There are a few things that get me through winter that I really appreciate:

• Waterproof trousers over my wellies: It doesn’t look cool, it’s not aesthetic BUT I spend all winter in waterproof trousers that are over my wellies, it stops all the hay going down the top. It stops my clothes getting dirty when the horses stand in a muddy puddle and catapult mud in all directions, its warm and practical and I don’t care that we’ll never win any fashion shows. I keep the tousers on my wellies all season so I just pull them down around my wellies and then take them off rather than putting them on and over the tops all the time.
• Blue horse ribbon bedding: It’s SO easy to muck out, it works out cheaper than shavings for me and it takes up much less storage space, which is always handy when you’re at a livery yard with limited space.
• British Horse Feeds mash: Either the fibre beet or speedi beet, it keeps the ponies fibre intake up. Gives me peace of mind that they are getting some form of hydration when it’s super cold and most importantly keeps Tissy looking great
• Ariat Tempest Parka: This is a new addition to my winter gear and oh my gosh, it’s so cosy and comfortable, and I genuinely look forward to putting it on, it’s made all weather practically pleasant. It is quite pricey, I bought it for 60% off in the Boxing day sales but I would buy it again at full price.
• Carabiners: I hate knots that are tight and that you can’t undo with gloves on. So I don’t tie any knots. Everything that requires hanging up, tying together or securing , I just use a climbing grade carabiner. I pop them on the bottom of my haynets and secure the rope so they turn into little back packs to carry up to the field and then clip them into the feeders. It’s a simple pleasure not having to tie and undo knots!
• Waterproof gloves: When temperatures are sub zero and I need to fish the ice out of the troughs I really appreciate not having to do it with my bare hands.
• Pig oil: The joy of clay washing off the legs with just a hosepipe and no scrubbing can only be achieved at my yard with help. Pig oil just makes getting the mud off so much easier and they get less staining. Which I’m all up for with 3 greys!
• Hot clothing: We don’t have hot water at the yard so boiling a kettle with some leave in wash and wringing out a cloth to really buff the sweat and muck out the horses coat is a necessity. Much better than getting a sweaty horse soaking wet in the cold when they need to be turned back out.

Roo is currently on week 10 of a x3 a week training schedule. One hack, one school and one groundwork. We’re not particularly looking at improving fitness or strength but more ticking over and not losing too much condition over winter. So our sessions aren’t hard or long but just a nice bit of maintenance to keep the foundation ready for when it’s time to start doing a bit more.

I took Roo for his first outing of 2023, a nice quiet 10km around the Upper Boothay Farm ride which also has a selection of jumps. Roo hasn’t jumped since April last year and that was in a group. Most of the jumps around the ride were too big for us at this stage and ideally, we’d take a lead into some of the bigger beefier jumps, where the consequences of getting it wrong are higher. But we still managed a few little poles and logs. Roo was particularly good at ditches, step downs and step ups.

It’s the first time I’ve taken him ‘out out’ bitless, and even with other horses jumping and cantering past us I could still happily ride him on the buckle. I just need to increase his confidence going over the more solid looking fences without other horses to follow and I think we’ll be able to pop around a little course before long.

As Tissy is getting older I thought it would be a nice idea for her to come out and about without the load of a rider. Now I know it’s not the usual method to lead from the younger less experienced horse but for what I wanted it for it meant that Estrid would be the ride pony.

It actually went surprisingly well, Tissy was a bit keen to start with and kept trying to go in the lead or pushing Estrid over but as we got into the swing of things, apart from being cross about walking what Tissy thinks should most certainly be a canter section, it went pretty smoothly.

I’ve since tried her in a rope be nice halter and a bridle and I can safely say it doesn’t make any difference what method I use. But each time we’re getting used to the routine and voice commands seem to be the most effective at tempering Tissy’s need for speed. So for when I’m doing long slow hill work it’s definitely an option, but I think I’ll pass at trying to control Tissy for the faster canter work from a lead rope!!!

The main star here though, as usual, was Estrid. She took to it without any hesitation, fully accepting a lead rope at all angles and staying in a nice calm walk while Tissy cantered on the spot beside her!

Well I thought I would be starting my endurance season off with a nice 18km around Woburn. Something I was actually super excited for after seeing the wonderful tracks on Bella Fricker’s stories. But alas the ice and snow meant it wasn’t safe for the ride to go ahead. It also meant that I didn’t really have any at home alternatives either because I couldn’t get the lorry off the lane from the yard, vehicles had been getting stranded in both directions all week, and although I had a moment of madness where I considered hand gritting a whole mile, I decided against it.

The school was also frozen solid but was actually flat with a soft layer of snow still on top so I decided to do some groundwork and raised poles instead. I really wanted to give Estrid a bath, but decided it was a bit cruel in sub zero temperatures so I settled on giving her a good groom, massage and stretch.

I have only recently managed to convince her to take food from my hand so baited stretches have been impossible so this was an ideal opportunity to start her stretching training.

I’m changing up how I plan my 2023 season. Usually I have a ‘big’ end goal and work back from there, I plan out my ideal Plan A rides and have a Plan B for each one spread out over the whole season. This year I still have an overall goal: Complete Estrid’s Novice Qualifications but I’m not aimed at a final ‘big’ ride. I’m also not planning to go to any rides in particular. This year I have selected one ride a month that has a 40km Novice class and if we make it to that, excellent, if not, onto the next one. I’ve also done this with Pleasure rides, so I have a list of one a month fairly close to me and we’ll use them as options rather than targets.

Ideally, I would like to have finished Estrid’s Novice qualifications (3 x 40km) by the end of June. The past few years the ground has been very hard from July to September so I’d like to be able to avoid having to compete then if possible. If the ground is still good then I might do a few extras if budget allows.

I would like to do around 3 pleasure rides with Tissy and also I have a slightly bigger ‘bucket list’ ride in mind, but that all depends on whether I get an entry and how Tissy is doing after this winter. Roo I have aimed at a bit more of a mix of things, obviously continue to bring him back up to his previous strength and fitness and then I’d like to do more cross-country with him and a few early Pleasure rides.

With all that in mind for the first 12 weeks of this year, Estrid and Roo will be trained 3x a week and Tissy will be having 3 months off. Estrid will do one schooling, one pole work and one hack and Roo will start with one pole work, one hill work and one hack.

My biggest decision to make is whether I keep Estrid barefoot for her Novice 40km rides or I put shoes on her. I guess we’ll just see how she goes! Lastly, I need to budget for the whole thing, so I usually work out entry costs against my goals plus fuel and then divide that over Jan – Sept to put away into an account monthly as my pony spending account. Whos know’s what will happen in 2023 but I hope that whatever it throws at us we can stay positive and have fun.

I’m really in the preparation for the year ahead mood. January is one of my favourite months (I know, unpopular opinion). First up on my checklist was to get the saddles checked and fitted ready for the pre-season training to begin. Dean & Gini from Reactor Panel Saddles came out to check over Estrid and Roo, it was nice to hear that they thought Estrid had muscled up and Roo hasn’t lost too much muscle either.

That also meant a good clean and check over of all my tack, boots, chaps and gear in general. I clean them using the Carr & Day & Martin 3-step process and then I use a waterproofing dressing on the top of my saddles, boots and chaps to give them a bit of extra protection over winter.

There’s something really satisfying about a clean and tidy tack room full of well looked after kit, I know where everything is and in what condition it is in ready to get stuck into the last of our winter training.

As always thank you so much to the team at Upper Boothay Farm ride. It’s so nice to have a venue within 30mins that regularly has a Farm ride to attend. It’s excellent training for youngsters getting used to being around other horses, it’s super nice to get off the roads and have some grass to ride on and it’s even nicer to be given special astro turf parking so I didn’t get stuck in the mud! Although the did have the tractor at the ready for all the trucks and trailers. Just to top it off they even had a hot food and drink van, and we enjoyed a bacon bap afterwards.

Estrid is going from strength to strength at the moment, she seemed to really enjoy this ride, she was much more confident, even overtaking a couple of times and in front once or twice. Considering she’s done pole work I was a little surprised when she leapt 4ft in the air over two telegraph poles on the ground and I was very proud when she jumped out of the water jump up a little step.

I always get off Estrid having had a lovely time and it’s just the best feeling. I’m really enjoying her education process and I feel like I’m a much better rider and horse-person because of her, she’s so sensitive and quick to learn that I’ve needed to up my game to match her needs. I’m always learning and I hope always trying to get better. My goals for 2023 definitely reflect a more overall horsemanship progression rather than just Endurance, but more about them another time.

What a year of ups and downs 2022 has been. I ‘achieved’ very little in terms of my goals and actual success on paper. But despite that I have learnt a lot, I have had fun and I’ve struck a balance between horses and other life activities that I haven’t really had before.

My definite highlights have been completing Roo’s novice season and training him for 80km. I really enjoyed getting back into continuous canter work and Roo is a dream to canter. That unfortunately was coupled with a low point of his tendon injury in June, so we never actually made it to that 80km. But we’re on the up again and he’s doing just fine now.

A huge low was having Qantas put to sleep. I miss his silly face and soft muzzle and the way he used to steal all my sandwiches. But I also got to welcome Estrid into our lives and I love the sweet, honest, clever horse that she is. Backing Estrid has been great fun and I’ve really enjoyed the process with her. She even surprised me and did her first Pleasure ride this year with Tissy by her side.

I also got to go on my first ever horsey holiday and Roo plastered a great big smile on my face by being such a good boy around the cross country. Tissy went on several fun rides, including her first pub ride and it makes my heart glow every time I ride behind her little ears, she just absolutely loves to be out and about.

I am so grateful for everything I have, for the person my horses have made me become and the adventures they allow me to have. I’m tentatively excited for 2023, but my main goal is to have fun and enjoy my time with my horses.

I know I would get mud pies and snow balls thrown at me for this but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….I like winter. I like the fact that it’s all prep and no pressure. I like wearing layers on cold crisp mornings and snuggling fluffy ponies. I like looking forward to the year ahead with so much promise and all the hope in the world that the year is going to be a good one.

So when the time comes around for winter I really enjoy getting ready. The waterproofs come out (RIP my long jacket, who has been declared dead to re-proofing) the base layers, hats and gloves are at the ready. I order my haylage, get in the feed supplies and stock up on bedding. The ponies are in big poofy rugs and everything feels slightly like and assault course challenge…..ducking under electric fencing with haynets through half a foot of mud and making it to the hayfeeder without falling over because the ponies are munching whilst you’re on the move, gives me a daily sense of achievement and relief! Ha! Grooming the layers of mud off feels like a mini marathon and taking layers on and off makes for a great shoulder mobility routine!

Joking aside I just love the laying of the training foundation for the season ahead. I’ve not had the best time in terms of Endurance success over the last few years so I’m not making any extravagant plans for 2023 but I am excited to see what happens when we get through the winter and into the season.

Heading into winter when you are at the later stages of a rehab program is just poor timing. Especially for an injury that requires hard ground and minimal circling. But instead of letting it make me feel like a failure I’ve been pro-active, anticipated these hurdles and just delayed our schedule. Past Beth, wouldn’t believe it! But I’m much more open to changes of plan these days.

Roo is basically in the final stages of his rehab plan before returning to ‘normal’ training. He is sound on a 10m circle on the soft and is much happier in himself. I still don’t want to spend too much time in a soft menage doing circles and it’s been icy out on the roads so I can’t don all my lights and go for a nightime hack after work.

So I have scheduled a short pause in his training, not complete rest but we’re doing one pole session in the week and one hack on a weekend when it’s a bit warmer and lighter in the day. I actually think a bit of a break will be good for him before heading into normal training for the 2023 season. Structured, scheduled rest is often overlooked as a key component of a good training plan so I feel like because I planned this, everything is going to plan rather than feel like I’m delaying anything by having the decision made for me by weather.