A journey from the corporate industry into the world of saddlery
It’s been approximately a month since I last posted anything on here and the one thing I can’t get my head around is that we are just 3 days away from May, how did that happen?
I have some news I’d like to share with you all being as it’s been so long since I last wrote…
On Sunday we had snow again…bloody weather!
The rug’s are doing their job though and keeping the boys nice and warm and dry…however, on Wednesday the rugs came off and stayed off.
On Tuesday Olly had his feet done. Our Farrier, Ryan Darbyshire, is great. He understands Olly’s seperation issues and because Olly was only having a trim Ryan came into the horses field and he trimmed him there and then. When we arrived they were all lying down on the brow of the hill in the sunshine. Olly was so content where he was that I got his headcollar on whilst he was lying down and had to give him a gentle pull…
It has been another week of feed, check over and run I’m afraid as work has started to pick up and the children seem to have more and more going on in their social life than I do, so I end up being a taxi.
Anyway, Monday (5th) was a special visit because my daughter who is 11yrs old came with me to visit the horses. She’s not as horsey mad as I was at her age but that could be a good thing, right?! We didn’t have her wellies in the car so she just had nose rubs with Olly over the gate, here are a couple of pictures to show you…
Back in November (2017) I attended another training session at the Saddlery Training Centre in Salisbury…to embark upon the Level 2 Saddle Making training.
According to the City and Guilds Level 2 Saddlery specification I am required to make a pony saddle using a wooden saddle tree. The seat must be pigskin or hide, the skirts and flaps must be solid with knee rolls and gussets being optional. The panel should be a Continental or Saumur type and the filling should be wool only.
Here is my 16.5″ pony saddle wooden tree that I was welcomed with…
Week 7 of Olly’s update is very dull due to the aftermath of Storm Emma/Beast from the East.
In true British style the News stations were totally right. We see a flurry of snow and the country goes to pot.
I get it though, after living in town for the first 30 years of my life, I have witnessed people driving in snow conditions that would question how on earth they got a licence in the first place but now that we live out in the sticks, a flurry of snow grinds most traffic to a standstill and the only traffic we do end up seeing is eitherthe odd brave Artic lorry perservering with its delivery trip, a tractor or a 4×4 of some sort.
My sincere thoughts and praise must be given to the 1000’s of farmers in our country who continue to look after their livestock in this weather as well as help their communites to clear main roads and lanes…
It’s half term week and the children are off school. I’ve still had to work and like most parents who also have to work are probably more busier than when the kids are at school, so most of the week apart from Tuesday we have been so busy that we have quickly fed and watered and checked the horses and then run…
This week the day’s have pretty much mulled into the same result as I was mega busy at work, so from Day 15 – Day 20 I pretty much went up to feed the horses, check they were all ok and went back to work.
The weather has been miserable most of the week to be honest so I don’t think either of us minded. I have also ordered a brand new turnout rug online; I so can’t wait to receive it.
Here is a picture of Olly and my son, Xander having a moment on Sunday together…
We were on route to The British Equestrian Trade Association (Beta) International event at the NEC, Birmingham today for the majority of the day…so I had to quickly make up Olly and Eddie’s buckets and feed them in the field first thing in the morning which was all good with no dramas. It was pretty miserable outside with non stop fine rain; Olly was soaked through his rug as the reproof was obviously no longer working…I remember being told in the past to never take a soaked through wet rug off as it could cause a chill to the horse, however upon asking for help on social media about a rug I was inundated with advice and assistance. Apparently it CAN cause a chill to leave the wet rug on and so it is best to take it off …I was unable to remove the rug that day due to being on route to the event…So he had to wait until the next day…
It’s become apparent that Olly has formed two different anxiety issues over time which when you think about it may well be interlinked.
Firstly, he seems anxious when he is seperated from his field buddies, Toffee and Eddie and secondly, he has become highly anxious when put into a stable.
When I brought Olly back in 2011 he didn’t seem to show any signs of any anxiety issues, but that’s not to say they weren’t there. He was afterall only 4 yrs old and what I could gather from his passport and his racing card, that he had been passed from pillar to post across both Europe and within the UK. Eventually he was finally sold off the racetrack just 4 months prior to me meeting him…
