Winter is Arriving...

I don't know about you but I certainly feel like Winter is well on it's way. I seem to have gone in to auto hibernation, wrapping up in layers of clothing, hot water bottles at night and enjoying lots of casseroles and cake (any excuse for cake!).

The change in season is also obvious from doing the daily horse routine. When I venture to the yard at 6.15am it's pitch black and it's now a game of hunt the horse! Usually i'll just about work out where he is, walk there and when i'm 2 metres away he'll gallop past me back to the gate to check if i've left him any hay! I'm having a similar problem in the evenings! The horses are also noticing the change in climate. No sooner had I returned from my holiday in Cornwall, that I found a very hairy beast who has thankfully now been smartly clipped.

So the fly fringes have been put away for another year, along with the fly repellant and sun cream and the rugs and winter grooming gear is back out. So here i've put together a few of my winter essentials to ensure we are fully equiped for the cold months ahead:

My lovely pink fleece is great for layering up with a waterproof riding jacket or a padded gilet and I couldn't live without my Equestrian Gloves for the Yard- these gloves protect your finger tips during all your chores on those icy morning.


And my Knightrider Socks are ideal to add to my flourescent gear now the daylight is fading fast.

Plus I don't think i'd ever be able to get my horse fully clean without this equestrian grooming brush- ideal for getting the clumps of dried mud out of various strange places!

Mini Break!

Running your own business means its often difficult to take time off but last week we managed to get a mini break to the Lake District (it really was a mini break in my magic mini clubman!). As predicted the weather was typical of The Lakes but it stayed warm through the showers and few rain drops really didn't matter to us!

We stayed in the beautiful town of Ambleside which I would thoroughly recommend to families, couples and all! It was lovely to take a bit of time out and visit some local towns, eat out (a lot), and enjoy some swimming and walking. We were only there for a few days so no time to go for a ride across the fells but we shall definately be returning in the near future! Here's a few snaps of our break away...

Our days away flew by and before I knew it it was time to return to work! However I was thrilled to return to the arrival of some fantastic new equestrian products including the Bentley Lucky Star Grooming Set.

In addition I received some fab new product samples in the post which I am really excited about stocking- i'm keeping it a secret for now but this product is a great stocking filler for all you horse and pony lovers (oh no i'm thinking about Christmas already!!!!).

One of those weeks...

Is it me or does anyone else have those weeks when you just run out of energy and everything seems a bit too much! In the last few months I had been doing so well schooling my horse, increasing both his and my own fitness and then suddenly I hit a brick wall. Rather than fight it I gave us both a week off to try and recharge the batteries and it seems to have done the trick. After a lazy hack and a good old natter with a friend I was feeling a lot better and B seemed to still be behaving despite his rest. Then this weekend I headed into the field to tackle some schooling thinking everything i'd been working on would have gone out the window. But to my suprise B was excellent and the break seemed to have done him the world of good!

To make up for my recent time out of the saddle I spent nearly all weekend at the yard this weekend (I may as well have camped there)! In addition to horse riding myself I gave my friend a riding lesson. It was great fun and lovely to introduce someone new to the horse world. I did however find it quite difficult to break down all the info as I have never really taught before. For me, riding has become a bit like driving- when you've been doing it long enough it becomes automatic!

As any horse owner will know, there are many other lengthy horsey jobs that come along with owning your own horse. To name but a few I completed the daily field poo pick, topped up the water in the field, groomed the horses, picked out hooves, prepared feeds, applied fly spray and sun cream...need I go on!? For me, some days these chores I seem like a real hassle but I try and brighten daily routines up with my fun and funky equestrian yard products, putting to use my fabulous feeding fit, hoof pick (my fave is the pink and blue) and my Showa equestrian gloves, great for protecting your hands.



With everyone else on the yard away I realised that looking after four horses was pretty much a full time job! In addition I gave B's legs a good old was with the Wahl Tea Tree Horse Shampoo which did a fab job. And was it me or do the flies seem to be getting worse? As well as popping on their fly fringes I have been applying the 2 in 1 Fly Repellent which is great as it works at conditioning their coats as well.



So now another week starts and i'm hoping i'm going to feel a little more energetic...and on that note I best nip off to get a cup of tea and choccy biscuit (or two) to fuel the long day ahead!

What do you want?!

With BETA International fast approaching, this will be the first time www.thehorsediva.co.uk has visited this particular trade event at the NEC (though we are rather familiar with the Birmingham NEC after getting stuck there last week at Spring Fair!). We are looking to expand our current collections and although we do have plenty of ideas up our sleeves we'd really like to know what our customers would like to see for sale on www.thehorsediva.co.uk.

If you have any ideas- either general or specific products there are plenty of ways you can let us know! Firstly you can contact us via our website simly filling out the following form... http://www.thehorsediva.co.uk/contact.php or if you'd prefer you can email us directly info@thehorsediva.co.uk. Alternatively if like us you are a bit of a social networker, find us on twitter or facebook and send us a tweet/ write a comment on our facebook wall!

Follow us on twitter here... http://twitter.com/thehorsediva.

And become a fan of us on facebook here... http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Horse-Diva/470291315108.

We look forward to hearing your suggestions and you joining us in our online networking world :-)

Katie x