Hello everyone, what's it been since I last did a post on here? I'm going to say not far off 3 years. 

The whole honest truth is I still haven't got back on Legacy. My confidence has taken a huge hit, I keep telling myself I'm working to it and it will happen when the time is right. 

In the mean time I have started new Instagram / Facebook pages, these are for my new venture of Equestrian Deals. I created this site as everyone knows horses can be expensive and if I can find a way I will never pay full price for anything I need or want. This in turn has had me searching for up to hours and even days for the cheapest find of the item I'm after. By spending my time searching for these discounts and codes I have decided to start sharing them with everyone else. 

This is then when I made Equestrian Deals, I have an Instagram page and a Facebook page. I try to post as many deals as I can find but there are some days when the deals are posted late, early morning, all within an hour or so or none at all. This is down to working and my Instagram not cooperating with scheduling apps. 

Any of the can't be missed deals I find I will post on here to show you all. In the mean time I have added the links for the Facebook & Instagram pages and the link tree which all of the links for the deals are kept in one place. 

Facebook | Instagram | Link Tree

We now have a Facebook page!

After some questions on the equestrian bloggers page I'm apart of on Facebook I decided to expand Adventures with an ex racer and create a Facebook page. I decided to create this page to keep everyone updated easier, as it will come up on their timelines. Also I know that not everyone follows me on twitter or Instagram so I think this will be great up put up some pictures, updates and thoughts.

You can find our new Facebook page here

And other social media links are:

Twitter - @xraceradventure

Instagram - @xraceradventure

The Trams Lines Exercise

Yes those lines in the image are poles, it was the best I could work up after forgetting to take a picture of the actual poles. Although this is something I might try doing in the future with pole work posts, then add in a picture of the actual poles too. If it came up to a more complicated exercise to explain I will be able to add in arrows etc to show which way we went.

What we did with the poles:

Throughout a circle that took up half of the arena we set out 3 pairs of poles. One in the middle of the arena (orange),  one by the entrance gate (blue) and the other in between them too (green). 

The exercise was to then go through the poles and around In a circle or oval depending on which two sets of poles we were going through. In this lesson I hadn't done any work with Legacy since the lesson the week before so on the rare occasion she was a little lively (she can normally go awhile without work and be fine when you get back on.) this toyed with my confidence a little and I'm going to be honest there was a few times I was ready to throw the towel in and say I wanted to get off.

Thankfully I had put my big girl breeches on that day and I fought through it. 

Before using the 2 outer sets of poles we did a few exercises between the blue and green sets of poles. At this point I was fine confidence wise with Legacy. 

Some of the exercises we did were:

- Go through the blue set of poles and then through the green set.

- Go through the blue set of poles and either go on the a inside or the outside of the set of green poles.

- Same as above but opposite way around. Going through the green set and either way around the blue set. 

These exercises were done on both reins. 

After that we started to incorporate the orange set of poles. Were we would do big circles from blue through orange and smaller ones in between of orange and green then blue and green.

It took us pretty much the whole lesson to get a nice rhythmic trot out of Legacy this day as she was very much running in her trot. My Instructor was very determined to get a nice trot out of her before the end of the lesson and to end the lesson on a nice trot aswell.

When we started to incorporate the orange poles was when Legacy started to heat up a little. I hadn't been this far down in the arena with her for a while as we'd been working in the top quarter to half in 20m circles and on a square/rectange that way I could always have a good amount of control of her.

The control when she starts to heat up is definitely a communication error rather than her needing another bit, something not fitting correctly, her not being happy etc. As when she does heat up my first Instinct is to stiffen and tense up and pull back on the reins slightly. Now I know that both of these are something I need to work on. In terms of the pulling on the reins this is also something we worked on in the lesson as the instructor told me to try intermittently slightly pull on each rein and that if she doesn't go off on me to send her into the arena fence a little by turning her head. I did manage to find some control of her by trying these out and maybe we'll get there when I stop stiffening up. 

We're Back On Track...

The last 2 days I've ridden Legacy and I've managed to do more than just sit on her or walk her around in circles on the spot. Yesterday was just your average schooling session in the arena with my mum on Cloudy. I started out the session by trying out some starting suggestions I got over on facebook through the equestrian bloggers group and she was just doing the usual of stopping and throwing her head when she doesn't want to work. 

After feeling inspired from the comments over there I seen a whip on the side of the school and decided to give it another try. I never typically use whips on her as she must've had somewhat of a bad experience with them in the past as whenever you give her a tap on the bum to back up the leg she will try to kick your leg as to say 'get off'. So knowing that I decided to just show her the whip, and it actually worked. I didn't have to hit her with in once, she knew it was there. Each time I felt she was going to slow down I would just show her the whip and she go back to working. There was a few head throws in the beginning but when she got into a rhythm she would work nicely. Even at the end of the session I asked her for a little canter on each rein, which we both have to work on very much as more as ground work before ridden but it was nice to have a little canter on her which we haven't been able to do for about the last 6 months.

In today's lesson she tried to start off a little slow but there was no stopping and no head throwing as usual. In the lesson today we worked on a big 20m circle then smaller ones at certain parts of the bigger circle. This was so we could help Legacy become more supple from her left side on the right rein and so she doesn't flick her back end out on the left rein. As she flicks her back end out on the right rein she's not sure what to do with her back legs as she's turning corners within the circle, she's kicking herself with her back legs which results in her stumbling and then having to correct herself. This now means that she has to wear boots on her back legs. This isn't too much of a major problem as I've gotten her used to having boots on her back legs, she can just try to swipe her legs at times to try and get them off, once the first velcro is done she's fine. This is just something I've got to watch with her. 

Didn't manage to get any pictures from the lesson so I've added these in to break it all up.

I'm Back! Where I've been.. Quick Update.

Hey guys! Long time no write. 

It's been about 7/8 months since I last updated, but to be honest not much has happened in that time. I think that's why I haven't had the urge to get back blogging until now. I haven't been riding much over that time. I was busy with work throughout the summer then I was finding it was too hot for Legacy when I did have the time to ride on my days off. Then on the other scale of the weather when it wasn't too hot we had the horrible winds and rain where I live. I'm a fair weather rider at the best of times too, although I'm working on that after realising how much time out of proper work Legacy has had. 

I haven't had any confidence to ride Legacy out on the road as at the beginning of last summer she took off cantering on the road with me for no seeable reason, I stayed on but it still affected my confidence on the road with her, she was nappy on the road as it was so adding that on didn't help. Where she is kept for livery the roads get quite busy over the summer and the speed limit is 60. The tourists and most of the locals don't seem to care if there is horses on the roads, they'll come past speeding or beeping their horns if they can't get past. So because of this I can't hack out over the summer resulting in me totally losing my confidence on the road with her. 

This is something I'm working on though, I'm back to having lessons every 2 weeks with her. At the moment we're learning for her to respect me and listen to my legs while out on the roads as when she has her napping moments she's either not going anywhere or prancing a little in the middle of the road, the more I try to push her over out of the way of cars the more she plays up. So this is our main goal for now so I can regain my confidence on her out there. 

One of the other main reasons to why I didn't get to ride much throughout the summer was on one of the windy days we were putting a rug on her in the field, we only did this as she's very good standing there to put a rug on no matter what the weather. Unfortunately on this day the wind caught hold of the rug when we'd only managed to get it half on and it flew over her head. Due to this she spooked and took off around the field, falling over the rug as it came around her front legs. She was very lucky to come out of it without any major injuries, just a couple of grazes and burn marks from the velcro on the rug. What happened that night is something I never want to see again, it was horrifying. 

We're very lucky that she's not scared of putting rugs on in a breeze or rugs at all now. Quite the tough one Legacy is. 

The winter weather hasn't been the best on my 2 days off a week so I haven't had much luck riding there either, but as I mentioned I'm working on riding when the weathers not the best to try and combat the lack of riding for next winter.  

That's just a quick update to where I've been and what's been happening and as you can read, there's not much been on going on. I'm back at blogging now and I'm planning to update and post more frequently now.

I have also updated the pages Legacys feed and I have changed the link of my for sale page to my Preloved page now. 

My Time at Bolesworth International CSI****

I was very excited a few months back when my mum finally agreed to come with me to Bolesworth International. Having found out about it last year but it being too late to get time off work we weren't able to go. So this year I made sure to book the time off work well in advance, well as soon as april came and we were allowed. Next up was ordering the tickets, I'd missed the 2 for 1 deal they had around Christmas and New year so the next best deal was 40% on the presale. The hardest part for us was choosing the day, there was parts of each day that we both wanted to see. This would be great if it was a day long event. After much discussion we chose to go on the Saturday 18th June. 

Trying to find the venue was complete mayhem when you listen to a satnav the whole way. It got us to about 10 minutes away perfectly then started to take us down some back roads that had signs for 'no event traffic', 'no horse boxes this way' and 'horse box parking 100 yards away'. We were on a wild goose chase turning around where we could for about 30 minutes until I ended up with Google Maps searching for Bolesworth castle, this took us the correct way. Tip for Bolesworth when you can no event traffic, please put another sign saying which way for us to go! 

Once there we had a look at a few stands then we went to watch the Show jumping on the grass, having never been before we were walking around finding out where everything was. Then finding the main arena we were just in time to see Scott Brash in the young horses class Jump off. He had a clear round on Cademuir but didn't quite get around quick enough at ended up with 7th. It was great seeing Michael Whitaker in this class to, placing in the top 6.  

After this class we had another walk around to get a coffee, hot chocolate & a danish pastry. Throughout the afternoon we had a look through the stalls, found some stuff we both wish we had the money to kit out the horses with and then we were back on the search for the ex-racehorse display, which in the end we ended up missing due to not remembering which arena it was in. One great thing I feel Bolesworth should add is a board outside each arena to say what's on and the times, I know they are probably in the programmes but not everyone want's a programme for this purpose. It was a shame because we spent most of the day not knowing which class was which, what time they started and what was on next. This was one of the main reasons we left at 2:30pm as we didn't know what was left of the day. 

Although it turned out very well as through all our walking around we were able to see Michael Whitaker on his horse waiting to go into the main ring for the young horse class presentation, Ben Maher & Scott Brash, who I really wanted a picture with and one of my aims of the day was to see him but I was too nervous to ask, silly me and that is a big regret of mine. Definitely next time there's no holding back haha. 

After having a few ups and downs of the day it turned out to be a great day, the weather held out for us although it was muddy from the past days the sky was dry and it was warm but not too hot. I'm definitely wanting to go back next year, after the traveling my mum isn't too keen so I've either got some convincing to do, find someone else to go with or have a day out to myself. 

Did you go to Bolesworth International this year? What day did you go on & are you going back again?

Credit to Events Through a Lens for the Scott Brash Picture

& the other image was from Bolesworth International Facebook.

More images can be seen from the event on both pages. 

Hay Box Subscription Box Review - Month 2

This is the second box from Haybox. It's just as good as the last, if not better. This box definitely suits me personally better than the last as there's more I will defiantly use and not have multiples of. I really like that the box I received had a colour theme to it, I'm not sure if they all did or this was because of the box survey that you fill out after you've ordered the box where it asks for your favorite colour.

The same as last month I ordered the deluxe box, this is pictured above. The items which I received in my box in my box are as follows:

- Rhinegold cool dry socks

- Gold Label purple spray

- Gold Label mint & herb healthy treats

- Animology mane tamed sample

- Sheldon mane & tail brush

- Lacura sensitive lip balm

- Shires Wessex purple lead rope

- Local free magazine

Again overall I'm very happy with all my items, I can't wait to try out the mane tamed sample, as Legacy can have a very frizzy bottom half of her mane and for her breed she had a thick mane so I'm constantly trying to thin it out and keep it in one side. The Gold Label treats are something that won't last long as she does love them. Ad their healthy and great for their teeth I've added them into her feed before to give her something a little different. I'm sure that my mums horse will love these as well. The purple spray is always something that is great to have stocked up, as it's nearly time for her to be out full time, its great to have now as I'm sure when she goes out with a few more horses there may be few cuts, although she is very good with any injuries and likes to not have many. 

I love these types of mane & tail brushes, we weren't allowed these in college and every time I bushing the manes & tails I spent the whole time wishing they would buy each horse one of these. They make it so easy to get out all the knots and it makes tail brushing and de-tangling so much quicker than using a small plastic mane comb. If you haven't used one of these, I highly suggest you go and invest in one, grooming will be so much easier and more enjoyable. Another pair of socks & another lead rope in this box but as I said these are 2 things that are either always going missing or I'm making holes in, so if these don't get used right away they will go into storage for when they're needed and I'm thinking it will be sooner rather than later. Again in this months box is the free local magazine to the box creators area, this one has not yet come into my area so all of the info is new and it will be great read for me. The lip balm is always great and this is another thing I like to collect as I feel they can be used all year around, dry lips due to the cold weather and due to the sun. 

This box is still available through the HayBox site, & Don't forget the discount code: start for when ordering your first box, it's still working. The website is here and box choosing is here. 

My Rug Buying Obsession.

My name is Pheobe and I have a rug buying obsession. I hate to admit it buy it's something I just can't stop buying and if I manage to not buy I spend a lot of time searching and finding the best deals. Although I love to build Legacy's rug collection, I always make sure I buy them in the sales. Save money where I can ;) 

Her current collection of turnouts include;

Weatherbeeta Genero No Fill Standard Neck.

Gallop 100g Standard Neck.

Derby House 200g Standard Neck.

Weatherbeeta Genero 220g Combo Neck.

Shires Tempest 300g Combo Neck.

360g Genero Combo Neck.

Now that's her main collection with her having a 360g Detachable neck rug as a spare.

When the weights of the rugs get heavier I like to make sure she has a spare or more than one around that weight just in case anything happens. She's very good at keeping her rugs in good condition minus the mud and most of her rugs are 1200D, but I like to be on the safe side to prevent her having to stay in her stable if anything ever happened to her rug. 

She also has many of stable rugs;

2x 100g Standard Neck.

220g Standard Neck.

2x 300g Standard Neck.

360g Standard Neck. 

All her stable rugs are Weatherbeeta apart from her 300g's which are Gallop & Harrison Howard.

After that she also has a standard neck fleece, a scrim cooler, fly rug, ride on fleece exercise rug and a hi-viz net ride on sheet.

At the moment I am searching for a new 100g standard neck for her, eyeing up the new Weatherbeeta Genero 100g rug, A waterproof fly rug, looking at the premier equine one, a waterproof ride on exercise rug to encourage myself to ride in the rain and another medium weight/220g/200g standard neck stable, and I'm possibly looking at a cooler sheet depending on how warm of a spring/summer we get this year.

The searching for these rugs is keeping me satisfied for now, although the 300g combo and 200g standard neck are both brand new within the last 2 weeks. The changing seasons keep making me look. Soon I'll either have to ban myself from the equine sites, unsubscribe myself from the email updates or loose my card before I end up in rug buyers anonymous. 

If anyone wants I'll keep you all updated on my shopping sprees and I can write any reviews on my rugs if people are interested. 

Save Money While Shopping...! [Discount codes]

I've recently teamed up with Equestrian Co. to give my readers a great deal.
This is a great site I've found which offers pretty much everything but the horse & tack. They have really expanded and even offer products for not only dogs but cats & rabbits too. If only my cat would play with toys, I would have somewhere to spoil Legacy & My cat at the same time. They actually have some great items with some great savings on in their clearance section, I actually have my eye on a few things. The joys of Christmas being right around the corner. Buying yourself the presents with the money received. 

They've been wonderful enough to offer my readers some discount codes.
The codes are as follows:
Legacy5 for £5 off a £50 spend or more, and Legacy10 for £10 off a £100 spend or more.
What's great about these codes is that they work on the sale items, so you're saving by buying sale items then saving more with these codes. Win - Win all around.

You can visit their website here; Equestrianco

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