For about 33% of the time I’ve owned Azid he has been injured, his curiosity combined with lack of courage makes for a spooky, act now, think later, suffer the consequences attitutde. Which unsurprisingly quite often leads to some injury or other.

This time I broke my hand riding my mountain bike, just 6 weeks after breaking my ribs falling off Qantas filming the slosh bottle training video. For Azid we will never know what happened as there is no evidence in the field other than the pools of blood strewn across the land and the blood spattered rug.

When the vet arrived I was pretty worried that this was it for Azid, although the wound doesn’t look bad at first glance, you could put a finger down inside his hoof, two bits of loose bone were flushed out, he’d severed some arteries (which he was very lucky clotted in the field) and there was a real risk of joint involvement, infection, nerve damage and the coronet band was mushed. We’re crossing everything in the hope that the hood grows, the joints are fine, his nerves will be ok and later down the line not compressed by scar tissue. The future is pretty uncertain but for now he’s still with us and his silly little face makes me smile over the stable door everyday.

So here are the injury diaries of Azid for the past year…..

July 2019

I decided to be lame the week before Euston Park, I was meant to be doing 80km but I didn’t feel like it so I’m being lame on my right fore, this seemed like a good option because it’s also the leg I scraped on that branch the other day, so my human might think they’re related, plausible story right there.

My plan of missing Euston has gone a bit OTT. I’m still lame and now my human is taking me to the vets. Literally driving me there at 7:30am and abandoning me to their evil devices, apparently she has to go to work and can’t be at my every beck and call. Rude!

I refused to go in the vets stable or their scary barn…….Mwhaha! They had to bring all their equipment out to me in the yard. One of them breached my perimeter and now I feel very sleepy……it’s a full on invasion…..3 of them with their blocks and bone picture machine!

My human has arrived to take me home, thank god, this lot have made me trot up and down on every surface they could find and then not content with that made me do it all over again in circles. I couldn’t be bothered to do the left one so one of the vets had to run around the lunge pen with me while the other watched, at least I got my own back for them making me sleepy and he was a bit out of breath, would never keep up with me at a competition that’s for sure.

Home sweet home, though my field has shrunk considerably….hmmm. Tissy said she’s had to do it before and it’s called restricted turnout. I mean how am I meant to run and play and leap in a paddock this size, better get sound quick so I can go back to the life I have been accustomed to. I’m not happy with this new regime.

August 2019

I have been sound now for a couple of weeks and my human has started relentlessly taking me for walks, up hills, over poles, around the block, in the sand school, she won’t stop and she won’t let me have any fun, like trotting or spinning or basically anything, she’s so boring.

I am the best at stretches, I can get my nose all the way to my bum and I can do the bestest bow, my human seems really happy with this so maybe she might let me trot soon. My Physio is on maternity leave having a human foal so apparently this new person, an Osteopath, is coming to see me, this doesn’t sound good. I liked my Physio, she gave the best scratches and rubs, what if the Osteo-ma-pathy-thing is mean.

Osteopath lady has been, wasn’t so bad, she moved me around a lot and declared me ready for ‘increased work’, this sounds bad, I hope it means trotting though. It’s just I’m a bit busy to have increased work, with the grazing, annoying Tissy, snoozing, messing around in the field (which thankfully is back to full size) my schedule is just too full!

I needn’t have panicked, we’ve got rid of most the walking and now we’re trotting, yay yay yaaaay! Trotting is much more fun, I can spook and spin way better. Plus I think I look super fancy and handsome when I do this cool floaty trot and snort a lot, all the mares love it!

September 2019

I’m back in training, my human tells me that we’ve missed all the competitions now so I’ll have to wait until next year, she didn’t seem happy, it’s a shame because I like going to competitions, I get all the attention from everyone, I just have to whiney and they’re there will 3 types of food, 3 types of drink, rugs, massages, kisses, everything you could ever want. Maybe being lame was a silly idea. I won’t do it again.

November 2019

Ouch, ouch, ouch, ocuh, OUCH!!!! The worst thing has happened my back foot hurts, like really really hurts, no one has even been in this much pain in their whole entire lives, I might not make it to tomorrow. Tell Tissy she can have my grass.

The vets came again, said I was only ‘mildly lame’, the cheek, I was dying I tell you! They say I have side bone in all four of my feet, which apparently is weird for my age, breed, exercise schedule and everything. I always knew I was special. So they don’t think it will cause me any issues once it’s settled. My human has spent all day reading research papers telling me I’m going to have to change career, or I’ll be fine, or I might never be ridden, or I’ll be fine, or I might get arthritis, or I’ll be fine. Apparently the research is variable to say the least.

Anyway I’ve been told we’re back at square one. I mean this is hardly my fault it just happened and it’s almost winter anyway so who want’s to be out training in the rain and mud, I go all wooly and get rug mane. How is a handsome chap like myself meant to put his best foot forward (which incidentally is my left fore, never let me down that one) when I look like a scruffy bog pony.

December 2019

I regret the very day I let myself be a total wimp and went lame. A new horse has arrived. Apparently as a back up plan to me. I’m furious, I do not need a back up plan, I’m the most handsome, most athletic pony here, I have buckets full of potential, all the vets at the competitions say so. They say I’m a fine looking horse and you go and get a Plan B, who is he anyway!!!!

Qantas his name is, he’s all dashing silky mane, his forelock drapes over his eyes like he’s the pony Justin Bieber. Well I’ll show him who’s boss around here, I won’t let him eat at my hay station and I won’t let him talk to Tissy, respect has to be earnt around here Plan B!

I love Qantas, he is my best buddy, we play together, snooze together, eat together, sometimes we go for walks together. It’s the bestest having a buddy that gets me. Tissy just rolls her eyes and tells me to stop being such a boisterous boy then she swishes her tail at me and walks off. But Qantas grooms me and follows me around and I have to teach him everything I know so he can follow in my amazing hoof steps.

January 2020

Apparently I’m still on rest and I’m being left, LEFT I tell you, in Wales because the ground is better in these fields. I mean yes it’s not all deep and sticky and hard to move but still I do not deserve to be left anywhere, especially with this herd of Welsh mountain horses, what if they’re mean to me.

I watched Tissy and Qantas leave in the lorry, I screamed all day but no one came to load me up and take me back with them. I hate my human.

February 2020

I love my human, she came back for me and I got these treats that were amazing, they were called Stud Muffins, so totally made for me! We’re going back to the Midlands and we’re starting rehab again. I have to suffer the weeks of walking all over again.

The vets have declared me sound!! Woop woop! I told them all I was talented and amazing and I was totally going to be fine. I don’t know why they spent so much time inspecting and feeling and worrying and then watching me move and poking and prodding. I tried to tell them but humans hey!

My right front foot is ouchy, AGAIN! Apparently this time it’s an abscess, damn that clay mud! It’s burst out near the top of my hoof and it smells DISGUSTING! Someone get me the citronella spray to cover it up, no mare will come near me like this.

It took me a whole 2 and a half weeks to get over the trauma of having an abscess, the farrier said I would be fine but he doesn’t know the shame of being a limpy smelly pony.

April 2020

So I was meant to start trotting but erm Qantas broke my humans rib so it’s now delayed a whole four weeks. Like so not cool Qantas. Apparently my human could ride me really but she doesn’t trust me to not to be silly. I’m quite frankly deeply offended, I only ever dragged her along the road once and that was because there was something terrifying in the hedge, we could have been eaten if it wasn’t for my quick thinking.

May 2020

I overhead my human saying I was being sent to bootcamp. I’ve consulted Tissy and we have no idea what this is.

So we’ve been on the lorry for about 2 hrs on the way to this bootcamp and we get off the lorry, my human takes me to this barn with actual water in the middle, like a long giant puddle. I’ve been put in a stable (she’s abandoned me again) and I’ve watched as they’ve taken each pony out one by one and made them splash around in the puddle, they’re working their way along the stable line…..it looks like I only have a matter of time until they make me do the puddle thing, send help.

June 2020

I have had 3 weeks of this puddle thing, at the start it was super hard and I don’t know why everyone was doing it or why these humans were taking so much interest in me. But now I feel super fine, I look all fit and sleek, my muscles are hench and I’m feeling extra sassy. I mean I look amazing, like one of those FEI ponies we always see at competitions. I’m sure I heard I was meant to be one of them some day, is this how it happens? They get in the magic puddle and voila, extreme endurance race pony.

One of the other ponies opposite said he is an actual real life, been to the World Championships, FEI endurance pony and he laughed at me. Actually laughed and said I knew nothing and had a very long way to go. I felt a bit embarrassed really but I wasn’t about to admit it, I’ll show him, one day!!

July 2020

My human has recently decided to ride mountain bikes, I mean are we not enough! But whilst doing this has broken her hand. Which yet again has delayed my journey to being a fantastic FEI pony, can’t a guy catch a break. I’m ready, I’m waiting to be saddled up and throw myself into training.

I threw myself into something else, I’m not telling anyone what it was, I have left no clues so it will always remain a mystery, just as well because everyone seems a bit angry with me. They found me in the field, and I’m not going to lie, I’m glad they’d come to get me, my left foot (the one that’s never let me down until now) is super ouchy, my rug got sprayed in blood because every few seconds my foot spurted it out. I look like someone has taken a good wedge out the back of my foot, I can see all the bones and everything.

They called the vet, they spent hooooooours stitching me, there was a lot of blood, I have this stupid bandage on now and have to stay in a stable. It’s not even MY stable because the stupid human put a new concrete floor down in my stable just this morning so I can’t even use it.

I’ve been doing pretty well really, scraping my teeth on the bars, doing some digging, snoozing that kind of thing but I’m boooooored!! So today I thought I wouldn’t eat much, not do any wee’s or poo’s and see how much it makes my human panic.

It so totally worked, she’s taking my heart rate, listening to gut sounds, walking me around and giving me hand picked sloppy grass, I even got given the Aqua aide drink, which is my favourite so I drank it all. I decided after all their effort to do one poo in return. Everyone seemed much happier then. They said they’d tell on me though and the vet would know and that he’s coming back tomorrow, spoil sports!

Today I escaped, ha! I bent my knees extra low and commando pony’d under the stable chain while she was mucking out. I splashed in all the puddles, I trotted all around and didn’t let anyone get me. I ate some grass, munched on some tree branches, made my dressing REALLY wet because the lovely long grass had water droplets all over it, and it was so yummy. They got me in the end though, lulled me into a false sense of security with some scratches and then, boom, head collar on. I thought I was going to get the biggest telling off, she always means business when she calls me ‘HS Beyazid you little sh*t’, but actually my human seemed more pleased about how sound I am, winning.

They spiked me with the evil sleepy juice again. They took off all the bandages which was lovely, bit of fresh air on the legs! Then lots of prodding happened, the vet even took pictures of my wound, apparently he’s impressed. I mean what else do they expect I’m amazing and one day will be a fantastic FEI pony. Although there was some chat about me ‘not being out of the woods’ …..I haven’t even been in any woods recently and I’m most certainly not in one now, humans are weird. He bandaged me back up, which was a shame, I was hoping after the sleepy juice wore off I’d be allowed back out with my buddies, being in a stable is soooo boring, I have been in here forever humans!

Today they put this boot thing over my bandage and I was allowed out in the tiniest field you’ve ever seen, even tinnier than the field they put me in when we go away to competitions, barely bigger than the stable. But I’m going to be so good, I’m going to stay in my tiny field and be quiet and eat grass and they will think I’m the bestest behaved pony, I don’t want to blow this chance because it’s so nice to be outside and eat all the grass even if it’s not even big enough for a Shetland!

I just couldn’t do it, I tried sooooo HARD to be good. But there were ponies going on hacks past me and the pony in the next door field was going on adventures and I just wanted to run around and be free like the wind. I’m an arab, I was born to run with my mane flowing behind me and my nostrils flaring in the air. So I broke out my teeny tiny corral cage and trotted like the superstar I am all around the field, best day EVER!

Worst day ever, my human said due to bad behaviour I am now confined to my stable apart from sometimes when she has time to watch me in the tiny field. I knew this would happen, she just doesn’t get that I need to be free, I tried I really did, I wanted to be good but it’s just not in my nature and now I have to pay for being who I am. At least she brings grass in a big bucket twice a  day, otherwise I might die of starvation. I only have hay in a bucket and a haylage net, and carrots, and apples and swede on a string and salt lick and a molasses lick and feed twice a day. I might starve I tell you!

I’ve been given a second chance to prove I can behave and stay in the tiny field, after two days of confinement I will do ANYTHING to go out in fresh air and munch green grass and feel the breeze in my mane. I still get put back in the stable overnight and when it’s rainy because I have to keep this bandage dry and every 5 days the vet comes and blood goes everywhere but all in all I get lots of attention and cuddles so life is pretty good.

What tips and tricks does everyone have for fitting tack? Do you have rules of thumb? What do you look for and how do you decided whether something fits properly or not?

It’s not something I do often, I have one bridle for each of my horses and two spares (one for the crew car and one for the vet gate). So that means I only ever have to ‘fit’ tack once for every horse. Biothane tack lasts such a long time and my taste hasn’t really wavered from my navy and white combos for over a decade so I just don’t need to buy and fit tack very often. But well fitting comfortable tack is surely a major part of having a happy performance horse.

With Endurance tack the headpiece of our bridle isn’t very tight, it is basically a headcollar so we don’t have the complexities of which nose band to buy and anatomical fittings because they just aren’t causing any pressure. For me I’d like a fingers width of space behind the ears, a couple of fingers under the noseband and throatlash and a maximum 2 wrinkles around the bit for the headpiece tightness. If possible I like the headpiece buckles to be away from the eyeline too. I think I might need to get Qantas a slightly longer browband as there isn’t much room behind his ears or around the front, what do you think?

The breastplate is one of the most important fits for me. I want to make sure that shoulder movement isn’t being restricted, that they’re not put off drinking and putting their heads down, I don’t want any rub points but neither do we want too much flapping around and movement. I tend to have a hands width between the sternum and the strap, and 4 fingers width for the shoulder straps.

I’m really grateful to my friend Sue who got me the bridle for my Birthday from https://www.pioneerendurance.com/ and my brother who got me the reins for Christmas. We’ll see how the white padding fares, it will get a lot of use because I use the same tack for training and competition because I like to be totally confident in what I’m using, I guess I could get identical tack for home and out and about but I still think I’d prefer to race in what I know.

I think for someone who has had horses all her life, and now is the proud owner of three, I actually don’t have that much stuff. They have a saddle each, I have one pair of riding boots for training and one pair for competitions, I have two spare bridles….the list goes on. Still it was nice to go through every single item I own at the livery yard and sort through the bits and bobs.

I LOVE a good list. So I made one with all the things I would need for if Qantas or Azid ever make it to a vet gatted ride and went through all the kit I have, ticking off as I went along. I had a little pile of things to sell at the end, popped them on the Endurance Riders UK classfields page on Facebook and within hours had sent them all off to new loving homes, where they will get some proper use.

I know some things I’ve sold in the past I wish I then had but really I think I’m good at streamlining what I really need and getting rid of the rest. I can always pick something else up later on if I really needed it. Being at a livery with limited storage space you kind of have to make sure you don’t have too much stuff. As an Endurance rider, with lots of crew gear, I already have more stuff than most.

I am pretty lucky that we have a 4km grass farm ride a 20minute box out from our livery, it’s got some awesome steep hill sections, lots of twists and turns and best of all a water feature jump, that’s also used for carriage drivers that’s big enough to use as a good area for some hydro work and cooling down their legs.

I use the track for training in a few different ways. Firstly for youngsters it’s a good first outing, all enclosed but a good practice of loading up and going somewhere new, experiencing scary jumps, other horses and water.

The I use it for training in 4 different ways:

• Interval Training: The natural layout of the course allows for sections of faster work and slower work and this is what I normally start with. Walk some bits, then trot and canter short sections.
• Speed work uphill: I canter the uphills and trot the downhills.
• Constant speed: If you focus on control and balance it is possible to do the whole 4km at a nice even pace. Using the corners to change canter leads or diagonals and trying to maintain the horses heart rate in a set zone.
• Competition riding: I don’t canter uphill at a competition (unless on the last loop and it’s for a position) but I do a lot of faster hill work in training. So occasionally I like to ride the 4km loop like I would a competitive ride, which means cantering the downhills and flat and then a steady trot on the uphills, it’s all about practising riding to effort for me, making the pace as efficient as possible.

For this outing however it was just all about letting Tissy choose the pace and having a bit of fun together. She loves to fly around this course and when in full training I would usually do anything between 4 to 6 laps. We did 3 this time and getting faster every loop, she’s an opinionated horse at the best of times and when she want’s to go she will throw quite the strop if she’s not allowed, but seeing as we’re not training for anything I thought I’d let her have her way…..which was gallop at every opportunity.

I absolutely adore this horse, I love riding her, I love how she loves to go out, I love how well we know each other and how after all these years she’s never boring. She’s the horse of a lifetime and I miss competing her so much, the feeling of being out on a last loop, the pride of 12 weeks of hard graft getting to a competition, but I didn’t think I’d love her retirement quite so much. But I do, I love riding just for fun, I love exploring new rides on the calendar just to see what they’re like, I hope that I have many more years of getting to fly on Tissy’s back to come.

It’s never a dull moment with horses is it…..from patching up a small cut on Qantas to scything all the docks in the field, to finding the right tack, there is always something to do. But to tell you the truth that’s half the fun of having horses.

I love being outside doing proper jobs, manual, satisfying jobs in the fresh air. I’m too lazy to do anything without a purpose so having to do something because the horses or the land needs it makes me super happy.

Lately I have been trawling the local tack stores for chestnut shampoo, to complete me extensive coloured horse shampoo collection and I was so excited when we found some. I feel a herd bath time coming on!

On another note do you ever watch videos back of your riding and want to yell at yourself?! I do, like in this video ‘BEND YOUR ELBOWS!!’, ‘SOFTEN YOUR PELVIS’, ‘KEEP YOUR HANDS LEVEL’. It’s actually a really useful tool I find, I quite often film myself in the school, half way through my session have a little look through so I can change anything there and then.

I’m so hoping that we’ve got Q’s tack all set up perfectly for him now, please cross your fingers! Otherwise I think I might be forking out for a new saddle, doh! I’m really tempted by the Reactor Panel ones, they look lovely, I love a panel/adjustable saddle and it’s what he was backed in without any issues. Ideally I’d buy second hand, although there doesn’t seem to be many out there at the moment but another less logical, more whimsical part of me would love a custom made one. A girl can dream.

The short answer here is any breed can do Endurance. The thing I love about the sport is that there is no wrong breed, no wrong tack, no wrong background, no wrong outfit, it is such an inclusive and diverse sport that really opens its arms wide to all sort of people and ponies. For an excellent example of this have a look at this Endurance Riders UK Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/386148148131348/permalink/3198998893512912/

Now at the top FEI level you’ll be hard pushed to find anything but an Arab. This is because they are born and bred for the job. Excellent stamina, speed, suspension and cardiovascular capacity. They have the determination, grit and fire in their souls needed for the longer distances.

However this doesn’t mean that native or other breeds don’t make it to the ultimate 160km distance, because they do. Especially with the mindset of one horse, one rider, one day, 160k, not focusing on speed or placings but the partnership of achieving that kind of feat. The natives statistically might not be as fast, might not have as quick heart rate recoveries but they can go all day at a fair pace. In my experience natives need more training, more vigorous crewing and longer to recover but boy did I learn a lot from them.

So no matter what kind of horse you have as long as they are sound and fairly fit you can give Endurance a go. Because it is one of the best ways to learn how to keep your horse fit, happy and healthy over any type of terrain, and its something all equestrian disciplines would benefit from.

When you think of beginner suitable horses I don’t think a common response would be my 160km fit arab. Despite Tissy’s need for speed and running off with Dan at full on canter a couple of times, the insistent jogging and occasional head throwing she wasn’t actually too bad.

And who can blame her for wanting to have a blast, especially as we were riding on the track we usually do our canter training on. Despite this Dan learnt a lot, she’s not a push button pony, but I know she’s safe, she will always slow for corners, she even plans for them by changing her canter lead before the corner. Dan had to be firm with his aids to get her to walk and transition down from canter and trot. She’s forward going and requires very little encouragement to pick up the pace so Dan really had to ‘ride’ her rather than be the passenger.

By the end they were doing short sections of canter and coming back down to trot and walk with ease and minimal tail swishing. Qantas as usual was very well behaved especially with walking around in the pond at the end of the session. I was also really impressed that, although he wanted to blast off after Tissy, he stayed with me and wasn’t too difficult to handle and keep back. An excellent skill in an endurance horse.

I’ll take Tissy here again soon and ride her myself, that way she can go as fast as she likes and have a bit of fun!

The Arabs temporary grazing field is all set up for the next 3 weeks while their field grows some grass. I actually find that the long grass like in this field seems to disrupt their digestion less than the shorter, greener stuff and they don’t get as fat. I wonder if there’s some science behind that, with the differences in sugar content maybe. I’ll go look up some research papers.

I have also, thanks to a fellow endurance rider posting on Facebook, discovered the wonder of grooming your sheepswool to regain it’s former poofy fluffiness glory. I am now obsessed and no wool item is safe from my re-fluffing clutches.

Azid has been ridden 3 times in the last year and has now done his 3 weeks of in hand work, I have had the opportunity to send him away to do 3 weeks of rehab at Readwood Rehabilitation Livery before I jump back on board and I couldn’t be happier, they are very knowledgeable horse people, I trust and respect their opinions so it will be great to get a second set of eyes on Azid.

I’m living in a constant roller coaster of hope with him. My vets think he’ll compete just fine, some research papers agree, some papers say he’ll never compete at all, my common sense says at best he’ll have a shorter career, at worst we’ll injure him so badly it’s irreparable, is it worth taking the risk of aiming high with him or should he live a lower level just for fun kind of life.

For now we’ll take it one step at a time and slowly increase what he’s doing, monitor him carefully and I can assure you I’ll try to make the best decisions for his welfare and not based on my dreams and aspirations of competing at FEI level again. I miss racing so much but my horses will always come before a competition.

We’re so lucky at our livery not only to have separate winter and summer turnout but also ‘relief’ turnout to give our own paddocks a break when the grass is running low. It’s such a good system and one that I thoroughly appreciate, the owner of our livery keeps numbers down, when really they could double the amount of horses and limit the grazing, like many other places do, but I love the fact that happy horses come before making money.

I love doing the little bits of work in the field, making sure the hedges are kept back, cleaning the troughs, just generally making sure whichever field I pop my horses is we’ve done our best to make it safe and comfortable. It’s always so nice watching them enjoy some fresh grass, although Qantas is getting a bit on the chubby side so we’ve altered his feed to compensate. If we ever change feed type, rates etc then we do it slowly over a number of days. I also change the amount i feed depending on the workload that day. So they have a baseline feed amount and then they have moderate and hard work feed amounts.

Dan’s riding is really coming along and it is so nice to be able to go on quiet hacks with him. I’m not sure what he’ll think of open trotting and cantering, and I’m not sure Tissy is the best pony to show him the ropes, she has two gears…..slow walk and fast everything else. Due to her size and exuberance she’s also quite a bumpy ride compared to a smoother moving larger horse. Nevertheless I can’t wait for the day we can go for a hack in the mountains of my home in Wales, canter through the forests and enjoy the ride!

Over the past few weeks Azid has started to be more himself. Messing around in the field and choosing to trot more, whereas before he would either walk or canter , it’s so lovely to have our herd joker back, he’s always playing the fool.

He’ll be going off for 3 weeks water treadmill walk next before I start riding him again. Thankfully NFU support rehab as part of his lameness insurance claim. So he’ll be packed off to boot camp.

He’s taken to lunging (although it’s only at walk) pretty well too. As part of his rehab we’ve been using the Pessoa training aid for walks out and to lunge, using the makeshift Procore trainer and doing lots of pole work, all from the ground and now I’m so excited for when I can finally ride him again.

Who know’s how far we’ll get, but for now I’m just enjoying the fact he’s moving so much better.