2006

Diary December

 December started well and saw us hunting, Mondays & Fridays. The weather was great and we only had one wet afternoon.
We are thoroughly enjoying the hunting. Not only is it a great way to educate the horses but it has allowed us to get to know the area and our new neighbours.

With 30+ horses in work we were still very busy.
Along with the fact the builder, electrician, and Plummer were all working on the staff accommodation during December there was always someone who needed attention, we were trying to keep them motivated and on target with the aim was to have the accommodation ready for the staff to move into after their Christmas break.

Although we have a great bunch of staff the novelty of having them live in the house and cooking for everyone was certainly running thin!

The Lunging circle and Indoor have been a great success, the surfaces are riding very well and we certainly appreciate them having been without since we moved in February.

The Lunging circle was the farms Slurry Tank (where all the Poo was kept!) when it was a diary farm. 21.8 metres across and 15 foot high sides it is brilliant as a lunging and loose schooling area.

The indoor has also worked super, the building was previously used as a cow shed 24 m X 50 m it is a good size. We did not have much to do to it the main thing we had to do was level the floor which had a 5 foot slope on it, and finish the sides.

We always try to get to Olympia.
For those of you who don't know Olympia is a big indoor show held in the middle of London the week before Christmas, they run 2 shows a day each time there is a international jumping class along side novelty classes and demonstrations. The shopping is also excellent.
Olympia is always a fun, with plenty for everyone. This year we had two trips planned.
Thursday we had a journalist's lunch then stayed to watch the evening performance, when Lauren (one of our studants) was parading as part of the Gold medal winning Young Rider Team.
We then had a box organised for the Sunday evening.
The box is a super way to do Olympia, the dress is Black Tie, and there is supper served during the evening, it is great to get a group together for the night.

We had thought about having a couple of days in London between the 2 trips but decided to go home so we could hunt on the Friday. Great Plan but......
Hunting started well but then unfortunately Mark's horse slipped whilst trotting around a corner on the road coming down on his side pinning Marks leg underneath.
The outcome was not great, (although it could have been a lot worse.) Mark managed to break one of his metatarsal bones in his foot. and is currently in plaster!

Olympia was still fun on Sunday despite the crutches!

With all the staff away for Christmas we had always planned to turn a few horses out and leave ourselves with about 18 in. With Mark in Plaster Tanya was on her own over Christmas. - needless to say we soon got a few more turnout rugs leaving just 8 in for Tanya to do!

Christmas day was nice and quiet, we went to Tanya's sisters for a lovely dinner once the horses were done. Boxing day was nice and quiet once again. Tanya's parents and Gran came over for Lunch apart from that it was peace and quiet a real novelty!

Nathan & Martina arrived back on 27th & 28th much to Tanya's relief!
the fantastic news was that although the accommodation was not quite finished it was ready enough for them to move into - hurrah!

Then on the 28th we flew to Ireland to have a late Christmas with Mark's Family - although Mark was well rested from plenty of time on the sofa, Tanya certainly enjoyed a restful couple of days and over eating!

It was very bad planning on the part of the Hunt as the Hunt were coming over the farm on News Year Day so we had to fly home on New Years Eve and bring all the horses in from the fields, the gates opening and wire taking down to allow the hunt easy access.

We had a quiet New Years eve