Due to the snow we were unable to ride on Saturday so we had a best turned out show day instead. The standard was very high as for many people it was the first time they had done a best turned out show. This may become a regular event with the horses particularly during the holidays as it is useful practice for getting horses prepared for local shows. Many thanks for everyone who got involved with the day, everyone put in a huge amount of effort into making the day a huge success. The rosettes had to be specially ordered so they and the certificates will be handed out next week.

Getting prepared. The ponies had their manes tails and legs washed in warm water and dried off quickly with towels.

The little ponies were very patient but many had to wear rugs while waiting as it was a cold day.

There was some help with the plaiting but everyone was encouraged to have a go. Justine was particularly helpful in plaiting tails!

Indy won first prize overall as she had a good overall turnout with the bridle having been cleaned, legs being washed and mane and tail cleaned and plaited. It was also taken into account that Indy's legs had been coverd in stable stains as she is currently on box rest and also Tom had been working on his own and had not had practice preparing a horse for a show before. Tom also won best individual effort.

Belle won second prize overall with Alice Teah and Jade getting her ready. Her mane had been plaited by Alice and Teah with no outside help and her tail had been very difficult to plait as she is a sweet itch sufferer in the summer so her tail had not fully grown back. All three of her helpers had worked hard getting her coat clean as she has very poor skin so suffers from dandruff. Bell won the best improved overall as she had looked quite poor to start with but looked great afterwards!

Tara was third overall with Jasmine and Penny. Tara also won the prize for the best plaited mane and tail as both her tail and mane had been well washed and plaited with a feather in her tail which the judges felt matched Tara's personality well.

Coco came fourth overall with Shona and Ellie. He also won the best legs as a lot of work went in to getting his legs clean as they were covered in stable stains and mud. His mane was very difficult to plait but a good effort was made with very little help.

Maisey came fifth overall with Maria and Tarin and was the most improved little pony. She had been very dirty and so had been difficult to clean up. Her tail was particularly good as it had been filthy but was cleaned up nicely. her mane also had been nicely plaited.

Toby came sixth with Kezzia and Leanne. He looked great and also had the best coat overall (despite the bites from playing with Ted). His legs were clean with his socks coming out as particularly white and his mane and tail had been well finished with two pink bows. Heidi had her first go at plaiting a mane which looked great! He had been very patient to be washed and plaited which was good as patience is not Toby's best quality!

Minnie with Katy and Amelia won the special prize for the best legs for the small pony as his had been washed particularly well and had no shampoo left in. His coat also looked great as he had used lots of coat conditioner.

Freddy with Sophie and Amelia got a special prize for the best mane and tail for a little pony. he looked lovely and his legs were also very clean.

Bess with Shona and Ellie won the Special prize for best tack as she was one of the few who remembered to clean her bridle. Bess looked stunning but ran out of time as Shona and Elly had two horses to do.

Bobby with Kezzia and Leanne had a special prize for the cleanest head. Unfortunately Bobby only joined in at the last minute as he was feeling left out so he did not have the same amount of washing as the others but he still looked good.

This show was at Houndsfield Lane Wythall. Amelia,Jasmine, Alice, Kezzia, Jemma, Nina, Billie and Heidi took Maisy, Bobby, Bess, Merlin, Indy and Freddie. It was a very windy day and even the jump wings were blowing over so the horses were very unsettled so almost every one fell off at least once. They still did well as Freddie won second in the Mountain and Moorland and second in the youngstock, Maisy came first in the pony with filmstar quality and also got a clear round, Merlin came first in the L-plates Jumping, Bess got three clear rounds, Bobby came fifth in the family pony and Indy won the prettiest mare, came second in the best riding club pony and got a clear round. Well done all for coping with difficult conditions and especially for getting back on after falling off. Special thanks go to Leanne and Lauren for helping and for Ros for driving the trailer.

As the landrover was still being repaired we were unable to take all of the horses that we wanted to to the showjumping. Nina took Indy and hacked her there. Indy has not done much jumping before so she was quite difficult at first. Luckily there were not many people there at all so she had plenty of time to practice. Eventually Indy was jumping much more confidently and she was given a rosette for a good try.

The loans this week have gone very well. Buster particularly has settled down a lot and is feeling much happier in his new home. Today Apollo, Mo and Indy went up to Solihull club with George and Nina. They hired the indoor school and used it to practice jumping. The jumps were very small as Indy and Mo are just working on gaining confidence at jumping and Apollo is trying to learn to calm down over jumping as he gets very excited.  All in all it went very well and then Jemma left to hack into Alvechurch with Buster as he is practicing going out on his own. Well done to all who loaned this week!!

Today was the tuesday evening clear round showjumping. Unfortunately there was not time to ride Buster today but Indy and Apollo were worked at Solihull.  In the afternoon the horses tails were washed as well as their legs and we took Ted, Bobby, Bess And Merlin to the jumping. Bess was much more confident about traveling as she loaded straight away and had not sweated up when she got there. Ted and Lauren jumped well and although they did not jump clear they were much better than last time as this is now Ted's second time at a show so he understood what to expect. Bess was a little excited as she had been jmping much bigger last time she was in the ring so jade found it hard to steady her and to turn so although she jumped clear she turned over her own track so she did not get a rosette. Lauren also rode Bobby who was much improved on last time as he did not throw her off and he completed his round confidently. Jemma and Merlin jumped clear over the  1'6''  so did the next round which was 2' and that was almost clear but with one run out. As the people handing out rosettes were not concenrating Jemma got the rosette anyway as they gave it to her before she had chance to say that she hadn't jumped clear. All in all the horses did very well and Kezzia also rode Merlin over the practise fences as well as Jasmine warming up Ted and Alice warming up Bess. Nina also rode Bobby as he managed to unseat Lauren when practising the higher fences but Nina also came off as she is rather tall for Bobby so finds it hard to stay on when he refused and then did a cat leap. It was a very funny looking leap that he did so it mostly made people laugh and no one was hurt. The horses traveled back safely and were happy to come home to their stables although none of them had got very sweaty as they had only been worked steadily. Well done all and many thanks to Ros for driving.

At ten o'clock we had a visit from an ecologist who was looking to approve the work that is about to start on the stables. She has now approved the work and so we can go ahead with the concrete base for the first lot of stables. Hopefully the work will start very soon as we have encountered a lot of problems in trying to get these new stables put in. In the afternoon Ros took everyone to Solihull as Jasmine and Nina were part loaning Indy and Amelia and Alice were part loaning Apollo. Nina had her day off today but the other three rode and the tackroom had a tidy up. Apollo and Indy are quite new to Alice and Jasmine so this was an interesting challenge. Later Jemma took Buster for another schooling session on the menage. This time he was much more settled as he understood what was expected and he was more familiar with his surroundings. He worked well and Jemma was very pleased with him. Well done all!

As it was still wet on the field all the horses had to be ridden out on Sunday. Nina and George rode out early from the Solihull field on Indy and Apollo. They rode up to the club but the grounds were closed and the members field was very wet and boggy so they went down Conker lane and into Knowle village. The horse were both very good but Mona was upset at being left behind and han managed to escape from her paddock and had been galloping round the whole field as she had left lots of hoof marks in the grass. She was settled and grazing when the other horses got back so they were left together in her paddock and after a quick canter round they settled to graze. At the home field Jemma, jade, Alice, Lauren, Kezzia and Jasmine rode out on Merlin, bess, Belle , Ted, Bobby and Maisey. They went on a long ride out and ended up at the back of Swanshurst Park. There they praciced jumping ditches. Some of the horses were quite confident at this but Maisey and Merlin were just led over as they seemed unsure. All went well and the horses enjoyed the work as the field has been very wet so they have not had much turnout.

Today the horses at the home field went out out for a hack. Just as they got back it started to rain so all of the horses at the home field were stabled until it dried up. George, Heidi and Amelia went to the Solihull field and schooled Apollo and Indy. Ros and Lauren went to check on Tuppence whilst Jade and Jemma were very good and tidied the tack-room, the caravan and the feed-shed. George, Amelia, Heidi, Jade and Jemma did the last check on Buster. He was calm to handle but was still not happy about being separated from his new friends and was unsettled when tied up in the yard having his feed. Everyone was very tired and most are planning on an early night tonight.