On the yard.

There is two stable blocks on the yard, the little one which has 5 stable boxes in it, this also contains the feed room and an area which stores clean straw, paper for beds and tools ie brushes, shovels etc. on this yard the bigger horses are kept such as Hi fi, Woody, Magners and sprite.

The Big yard has 15 stable boxes on it and also has a tack room in it where all the horses bridels ans saddels are kept, the grooming kit like brushes etc any other parts of saddelry you may need such as lunging lines, boots, bits ect are also kept in here. All the horses kept in this yard are only kept in during the day and let out onto the grass at night.



On a daily basis -



Morning - the beds are taken down, hay and water put into stables,

Horses are taken in from the field, rugs off and brushed down.

Then whoever is riding 1st would now get ready to ride and tack up for 10:15.

While the 1st group are in riding between the 1/2/3rd years there be 3 different groups 2 up at the class rooms and 1 on the yard with Marion doing odd jobs like cleaning tack etc.

2nd group should then be ready to ride at 11:15.



lunch will then be at 12:15 until 01:00.



Then another year will be prepareing to ride and the groups in the class room will now change.

After an hour the next group will go into ride and everyone will start to clean up the yard,set fair. Doing the beds putting them up for the night, re-filling the haynets. Once all horses have finished riding they will be fed at the same time then taken back out to the field for the night and released together. Home time!!!!

Equitation and Lunging

At the moment we get three lessons a week but on some occasions we get to hack out. Both Alistair and Mary have been the ones teaching us and the lessons are for one hour. As we have not long started college and the most of the horses had a summer off, so we have been focusing on getting the horses fit. This includes quite allot of flat work. All students get to ride different horses this is good for us as it gives us experience and the feel of different horses as all the horses at the yard are different breeds and all have different characteristics. Sometimes we only ride twice a week and we get to lunge tho horses instead. This is also a form of exercise for them but is harder on the horses than getting ridden. Lunging is also important for us to learn how to do it properly as we will be tested on it in our exams.

Tutors

Mary .



Mary is the most strict tutor on the yard , which I would say is a good thing . She doesn't let you off with doing things wrong . If you find something hard to do she will let you take your time and explain it so you can understand what she wants you to do . The main thing she has helped me with is getting more length in my leg , when she first told me to Lenthen my leg I thought she wanted me to put my stirrups down a hole , but to Lenthen your leg all you need to do is take your leg off the saddle and pull it back . she went over this with me several times until I had got it .



Liz .



We don't get Liz very often , only on a Monday morning . In that time we do work on , Basic Care Of A Horse At Grass . She seems plesant enough .



James .



We never get James teaching us , as he is a very busy man . He is not only the head of equestrian but all the out door courses . We do see him out at the yard sometimes , he goes on trips as well.

Horses on the yard!

There are 17 horses on the yard at the moment. We have two yards the small yard and the big yard. There is 3 horses on the yard that cannot be ridden, these horses are Amy, Emma and Sprite. Amy and Emma are just baby's and soon will be leaving the yard. Sprite cannot be ridden due to him having teeth problem but is hopefully going for an operation this year.
There is only two students that have brought there horses up so far this is Zoe who owns Casper and Hayley who owns Frankie. Frankie is only fours years old and just broken in last October so this is a big change for him as he hasn't done a lot but the college will do him good. Casper is an experienced little pony and is fun to ride.
My favourite horses on the yard are Tash, Casper and Frankie. I like riding all the horses but theses are the ones a get on better with.