Monday 26 May 2014

[Laura Loves] Show Fleeces

Hello!

I am now officially finished from uni! Such a scary yet exciting prospect! I had my one and only exam on Friday, which, fingers crossed went well, so now that is it! It's been quite weird realising that I do not have any work to do...for the past two weeks I have been busy revising and the past 5-6 months have been spent doing dissertation work, assignments, extra uni work, basically just work work work, so now that it's over I'm at a slight loss! However, my sister is getting married Friday so this week is busy getting organised for that so I think next week for definite I will be at a sudden loss! Though at least it will mean that Pea can finally get back into routine work as it's been a bit lack recently due to uni and whatever! 

Anyway, onto this post! Although Pea already has 3 fleeces, they have become stable/under rugs and therefore, me being me, I feel that I need a nice posh looking one that is strictly for competition/travelling use! You may remember a vaguely similar one where I wrote about three show shirts, trying to decide which to pick (you can read that here). I still haven't yet bought one as I haven't been out competing, however, I recently spotted the Equetech Lacie in a local tack shop and quite liked it in person so I may drag mum along to get her opinion! 

The first one is the Buster Fleece Rug by Premier Equine. I think this is a particularly popular choice among people and I think I would go for the burgundy as it matches his travel bandages. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about it whether it's quite heavy as Pea can sweat a bit travelling so I obviously don't want him to get too hot during those in-between days where it's not quite warm enough to travel without a rug... Though I do also like their Buster Cool Sheet and their Premtex Cooler
Buster Fleece Rug
The second is the Rambo Grand Prix Show Rug. This one has the braiding detail at the back and also states that it has high wicking properties which would be useful if he does happen to get sweaty whilst travelling. It is, however, more pricey but my mum did mention about possibly getting me one for my birthday so who knows! I also like the Airmax Cooler though I have a feeling that may end up turning into a stable rug! 
Rambo Grand Prix Show Rug
The final one is the Comfort Zone Lapel Rug. This is similar to the Premier Equine one I guess and is slightly more expensive but I like the contrast round the whither area!
 
Comfort Zone Lapel Rug
I'm pretty sure I will pick one if the Premier Equine ones, just which one...? Oh, I'm so bad at decisions! 

Which is your favourite? What rug do you travel yours in? Let me know!

Thanks for reading, 
Laura xx




Tuesday 13 May 2014

All the small things #2

Hello!

I have decided to make this a bit of a regular thing as I have found myself out hacking, or in the middle of revision, or quite typically anywhere, thinking of more little things about Pea that make me smile. So, here are my next five!

#1: There's a sort of gap in the hedge out hacking and no matter how many times he goes through it he still freaks out over it! He has to properly slow down and look once he gets to 'the other side' despite the fact it's exactly the same! 

#2: He really doesn't know what to make of little Shetlands! He finally got used to Mitch but she's now unfortunately been put down, yet after nearly 6 years of hacking past the mini's he still freaks out and won't go anywhere near them! We've also got a new Shetland and he saw him the other day and just stood there, refusing to move! 

#3: He's so well behaved lunging now! I can do it twice a week or once a month and he obediently goes out on the circle and doesn't misbehave. He used to do one or two circles then stop and face me refusing to move, but after spending over 10 minutes one day just flicking the lunge whip at him with him facing me bucking and rearing he seems to have finally realised that I mean business! 

#4: His little annoyance he occassionally has with his feed bucket. I use the tub trug ones so they've got the highish sides which is a good thing because he has a habit of kicking it often with his head still in the bucket...

#5: There's a hill at the front of his field (well there's lots) but when I turn him out and he wants a roll, he'll go half away up the hill and roll. When he first did it, he freaked out when he rolled over and was coming down the hill, but now he seems to love it! Must be a lot of effort though! 

I still have plenty more and seem to keep adding so there will be more another time! 

Thanks for reading!
Laura xx

Saturday 10 May 2014

Newmarket Guineas

Hello!

Last weekend, I headed down to Newmarket to visit a friend who has been on placement there for the past year as she invited me along to the Guineas. I'm not a massive race-goer but I do love a good day out, especially when the sun is shining. I went on both the Saturday and the Sunday seeing both the 1000 and 2000 guineas as well as the other races which were held. I'm not much of a gambler either so don't really place many bets, but if I do then I rarely go for the favourite! I love it when the favourite doesn't win in some cases (so bad I know, but hey, it's horses!) and this was shown in the 2000 guineas when it was a complete outsider who raced over the finish line first! Must be such a great feeling for the jockey and trainer as well as owner to know that their horse who wasn't pegged for much wins! Just goes to show anything can happen! 

I love the whole atmosphere of the races where you get all the rich and posh people along with the commoners like myself! You also get a great mix of 'horsey' people and those who have very little idea other than that they have 4 legs and need to run fast! However, once the race starts, it doesn't matter your background, everyone just starts cheering loudly for whichever horse they have bet on...a lot of the time you just hear numbers rather than names! 

Have you been to the races lately? 

Thanks for reading, 
Laura xx