My Exciting Horses for 2011

Trefeinon Icon- Its an impressive photo but he had to be ridden positively, he likes to peer into ditches at take off! He is my Advanced horse for 2011, he tries so hard in every phase, jumping is his best thing, he can do all the Advanced dressage movements but he still looks like someones Dad trying to look cool on the dance floor!

Hartpury Top Gun- Will be 5 in 2011, hes a tough, determined, brave little horse, hes 16.1 but feels smaller. He grinds his teeth in the dressage and is a quick nippy jumper but has not really learnt to extend in his canter yet. I love his attitude and his cheeky character, he's showing signs of being the real deal to go to top level.

Hartpury Take It 2 The Top (Monty) - He is 16.2, still growing, 4 years old in 2011. Top Guns full brother. Will be aimed at the 4 year old classes, he feels like top class, he is in the very early days of training as he was only started a couple of months ago.

John Wayne- Bred by Malcolm Wharton principle of Hartpury College. He is 16.1 and will be 5 in March 2011. One of the UK's top 20 eventers, 4 year olds 2010. He is everyones favourite, he moves like a dream and likes to please, a gentle character with masses of scope. On his dams side his breeding includes Welton Apollo. He has a big canter and can really cover the ground. He is very sensible and super reliable even doing a good dressage in a thunder storm or if there are loose horses flying about!

I am so excited about these horses they are the best set of horses I have ever had, I am going to have to work really hard this year to keep my finances flowing to be able to keep them on top form and take them competing. A full update about these horses plus others will be on my website in the new year http://www.stellabayliseventing.co.uk/

Accident On Christmas Day

Christmas morning all dressed up for posh Christmas dinner at my Mums, I waited in the kitchen for Ant to come back from doing the cows. Something smelt horrid but I was just glad to be in the warm so tried to ignore it.
Ant arrived home, he went upstairs and I could hear him complaining "URGH, WHAT IS THAT SMELL".
Turns out Monserat, after 13 years, had at last found the litter tray, he had done something that looked like an entire packet of chocolate custard and not even followed traditional cat manners by covering it over. Disgusting, stomach churning, very, very disgusting.
I picked up the litter tray, my Christmas hat had slipped over my eyes, so I didn't notice a white Duvet fall off the Bannister and go plop silently onto the stairs. About 4 stairs down my feet met the Duvet and shot out from under me and I went dud, dud, dud, dud, dud, dud all the way down, picking up an impressive mph that Jeremy Clarkson would have been proud of. As I met the inevitable final stair my progress ceased abruptly, cat litter and pooh flew up in the air, then back down and everywhere.
I lay there wondering how I had ended up in the hall, bruised yet lying on a soft white Duvet.
It couldn't be heaven, I was surrounded by cat litter and sloppy cat pooh. Ant confirmed my suspicions that I was still alive by peering down at me from the top of the stairs asking "are you alright?"
We were a little late for Christmas lunch with a few bruises and a good story to tell.

Happy Christmas

This photo was taken last winter. It is the lovely Paintpot, mother of my bay yearling Paint It 2 The Limit (Snip). Thought the picture makes a stunning BLOG Christmas card. Paintpot was lent to me as a broodmare when she injured her leg and her owner Joy Bannister was unable to provide suitable facilities for lengthy box rest. Having had a super foal Paintpot is now sound and back with her owner Joy. Although now Joy has hurt her own leg.....shes not suitable as a broodmare though!!!!

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and that the snow melts very very soon... like on Boxing Day....please.....???

Highlight Of 2010

Click on the utube link above to see Icon jump round The British Championships at Gatcombe 2010. (Its a bit of a rough copy from the big screen at Gatcombe) This outing and our 15th place at little Downham Advanced were the highlights of my year. Only ten weeks until the season starts and the thaw is meant to happen next week....I can't wait. At least carrying bucket after bucket of water is keeping me fit!

Frozen Penguin and Troughs.

Took me 2 hours with several trips back to the house for hot water (1/4 mile away) to defrost this trough and I learnt how to work the self timer on my camera!!!! Tabby cat "Hedgrow" and kitten "Felix" are in the best place.

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Sweeps favourite toy her Penguin is frozen as solid as a concrete block, its now a lethel weapon when she starts shaking it.

See amazing snow shots from Castlemorton taken by my Mum - Pauline Baylis at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biTIlYjb3EA

Chicken Of The Year Show. 1st.

Anthony has won 3 firsts at the Chicken of The Year Show. The show fills 4 huge halls at Stafford County Show Ground! Due to the snow it took him 2 1/2 hours to get there (normally takes 1 hr).
We took the birds Friday night, they stay B+B for 3 days and are judged after we have fed, watered them, put baby oil on their combs, coat glossed feathers, polished beaks, claws.....etc etc....wont bore you!
Last year his Silver Laced Wyandotte made it to Champions Row, but she has stayed at home this year as she decided to moult at the wrong time! Its snowed a lot again and the horses are confined to boxes again. I've made lead ropes and mended rugs, staying cheery by thinking how much money I am saving in diesel and entries by not being out competing.
Whilst carrying 16 buckets of water a day to the stables from the house, I had a brainwave....gonna train the horses to like slush puppies, then I can just shovel snow over the doors and add carrot flavouring.......!!!!!

Clipping is very Dangerous!

I am slightly accident prone. A few years ago I broke my collar bone, not falling off, but clipping a horse. It was a tall cob and he squashed me against the wall and crack and ow!

Yesterday I decided to give Milo a tiny chaser clip, he stood like a rock while the deed was done and thats his first ever clip! As I put my clippers down I managed to whack my head on a saddle rack.....Ooooowah!.....It did hurt a lot. In the evening I wasn't hungry felt a bit sick and went to bed at 9 pm tired having ridden 5 horses, clipped one, mucked out and been shopping for horse feed. I slept 11 hours, woke up with a headache and a bump on my head. Fiddlesticks its mild concussion! As there is snow forecast in two days, I determinedly took 3 horses on my own to Allens Hill for clear round show jumping. OMG they were fresh, bucking and spinning, think my core stability has risen a few points during Top Guns performance. Luckily they all jumped well. Monty jumped 2'6" even a few from canter, Top Gun was cocky but fab and John Wayne pinged confidently round a metre.

I gave myself a big pat and a polo for staying on lots of bucky moments with a poorly headache!

(Photo - 3 year old Monty out hacking kindly taken by Brian Swindells, Castlemorton.)

Monty Loose on the Common........eeek!

Well. What a shock. Prue our next door neighbour knocked at our door as it was getting light to tell me there was a horse loose on the common. I rushed outside to find Monty had jumped out of his field and was loose on 2,ooo acres of Castlemorton Common. Luckily he was waiting patiently at our gate to be let back in! He had an "Oooops!" look on his face. I opened the gate and he sheepishly wandered back in.
Phew, got away with one tiny cut. It was still dark and very icy and the nearby main road gets fast and busy first thing. He had popped over a low bit of fence having chewed through the rail, he is teething and is chewing everything. I had given him a few rubber trugs to play with as hes so bored with his forced holiday due to the snow, but he obviously decided to go off in search of more interesting things!
I have mended the fence and he is back in work (he's still gorgeous) but I will still worry like mad in case he does it again.

Good News

I have lots to celebrate today.

Louise Skelton is the 2010 winner of the British Eventing Martin Whiteley Trophy on her homebred horse Partly Pickled. She has done Badminton and Burghley numerous times. She is extending her coaching qualifications and has asked me if she can use Icon and I as a Guinea pig as part of her training. She has given me some brilliant advice in the past course walking etc and so of course I said yes. This means I will receive 8 lessons with Louise which will be a brilliant contribution towards our first CIC*** next spring.
Then very exciting as I won a months supply of Pure Feed Company feed in http://www.eventingworldwide.com/ xmas givaways.
And at last the school has defrosted enough to ride on and I managed to stay on some very fresh horses! Even Icon was fresh he almost bucked. John Wayne was scared of a loose leaf and Top Gun was perfect once he put his back down!

Photo of me in my messy kitchen taken by my Auntie - Geraldine Clarke

Sponsors For 2011

I have written to a few potential sponsors for next year and have been very select as I am very fussy what products I use. The companies I have chosen are those whose products I have been using for some time and so have contributed to our very successful year in 2010.

One is mainly a feed and bedding company with an excellent new line in feed which Icon, John Wayne and Top Gun have been eating happily for the last 6 months. Its less expensive than my previous brand but still excellent quality, the horses perform brilliantly and look superb on it.

Another is a clothing and rug company that I have used for years and years, exceptional quality and I would be very excited to be able to promote their products.

Then there is the company who made my super jumping saddle, I feel so secure in it and the horses feel in amazing balance, they jump exact and straight over all those skinnies. Its a company not widely known for producing saddles for top event horses and I hope to change that.

Also a brand of lotions and potions I use on the horses, shampoo, fly sprays, sheath cleaner, saddle soap etc all essential items and top quality products allowing me to turn out the horses in stunning condition and all helps towards dazzling those dressage judges!

This would be in addition to my current sponsor http://www.payrollsuk.com/ who have already agreed a deal for 2011. Click here to look at their site there are some good pics of my horses on there too. Including Rif Raf this years foal.
If you have employees (even one employee) or work for someone that operates PAYE you should contact them for a free quote, you have nothing to lose, much cheaper than using an accountant they have over 20 years experience and they are offering your first months payroll for free.

Fire, Flood and Frozen

Yippee I feel alive I have managed to ride this weekend, the horses were amazing, how special are these 4 year olds to behave perfectly after a week on frozen box rest. Got to thank Take It 2 The Limit for their temperament and the mares must have something to do with it too. The school was frosty and I had to avoid bits of it. I did not ride Monty, seemed pointless to restart a 3 year old with a further week of ice forecast.

Due to the freezing conditions I have spent the week doing house stuff, Ant cut up a mountain of wood taken off our neighbours skip and I have stacked it all away. Had a panic when the Rayburn caught fire and Ant had to rush home to my rescue and then I left my water container filling up in the sink and completely flooded the kitchen. Good job Ant mended the Rayburn as everything had to be dried on it!
Sheltered accommodation beckons!

Just Snow

The bright bay yearling Snip (Paint It 2 The Limit) and 5 year old Frank (my livery) out in the snow this morning. Nothing much else to report, plans all on hold until it thaws. Maybe having a bonfire will help!