Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Rachael

March and April Update

From a young age I was that annoying child that constantly pestered my parents about ponies, and when they finally gave in and I had my first riding lesson aged 7, that was it! I was hooked! Now at the age of 30, I am a McTimoney animal practitioner and sports massage therapist, working with horses of all disciplines, shapes and sizes, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As a practitioner, equine welfare, health and wellbeing, soundness and performance are important to me, so when the Petplan Equine sponsorship competition came up, I knew this would be an amazing opportunity for myself and my horses.

I currently own a 16hh Irish Thoroughbred called Sleet. Bought as a four year old, with oral plaque, he was certainly quirky about his head and ears, but he had a fantastic attitude to life and work, and has now become my ‘horse of a lifetime’. He tries his best at everything we do, and competes at least two or three times a month through winter and every week (sometimes twice a week) during the peak season. Sleet competes in low level eventing, dressage and show jumping, but our main area of competition is side saddle. I actually find that in the side saddle, due to it being sat slightly further back and distributed weight wise slightly differently, we get much better flat work and dressage scores!

My second pony is currently 11hh (and growing), named Tristan. He was purchased from Derby cattle market as one of four. When we first got them at the very young age of approximately four months old, they were a very sad and sorry state. Sold as six to eight months old, it was obvious that they weren’t and the vet was called to assess and point us in the right direction. All four had lice, a huge worm burden, and no baby teeth to even eat, so were fed milk replacement and creep feed until old enough to move onto ‘solids’. At one point I did have some serious concerns about little Tristan, he seemed to really pick up and show his personality, but then rapidly deteriorated and completely lost interest in life, refused to eat and lost a dramatic amount of weight that we had worked so hard to put on. After a vet visit, it was decided that a five day panacur was the best bet, and after just the first day, the worm burden that came from that tiny pony was devastating! A few weeks later he was on the mend again! Tristan is now a firm favourite with most people, mainly due to his cuteness and is an absolute sweetie to own.

This year I have also picked up a ride on Amanda Chatfields lovely horse Kingsclough Masquerade, stable name Marcus. He is a 16.3hh chestnut gelding, which competes regularly in BE eventing, dressage and now side saddle! So far we’ve had a lot of success, and aim to keep going throughout the 2015 season in the right direction!

I have had a nice steady start into the season:

February 1st – Sleet combined training at Hargate Equestrian. It was a fantastic day and we achieved 1st place in the novice class. Reasonable dressage and a clear jumping.

March 15th – Sleet combined training at Hargate Equestrian. A good day for Sleet, a nice 5th place with some great comments from the dressage judge and a clear show jumping.

March 22nd – Tristan at Long Eaton Riding club. A great day for the ‘Little Wing Man’. His first show of the year, and it was a great success, clean and white bits actually white! We came 3rd in the young stock class, 4th in coloureds and 6th in the cob class. I have to admit the cob class was probably the best result of the day, as the class was huge, and he was one of only two traditionals placed.

March 29th – Area 12 winter woollies side saddle show. Riding Marcus owned by Amanda Chatfield. Amazing day! We took 2nd in the Intermediate equitation, 2nd in the Open equitation, best turned out in both classes (which was down to Amanda and Chloe) and then the biggest shock, we were awarded Supreme Champion!

April 6th – Sleet combined training at Brooksby Melton College. The first class was done side saddle, sleets first time out sideways since the nationals in August 2014. We had some great scores and comments from the dressage judge with majority 7s (which is great for him as he is a low carrying thoroughbred who struggles to lift at the shoulder) and a speedy but clear show jumping! We finished 5th overall. The second class was astride, and again, great dressage despite the overwhelming heat in the indoor arena. The show jumping was great and clear until I made an error of course, eliminating us.

April 12th – Ripley Riders where I competed Sleet and Tristan. Well, a lesson learnt, do not take both horses out together. They screamed and shouted the entire day for each other and it made the whole day a bit of a nightmare. Results were also a mixed bag, with Sleet taking 2nd in the veteran, and 1st in the thoroughbred classes. Tristan however was not quite to the judges taste and was placed low in the young stock and coloured classes.

April 19th – Area 12 Spring side saddle show. Riding Amanda Chatfields Marcus. Another great and successful day side saddle. I finished 1st in the intermediate equitation, and 4th in the open (with 2 of the countries top riders in the class). But unfortunately, we were not placed in the championship this time.