After months of frustrating injuries, illnesses and bad luck- none of which major just time consuming, I feel like we might actually be getting somewhere again.
Yes we're still using the first aid kit regularly and I've probably kept the vitamin and cough business in the UK going all by myself, but a routine has been developing.
Harley's blood count has been back to normal so work has resumed but due to his weight loss he's still sporting his hairy mammoth coat- its keeping him warm but making my life a little harder! However, it should always be that way too many people give their horses full clips when its not needed- its just seen fashionable. But is a national hunt horse running at Cheltenham doesn't have a full clip my lad being brought back into work in a control way certainly can survive without one!
**Touch wood​** though we actually are starting to get going, today we managed the dizzy heights of 4 trotting poles!
Its a slow journey but hopefully will be worth it in the long run, after all we have a long season ahead of us and we already know have the Festival of the Horse Championship to look forward to!​
But until then its throw me the thermals, water proofs and wind breakers.

New tried & tested review...

When I decided to take the plunge & buy expensive breeches (ok so they were on offer but still does spending £££ mean they're better breeches?).

http://www.elcequestrian.com/montar-breeches.html

Of not leaving the yard, nearly loosing H, allowing broken bones to heal & surviving the floods.....tomorrow will be our 1st competition!

Today we also jumped for the 1st time in 6 months. Yes we were slightly rusty, rather wild & very enthusiastic (in H's case particularly!).

Today wasn't big, and tomorrow probably won't be either but do long as we both have fun & come out the other side in one piece this time- we'll have made progress from where we finished off in 2015!

So tonight the nerves & excitement have already started to creep in. The 'should I just wrap him up in cotton wool' thoughts have crept in, but then I remenber how he was this afternoon- squealing over a trotting pole & remember life's too short for that sort of attitude!

So wish us luck!

The neck strap, hip flask & waterproofs are packed & the panic of finding an old pair of beige breeches has been after realising my good pair got ripped & blood stained on our last outing!

Luckily a substitute pair have been found so no one will be subjected to having to see me wear the emergency white pair!!!!

That's certainly a sight no one wants to see on a Sunday!

With 2016 about to walk through the front door, its only right to summarise 2015.
The high light of course was finally reaching BE Novice Level with H and completing the XC clear! Not bad for a horse that got elimintaed at his first event and cost less than some peoples riding hats do!
The low lights were certainly the injuries which cut our season short and certainly created a few head scratching moments when we couldn't pinpoint the issue initially.
On a personal note an extremely sad loss and unexpected one at that, truly left a huge hole in our lives.
The phrases 'Enjoy every minute' and 'Live each day live its your last', Never were truer for this person and you'll always be in my thoughts.
So as for heading into 2016, I've decided that rather than making achievement aims, I'll be making memory aims- what will be, will be...It's just got to be memorable- whether taht be through triumph, failure or stupidity!
Of Course you have to make at least one New Years Resolution too, and I've decided that healthy sound horses are the way forward! Let's just hope this isn't a resolution they hope to break any time soon!
Happy New Year Everyone!

It’s that time of year again where there’s only one word on everyone’s mind…Bargains! Yup you’ve guessed it Black Friday is Back!
Being an equestrian on a budget, I’m always on the lookout for offers where I can justify (just about) that item I’ve been looking at for a while but the need for more horse feed, vets, farrier etc. have always prevented that buy!
 So Black Friday through to Cyber Monday can potentially be a big day for me, but trying to find out who’s participating and who has the best deals isn’t always easy!
So I started to do a bit of good, old googling and started to develop a little list of retailers who have already stated that they are taking part in Black Friday offers in 2015.
A tread was also started on the Twitter Eventing Facebook Page listing offers (Join them on Facebook or follow them via @twittaeventing on twitter if you’re not involved already!- it really is a fab group!). But I must admit I’ve found it quite hard to follow and find some of the older offers as other comments/ conversations have been made since. 
Therefore I thought it might be useful to combine both my own Black-Friday discoveries and those listed by TE members! I’ve tried also to list the offers if they have been stated/ any codes that may be required, plus a bit of detail of some of the brands included certain retailer’s offers.
I will try to keep updating this post with additions that are added to the TE Facebook thread, as well as ones I spot right up until Cyber Monday (30th November) as I expect a few retailers will not announce any offers until 24hours before their planned sale date.
If not for me, I hope someone else will find this useful and get at least one bargain this year!

• Active rider                         www.activerider.com 
• Aivly                                      http://www.aivly.co.uk
  
• Animo                                  Clothing & Scarpati horse wear                www.animouk.com 
• Arion Equestrian             www.arionequestrian.co.uk
• Ayr Equestrian                  Discounted brands include Ariat & Pikeur             www.ayrequestrian.co.uk
• Aztec Diamond                 Clothing offers start Thursday    www.aztecdiamondequestrian.com 
• Berghaus       15% off everything with 25% off daily deals         www.berghaus.com
• Bespoke Browbands          @BespokeBrowband on Twitter or www.bespokebrowbands.com 
• Chill Out Horse wear              www.chillouthorsewear.co.uk
• Classic Dressage               Discounts on Konig boots, Schockemohle, Otto Schumarks, Cavallo, Kingsland                www.classicdressage.com 
• Coligone    up to 20% off  using code 10for10         www.coligone.co.uk
• Cool Equestrian                Up to 50% off + Flash Sales          www.coolequestrian.co.uk 
• Countrywide   www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk
  
• Daydream Equine Art     Search for them on Facebook
• Derby House      deals on Ariat, Dublin, Saxon, Fal etc.      www.derbyhouse.co.uk
• Derriere Equestrian        Discounted Breechers                   www.derriereequestrian.com 
• Doris and Co Ltd.       15% off all items       www.dorisandco.co.uk 
• Eccleshall Saddlery           www.eccleshallsaddlery.co.uk
• Edgemere          20% off weatherbeeta/ Horseware rugs 20% off Ariat, Joules, Pikeur                www.edgemere.co.uk 
• Eileen Douglas Tack Shop       http://www.tackshop.co.uk
• Equestrian Clearance     Ariat Black Friday Sale    www.equestrian.com 
• Equestrian Co         up to 70% off       www.Equestrianco.com
• Equestrian Performance             30% off everything including Bucas Rugs             www.equestrianperformance.co.uk
• EquiFeast                      25% off everything plus half price postage using code 'BF2015'    www.equifeast-shop.com 
• Equikro           Black Friday Sale items         www.equikro.com 
• Equine and Country       up to 40% off rugs       www.allthebestrugs.com
• Equiporium              www.equiporium.co.uk
  
• Equiport             10% off bespoke rugs and saddle cloths        www.equiport.co.uk
• Equisafety     www.highvisibility.uk.com
  
• Equissage UK     Save £699 on a professional pulse set.    Ring: 08000669958
• Equissentials Dressage  Horse wear and rider clothing    www.equissentialsdressage.com 
• Equistead      http://www.equistead.com
•  Equus Photo     35% off a 2hr photo shoot with memory stick     www.equusphoto.co.uk
• Faber & Co Equine           25% off site- brands include Le Mieux, Freejump, Samshield, Veredus, KEP                www.faberandcoequine.co.uk 
• Farm and Pet Place      offers including £10 Weatherbeeta Rugs     www.farmandpetplace.co.uk
• FMBs Therapy Systems                 £200 off combi rugs, 10% off magnetic products                www.fmbs.co.uk
• Forelock and load            Black Friday offers + 10% off for TE members      www.forelockandload.com
• Fur Feather Meds            www.furfeathermeds.com
• Gibson Saddlers       10% off using BLACKFRIDAY             www.gibsonsaddlers.com
• Go Outdoors            www.GOoutdoors.co.uk
• Griffin nuumed                 20% off Black variations of numnahs and pads using code ‘BLACK’                www.nuumed.co.uk
• Henry Hunt        Clothing- land evening  up to 70% off        www.henryhunt.co.uk
• Hi Ho silver          10% off using code ‘CYBER15’     www.hihosilver.co.uk 
• Holland Cooper       15% off selected products         www.hollandcooper.co.uk
• Hope Valley Saddlery    www.hopevalleysaddlery.co.uk/
• Horse Halt          50% off everything*          www.horsehalt.co.uk
• Hyperdrug               10% off and free shipping using code 'HBF15'            wwwhyperdrug.co.uk
  
• Joules                 Up to 50% off knitwear with further offers listed on Friday           www.joules.com 
• JS Elite Equestrian         30% off all products      http://www.jseliteequestrianwear.co.uk 
• JSW Horse boxes        24 hour offers (possibly Show jumps!)    www.jswhorseboxes.co.uk 
• John Whitaker International  www.johnwitaker.com
• Just Riding        stock brands including GPA, Freejump, Parlanti             www.justriding.com 
• Kate Negus Saddlery      20% off stock items using code ‘BLACK20’           www.katenegus.com
• Keysoe Boutique             15% off everything in store during CsI2* show
• Lansdown            up to 50% off         www.lansdowncountry.co.uk
• Laura Cohen Designs              up to 40% off items        www.lauracohendesigns.co.uk
• Leonard Coombe             Rugs, clothing and tack                  www.leonardcoombe.co.uk
• Little Manor Equestrian                 £10 off XC schooling vouchers    www.lmeq.com
• Lyn’s Bling Browbands   Search for them on Facebook
• Maxima Equestrian         Rug sale               www.maximaequestrian.co.uk
• MDR photo UK Competition/ Yard Photo shoots               Search for them on Facebook or www.mdr-photo.co.uk
• Millbank Saddlery     Discounted vouchers        www.millbanksaddlery.co.uk
• Mirrors for training          4 arena mirrors for £1000              www.mirrorsfortraining.co.uk
• Mole Valley Farmers      Different offers per day                                www.molevalleyfarmers.com 
• Musto            www.musto.com
• Natural Horse Supplies  10% off using code ‘BLACKFRIDAY10’      www.naturalhorsesupplies.co.uk
• Naylors                      Different deals per day                 www.naylors.com
•   Oakfield               20% off jods and breechers, 20% off stable and turnout rugs       www.oakfield-direct.co.uk
• Old Dairy Saddlery           They have not stated they are participating in ‘Black Friday’ but have many sale items/ offers on including Kentucky XC boots set              www.olddairysaddlery.co.uk
• Old Mill Saddlery              www.saddlery.biz
• Online for Equine             Discounts on Tredstep, Charles Owen, Pikeur               www.onlineforequine.co.uk
• Philip Morris and Son     Discounted Country Clothing      www.philipmorrisdirect.co.uk
• Piltown Photography     65% off all photo shoots               Search for them on Facebook
• Premier Equine           40% off site      www.premierequine.co.uk 
• Really Wild Clothing     up to 20% off certain products       www.reallywildclothing.co.uk
  
• Ride Away       20% off everything with code 'BLK20'        www.rideaway.co.uk
• Robinsons Equestrian      20% off all prices using code: 'EARLY20'          www.robinsonsequestrian.com 
• Royal Equestrian       15% off all stock     www.royalequestrian.co.uk
• Ryedale                           Polo’s, hoodies, jackets                www.ryedaleclothing.co.uk
• Saddlery Online                                www.saddlery-online.co.uk
• Sealskinz         Different offer per day- 25/11= 20% off using code ‘FLASH20’         www.sealskinz.com
• Selwood Equine               70% off site        www.selwood.com 
• Snuggy Hoods       20% off everything             www.snuggyhoods.com 
• Supplement Solutions
• Swish Horse Rugs             10% off using code ‘WINTER10’ www.swish-equestrian.co.uk
• The Animal Physiotherapy Dispensary          Back on Track Products          www.animalphysiodispensary.com
• Timothy Foxx     10% off using ‘BLACK15’                                www.timothyfoxx.co.uk
• Townfields saddlers Ltd                www.townfields.com
• Treehouse        10% off safety gear using ‘TESAFETY’ Free delivery using ‘FREEOST15’                www.treehouseonline.co.uk 
• Tuffa Boots        reduced boots and free delivery       www.tuffaboots.com 
• Ultimate Images    25% off using code 'black2015'   http://www.ultimate-images.co.uk
• Uptown Eventing Store                 www.utowneventingstore.com
• Wharfedale Equestrian                 www.wharfedaleequestrian.co.uk
• Wychanger          25% off all Mark Todd           www.wychanger.com

Well since my last update I've completely failed to change our luck, instead its possibly gone as wrong as it possibly can!
After upping H's fitness in preparation for Richmond Novice I was feeling really confident- he was feeling fantastic and looking the part- his coat has never looked better and I think I have Pure Feed to thank for that!
Unfortunately with our upped fitness came upped energy that unfortunately we didn't adapt to with his Winning Edge quantity so he was rather unbalanced in his Magnesium levels (as I've banged on about on numerous occasions magnesium doesn't always mean a calmer horse!) .... cue raging bull mode after deciding that just being in a field with other 'party goers'  was the best thing since slice bread!  
Our dressage judge was very, very kind to award us 36 despite a few Strictly Some Dancing moves thrown in for good measure (H has his hooves firmly crossed that he'll get paired up with Christina as he can do a great partner drag that John Sargent would be proud of!).
SJ we decided to go straight into jump off mode- not so fun in just a snaffle and no martingale- but he certainly doesn't struggle with the extra height/ width required in Novice! If only we could curb his enthusiasm!

Onto XC and we carried on with the jump off attitude. We were ok until fence 7 where we very nearly got tipped up at a pair of hanging telegraph poles after being far too egger into them. This did however, play into our favour and made him respect a A,B, C combination that was causing plenty of problems through the day, however, it wasn't the end of our bull problems!

We managed a few more fences before approaching a skinny V triple brush that had a black flag option. Due to his head-strong attitude I'd decided to take the longer black flag option thinking it would be a safer bet (oh how funny that is in hind sight & I should know by now there's never a safe bet with horses!). We approached the black flag option (a roll top with brush ontop) and H took off far too early, before realising his mistakes and grounding. Luckily it wasn't a bad fall, H galloped off quite happily and I for once wasn't rolling around the floor like the Michelin man trying to gasp air and didn't appear to feel anything thanks to my Racesafe BP - especially in relation to my shoulders/ collar bone which according to the fence judge took a good thump- yet I didn't have a mark on me!
Luckily H was caught quite close by but we still opted to retire.
But isn't Hindsight is an amazing thing- really I should have retired after our mishap earlier. Possibly if I was a pro/ had more rides I would have, but being an amateur I sometimes wonder if I'm penny chasing when I'm competing so to speak (after all I'm not out there everyday/ week so when I am I want to get the most out of it!). Plus  adrenalin is a crazy thing and can hide amazing things.... as I found out later when at home and removing my shoes!

Firstly- apologies for the ugly toe picture!
But yup you guessed it two dodgy looking toes-  no idea how it happened (possibly via my stirrup), but a break and small hairline fracture has resulted in 2 rather fat toes!
Luckily they are not causing too much pain (unless taped/ pushed together!), but they have resulted in a few shoe related issues as nothing fits one foot!..... Oh how I wish I  had a footwear supporter!
So not much has been happening, luckily H has been ticking over via being lunged but today was going to be my first sit back on H. Only for us to find this poor sight this morning!

So we both currently have sick notes, have missed out on Championship visits and Burghley course walking, are currently shoe less and potentially looking at no more runs aka parties this year.
Looking on the bright side we're both still here- we may not be winning any beautiful feet or smooth coat competitions any time soon but I know we can turn this odd- patch around!
But if you do have any good news please feel free to share! In the mean time lets end with an XC picture from Richmond that reminds me why I want to crack on and do better next time.... after all I still have 8 toes that can function!

Following on from my last post I think its fair to say that we have certainly come crashing down from cloud 9!
Its amazing how you can go from ecstasy to despair with horses, but certainly a feeling we can all relate to!
From completing our 1st Novice BE to going to our next event the Area Riding Club Qualifier and getting Eliminated!
It was H's 1st cross country stop in around 2 years and he certainly made it a memorable one via repeating his actions 3 times! More annoyingly he chose the perfect timing and we missed out on our championship qualifying Place.
However, in times like this you have to look at the positives, otherwise you'd end up in a corner crying and being tempted in calling up Tesco to collect your beast!  ;-)
A) Horses have ways of changing plans DEAL WITH IT- I'd much rather us not be heading to one competition due to missing out qualification, over the reasoning being due to illness/ injury!
B) Bad days make you appreciate the good days even more and life's too short to dwell.
C) Failure= Motivation to improve, sometimes the shock makes you sit back regroup, rethink and revaluate processes- which isn't always a bad thing as you can often get caught up in the glitz with horses

But.... WE SURVIVED OUR 1ST BRITISH EVENTING NOVICE ATTEMPT!!!!!
It's over a week on and I don't think either myself or H have come down from cloud nine! Lots to work on but encouragingly he made it feel easy so really its now just  down to me growing some balls and cracking on with it!
But in case you missed the report here's the cheat version (remember to Follow us on Twitter via @elcequestrian or Add us on Facebook via ELC Equestrian or my own account!).

Of course a fabby day like this requires photo evidence and luckily the lovely Nick Gill and his team were covering the event so we got some fab shots that actually make H look like a proper event horse!

It was so lovely to share our day with the Twitter-Eventing group too and receive such lovely comments after from other who understand that its not always about getting that red frilly but beating your own personal goals for that day!
However, one of the most unbelievable things to happen was getting my 'survival' tweet Favoured by a 4* Olympian, who must of been thinking I was totally cuckoo for getting so excited about completing a level that his baby horses can do with their eyes closed- but it was still very thoughtful of him to care!

Our last event was Northallerton on the 26th April, we’d taken the approach to not jump him at home before that event (so in fact his last time jumping before then was Burgham at the end of March), and it appeared to work on that occasion were we were unlucky to just touch one pole and gain 4 faults, however, it was still H’s best performance at 100 level. By then he was also storming the 100 XC and we were thinking he needed a tougher challenge, however, the step up from 100 to Novice is quite big so we compromised and found a BE100+ class at the new BE fixture Dalston Green.

 

For those that don’t know what BE100+ is I’ll explain it. The Dressage is a Novice BE test, the SJ is bigger than a 100 on a whole and can incorporate 1-2 fences at Novice height although the full course is not up to Novice height and the XC is ran over 100 level.

 

The class was the last of the day and was had lovely leisurely start times, and planned to get there with plenty of time to walk the course and get our bearings for this new event. However, Bank holiday traffic and a severe car accident which required the air ambulance’s attendance made our journey nearly 2 hours longer than expected. We arrived at Dalston with only 50minutes to spare, luckily we discovered it was a nice compact event and managed to run round the XC before getting on for Dressage. Que our next drama…. Our farrier had threaded the stud holes too big so our studs were just spinning around and not going in, luckily a bit of tin foil around each one solved the issue temporarily (although we did lose 2 throughout the phases!), but it did add extra time to the scenario. Thankfully the arena was running a bit late and H was in a very chilled out mood and we entered the dressage arena feeling quite positive; that was until we heard a BANG!! Turns out the dressage arena for our section backed on to a community tennis court and there was a group playing (so you can imagine the noises as the ball crashed into the wire fence or was smashed overhead!). Considering H is a hot horse he coped very well, but I was a little upset that the organisers chose to put a dressage arena in that spot- definitely an area in which the venue could improve!

 

Over all he coped very well with the new movements, I thought his medium trot was good along with his leg yielding and he managed to do the canter-trot-canter transition which we had been struggling with rather confidently. Sadly he did break in the canter towards the end and got a little tense when near the tennis court. The judge however, was very generous to us and in the section as a whole, and wrote some lovely comments. In the end it also turned out that we scored 30.8 in our 1st Novice BE test!!!!

 

For the SJ I decided to walk the course. It was in quite a compact grass arena but had a nice flow to it. I’m unsure if it was down to the fact that I hadn’t jumped in a while (let alone the horse!), but the height difference from a normal 100 was noticeable. Over all there was probably only 3 jumps up to Novice height, 2 parallels and 1 upright which had a blue filler underneath and was positioned on top of a ramp .

Again we were lucky that we were at the end of the day so were told to just go in when we were ready. In the warm up H was really pinging (which is sometimes quite worrying), we went in and he was really trying and certainly saved me from a major blunder at fence four! In fact he was trying so hard for me that he only went and jumped a CLEAR ROUND!!! 

 

For some this might not seem like such a big deal, but for a horse that really struggles in the SJ phase any clear round is an achievement, let alone one over the biggest course he’s done to date! The no-jumping ethos is not one that I’d personally choose for myself but whilst its working for H we will stick with it, in the mean time I might have to try and see if I can find another horse that I can have a play with to keep my eye in!

 

We then went over to the XC to discover that we’d be the last to run of the day. The course wasn’t particularly long and didn’t have a water jump but it did have two log jumps with sloping ground behind them which was causing problems, some ditches and steps, a corner and two turning combinations.  The fences however, came up really fast and it was difficult to find a forward rhythm.

 

Over all though I was really happy with H and he stormed round bar one hiccup where we had an argument regarding pace in one combination and got too close to the second part (typically my father managed to get the whole round on video but at this one fence his footing slipped and gets an unbalanced shot- so you can’t really see what happened!).  Although, this hiccup confirmed my thoughts that BE100 is no longer proving a challenge for him and we do need to step up.

 

It turns out we added 3.2 time (which I admit to being slightly disappointed about at first!), however, I later saw the results and out of the 128 competitors to run over the BE100 XC only 16 made the time, which made me feel slightly better about the situation, although I could certainly use some pace training over the next few weeks!

 

So after such a lovely day I’ve finally decided to take James advice (he’s been telling us since last year!) to step up next time out! EEEEKKKKKK!!!

 

And to top it off we even left with an 8th place frilly!