Redwings Horse Sanctuary: Ada Cole

Loved this little pony!

This past weekend (21st November) saw my niece turn five. As a surprise/birthday present from me I decided to adopt a pony from Redwings so on Sunday we took a trip to their Ada Cole centre. When I was younger, about 6 or 7, my parents took me to the Caldecott centre to adopt a pony for me there as we couldn't afford a horse at the time. I adopted Rusty and still have that adoption now. Unfortunately, Rusty recently passed away and my adoption was passed over to a sweet little pony called Cauli. Hopefully next year I'll take my niece over for a visit as I haven't actually seen her but unfortunately the Caldecott centre is shut for winter. 

The Ada Cole centre is actually smaller than what I was expecting but it's still a lovely place for a visit. I already had an idea in mind about who my niece would adopt but we went for a walk round the fields to look at all the horses and donkeys there. The Ada Cole centre has four adoptions: Tinkerbell, Elvis, Dolly and Del Boy the donkey. Sofie fell in love with Tinkerbell (which I was expecting) and is now adopting her! She absolutely adored all the little ponies in the paddock with Tinkerbell and I had a hard time pulling her away from them! She also questioned why she couldn't ride them, oops! 

Tinkerbell

With Christmas approaching, why not consider an adoption for someone you know? At Redwings it's £12.50 a year and includes letters and photos a few times a year along with an invitation to the horse's birthday party. There are also numerous other charities which offer an adoption scheme and there are plenty of centres around to go and visit! 

Thanks for reading,
Laura xx

Twitter Meet-Up

This is actually a few days late but unfortunately, after getting back from the meet-up, I randomly got rather ill for a few days :(

If you use Twitter, you may be aware that there are various '#hours' that run each night with their being an equestrian themed one now every day of the week (typically between 8 and 9pm!). It was during Wednesday evening's one (#equestrianhour) one time that someone mentioned about having a bit of a meet-up and the next thing, one had been planned! This took place on Sunday at a small hotel in Buxton where there were seven of us who met up for afternoon tea. I think I actually travelled the furthest (& I had to drive up/down some ridiculously steep and twisty road!) but it was well worth the journey. 

As mentioned, seven of us attended in total:

• E-Dressage Ltd
• Style Reins
• Nicola Cranham Dressage
• Equine Diamonds
• Tail End Jewellery

It was such a lovely afternoon and so nice to put a face behind everyone who I interact with on twitter regularly. 

If you're on twitter, I strongly recommend you interact with some of the hours as there's always a lovely bunch of people to chat to and sometimes some great competitions!

Thanks for reading,

Laura xx

[Laura Loves] Autumn Colours: Reds & Purples

Deep purple/red shades such as burgundy and plum are my absolute favourites for autumn! Before I ended up in a job where I'm not allowed nail varnish, I would always crack out my gorgeous berry shade nail varnish as soon as the leaves started turning! This year, I seem to be turning this love into equestrian items! There seems to be so many gorgeous saddlepads and breeches coming out this year in 'must have' autumn shades!

I bought Pea this LeMieux plum set from Burghley and I have to admit that it looks amazing on him! It's so nice, sometimes, having a grey when there are so many colour options to suit! 

I discovered Aztec Diamond earlier in the year and follow them on social media, including instagram. When these aubergine breeches popped up on on my feed I just knew they had to be added to my wishlist. At £90, they are a bit more than what I tend to want to spend on a pair of breeches but after buying a pair of Aztec Diamond breeches a few months back, I can guarantee these will be worth the money! They are, however, in competition with the breeches below:

These HKM Lauria Garrelli Paris breeches are so pretty! I spied them on Equus a few months back but they were out of stock and have only recently been restocked. Again at £94 they are more than I wish to spend but they are high on my wishlist as I do love them! I'd love to see them in person so if anyone has any or knows any one who does please let me know!! 

And finally, I have grown quite fond of this RiderbyHorse cherry red set. I love the binding as it makes the pad stand out a bit more rather than being quite plain. I've seen some images on instagram of it on various horses and it looks amazing! 

Thanks for reading,

Laura xx

Podcast Feature

A few weeks ago, I received a message from the lovely Steve/@HorseHour on twitter asking if I would be interested in participating in a podcast. For those of you who may not be aware, Horse Hour is a social networking hour that has been running for two years now, every Monday from 8pm for an hour (though people continue to chat past the hour and all week!). It is a great way to chat to new people, get great advice from a range of experts and mainly have a fun hour! I have come to know many different people through #HorseHour and now there are many other hours throughout the week to join in on! 

So back to the podcast! Steve put me in touch with the ever lovely Amy Stevenson who emailed me a brief overview of what the podcast would be like, before getting a brief overview of what I do, my history with horses and any potential topics we could chat about. It turned out that we had a bit in common with us both having a bad horse buying experience. Obviously, I'm not going to give anything away so if you want to have a listen then please click here.

There is also some bit chat from the wonderful Matt Waterworth (@thebitexpert - he knows his stuff!) as he explains the history of bits and how to choose the right one. 

I hope you enjoy the podcast if you gave it a listen! I was actually rather nervous about it, especially finding out that I was going to be on the first one! Wasn't quite expecting that but luckily Amy was super friendly to chat to and it literally did just feel like chatting to a friend!

Thanks for reading,

Laura xx 

[Monthly Review] October 2015

October started well as I decided to really crack on with Pea and see if we could overcome the behavioural issues we were having. I started to note some improvement in that he would trot for a few strides longer before stopping, but then as soon as I put my leg on, he did actually go!

Canter was slowly getting there; as long as we did large circles and not too many strides he was happy. However, I did start noticing on the lunge that he was really struggling to keep his balance in canter on the right rein and was virtually motor-biking round which was slightly worrying! 

He had the vet come out mid-October to examine the lump on his stifle and x-ray/scan it (you can read it here). However, it was found not too be anything major and also showed no arthritis so the vet does not think it has any role in his behaviour. He then had the physio shortly after who believes that he is stiff all over (read that here) and so we're putting him on a bute trial for November to see if it helps. 

Pea had the last week or two of October off/quite easy due to long working hours and he also turned into a fluffy teddy bear which is rather annoying! Luckily, he's getting clipped again next week and he will shortly be coming in again at night and will also start having his magnetic pad on. Goodbye lie-ins, hello early mornings! 

Thanks for reading,
Laura xx