My Year

[dalesnfellfan]

Unlike the 2014, which I was well and truly  glad to see the back of, 2015 has been, on the whole, a good year for me.

It started off badly with Emerald behaving very badly due to her gut and breaking my finger in January when she knocked me over.

Then in February I found Connie and she came home on 28th Feb, she had a foot infection so it was mid March before I started riding her and building confidence together.

In March I had the results of Emeralds tests and she started a 6 month course of treatment, while this was expensive and time consuming it gave me hope that she could perhaps come right again, it at least gave her a chance.

Over the spring and summer my confidence in Connie slowly grew and we had lots of lovely long rides together, Emerald was also responding to treatment and improving.

July was a good month, Connie and I did our first pleasure ride together in the pouring rain and we went to BHS camp for 4 days which was brilliant and gave me lots of confidence and improved my riding, we also came 8th in the end of camp jumping and got the rosette for the most improved rider.

In August we did our second PR at Ickworth and also did a photo shoot for EQlife magazine, which was tiring but great fun and gave me some wonderful photos of Connie and I.

We continued to do PR's through the autumn and finished the season doing 9 rides including a 2 day weekend ride in September, and clocking up over 100 miles (160 km), which gave us 100 mile rosette and 2nd rosette in the novice section at the ADR dinner in December.

October -December we also did a monthly BHS jumping clinic which was great fun and resulted in us jumping small courses.

Through Sept/Oct I tried unsuccessfully to ride Emerald and I thought she would never be fit enough to be ridden again, but in November after a check up with Donna she thought it was remembered pain and advised pushing her through it, so Sam got on her and did just that which resulted in me riding her for the fist time in over a year a few weeks later.

Throughout December Emerald and I have been hacking out 2-3 times a week both in company and alone and on New Years Eve I had my first canter on her across the meadow, it felt fantastic and was a wonderful way to end the year.

Now looking forward to 2016 with 2 lovely ponies to ride, I have lots of exiting things planned for the ponies and I,  a full diary of PR's including 3 weekend rides (I do love these), BHS camp again and monthly clinics, DPS presidents ride which I hope to take Emerald to.  I also plan to take Connie across to my daughters in Northampton/Leicestershire  borders for a few days riding in a change of scenery and my friend and I plan to visit a mutual friend in Sussex with the ponies to ride in Ashdown forest, we last did this in 2010 with Spud, the plan is to go in Sept and do the EGB South Downs Way ride while we are there, this is very hilly and will be the most challenging ride Connie and I have ever done.

I hope to get Emerald out to a few rides and clinics this year and I'm aiming to perhaps get her to the ADR baby ride at the end of Feb (2 years after we did the last one with Kate and Colmworth Mollie)  and we are planning for my daughter to take her to the Easter Bunny ride with me on Good Friday.


Happy New Year to you all, I know a lot of you, especially those in the north will also have busy years planned with so much going on for the Centenary year.  I hope 2016 is good to you all and you have lots of fun with your ponies

[dusty]

What a lovely round up. You and Connie have achieved a lot in less than a year. Good luck for 2016 with her and Emerald

[harveydales]

What an amazing year you've had, Andrea. Wonderful to read this and I hope 2016 will continue where 2015 left off. Looking forward to hearing about your next adventures.

2015 was good for me and Harvey too. I had thought that, at 21, it would be time to take things a bit easier but Harvey was having none of it. In fact we ended up doing more than ever. He won the DPS Veteran Points cup for the 5th time and came 4th overall this year. We did a full programme of endurance rides for which he won the veteran trophy and the native pony trophy. I affiliated with British Dressage again (having retired from dressage some years ago) and we put together a team for the Team Quest competition, even getting to the final. We qualified for the Veteran Horse Society/BD finals but didn't go because the date clashed with the DPS AGM. Tanya has been giving Harvey his jumping fix - both XC and SJ. In fact last week he jumped the biggest course he's done in years (non-competitive though).

We've had lots of fun travelling all over Lincolnshire to ride out with friends and Harvey really enjoyed being on the Newark Heritage Show stand representing the breed.

This year - who knows. I will listen to Harvey and so as much or as little as he wants. We have out Lincolnshire leg of the Presidents ride to look forward to and we are putting together a Dales Pony team for Team Quest which should be fun. I would like to join in the centenary week up at Barnard Castle but that may be too much travelling for Harvey. We will go with the flow.........

Wishing all of you and your ponies a wonderful, happy and healthy, fun year.

[dalesnfellfan]

What a wonderful year you and Harvey have had too, I'd also like to join in the fun of the Centenary week but it's a very long way for me to come with the ponies, toying with the idea of coming up without ponies but I'll just see how it goes.

It would be nice to have a few days up there again I have fond memories of the area as I lived near Bishop Aukland for 5 years many years ago, my ex husband went to Barney school and so we spent a lot of time around the area at reunions etc. and at one time when we were living in a motel while waiting to move into our first house we had lunch every Sunday at the Morrit Arms at Greta Bridge just outside Barnard Castle, then we'd go for a walk down to the meeting of the waters, where the Wear (or was it the Tyne?) and the Tees rivers converge, very spectacular in the winter. In the summer Badgers pool was a favorite where we used to go skinny dipping.

I did have a look to see what the prices were like at the Morrit but they were fully booked for that week and also too expensive.

[dalesnfellfan]

I've just had a look at the Centenary week events again and I really fancy the George Bowman visit, I lived in Papcastle near Cockermouth for about 9 months when I was 21 and just married and worked at a trekking centre on Bass Lake and have wonderful memories of George (I guess it must be George junior now?). Seeing and hearing him flying along the Bothel to Keswick road, past Little Crossthwaite where I worked, with his 4 in hand team made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, he always had bells on top of the horses necks and he made quite a noise, frightening some of the trekking ponies. He was known as quite a character in the area and I remember my boss had lots of tales to tell about him, sadly I can't remember what they were now.

[5natives]

What a busy and successful year!.
Hope you and the ponies continue to have lots of fun this year!

[harveydales]

You should try and make it up there, Andrea. I'm hoping to go even if I can't take Harvey and a few other Lincolnshire people are going. I should be fun and I love that area too.

[dalesnfellfan]

Yes Pam I think I will, I have been looking at accommodation to see whats available, I guess if I'm going I need to get something booked sooner rather than later, I'll have to speak nicely to Hubby, it's only a week after BHS camp and I know he doesn't like me being away too much close together as he is disabled and finds it difficult to manage sometimes.

[harveydales]

I've been looking at holiday cottages which take horses just in case I can persuade Andy to come but if I go up alone, I will find a B&B too.

[dalesnfellfan]

Have spoken to Mike and he says he doesn't mind me going so I'll sort some accommodation out, I have found a B & B in Barnard Castle which is not too expensive, they are fully booked for the Saturday night but have vacancies from Sunday for the rest of the week, so if I stayed there I'd have to come up on the Sunday, I could always stay somewhere on the way up so arrive early in the day for the Sunday demos.