News & Guides

16th May 2019 by Rowen Barbary

Blog, Blogging, boggy days!

Blog, Blogging, boggy days!
Having just finished the yard with the help of my dear owner of Holly, I head for lunch and grab the post on the way in and open my monthly post from RBTeam that’s gives the same heart warming experience every time. So given my 2 hour slot for admin and my lack of blogging I thought it may be a perfect time to fill you all in...

We seem to be having a slow start to season and I don’t really know why but things seem be different to previous years for good and bad reasons. We are quieter on the schooling liveries front due to my Mini Me taking up many of the stables, I may have started the season feeling less confident but Millie certainly hasn’t, she has clear goals and is showing great motivation with two new slightly bigger exciting rides. She is counting down the time until she can start BE. We still have 2 years to do unaffiliated before she’s even old enough but she had a successful winter series of arena eventing and won her point’s league with a clear lead. Millie’s older ponies have been in great shape all winter on their Mash and Senior Support; we really see a clear difference in their condition and performance alike. So in total she has 5 ponies currently in work which I’m trying to help with a little.

Photo credits Martha Lily Photography

Coton Rain Bow Star finished last season with our debut Advanced run, she thought she won but after a near foot perfect cross country I was unseated 2 from home. We set out to start the season at Lincoln Horse Trials Novice to get us back in the swing where I went wrong in my dressage, had 1 pole show jumping and clear cross country to finish 11th.  It was an exhausting end to the week having finally taken my HGV crash course, theory and practical in less than 2weeks, I’m now much more independent equestrian. From there we went to Gatcombe Park and was feeling really really confident as we have had a bit of a change of training, International event rider Aurther Duffort had watched us last year and taken us under his wing to help us with our show jumping, he lives much closer and has lovely private facilities for us to use, he has really restored my method of training and confidence in what I do. Holly has been a difficult horse with the show jumping and as many riders would, I have blamed myself and made an issue with this phase in my own mindset but following our training I feel like we have made huge improvements even if that still means we don’t jump clear Aurther is ensuring I stick to my method and that is all I can do, so trust it. Back to Gatcombe, we had an okay dressage and 3 down show jumping and our first ever run out cross country, somewhat a shock but maybe the shakeup I needed. We headed to Someford soon after for a school with Michael Owen who has a great understanding of what I need and really gets the fight back into me, thankfully that is exactly what happened and our next run at Kelsall was fantastic, we pulled out a really good dressage and fab round show jumping and an immense clear cross country to finish 7th in the intermediate. Next stop Rockingham 3*. Holly is fed Solution Mash and Condition & Performance.

Holly - Photo credits Adam Vincent Whitehead

Heidi Pages Duke came for a few weeks over Christmas and then back the week before Kelsall Hill Horse Trials so we could get some prep in as we were feeling ambitious and straight in at Novice. Heidi has worked hard on his fitness spending many a day at the Gallops and he’s feeling much better, we had a fresh dressage, the last fence show jumping and clear cross country for 11th.  Next stop Llanymynech Horse Trials. Lulu my big grey beast has had a few changes, I made the decision last season that it didn’t work financially for me to continue running her at the lower level as I feel I have reached our limit as a combination, she’s been a great partner and given me great cross country rounds so we spent the winter doing arena eventing and BS. She hasn’t failed to make the top 3 every time out, I then advertised and 12 hours later she sold to a working pupil of mine, completely unexpectedly.

My young horse Raffi has really lit my fire this winter, his paces, jump and temperament have been so rewarding but unfortunately we have worked on his jump and he put this into practice in his own time field hoping my 7ft fences and getting himself kicked. He has now nearly managed 4 weeks box rest with another 4 weeks expected, it has been heart breaking keeping him in all this time whilst everything else is going out. It seems so frustrating when I try so hard to keep everything so safe but we’ve had lots of cuddle time and even if his education is behind he is going to look shiny and sleek.  He mostly looks forward to his Rowen Barbary feed, he is having the Solution Mash; not much just enough to keep him happy but it only has 1% sugar so is not heating but high in oil to promote his condition. He looks twice the horse already.Raffi

Joey aka Cleighran Jeweler really suffers from anixety so I am currently out doing BS with him getting him to different venues on a more regular basis. He's done a dressage outing where he showed much more promise doin a lovely relaxed test, I have to admit I'm quite enjoying doing something else with him so no pressure there. I have a few owners horses coming along nicely and will hopefully make there eventing debuts soon, this weekend I will ride Finn at Llanymynech whilst owener Georgia is expecting. All my horses and ponies love Rowen Barbary feeds but most of all I do, my feeding is kept simple and I know that they are all getting the nutrients they need. My younger horses that need added top line are on the Sumo and everything has Rowen Barbary Supple to improve joint mobility and aid recovery as well as Re-Hydrate following excessive exercise/sweating, they are all in great shape, condition and health.
About Rowen Barbary

All manufacturing at Rowen Barbary is carried out in a state of the art mill located in the heart of the Shropshire countryside. We use only the highest quality ingredients sourced, where possible, from local farms before they are blended by our dedicated team in our UFAS audited mill.

Rowen Barbary also conforms to BETA NOPS guidelines with raw materials & finished feeds regularly laboratory tested to ensure that every bag of feed continues to meet not only ours, but also your high standards.