see arr harr

Now that the year is almost up, what are your best and worst horse moments of 2009?

I'm interested (nosey...) about how everyone's year has gone with their horses. Hopefully the highs are more plentiful than the lows!

I'm very excited! I'm going for Monday's M&M final. I'm a little concerned that I won't be able to get home again on Tuesday morning (cheers, British Airways) but it's far more important that I get to London on time than it is to get back home for Christmas ;)

Who's going, which days, and what's the best bit of the show for you?

I've just been emailed this article; according to the latest science idiot, "there is not much difference between horse riding and ecstacy".

Thoughts, opinions, and suggestions as to how "equasy" (equine addiction syndrome!) causes more than three times as many deaths as ecstacy use?!

Personally I think the man is mad; just wanted to share!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090207/tuk-ecstasy-no...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7876425.stm

(Alert! This question is aimed at proper responsible breeders who breed for a purpose. BYBs, you have been warned...)

With the current economic crisis / credit crunch / recession / whatever you want to call it, a stagnant horse market in some areas and falling prices almost everywhere, how are your plans for the future changing? Eg having fewer mares covered this year, using a different stallion (closer, cheaper?) - or are you quite immune?

Any stallion owners at public stud anticipating a fallout in visiting mares?

I'm just interested in how everyone else is coping with the situation.

Also, how many babies are you expecting this year?

Now it's almost the end of the year, what have been your highlights and low points of 2008?

For me, the highlights were breeding my first foal who was officially "my own" and registered under my name, without my mother's guidance. Also adding to the herd with a few more lovely ponies, and a few rosettes for my children with their ponies :)

Lows were losing a colt foal within hours of him being born, and then losing his dam when she was away raising an orphaned filly.

With only 18 sleeps til Christmas, the time has come to start thinking about what my offspring will be giving their ponies. In an attempt to save myself from pink glitter I've decided we're going to make pony treats. I do a lot of baking but have never done anything for animals and don't have a clue where to start!

Anyone care to share any easy foolproof toddlerproof recipes? Preferably something lo cal with no barley, maize etc as we have Welshies and a Shetland!

Thanks.

This morning 4 of my ponies (2 foals, having their first experience sans mama, and 2 two-year-olds) decided to squeeze through the hedge at the bottom of the field and wreak havoc on my neighbour's land. Unfortunately my neighbour is a golf course. Three of them came back when we went after them with a feed bucket, but the fourth (a 2yo madam) refused to have anything to do with us, and went galloping full pelt over the green. After trudging round after her, and being flounced away from, I finally caught up with her having a roll in a bunker...

I am absolutely mortified. Serves me right for thinking a 6ft tall, 4ft wide, dense hedge was enough to stop Lily The Filly and her crew. I've sent my OH round to apologise because I couldn't bear doing it myself. (He plays golf, they might forgive him!)

To make this a question... Do your neighbours hate you?

Every time I sync my new iPod, the date jumps back about 6 weeks, and the clock goes back 5 1/2 hours. I can change it easily enough but it is a bit of a pest to keep doing it every time! My computer is at the right time and date, so that's not it.

Anyone know why it's doing it, and how to make it stop?

Today my pony took great steps in "curing" me of a fear I have had for around 30 years - he took me swimming. I learnt to swim as a child and always hated it, and have been in a large body of water maybe a handful of times in my life. The last time I tried was nearly 4 years ago and I was sick (literally) from fear, and haven't been in anything bigger than my bath since. Today my OH and I took our ponies to the beach and he persuaded me to go in for a paddle; my pony is a real water baby and was splashing about having a laugh. As I have such confidence in him I took him back to the lorry to ditch his saddle (didn't want it getting soaked) and went back in; my partner came with me on his pony, and we went out farther than I had anticipated. The ponies were swimming for maybe 10 metres, during which time I was clinging on for dear life, yet not quite as scared as I thought I'd be.

So, to turn this from a "yay me" into a question ... has a horse ever persuaded you to do something you were scared of, or acted as a psychologist in another way?

(No, not on YA...)

At the weekend I was judging a few Working Hunter Pony classes locally. The course was not up to the maximum height but did have a decent amount of foliage/bushes/etc to simulate hunting, so it was in parts a scary course, particularly the first fence. The first pony into the ring in one of the classes refused three times at the first - elimination - but because it wasn't a huge show and I wasn't running late I asked the course designer to take the top pole off so the rider got her point across and the pony didn't leave the ring thinking he'd "won" by saying no. She jumped it well, I shouted "well done, keep going" - meaning keep cantering, don't let him stop just because you've jumped - and she went round the whole course, jumping beautifully without a problem. She was eliminated and knew that, and thanked me for letting her go round. No problem, thought I...

But one of the other competitors has complained (days later!) that I let the first rider jump the course when she had been eliminated. I don't see it as a problem; everyone knew the pony was out of the game, but the pony was made to do it anyway to give him and his rider a bit of confidence and make sure he knew he couldn't get an easy day out by saying no.

Is that something which would upset you if you were competing? What would you have done if you were judging?

Prompted by some responses on another question a few days ago: do you think there is such a thing as a "natural rider"?

Here's my take on things... Riding is very difficult to master. I don't think it's an easy sport to pick up, regardless of when you start to learn. I think there are people with natural balance / grace / poise, and those people find riding easier than people with poor balance. But I don't believe that there are people who ride well effortlessly, and without taking lessons.

Thoughts? Opinions? Abuse?

In some questions, it seems like everyone on YA claims to be a trainer / instructor of some sorts. Feed my curiosity: are you a professional?

I'm either a professional amateur or an amateur professional - I haven't decided which! I started teaching many years ago but threw in the towel and got an indoors job. I have too many children and too little time to get back into the equine industry full time, but I teach a bit of Pony Club and judge a handful of shows a year.

Are your horses a job, a hobby that pays, or an expensive hobby?

So (responsible and sensible breeders) what kind of a year has it been for you?

I've had a filly year; my Welsh C mare had a filly, and two of the three mares I have out on breeding loan also had fillies. The third had a colt, and my warmblood mare had another colt - he died within 24hrs of birth, and the mare is now raising a filly (through the foaling crisis network).

All in all 2008 is a pink year for me. How about you?

It seems that these days there are a lot of horses with a single job - whether it be dressage, showjumping, breed/type show classes, and so on. I've always done a bit of everything with my horses and my show animals have always had varied lives away from the showring. When I was a kid it was normal to go showing one weekend, Pony Club the next, and hunting the following weekend.

I've noticed that a lot of horses (and riders!) only work within one discipline; show animals are wrapped in cling film, dressage divas never learn to go forwards in a field, and showjumpers only work quickly and upwards. Some horses are "too posh to hack". But without a balanced life, how does the horse cope?

Surely without variation our horses will soon go stale, and are certain to freak out when met with a new experience. What do you think - are we losing the all-rounder?

I'm going to be building a school when I get my stables built - probably within the next few months. It's going to have to be outdoor. It won't be ridden heavily; I prefer to ride away from the school, but need it so the kids can get off the lead rein in a relatively safe environment, and to get the ponies used to going in enclosed areas. I want something that can get wet without being waterlogged, won't blow away in horrible winds, won't get icy, won't get too dry - and I specifically don't want sand!

What do you have on your arena? How often does it need topped up, dug, raked, etc? Would you recommend it?

At what age were you allowed to hack out alone?

A teenager (15, I think) at the yard where I keep my horses has been hacking out her PBA in company since the pony was bought about a year ago. Over this winter she's been hacking alone because there hasn't been anyone else to ride with at times. Pony is well behaved, has nice manners, and isn't silly about traffic, and the rider is sensible and carries a mobile phone - but rider's mother, who isn't horsey, has decided going alone is too dangerous so rider is banned from leaving the yard on her own.

I remember hacking out my very naughty section B alone when I was 10, and that was quite some time ago: no mobiles back then!

Parents: at what age would you allow your children to ride out alone?

Young uns: do you ride alone? how involved are your parents regarding when and where you ride?

If the rider is capable and the ride relatively sane, how young is too young?

My current laptop computer is an Acer with a 1.4GHz Celeron M processor. Recently I've been having a few problems with it and I think now is the time to move on!

My question is about the different types of processor available. The computers I have looked at online have all been either Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64X2. The Athlon ones are cheaper in general than the Intel, but is there a marked drop in performance? I won't be gaming but I need to edit and produce music as well as more general things like watching DVDs and surfing etc.

Somebody has told me the Athlon processors are less stable and more prone to crashing; is there any truth in this? Would I be better off spending a little more for an Intel or are the Athlons just as good with a smaller price tag?