Well I think we’ll call it dry July!! What a month, we have had virtually no rain, you totally don’t appreciate water until it stops falling from the sky regularly! The fields are scorched and have no grass and a lot of peoples water supplies dried up! Thankfully, our horses drinking stream didn’t dry up and we are able to feed haylage to tide them over while there was a lack of grass, and eventually moved fields when it got too bad. Gerry is now in a field with (almost) too much grass, to accommodate for this, ive switched him on to the Honeychop Lite & Healthy, which he is absolutely loving!!

Echt Show 2018

As we’ve been having such beautiful weather, I decided to take Gerry along to the beach. There are some beautiful sandy beaches in Aberdeen and the shire, some with specialised horse access and parking, its great. We headed to Balmedie, it was reasonably busy, but Gerry wasn’t too worried by peoples tents, dogs and screaming children. He wasn’t totally sure of the sea when he first set eyes on it though, and the small river like sections that flow down into the sea were glinting in the sun.. he wasn’t all that keen to go near them either! After 10-15 mins walking along the sand and taking everything in, he was more settled and we splashed around in the water, had a few trots, some canters and had a really lovely afternoon. It was quite a hot day so I was reluctant to do too much, but we had a super time none the less.

Our competition run began this month with Echt show, a local, large agricultural show. We entered the riding horse class and the side saddle class. Unfortunatley one followed directly after the other, so I had to ride both aside. This is fine by me, but means I need extra hands to carry my astride saddle along too so the judge can ride if required. Thankfully my good friend and super-groom Fiona was on hand and could be seen at times, struggling along behind me with a saddle, a set of steps and a wicker basket! How lucky am I to have her! Gerry gave me the best ride he ever has under side saddle, I was absolutely delighted and he was hoof perfect. We pulled 2^nd in the riding horse class and came 1^st and retained the lovely cup that I’d won the year previously with Tigger, in the side saddle class. We also came home with some prize money – so overall it was a great day out!

Winnings from Echt Show

At the end of the month we attend a local riding clubs combined training event, I plan to enter the style jumping, which is a qualifier for the final at Blair Castle International Horse Trials next month. Hopefully Gerry jumps clear and does so with style – he’s pretty reliable and I’m sure he will, its my style that might let us down, haha!

Next month we will be busy preparing for and heading down to Blair, where we will ride in the side saddle class. Vey sadly one of our classes were dropped, so there is just the side saddle equitation class for us to compete in this year. Hopefully Gerry will perform well and make the trip well worthwhile!

Lets hope for some rain soon!

Grace and Gerry x