Tanya Buckingham

Braving the outdoors

Well it's been a very long winter with plenty of snow and ice to contend with!! Luckily I was able to keep all my ponies in work unlike most people I have talked to!! The weather did however scupper all my plans of hunting,showjumping and being a dressage diva - all were registered but had nowhere to go!!!!
I finally braved coming out of the little indoor school last week and went jumping for the first time- needless to say they were all totally bonkers but after a few schooling sessions they managed to buckle down in time to behave at Aintree at the weekend!! I had qualified 4 horses for the Oliver Townend Eventing Challenge and all 4 were placed at the Championships (Sparkle 2nd, Jack 3rd, Squirrel 5th and Bob 6th) so a good day was had by all!!!!

Over the winter Bob got an allergic reaction to something - we think it was pine trees and came out in spots! Luckily Anne Priestman from Dengie was able to advise us what to feed him as the sugar in the haylage seemed to be making him worse. So after changing his diet to that of only Alfa- A Molasses Free and Alfa-Beet by the bucket load the spots have, touch wood, gone away for good!!
Hopefully they will stay away as I have just sent my entry off for the National Dressage Championships in April which Bob qualified for....this will be a culture shock no doubt as we eventers don't "do" posh dressage events. We prefer to do a test in the mud with loud speakers and wild horses everywhere! So I will keep you posted on how that goes.

I have also entered ...and been balloted....from my first event of the season- with over 200 too many entries Oasby has been in-undated with people wanting to event early on! Luckily the organisers have put on an extra day although it will be unaffiliated as BE wouldn't let them have an official extra days competition!! So Bud and Jack will get to party but not at an official BE day, never mind I'm sure it will blow the cobwebs out the system and set them up for the season!

The feed I have been giving to my horses has increased slightly as their workload has increased - they are now getting a small amount of Fibremix along with Alfa-A Oil and Alfa-Beet, as well as their haylage....I was at a BEF day last weekend and we had a feeding talk and the key idea from the talk was to feed more fibre to the competition horse as well as your everyday riding horses- not only does it provide more than enough energy but also helps prevent gastric problems - so I was pleased to know that that's exactly what Dengie encourages and why I can't recommend their feeds enough to people!!!!

Will let you know how the first events of the season go!!!

Tanya