Hello All

I hope everyone has survived the winter months, spring is in the air, flowers are blooming, the days are longer and the weather is heating up.  To us horse people it means stallions and mares are hormonal, weed spraying needs to be done, there is so much horse hair around the place you can’t keep up with the broom and antihistamine will be your best friend.   Don’t get me wrong  – I love this time of year but I’m sure we can all relate to this somehow.

Over here in WA we have started our busiest time of the showing year.   At the end of August we had the Gosnells Masters (a Grand National qualifier) which was a great success for me as one of my new horses “Jackkman” won the Hunter Hack and I got R/up Champion Rider.   A week earlier “Jackkman” won at his first show at the Pinjarra Championship day.   Hugh, as we call him around the stable, is proving to be a Dark Horse what you might say.

Each month we are progressing with the property.   The new arena is now floodlit, the shell of 7 stables are now complete, and the last of the day yards are close to completion.   We are planning a opening in the near future.   I have a close friend who owns a winery who has agreed to sponsor the opening and we have stallion displays, trade stands and band all ready awaiting  the opening date.   I will keep you all informed on the date.

In the coming month in WA we have the Perth Royal, EWA HOTY and the start of all our Agricultural Shows around the state.   I wish you all the best for the coming spring with your horse activities.   Make sure if you have any questions pleases feel free to contact me through Nature Vet or my e-mail (richardr.75@hotmail.com) and I will be sure to answer your queries or questions.

Regards

Richard

 PS   Photos of Jackkman below

Had a great day out yesterday with Primadonna, arriving home with 4 broad sashes from Mudgee Agricultural Show. She recived Champion Led Hack, Champion Led Throughbred, Champion Hack and I was awarded Champion Senior Rider.  

I am now preparing her for the Southern NSW Hack Championships in Canberra on the 18 and 19 September. 

Happy Riding – bring on spring.

Courtney

Hi everyone, well, we have a pretty quiet time lately with the horses, with them coming into work last week ….. they worked super, as if they hadn’t had a day off, refreshed and happy!

Our lovely pony, Henry (aka Rathowen Paladin) has a new home with a gorgeous little girl in NSW.   The pair have teamed up well and he is loving his new home and rider.

I have been busy at school with various things and our netball has been a focal point for the last couple of months.   We have our Grand Final this weekend and then it will be full attention to the horses, with not much time until our first outing – that being Macquarie Bank ACT Championships.   With the help of the NatureVet products, they should be back looking themselves in no time!

Good luck to everyone showing at Adelaide Royal this week - this is one Royal I would love to compete at but it just happens to coincide with the netball finals.

Look forward to competing again soon and catching up with my friends.

Until next time, happy riding

Billie McEvoy : )

Hi all, well it has been a great few months since the last blog.   I hope you have all been doing well.

I have attended several competitions and had some great results.   At the National Young Rider Championships Brentanus was Novice & Elementary Champion, Remi World Vision was Intermediate 1 Champion and BJ Kaneto Casablanca was the Champion of  both the CDI-Y Individual and Freestyle tests.   Brenda Wittmann Classic I was Small Tour Reserve Champion with Remi World Vision, Advanced Reserve Champion with BJ Kaneto Casablanca and Elementary Reserve Champion with Brentanus.   The NADEC Horseland Championships was again a great show,  BJ Kaneto Casablanca won the PSG and was 2nd in the intermediate 1, Brentanus placed 2nd in both the elementary and medium and Remi World Vision placed 3rd in the intermediate 1.

Come next Wednesday we will be off to Tamworth for the NSW State Championships.

So until the next blog I wish everyone all the best.   Again a huge thank you to Nature Vet for the wonderful sponsorship, your products are of great benefit to my team and make this all possible.

Victoria

AUGUST 2010

I was busy in all areas during August with Morgan working brilliantly at the Orange Grove Horse and Pony Club training day on August 1 and again at the SVDA day at Brookleigh on August 14.   Asadream went to KDA on August 13 and then also to SVDA on August 14 and was his usual delightful self at both venues after his initial shock at the rain and water everywhere at KDA!   He is looking magnificent and feeling so much stronger now since he began Natrozol Forte a couple of months ago.

 I travelled to Victoria and New South Wales for a few days at the start of August to look at ponies and horses and saw some absolutely superb animals.   I don’t know how anyone can say they have trouble finding a horse when there are so many lovely ones around.

 The middle of August I attended a 3 day SSTA/CE course at the SEC which couldn’t have been held at a worse time as far as I was concerned.   The following weekend was our 3 day event as well as a major dressage championship so all my event riders as well as dressage riders were keen to have lessons and yet for 3 days I was hardly available to teach at all!   Anyway – I had a good time at the course and enjoyed catching up with many other coaches.

 The last two weekends in August were all coaching with one day at Perth Dressage Club, one at WADYRA and one at Gnangara Adult Riding Club.   The photo below is from WADYRA where I started in-hand work with all the riders.   Ali Roberts is with her mare Shiloh. Ali has done a superb job with this beautiful mare.

 The Gnangara Adult Riding Club day was great fun and started with me riding Morgan demonstrating how to warm up for a Preliminary or Novice test.   This was organised as many of their club riders will be competing in the Inter Club Challenge next month.   After the warm-up we went through the actual tests they will be riding showing and explaining what they need to watch out for, where they can pick up extra marks and how to best prepare for each movement. Morgan was great and a super pony to demonstrate this level.   Next month I will be doing the same again with a different group of their riders and will most likely take Asadream.

This month WADYRA presented one of their members with a judging scholarship.   This is an award designed to recognise the efforts taken by people to become judges or to upgrade and this year was jointly funded by myself and WADYRA.   It was awarded to Alex Devenish-Krauth who is seen in the photograph below receiving her award from the club vice-president Jenny Bryant.   Alex has impressed everyone with her knowledge of dressage and ability to judge and is a very worthy recipient of this award.   Congratulations Alex and let’s hope many other clubs follow this inventive idea set by WADYRA.

Best of luck to all the PCAWA riders for their Championships in September as well as to the WA Interschool Team who have a long and exciting journey ahead of them.

 Cheers,

 Victoria

August Wind Down

We are on the count down to the end of the polocrosse season in Queensland with everyone counting the carnivals down.  We have been to Cunningham, near Warwick, for a multi horse carnival which allows you to give young horses only one game if that is what they need as usually it is one horse for the carnival.   Anthony won his junior division and Kent’s team came out runner up in the A Grade division.   As we have younger and less seasoned horses it was important for Kent to give his mare, Hawthorne Shania, the full weekend to increase her match fitness and ability to keep her wind for the whole weekend of competition.

We had the luxury of a weekend at home then off to our home carnival of Warwick.  This was a particularly large tournament incorporating a visiting New Zealand Ladies Team to play against a Queensland Ladies Team.  We saw over 80 teams compete in very heavy conditions after considerable rain on Friday.  This tested the horses’ endurance and the seasoned horses were the winners again this weekend. 

As mentioned last month we have been increasing the amount of electrolyte we are giving to our horses as well as ensuring they get their required doses of VAM and CoPhos B paste - (by the way, aren’t the new bags great for getting right to the end of the product with no waste).   Each weekend we have been stomach tubing Hawthorne Shania with the Green Amino powder.  I believe this is giving her the boost to help with speedy recovery from hard competiton. 

Each club is keen to have their teams ready for the Queensland State Titles being held at Wandoan on Sept 3, 4, 5.  This is ensuring very hard competition in each division.

The month has also been busy with Kent and Libby attending the Australian Campdrafter Association Major Sponsors dinner in Brisbane and Kent attending many meetings trying to ensure the pleasure horse industry is fully represented when it comes to Government decisions involving the horse industry.

September is the start of the holidays for our polocrosse horses  and the start of boot camp for many young horses and riders at Hawthorne Stud.  We have the time and spare yards to bring in the younger horses for a bit of work and further education.  Riding schools have been booked for the school holidays and the breeding season starts in earnest.  Who said we were on holidays!

What would we all do with our time if we didn’t have our horses to keep us occupied and give us the pleasure that they do?

Not much out of the ordinary happened during August other than clinics, lessons and the usual training.  No shows as yet, but we are all looking forward to September in which we have Pakenham, Werribee Spring Show and Yarra Valley Championships.  All the horses are well and truly ready for the season and we are all looking forward to getting back into the ring.  Hayley was going to Adelaide Royal with Just Lately but due to all our wet weather has had several foot abscesses and didn’t have the necessary preparation to step straight out into Section 1 so unfortunately she has had to scratch him.

The Werribee Spring Show will also have the Auction to raise money for Cath Quilty & family.  Cath has recently been diagnosed with cancer so it will be great to see as many people as possible at the auction to participate and to help raise money for the family whilst Cath is concentrating on herself and her recovery!  Nature Vet have been wonderful in providing a hamper full of their product and I’m sure this will be a hotly contested item.

Next month should have more to report as hopefully there will be some good results from the shows.