I thought I’d give Westgate Labs worm count service a go. For many years I’ve followed the old school routine of Equest in the spring, Equest Pramox in the Autumn and never thought much about it other than to make sure I popped in my diary what I’d used and the date so I knew for next time.

But with worms becoming ever more resistant to the drugs available and a genuine interest in what’s lurking in my horses guts I thought I’d up my worming routine game. Now I didn’t do the Saliva Tapeworm tests, mainly because I was keeping costs down but I think I’ll do that one next time. What I did get was the pinworm and the red worm test kits from Westgate Labs.

The kit arrived really quickly, was super straight forward and easy to package up and post back. Now if they come back and don’t need worming I’ve saved myself £20 in total, as the wormers usually cost around £60, if they do need worming then I guess I’ve spent £44 more than I needed to. But money aside it will be interesting to see what the results are!

For the first time in a long time I had a weekend where all 3 of my horses came out the field to do something. Granted Azid was just a trot up for the vet, but still it’s something!

It was a pretty busy weekend, meeting new training buddies (Thanks Lucy), getting far too excited about a DIY rug rack (Thanks Will), grooming and trotting Azid up and generally bumbling around doing jobs.

Tissy had an awesome time at Prestwold. Qantas did 20mins of Pessosa and then we learnt a new lunging technique to help him with weight shift, balance and bend, we’re going to spend the winter really working on evening him up. And Azid…..well as you can see got quite exuberant about trotting up!

He’s not sound yet but he’s sound-er and actually looking pretty good generally. Things are on the up for him and as soon as he’s been field sound for 4 weeks he can start training/rehab….again. I’m hoping to send him back for a few weeks on the hydro treadmill….again. Maybe this time I’ll finally get to ride him after weeks of rehab.

The day to day equestrian life is pretty much 80% looking after your horse 20% doing whichever activity you bought your horse to do in the first place. So horse care is a daily thing, picking out and oiling hooves, feeding, watering, choosing the appropriate rug (the never ending checking of your BBC weather app to check whether your rug choice was the right one today), picking up their poo, grooming, patching up wounds and fixing whichever rug you chose to put on.

But then there are the extras, that aren’t a daily occurrence but are still an essential part of your horsey life. Now you can go bare minimum or every discipline, therapist, clinician and appointment you can think of.

For me my ‘extras’ are the farrier, who comes every 5-6 weeks. The equine dentist who comes every 6 months to a year. The vet, who comes pretty much monthly if you own a horse like Azid but definitely once a year for flu vaccinations. The Osteo/Physio/Chiro, who I get out every 3 months as standard or more regularly if we’re competing at FEI or there’s an issue and that’s about it.

What does everyone else have? What would you classify as extras?

How do people like to structure their canter training? I use it in four different ways. I start with interval training then progress to hill canter reps and when they start to do races and FEI I add in continuous and speed work.

• Interval: Ratios of walk, trot and canter that adapt based on fitness levels with a change in canter lead every 30s.
• Hill: Canter repetitions on a steep hill changing lead every rep
• Continuous: Picking a certain speed to train at based on the past speed pass rate for my next ride, I like to figure out the stats for each loop of my next race and then train at the speed they are most likely to complete at and also the max speed to win the last loop. I then change canter lead every 2minutes.
• Speed: I go to an all weather gallop for this one and change lead every set, with 1km steady canter and then a full blast 1km.

Canter training doesn’t even appear in my training programme until 3 months in and then towards the end of the season it probably accounts for 60% of my training. This is just because training is much more effective if you do it in blocks focusing on one element at a time, changing the stimulus and way the muscles are worked is better for fitness and strength rather than sticking to the same routine for months.

First of all just look at Tissy’s little ears in the video, there is no denying how much she loves being on the trail and I love her for it. Always keen, always forward and seems to have a never ending supply of energy, which I would very much appreciate if she spent less of it spooking at ridiculous things such as purple flowers……but still it’s great to have a pony who is speedy, sure footed and loves to run!

We’re starting to explore Cannock a bit more, mountain biking around the chase has given me more confidence in where to go and where I am, so I feel much better taking my horses around by myself. In all honesty I don’t know why I’m so chicken about going to new unknown places to train, with Tissy I feel like I can go anywhere, but with the boys I just don’t feel confident enough in them to safely navigate around somewhere I don’t know, and I don’t want to end up miles away from the lorry with a grumpy tired gelding.

But I’m starting to venture further afield from the yard for training now, looking for quality and variation. Mainly for a bit more fun and enjoyment. I tend to scout out a potential training venue with trusty Tissy and then take Qantas (Azid maybe one day if he’s ever not injured) later, once I know the layout a bit better.

Talking of one day Azid not being injured. He’s now back in the field with the other two and healing really well, we still have a way to go but seeing as the vet wasn’t sure he’d make it a few days past the injury, we are so glad to have his silly little face bouncing around the field. I’ve stocked up the first aid bags in preparation for his next exploits.

My firm favourite items in a first aid bag are:

• Cotton wool
• Softban
• Conforming bandage
• Vet wrap
• Saline or some sort of sterile wash
• Gauze
• A woundcream
• A topical spray like iodine
• A barrier spray like aluspray
• Hydrocolloid dressings
• Foam dressings
• EAB wrap

I’ve got a few other bits and bobs like scissors, clamps, syringes, suture kits, pressure gel pads, bite cream etc but I feel you can sort out just about anything with that list, at least tide you over until a vet arrives anyway. What would you say are first aid must haves?

It can be difficult to comprehend what you need to do to start Endurance and make it up through the levels, with so many different numbers and distances available, so here is a quick guide to progressing in Endurance.

Pleasure Rides

• Minimum age of horse: 4yo
• Up to 32km
• Pass a trot up before and after the ride
• Max speed 12kph

Novice

• Minimum age of horse: 5yo
• 20-50km
• Full vetting
• 15kph Max speed
• Complete 5 Novice rides to upgrade

Open

• Minimum age of horse: 6yo
• Up to 90km Graded Endurance Rides
• Full Vetting
• 18kph Max speed
• Complete 2x 65-80km (one of which must be 80km) to upgrade

Advanced

• Minimum age of horse: 7yo
• No maximum distance: Usually 160km in one day
• Graded rides capped at 18kph
• No maximum speed for competitive endurance rides

FEI

• To do a 1* your horse must be a minimum age of 6yo and have completed 2x 40-70km and 2x 80-100km at a maximum speed of 16kph
• To do a 2* your horse must be a minimum age of 7yo and have completed a minimum 2 out of 3 consecutive 1*’s.
• To do a 3* your horse must be a minimum age of 8yo and have completed a minimum 2 out of 3 consecutive 2*s.

Senior Championships

• Minimum age of horse: 9yo
• Must have completed 2x 3*
• Need to be selected by the National Federation to represent Team GBR

Please check the current rules on the Endurance GB and FEI sites as these may not be correct and up to date.

First of all I am no expert, but I thought it might still be interesting to share the elements that go into training my endurance horses. So we’re starting off with the most simple, Pessoa work. Now this is how I like to use it, there will be many other ways to do so, and I would love to hear your tips and pointers.

First of all I start by getting them used to lunging, the hind end piece and the front piece separately. Then I like to take them for in hand walks with the Pessoa on so they get used to the way it moves before moving onto lunging.

Once we get to lunging in the Pessoa I slowly start to introduce trot. So I would start with doing a max of 10minutes total, 8 minutes walk, 2 minutes trot and then work my way up to doing 30minutes of continuous trotting.

I use it mainly at the start of the season for the first 12 weeks, for the younger horses a total of once a week and once they have finished growing, are balanced and strong up to twice a week. Once they’ve moved onto the speed or stamina block of training I tend to use lunging much less as it’s more a foundation block for me rather than a fittening tool. I also love to add some poles once they’ve got used to it so that it encourages them to use their hind end even more.

It’s also a great way for me to see how they move, monitor their progress and for them to do some work without me hindering them with my own asymmetries. Taking video from that perspective and comparing it month to month is so satisfying because you can really start to see a difference.

Does anyone else ever get bored of the same old hacking routes? I grew up in an Endurance riders heaven. Literally hundreds of miles of open hill and forestry to explore, with hills and canter sections galore. Moving to the midlands was a bit of a shock to my system, when I realised a hack without a busy main road didn’t exist unless I boxed out 40minutes.

I don’t know any other endurance riders in the area and no one at my yard really hacks out and explores so I felt a bit lost when I first moved. I bought OS maps for the surrounding areas and every weekend tried out a new section of the map. I found that I was always doing 75% tarmac to get to a bit of good going.

Over the years I’ve slowly found a few good spots, but nothing will ever compare to the glorious welsh hills, rolling valleys, lakes and rivers of my teens. My biggest battle with the local bridleways is access, not many people seem to use them so they get overgrown so quickly and I’m not sure who to contact to clear them.

I’m still trying new places and exploring different areas in the hope of finding something exceptional. I don’t mind boxing out to get there, as long as it’s worth the journey and parking is almost certainly going to be available. I would love more than anything to have a training buddy and a good 20km loop to ride on, any takers?

This has been a little longer in the making than I would have hoped, but you just can’t rush a horse! I bought Qantas back in November 2019 and had hoped to do hist first Pleasure Ride in early spring, probably in March 2020. Two tendon injuries, a sliced jaw, weight loss and a Pandemic later it just wasn’t going to happen.

Draw up Plan B: Probably the loosest plan I’ve ever had…….do a Pleasure Ride whenever lockdown is over and they’re back on! Ha! During lockdown I broke a few bones (5 in total, on 3 seperate occasions) and Qantas had a very sore back, followed by something going on with his right ear. There’s no denying he’s kept us on our toes in the short time we’ve had him.

Pleasure rides started back up, all my bones were intact, Qantas was injury free so I entered our first 16km Social ride. Now the distance isn’t an issue, we can easily train that as home. But the going to a venue, having horses in front, behind, passing and alongside would be a new experience for him. So I mainly do the shorter distances to train for the environment rather than the distance.

I won’t lie I was a little nervous. Prestwold was a venue and route I’d never been to with a horse I wasn’t entirely sure would behave. But I knew as soon as I was on board I would deal with whatever he threw at me.

He travelled well and stood like a lamb on the lorry while we got our number and sorted out our stuff. He came off the ramp quietly and was very well behaved to tack up and get on. We started on our own but soon found ourselves asking to pass other horses and riders, Qantas passed politely without rushing and happily left them behind. Something I was super impressed with him for.

For the first 5km he was a bit tense spooking at the silliest things, like a gap in the hedge, or a bit of mud from a tractor tyre on the floor, but mooched past massive silos and pheasant feeders without a fuss. There were a couple of two way sections and he didn’t baulk at being passed or being left by himself.

After that first 5km he started to be an absolute dream of a ride. He’s not ready to do much cantering so we mainly trotted and walked. But his trot lazily eats up the miles and his canter is to die for, light, easy and ground covering. We did a steady 12kph and for the last few kilometres ended up riding in a group of three. He went behind (with a bit of protest) and in front very happily.

I would have liked more horses to pass us out on course because this is what he really needs to work on and going at the back is not his favourite thing. Nonetheless he was very well behaved in the little pack. I had an absolutely wonderful time and the course was lovely.

However when we got back to the venue he disgraced himself. The horse he’d met 15minutes ago was now his best friend forever and we had cruelly taken him away from her, his life would never be the same again and he lost his head. Qantas is usually pretty laid back to handle but what arrived back at the venue was a bolshy, screaming, ill tempered Arab who was hell bent on being re-united with his friend.

We did not let him drag us across the venue in search of his one true love and he was very very cross, however this did mean that having arrived on a heart rate of 68, he maintained a steady 72 through all the screaming whinnying noise he made. Not ideal for an endurance horse. I’m hoping that the more we get out and about the less attached he’ll get to random horses we meet out on course, if not, it looks like a lonely endurance career for me, riding by myself to stop him getting separation anxiety!

But despite that he loaded back up well and quit his yelling as soon as the ramp was up and wen’t back to munching…..the fickle and forgetful heart he has! I went home with that endurance buzz and am quietly planning our next adventure!

I prepare for a pleasure ride more or less exactly the same as I would for a 160km. For me it’s all about having a routine, getting to know the horse and being consistent. I guess the only difference would be how training tapers in the run up. I don’t really need to taper for a 16km pleasure ride, as I use it for training and educational purposes.

So in the week running up to a ride no matter how long that ride may be I would do the following.

• Pessoa or Lunge for 20mins 3-4 days out: This gives me the time to really watch my horse move, note how the muscles look and any asymmetries.
• Full body assessment: I really like this book (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Does-Horse-Hurt-Hands/dp/1570764867) but I also use a combination of things I’ve been taught by Physio’s and vets over the years. The more often I do it, the better I get to know every inch of my horse, how it’s responding to training and whether we’re ready for competition.
• Massage: I use an Equillibrium massage pad and then I do a hands on massage for any areas that need it. Shoulders, neck and limbs I usually use my hands but for the back, bum and hamstrings I like to use a roller ball mit. In my normal routine I do this about once a week but pre-ride I like to do it the day before.
• Stretches: I stretch after every training session using baited stretches. But I like to stretch the day before a ride and really note how everything feels and moves.
• Bath time: I try not to bath my horse the day before, mainly because the UK weather is usually a bit chilly and I don’t want their muscles getting cold and tight. So I’ll usually give them a bath 3-4 days out and if they need any spot cleaning the day of the ride I’ll get a cloth and some warm water out.
• Trot up: I like to trot up whenever we lead up from the field but the week before I ride I take particular care to trot up every day properly. It helps with trot up training but it also means we’re super tuned in to the way their moving and making sure at no point we have any doubt about their soundness. I always trot up just before loading too, you can never be too sure with horses can you!

I quite like to see and learn about other peoples routines. I think it’s interesting what works for each individual and horse. What keeps a riders mind relaxed and prepared for an event, we all know it’s as much to keep us happy as it is to prepare our horse.