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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Dogwood supports RDA champion

Dogwood worker, Rosie Mott spent yesterday perfecting her plaiting skills with Arundel RDA champion pony Shamnus in ready for the RDA National Championships at Hartpury next weekend.

The skewbald pony, who is one of the favorites at Arundel Riding School, is to be partnered with one of Arundel RDA's top young riders for the Dressage and 'Countryside Challenge' elements of the competition.

The pairing managed to take 2nd place in the dressage last year for their group and are now looking to go one better this year and take the title.

Traveling with the pair to act as groom, Rosie is frantically trying to improve upon her current plaiting skills, which she herself has described as "atrocious", to ensure that the pair stand the best possible chance of achieving their first place goal.

For more information about the RDA championships and about becoming a volunteer, visit the RDA website at http://www.rda.org.uk/

Monday, June 28, 2010

Charles Owen hat price crash!

For a limited period we are offering customers are full range of Charles Owen riding hats at a reduced rate.

You can now find our hats at the following prices -

Ayr 8 - was £138, now £129
GR8 - was £120 , now £115
Wellington Classic - was £135, now £129
Beagler Classic - was £124, now £120
Pro II - was £96, now £95
Young Riders hat - was £53, now £49
Young Riders 'Ventilated' Jockey Skull - was £51, now £49
J3 - was £94, now £91 
H2000 - was £110, now £105 
Fiona's hat - was £147, now £130

To take advantage of our special offer, click here.


Friday, June 25, 2010

Horses learn new tricks

Every once in a while you hear a story about a football-playing dog that puts the dribbling skills of the England squad to shame. However a horse that can play football is certainly not common and would certainly make more interesting viewing than the first few England World Cup matches.

Horse football may soon become a more common sight as a Devonshire woman has started training horses to play the sport. Aimed at animals that are unsuitable for being ridden, Vanessa bea from Beaworthy created horse agility to test the skills of horses and owners without the owner needing to ride their horses.

Tests include horses kicking a football, owners taking the horses over a seesaw, weaving around poles, going through hoops and test of balance.
Ms Bee said the exercises help improve the confidence of both horse and owner as the horse really has to trust the owner to complete some of the more tricky tests.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Donkey lover knits for charity

An elderly donkey lover from Bristol has been helping The Donkey Sanctuary by knitting more than 40 cuddly donkeys.
Pat Whiting was inspired to knit the toys for the charity after being given an adoption donkey as a Christmas present one year.
She has now knitted 44 of the soft toys for the Sidmouth-based sanctuary which sells them to raise funds for donkeys all over the world.
A spokseperson for the sanctuary said:
"Pat's knitted donkeys are so popular that one was sold as she was handing them over to our fundraising team."
Despite having suffered five strokes, the pensioner has become so skilled at making the donkeys that she no longer needs to follow the pattern.
Speaking of the woman's gesture, Ruth Burrough, from the fundraising department said:
"We are so grateful to her for taking the time to provide us with all these knitted donkeys, which we can sell and raise much needed funds to help donkeys around the world."

If like Pat you would like to help The Donkey Sanctuary by knitting a pattern, visit www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Dogwood opens doors to new showroom

The Dogwood team proudly invite you to experience our wonderful new showroom in Strettington, near Chichester.
Located in a beautiful converted flint barn in the heart of the South Downs, 'The Fitting Rooms' houses the very best of the Dogwood Collection from Sergio Grasso riding boots to Stubben saddles and Mark Todd equestrian clothing.
Promising to appeal to both competitive and leisure riders, our range of horse equipment and riding attire will suit a variety of different tastes and budgets.
All of our friendly staff are Charles Owen approved riding hat and body protector fitters and would be only too happy to offer a free fitting to ensure you find the right size.
If you are looking to treat yourself or a loved one to a pair of new riding boots, we also offer a free boot fitting service to ensure you get the very best fit.

Our showroom is open Monday-Saturday 9:00am-5:30pm.
 For more information please call us on 0845 3010365.

For directions click here.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Vet trapped by sleeping horse

A Devonshire vet required the help of local fire and rescue services after becoming trapped by a sleeping horse.

The female vet had been called to a farm near Hillerton Cross, Bow on Saturday night after a horse had become wedged in a fence.

To try and free the animal, the vet administered a sedative which caused the horse to fall heavily asleep, trapping her between the horse and a ditch.

Devon and Somerset Fire Service had to be called to free the woman and release the animal from the fence.

Fire Station manager, Jim Laker, said, "One of the vets got herself caught between the horse and the ditch, but she's fine and we got her out."

The horse was believed to have sustained neck injuries in its escapade, but the vet escaped without injury.

[Image tomwardill via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence]

Friday, June 4, 2010

Looking for a Derby winner? Seek some Dr's advice

If you are hoping to pick a Derby winner this year, you may just want to seek some doctor's advice.

Researchers Dr David Marlin, Jane Williams, and Dr Tim Parkin have applied research skills normally used to predict injury and illness risks in horses to devise a winning formula for predicting which horse will win this Saturday.

According to their findings, punters should look for a horse which is short in the odds, is Irish-bred, has been ridden by only one jockey and has won at least twice as a two-year-old.

Their results revealed that horses starting the race as favourite were 4.8 times more likely to win than those that did not. The statistics also showed that for every win as a two-year-old, the likelihood of the horse winning the Epsom Derby was multiplied by 1.5.

Horses born in Ireland were also 2.8 times more likely to win than horses foaled elsewhere and those that had been ridden by the same jockey throughout their career were 2.5 times more likely to win than those ridden by multiple jockeys.

Proving controversial, the findings also showed that breeding had no direct affect on a horse's likelihood of winning the Epsom Derby.
The three specialists in animal health examined data on all 344 horses competing at Epsom between 1988 and 2009, gaining information from The Racing Post website, trainer and stud websites.

According to the model the current favourite Jan Vermeer (2-1) has the best chance in the race and is four times more likely to win than the next horse predicted.

[Image Rennett Stowe via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence]

Gypsy just misses out on Guinness record claim

Just four weeks away from being in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest surviving horse which had once been in a royal regiment, Gypsy has died.

Known by all who knew her as "the duchess" because of her royal connections as a Household Cavalry horse, Gypsy reached the grand old age of 35 before she had to be put down.

Having hung up her shining horse tack in her late teens, Gypsy was a much loved addition to the Kilmarnock Horse Rescue Centre and was a firm favourite with both staff and visitors who loved to spend time petting her.

She was known for being a gentle giant and a great calming influence on some of the other horses.

A volunteer at the centre said, "It is devastating, we are all so upset. It is just so sad."


Image ©dpicker, via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Blue Peter presenter tries her hand at vaulting

Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton has been wowing the vaulting world with her gymnastic ability after winning a British Equestrian Vaulting (BEV) affiliated competition in April this year.

The presenter underwent three weeks of rigorous training with the BEV before taking part in the competition at Moulton College in Northamptonshire.

Speaking of her training, the agile presenter said, "I'm totally in awe of what those girls and boys can do on the back of a horse – jaw dropping is the best word for it."

The event was held as a fundraiser to support the British vaulting team and pay for their horse "Go for Gold" to be transported to Kentucky to represent Great Britain at the World Equestrian Games (25 September – 10 October).

You can watch the recording in autumn this year on Blue Peter.

[Image ©amandine299 Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence]

Meet the world's smallest horse-to-be

A miniature horse born in America looks set to be world's smallest horse.

The one-week-old youngster stands at a tiny 14 inches (35.6cm) tall which is seven inches shorter than the average miniature foal.

Named Einstein, the pint-sized pony weighs just six pounds (2.7kg) which is the same weight as a human newborn.

More likely to fit into horse tack made for model horses than for normal sized horses, Einstein's owners won't know if their little pony will take the Guinness World Record title until he is fully grown.

The current record holder Thumbelina, who has her very own website, stands at 17.5 inches (44.5cm) and weighed in at a comparatively hefty 8.5lb (3.9kg) when she was born in 2000.

Unlike Thumbelina who is officially a dwarf rather than a smaller version of a healthy horse, Einstein is well proportioned and simply looks like a miniature version of a standard sized horse – we like to call him ‘The Bonsai horse’.

Is it a dalmation? No it's Spotty the British Spotted pony

Possible to mistake for a Dalmatian, a British spotted pony was born last week in Wembury Point, near Plymouth.

Rather unoriginally named, Spotty the foal gets his colouring from his sire who shares his "leopard spot" colouring.

Around 170 British spotted ponies are born every year and they can have several different colour variations. This includes "leopard spot" which consists of black spots on a white background and "snowflake" which is white spots on a black background.

The breed is renowned for their wonderful temperament which helps make them an ideal and very versatile children's pony.

The distinctive markings formed a natural camouflage for ponies roaming the heaths and forests of ancient Britain and are depicted in several Stone Age paintings.
[Image © Linnéa Gröndalen's via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence]