Kimbas_mum

That yard looks lovely, I'm sure Frant will settle in great there. Easta looks amazing, she is such a pretty mare Poor Kane - He won't know what has hit him I keep trying to get Apple on a proper fitness regime, I'm just struggling cos I'm so busy with work at the moment that I don't always have time to work him in the evening and I really can't cope with the idea of getting up any earlier thatn 5.15am to work him in the morning!!! We went to the presentation evening last night from one of the dressage clubs I have been competing at this winter, Apple and me won the championship for the novice and the elementary. I am so proud of my little man, first full season doing elemetary and he has loved it

Happy birthday beautiful girly

My Saluki girl Maddie had a wound in her leg from catching it on a branch and tearing a large rip in her inner thigh, the ends healed well but they couldn't get the middle to heal, everytime she moved the stitches just pulled through, in the end they had to do a live skin graft from her tummy, my vet did an amazing job and it healed beautfully really quickly after that, now you can't even see where it happened (apart from the nipples that go down her leg instead of her tummy!!!). Hoping that Cherry will heal without the need for an op, and that it isn't tumour related, just these blummin pointies being bad healers. Lots of gentle to you and her

Nothing to worry about really, expect lots of very excited dogs (and owners) lots of being ridiculous to get your dogs attention and lots of general mayhem and madness!!! All you will need to take is treats (and a toy if he is more focussed on a toy?), poo bags, and a harness if he is used to wearing one, if not its no problem, he can get used to it at a later date (or some dogs don't wear one at all, just tends to be easier to keep hold of them in a harness!!). When we have new starters at our club we start with run backs - basically the flyball jumps are set up with netting down either side of them, you take the dog over the first jump to an extra person there, take the lead off then run back over the jump squealing your head off, they will release Benjamin, hopefully he will run after you to get loads of fuss/play/food (whatever rocks his boat). You will then move on to running back over more jumps until he is running back from the box. That can sometimes be enought for some dogs on the first go, others will be able to be introduced to a ball in the box area to fetch back or even be introduced to the box itself - totally depends on how the dog takes to it all. It will be great fun for you and him - although possibly a little overwhelming for you both. Just make sure he has plenty of breaks as he will tire quickly mentally from all the stuff going on. Go for it and enjoy yourself - and make sure you let us know how you get on. Hope to see you at a show before too long (where abouts are you??)

Very exciting news (for me anyway) - Maddie may actually one day become a flyball dog!!!!! We went to training yesterday and for the first time she did almost a complete run in the netted lane and picked the ball up off the floor at the box - I released her from just after the 1st jump and she did the other 3 jumps, picked up the ball and came flying back again . This may not sound like much but it has taken over a year to get this far and I didn't think she would ever get there. I am very proud of my beautiful girl

The pictures from last Friday's dressage are on the website now, the photographer left before I started with Apple but they got some photos of Hatties Baby that I rode for my yard owner, pictures of her on Harry and of Jayne on Blue. I have attached a link to the photos below, Harry with Lorna is from the last picture on the 6th row, followed by me on Hatties Baby and Jayne starts on the 11th row. I'm really pleased with how Hatties Baby went considering that she has only been broken in for about 4 months and has never been out competing before, neither has Harry. Dressage pics

Still slowly ticking over, losing about 1/2 lb a week. But have got some new incentive now, my birthday in 2 months that I want to have reached my target before, and I have been invited to a naval ball where there will be lots of nice young men in uniforms, and I will be wearing a posh ball gown so will have to be nice and slim for that one!!! Well done to all the losers in Fugee land, keep it up everyone

We had a fab multi-breed day at Carlton, and it was lovely to see Bertie and Pumpkin having such a fab time. Thank you so much to all your team for your help running dogs and box loading for me, couldn't have managed without you and the Carry On lot!!! See you at Portway??

Thats fantastic news Jacky I would love to get a proper box, or even a decent trailer (mine really has seen better days!!!) Sounds like there will be no stopping you now!!! There was never any question with Apple, he has always, and always will be the boss!!! But he is still a star

That's fab Claire, hope it all goes well for you at the weekend. Me and Jayne went to another dressage competition last night, Blue was an absolute gem again, hi and Jayne are starting to form a really good team together, you can really see him looking after her when she is not sure of something and Jayne is coming on leaps and bounds every day, amazing progress from both of them and a big well done to both of them Apple was on a mad one again, he is one of the most bomb proof horses I have ever known and never bats an eyelid wherever you take him, but he seems to have a problem with this particular venue, he was bouncing off the walls again and spooking at everything. I ended up having to work him hard for about 40min before my first test then kept him going for 25 min after that one until it was time to go in for my 2nd test, and he was still on a mission. I can't decide whether he is getting fitter, has a bit of spring fever or just doesn't like Alsager EC, whatever it was he was blinkin hard work last night. It obviously didn't look as bad as it felt though cos we came 2nd in the Novice and won the Elementary and the judge for both tests commented what a lovely obedient pony he was

Woohoo I have managed to lose 0.5lb this week, doesn't sound much but at least it is going in the right direction again finally

Can I have some cards when you've got them too, my lot will happily model their beautiful collars and I'm bound to get asked where they are from (they might be slightly known for having lots of different collars!!!)

I'll race you for them!!!

I quite fancy This one or this one

Yaay for Toby, I'm sure he will have a fab time. My dobie Kimba was another late starter, he didn't start until he was 3, whilst my little pointer started at about 14 months (only cos that was when we discovered flyball, not cos we decided to leave it that late!!), they both love it.

Lots of questions!!! I'm not very big on showing but I'll do my best and I'm sure others will be able to give better answers than I will!! In Hand showing - you can either wear usual show kit i.e. beige jods, white shirt, tie/stock, show jacket or hacking jacket (depending on the class). Or you can wear anything smart i.e. smart trousers, shirt, jacket (some people go over the top and go for skirts/waistcoats/heels etc) Most important is sensible shoes/boots cos you will have to run with him. The usual class tends to have everyone walking round together, then everyone will halt round the outside and you will take it in turns to trot your horse round to the back of the queue, you will then walk round again and get pulled into a line up, bring your horse out in turn to standin front of the judge (some will at that point want to pat the horse etc but don't tend to run their hands over them like dog showing), walk away fro the judge then trot back and go back into line. You will then all walk on round the ring and get pulled in to the final line up to get your rosettes etc. Depending on the class Kane will be fine to go natural and you can lead him in a leather bridle, normally with a leather lead rein and chain rather than reins (although you can get away with reins at most shows). It's up to you whether you tell them about his eye sight, depends on the judge and the class whether that will go against him or not (if the judge is a bit full of it they will probs mark him down for it). For the ridden showing what to wear again depends on the class - I assume it will be a mountain & moorland type class (??) If so you will need to wear beige/canary jods, white shirt, tie, show jacket/hacking jacket (should probs be show jacket) with long boots and gloves. You should be fine with a treeless and you can use any bit in most classes (occasionally they do classes like family horse/pony that needs a snaffle). You will be able to leave the ring at any time, just let the steward know what you are doing and why (if you have a chance and are concerned that he might struggle warn the steward before hand so they know what to expect. Hope this helps a bit, and we expect loads of pics when you go so make sure someone is on camera duty!!!

Fab piccies of a really good walk Billy, was really good to get out with lots of other dogs and go to a park where there didn't seem to be an iffy dog in sight. We met loads of other dogs whilst we were out and not a cross word from anyone, even the parents didn't object to hundreds of dogs everywhere and pull their children out of the way in panic. We had a lovely walk, then went back to the stables to sort the horses out. Even Jasper was tired by the end of that day!!!

I've just ordered some for Jasper, hopefully it will really help with his grass itchyness this year. Thanks for the link Jacky

Well done Godin and JoC, I have no idea how you managed to stick to your diet on the long journey, well done to everyone else who has lost this week too. I stayed the same again this week, I seem to have hit a bit of a wall with weight loss at the moment, time to really get my head down and get rid of the last few pounds, maybe increase my exercise and see if that helps?? Hope I lose some next week cos I'm starting to lose motivation now.

She is beautiful

That dog looks the image of my little Jasper spotty hound: Any idea what breeding he/she is?

Well done Cheryl - 5lb is amazing Try to ignore them Sam, it probably has more to do with their poor self image than you Well done Billydog I have stayed the same this week, not too bad when I have had 2 meals out and a naughty take out when I didn't have the energy to cook

Thats a fab looking jumper, well done!!!

I just use a normal double air bed like this one: air bed I go away camping every weekend with my lot from Easter until the end of September cos we do flyball and they have not managed to kill it yet, 2 of them sleep on the bed with me and the other comes on for cuddles in the morning. All I do is put a normal fitted sheet over it so that we have a bit more protection. Hope you have a good time

A DVD would be a lovely way to keep the memories from your work, and fab to see all the horses again. That was a really nice test Claire, he has a fantastic free walk, something I have never managed to achieve with Apple, he is always on too much of a mission to slow down and stretch like that, and the trot really started to swing as both of you relaxed more later in the test. And I have the same problem as you with an arm fixing, except mine is my left arm, regularly want to cut it off!!! We both got on pretty well, Jayne achieved everything she set out to achieve, she stayed on (her aim not mine for her!!!), completed the test, and scored over 50%, although she did admit to me when she was drunk the night before that she would be disappointed if she didn't win it, I think she was actually really pleased with how she got on. Me and Apple had slightly mixed results, I came out of my novice test really pleased, he had gone really well, probably the best he has done all winter, and I had other riders come up to me as I was leaving the warm up arena to tell me that it was a beautiful test and looked amazing, only to get a relatively low score of 63% and not to place. This kind of messed with my head a bit and made me doubt that I knew what I was trying to do with the pony cos it had felt fab to me. Then had to go in to the elementary test (which was thankfully a different judge), rode a really bad test with Apple knowing that my head wasn't quite with it, but still managed to win it!!! All very strange, but hey at least we came away with a rosette, I'm going to talk it all through with my instructor on Wednesday cos we are going to a new venue next Monday night so I want to get us sorted by then.