really, really hard to come through but it really just needs a good soaking. I have been So tempted to go out with a watering can, and that really is true!!

TIgger reading up on the ingredients!

Side Saddle Smiles!

So the beginning of this month was been spent on box rest, Tigger went in for surgery at the beginning of the month to remove the melanoma that had grown to the size of a large orange! The vet said it was one of the biggest he had ever removed. Thankfully all went very well with the op and there were no complications, stitches came out 14 days later and I could start riding again. I was quite fortunate in the sense that due to the location of the melanoma (under his tail) Tigger couldn’t access the area to itch or bite at it, and none of his friends could either, so it got its best chance to heal and stay clean. Once the stitches were out we were pretty much back to normal and I brought him back into work.

Unfortunatley while Tigger was in hospital, he dropped a lot of condition. I think with the stress of it all, many sedations, no grass and ‘hospital meals’ of soaked hay probably didn’t help and he was looking rather ribby when he came back home. As you will know if you’ve read my other blogs I have been working hard to get the muscle condition on him and this short upset almost put us on the backfoot somewhat. However, Tigger has been piling back on the pounds since he got home, and was looking healthier within a matter of days. Thanks to his Honeychop Natural Choice, which he absolutely adores, maintaining his condition is not too difficult, and I know my chaff is not packed full of un required sugars!! Honeychop Natural Choice Alfalfa, free from molasses, is a non-heating low sugar, slow release fibre feed blend with alfalfa, timothy grass and oat straw. Coated with linseed and rapeseed oil Natural Choice Alfalfa is perfect for fuelling work and promoting condition. Honeychop Natural Choice Alfalfa is high in calcium and this, combined with linseed (flax seed) oil is ideal to promote general health and coat condition. Blended with cinnamon and mix of real herbs known for their natural antioxidant properties it is the perfect low calorie palatable fibre feed to add to your horse, pony or donkeys diet. With a typical sugar content of 5.5% you can be sure you will be limiting the amount of sugar in your horse, pony or donkey’s diet.

The countdown is on; 4 weeks to the Royal Highland Show! Probably my biggest show to date, riding Skip at the European Eventing Championships was a big deal for me, and it was just phenomenal, but I think the RHS is just as big a trademark for me. The op lost us a little bit of time but Tigger really hasn’t been phased by his return to work, and thankfully it was only 14 days off in total, so he shouldn’t have deteriorated in fitness too much. Preparations are well underway and I am struggling to contain my excitement. I am hoping to have Honeychop Henry with me while I’m at there and he might go on a prize giveaway adventure, so make sure to keep up to date with the Honeychop FB page for your chance to win!

Just this weekend past we headed to Brechin Equestrian Spring Show, which is always a fantastic day out with lots of great and well turned out classes, Tigger and I took on three(!) affiliated side saddle classes in the Equitation, Side Saddle Horse and the concours d ’elegance. He never put a hoof wrong and I was SO pleased with him, especially after only being 8 days back in work after his 2 weeks off. It was a great practice run for the highland and we got some invaluable feedback from the SSA judge too. Happy days! 

Side Saddle Concours D’Elegance

We did take the sunny weather as an opportunity to get some new Honeychop branding photos, as you may have seen on Facebook! Shame Tigger was so grubby that day! – Nice photos none the less!

Until next month

Grace and Tigger x