ponies ponies everywhere

Firstly I'm writing this whilst watching Comic Relief and Snow Patrol were fricking amazing and Lifening makes me cry and it was all just beautiful and I can never make it to 'a father like my Dad' before crying like a baby and Gary is my hero. 
So last Saturday I had another horsey day, which was pretty hilarious even though Molly went lame (sad face, but she's fine now!), Sparkie frustrated me, I frustrated myself and Victor was a bit awkward.. but it was such a good day, even better seeing as I didn't have work, yay! Here are some pictures..

good ponies! Managed to get a bit of riding in this week now that the days are getting lighter yay! Rode Jack and he was a bit nappy and rushed a bit, but he's only three so he's most definitely forgiven seeing as 90% of the time he's perfect! Also lunged Sparkie over some fences which was pretty hilarious, as he just ran round the school having a whale of a time while I ran behind him clinging on to the lunge rope...'twas fun! 

Beth, Sparkie, Jack & Carling :) xxx

because tack is over rated..

hello peoples! so today I completed one of my life time goals..I rode Sparkie tackless! Not the first time I've ever done it I'll admit it, but it's the first time I've managed to get pictures and    we haven't done it in ages, so yay :) It's been something I've been working on for a few weeks and it hasn't really gone exactly to plan... he understands neck reining and listening to your seat really well, however he has a bit of a habit of climbing out the arena or running through the fence, so it's not really practical to try it in the outdoor as I honestly wouldn't put it past him to jump the fence with me or something crazy! so today we tried in the indoor and even though we didn't exactly have maximum control he went really nicely..better than he does with tack!? I will never understand this pony eh...

Also, we went for our first hack of the year on Saturday which was...interesting to say the least. He's not the best pony to hack and our first time out in a while is always a bit of a hairy experience..to sum it up, we got lost, ended up staying out for 6 hours and I had to get off three times! The first time was when he had a fit down a little country road, spining round, napping and threatening to rear for what seemed like no apparent reason, but when I got off and lead him, it turned out there were pigs round the corner so I'll let him off! The second time however, was the same shannigans, but over a pile of mud this time..not quite as forgivable there sparks! And then the third time was simply because his saddle slipped back, haha, oh I do love having a small pony! 

Goodbye for now mon amies! xxx

happiness.

Well, I will warn you in advance, this blog is likely to be full of emotional cheese...you have been warned.
So, I was sitting down the other day just pondering life, yanoo as you do, and it kind of just hit me...life isn't actually all that bad. And for some reason, I'm not too sure what's possessed me, but I felt the need to write this blog, so when things are not so good, I can read this and realise just how great life actually is at the moment.
 Last week I officially made the decision that I wouldn't be competing Sparkie this year. After having such a crap season of it last year, we'd pretty much decided to give up with him anyway, but recently I'd been umming and aaahing not sure whether to give it another chance, but then last Wednesday I finally made a decision. The sun was shining, I jumped him with no martingale, no fancy tack, no extras, just a simpe snaffle bridle, we got our strides wrong, we cat leapt, stopped, had a good gallop, almost fell of a couple of times.. we had fun. It just made me think, this is why I brought this pony, this is why I've stuck with him for so long, because he's fun and actually, I really won't miss not taking him to shows, because that isn't fun for us. Making that decision has literally felt like a weight off my shoulders!
plus(if it wasn't cheesy enough allready!) I just got thinking about a lot of other things. Over the last three years, I will openly admit that I have really, really struggled. I'm obviously not going to write my whole life story on the internet and I'm definately not looking for the sympathy vote, as I know people who've been through a hell of a lot worse. I never realised how much I took my family and my horses for granted before, I was one of those kids who read stories in magazines or watched other kids in the playground worrying over family things and I used to feel sorry for them, but never worry because 'it would never be me', which I think is partly why I completely lost a grip on anything. It's hard to really put down in words without seeming like a pathetic loser(hehe) the feeling of being lost. There is no way to understand what it feels like to not want to be alive unless you've ever felt like that.
 But the other day, I sat down and realised to myself, that actually I really, really like my life now. Maybe change isn't always good, but you can learn over time to cope with change, to accept it and look onto the future instead of wishing for the past. I have so many amazing friends right now, the most beautiful horse that I am immensley proud of and my awkwardly adorable little pony that made me feel life could actually be ok sometimes, who I will have a whole 5 years this year(crazaaaaay).
 May have some exciting news soon, fingers crossed, I really, really hope this goes ahead as it would be perfect for me! Bring on the rest of 2013...
 Now I just have to hope no one ever finds this or reads it and thinks I'm a total moron, muahahha, please no D:
love Bef, Sparkmeister, Jackalina & C-Dawg.

Jack has an adventure...

Hello! For the first time, in what...6 months!?...today, the...wait no, you won't believe it. Well, the sun came out. 


*recovers from shock*. It was actually a really lovely day, so much so that ponies had to strip off a layer, please say summer is hurrying itself along!? Anyhoo, went up the yard with Maddie and had a lovely morning, gave Sparks a quick lunge before tomorrow and he was a very good boy, despite not being overly pleased at having side reins back on, muahaha..horse abuse, I know. Still mega pleased with how much he's come on on the lunge, such an achievement for him! Also gave him a quick canter on each reins after and he was very polite and didn't try to take off like he usually does with no martingale, so fingers crossed he's finally getting it into his head that he should have born a show pony...maybe.

how adorable is he though! And a quick video of our attempt at walk to canter on the lunge... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLqvGtvdERY

Next was Jack's turn! Haven't done anything with him since the start of the year due to the weather, but as per he was not phased in the slightest! He goes lovely in both walk and trot now(far better than Sparkie, oops embarrassing eh Sparks) and even managed a little canter (ON THE CORRECT LEG GUYS) on both reins after a lot of persuasion and pony club kicking... he understands perfectly well the word 'canter' and the leg aids for canter, it's just that really, he prefers to go no faster than..well, halt tbh, lazy child! After that, decided to take him for a walk down the lane to cool him off and once again he was a star, even had a little trot! Not phased by cars or even a very scary hoover, aaaaah I love him so much! 

Beth, Sparkie, Jack & Carling! xxxx

happy times!

Well..I have a lot to update on! Last weekend was such a fab weekend, spent Saturday with some of my favourite horsey people and rode the amazing Molly, Bella and of course Sparkie! All three were tres bien, especially impressed by how confident Sparkie was feeling, flew 1m without any hesitation at all which isn't like him..hope he carries on like this!

just a few photos!

On the down side, Carling went really lame with laminitis and when the vet came out they came to the conclusion that he had Cushings disease and would be on tablets for the rest of his life...however today we got the blood test results back to find that they were clear and it was just brought on by the frost after all, not Cushings which is great news, so happy! He's certainly feeling better if his display of bucking and rearing and cantering around the indoor with Sparkie and Jack tonight is anything to go by! Got lots planned for the next few weeks, so keep your eyes pealed ;) 
Beth, Sparkie, Jack & Carling! xxx

Hi February.

Hi guys! Just a quick blog as I felt like I had to share how fabby Mr Sparkline was tonight.. gave him a quick lunge after school, just in his bridle, no side reins or anything fancy as was losing the light, and he was tres bien! Walk, trot, canter both reins, completely on command with no other encouragement, even walk to canter and then back to walk. Doesn't sound like much I know, but just 6 months ago lunging was an impossibility for Sparks. He'd go decently enough on one rein, but as soon as you tried to get him to go the other way.. NU UH, he was having none of it! Spinning round, charging at you, dragging me across the arena... I've done so much lunging with him in side reins etc over winter and it was just so nice today to see how much he'd actually come on and that hard work does actually pay off(sometimes!) Especially made me smile seeing as it's been a bit of a mixed up week... not seeing the horses so much and a few other things that have gone on this week have really made me realise how much of an anchor that little pony is for me, aw I love him! 
Hope everyone is doing fab! Beth, Sparkie, Carling & Jack :) xx

sometimes my pony is rather good..

hello all! ( by all, I mean both of my two followers, awks.) So, in the last couple of days I have actually managed to do the impossible..I RODE GUYS. As in, I rode, guys, just to clear that up, oops. That really sounded a lot better in my head...

 So yes, I rode Sparkie for the first time in 3 weeks and I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised! On Thursday, we just did some schooling(in jumping gear, as me and my Dad came to the conclusion that the 'brakes bridle' may be needed after 3 weeks of nothingness!) 

He was fab! Schooled really nicely, in our standards anyway, lots of nice transitions and coming back to me, which is always a good thing with Mr Tank Pony. Also did a bit of neck reining, ready for tackless riding and he seemed to pick it up quite quickly, clever boy! 

Then today I gave him a little jump, did a lot of work on transitions before and after the fence and lots of canter to rein back etc to get him listening and he was honestly so,so good, love it when he goes like today! He felt amazing, eeek! Popped everything no problemo, until I stuck it up a hole and then boooooom, brakes on..but hey, that's just Sparkie, anything over 2ft6, he doesn't want to know and he was so good other than that I had to let him off and just popped him over a cross pole to finish..silly no confidence pony, you can jumped 1m20 you fool, hehe..He then saw something very, very scary, as in hyperventilating worthy scary and I suddenly found myself at the other end of the drive, holding on to the rains, wondering how I got there with a snorting, shaking pony at the other end..oh Sparks. Bless him, hope he carries on like this..now just to decided what to do with him this year, sigh...any ideas? ;)

Beth, Sparkie, Jack & Carling! xxxx