The Real Just Riding

So you are a competitive horse rider, whether this means that you are away for weeks on end or simply load up the trailer and trot off to your local show one weekend a month. This next article applies to YOU!

I have been riding and competing for around 20 years, showjumping has always been my discipline. During the course of the last 20 years I have seen products come and go and some which have stayed and really made a difference to me and to my riding. Safety stirrups for example I wouldn't ride in anything else anymore and haven't done for years, and I certainly wouldn't put my kids in anything else.

This is me...

So what I want to talk about is something that is a huge bug bare when I have been away with a few horses and that is cooling their legs properly after work, and I mean properly. I used to use gels but I stopped doing just gels years ago when they brought out ice vibration thingy me jigs... the problem I always had with these was that whenever we were away you could almost guarantee that I had no batteries with me, the next next thing was leg wraps with these refrigerated inserts which I thought worked really well. Again the problem, no batteries, no fridge, no ice, no cold water... but 12 hot legs to cool.

In early 2016 I was walking around BETA the large equestrian trade show in the UK and I always make a beeline for the innovation section as it really interests me, what's new in the equestrian world and what I can buy to help either my horses or myself to be a better rider.

It was on this visit that I came across these:

What are they?

These are called Aerochill and these unassuming beauties would change my life and my horses lives forever!

Aerochill work by using the principal of evaporative cooling to produce a cooling effect when wrapped around your horses hot legs, they take the warm air and push it out and away from your horses leg, Guess what? No batteries, No Fridge, No Ice. You only need a bucket of water.

I immediately got chatting to the owner and developer of the product but was a little apprehensive at first, they just seemed too good to be true. I made my interest known and said I would pop back at the end of the show. When I returned at the end of the show I noticed a shiney certificate standing next to the product, they had won the main award for innovation from the British Equestrian Trade Association! If any of you guys have been to the show you will know just how hard the competition is for these awards. I couldn't get my pen out quickly enough to secure delivery of mine and some for my shop.

I bought these boots nearly two years ago, and I am STILL using them almost every weekend!

Here is a video I put together today I think it shows just how simple and effective these boots really are.

I am so impressed by these little boots that I have actually given them out for free to some of our brand ambassadors to use. Melanie Geddis a showjumper out of Ireland has been using them for around 12 months, here is a photo of her in action and also what she had to say about them.

Melanie Said...

"I found that the Aerochill boots where prefect for home use and also for use at shows, they were great for my horses after their daily exercise and also for using them after they jumped! They are so easy to use, i just dunk them in a cols bucket of water, and them leave them om for 10-15 minutes depending on their work load!"

As I said earlier in my post, there are some things that have come along in the 20+ years I have been riding which have made a huge difference to me or to my horses, right now Aerochill are up at the top of the list. I no longer have to think about gels, batteries, fridges, ice..the only thing I have to remember are the boots, there is always water available. They are also super lightweight so I can throw 6 pairs in my grooming box and feel absolutely no difference in the total weight.

I want to add that I have also lately discovered when speaking to my physio and vet that placing ice or very cold substances directly onto my horses legs is incredibly bad for them and in fact causes tissue damage, just another reason why I wont be using anything else other than Aerochill.

If you are interested in ordering a pair of Aerochill at the time if writing this post I still have around 26 pairs left!

Added Bonus (Because who doesn't like bonuses?)

Grab your horse a pair of Aerochill boots between now and Sunday 30th June 2017.

Upload a photo of your horse in their boots to our facebook page at www.facebook.com/therealjustriding and we will send you out a voucher for $10 which you can spend on anything you want to in our store.

Plus we will be sending the actual pair used in our video to one of the first 25 customers to buy a pair. So one of you lucky beasts will have two pairs! Winner will be drawn live by video on our facebook page as always.

Aerochill Cooling Boots are just €66.00 (Just $63.00 if you are ordering from US)

Lorenzo Lights Up LGCT Cannes with Spectacular CSI5* Win

The second evening of competition on the Longines Global Champions Tour of Cannes showcased another night of top sport and world-class entertainment as the stars came out on the French Riviera. On-form LGCT Ranking leader Lorenzo de Luca (ITA) wowed the crowds by winning a 12-rider jump-off by over a second from the rest of the field with Halifax van het Kluizebos, winning the lion’s share of the €62,000 and an all inclusive holiday to Mauritius. 

Speaking about his round, Lorenzo praised his phenomenal stallion: “My horse jumped fantastic. He loves to do the jump-off, he’s always competitive. He loves to go fast! It’s a fantastic atmosphere here.” 

Uliano Vezzani’s course was all about keeping focus, with the spotlights shining on the 54 strong field. Related distances, imposing oxers and full height verticals were all in the mix with the Italian course designer featuring big parallels, wide and square. 

First to set the pace again with a clear was on-form Simon Delestre (FRA) with chestnut gelding Chesall Zimequest dancing around the arena as the sky changed from blue, to pink to deep purple while the sun began its slow descent. The home town hero drew cheers from the crowd, with the top French rider not disappointing after a masterful display of show jumping prowess. Local fans had plenty to celebrate, after Mathieu Billot (FRA) with his stunning dapple grey Vent du Sud Kerglenn and Kevin Staut (FRA) jumped beautiful clears to earn themselves a place in the jump-off.

19 year old German talent Philip Houston (GER) has been impressing around the world with his skills, however took an unusual tumble at the gappy vertical after a miscommunication with Ulane Belmaniere while pushing for a longer stride saw them stop at the very last minute. Jane Richard Philips (SUI) was another rider to taste drama, after Calinesse de Guldenboom checked before the treble combination, adding a stride before crashing through the black and orange oxer, and Scott Brash (GBR) was eliminated after Hello Annie stopped at the BMW oxer, somersaulting Scott over her head with the British Olympian landing on his feet.  

Clears came throughout the field, with Darragh Kenny (IRL), Ludger Beerbaum (GER), Pieter Devos (BEL), Ramzy Hamad Al Duhami (KSA), Alberto Zorzi (ITA), Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP), Henrik von Eckermann (SWE), Lorenzo de Luca (ITA) and Denis Lynch (IRL) making up the 12-strong jump-off. 

First to go was Simon Delestre (FRA) and Chesall who set off at a pace with all the intent of a home win. But a shock stop from the chestnut gelding at the Longines plank saw the pair collect four faults, before Simon retired his feisty horse from the competition. Darragh Kenny (IRL) had the pressure of setting the bench mark, but mastered the course with Chanel setting the time at 38.55s. 

Ramzy Hamad Al Duhami (KSA) gave it a spin with High Quality J, but the pair were unable to match Darragh’s time, as did Pieter Devos (BEL) and Claire Z and Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) with Hermes de Mariposa who jumped beautiful clears but all finished outside the Irishman’s time. 

Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP) blitzed around the arena with G&C Unicstar de l'Aumone, with the pair rolling the dice at their gallop to the last. Luck wasn’t on their side, and the pole fell to the groan of the crowd, dropping them down the order. Their faster time however showed there was still room for manoeuvre, with the final riders yet to come. 

An unlucky pole for Italian star Alberto Zorzi (ITA) and Cinsey put them out of the running, and Ludger Beerbaum (GER) also picked up a refusal after coming at the vertical with too much of an angle for his young horse Chacon. The pressure was on local rider Mathieu Billot (FRA), who also clipped a pole to collect four faults. 

Three big guns were yet to come, with the LGCT Ranking leader Lorenzo de Luca (ITA) storming into the ring with Halifax van het Kluizebos. The pair seriously meant business with the speedy Italian galloping the course and taking an absolute flier to the last to stop the clock in 37.46s. Denis Lynch (IRL) and RMF Bella Baloubet looked strong but a rub of a pole dropped them down the order with four faults. 

The final rider to enter was local star Kevin Staut (FRA) and Silver Deux de Virton HDC, with the crowd erupting for their home hero. The crowd drew their breath as the pair set off around the course, but it wasn’t to be after they clipped a pole and picked up four faults. 

So it was Italian star Lorenzo who shone brightest tonight in Cannes, with all eyes on the LGCT Ranking leader to see if he can keep hold of his lead in tomorrow’s Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Cannes. The Global Champions League of Cannes final will kick off at 18:30, with the top 25 individuals qualifying for the Grand Prix which will take place at 22:00 local time. 

For the full results to tonight’s class, please click here. 

Credit for article: www.globalchampionstour.com

Lorenzo de Luca chooses to ride in Animo Italia

Hi Guys,

This last few weeks have once again been void of any major event, I think that is probably a good thing as "major events" usually involve one of a few things. Injured Horses, Injured Kids, Injured Husband... broken equipment, Staff issues or Stable Fires. So I'm thinking perhaps non eventful may be a positive thing for me?

Things that have happened.

In my last post I told you all about Crystal and Equador two older horses that we took on at the yard, well we did go ahead with arranging a few lessons on both Crystal and Equador to assist in covering their costs. We decided to go with people who had ridden before but required training rather than beginners kicking the poor things all around the arena.

I have to say that they both seem to be enjoying the exercise, attention and general business of working for a living. Their temperament is ideal and for the few lessons per week we have booked on them it mean that their food and farrier are pretty much paid for which helps us a great deal. Happy Me, Happy Horses... Happy Everyone!

Crystal

Equador (He is starting to look much better)

If you are a young aspiring horse rider and you like the look of either Crystal or Equador let us know and we will send you a nice photo of either of them for your bedroom wall. :-)

JUST RIDING OHIO -  OUR DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

In other horse news my young hopeful "Just Riding Ohio" took part in his first 1.25m this weekend gone, we were so fortunate to have a proper photographer at the show and so we grabbed these amazing photos some of which I have posted here below.

A short history on Ohio, I'll keep it relatively brief as I don't want to bore anyone to death so early in the blog. Just Riding Ohio was originally named Otok arrived with us as a 3 year old from a farmer / villager who had him stabled just outside of Warsaw in Poland. Despite not being on a German, Dutch or Belgian passport as most sought after European horses are Ohio is on a Polish passport. We ignored the fact that he was registered on a Polish passport and kept an open mind as we have had much experience in the past with Polish warmbloods and had found most of them to  be brave, scopey horses with good heads. If they are good enough for the daughter of a princess, Zara Phillips then they are good enough for Victoria of Just Ridng right?? When we looked at his documents we noticed that actually he has quite good breeding which is what attracted us to him further.

Document Posted here below for anyone interested in breeding I know that loads of you are, so as you can see he has Oldenburg from his father and Kon Polski from his mum.

We didn't pay a lot of money for Ohio as he was practically unbroken, on a Polish passport and required complete investment in terms of training, nutrition and time so negotiation was in our favour, beside the fact that no one wanted him. Ohio has been such a pleasure to work with Herbert the chap who rides and trains him on a daily basis has done a fantastic job but also so fortunate to have a horse who is so willing to please and so brave.

We are now 2 years on with Ohio and he is producing many clear rounds at  1.20m and this weekend as I mentioned above he competed in his first 1.25m final. He is showing scope for 1.30m for next year he may even go to 1.40m we don't want to get to far ahead of ourselves but all I can say is we truly feel that we have found a diamond in the rough with Ohio... "Not bad for a horse that no one really wanted.. hehe" :-)

Again if you are a young aspiring horse rider and like the look of our young star, "Ohio" let us know and we will send you a photo of him for your wall.

MARKS MOMENT

O.K so Mark has been hassling me to contribute to the blog and so I agreed this time around, so without further ado this is Mark's moment.

Hello everyone. Sorry but this my first short article isn't going to be a funny or amusing, I'm just not in a funny or amusing mood this week. Perhaps next week. :-)

Firstly let me kick off this short article by saying that myself and I think I can speak on behalf of Just Riding are absolutely appalled at the latest terrorists incidents in London and Manchester. All of our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of and anyone involved in these terrible incidents. We are speaking at Just Riding about perhaps organising something to give to the fund which is raising money for those who have been injured or worse by these incidents, more to follow on this.

I wanted to talk about social media etiquette and bullying on social media or cyber bullying as it is called. For some reason and it escapes me as to why but we equestrians are so bloody horrible to one another. As part of my job I am constantly on facebook creating and adding posts to try and promote Just Riding and increase sales and if I had a pound for every anti something post or rant directed at a person or company I saw on social media I might even not have to work anymore. When someone makes a decision to take to social media and destroy someone or their business they should take a moment to think about the consequences of their actions and try to balance up the cause and effect of their actions before they do it.

Whilst I agree that social media can be useful in the event that someone is scamming others and word needs to be spread to avoid further victims. But if you saw the girl two boxes down skip a muck out that day or even twice that week.  Does everyone and their friends, and their friends, friends and all of their friends need to know about it? do they really?

At Just Riding we have a stance as an absolute anti bullying organisation, our staff, suppliers, friends even our fellow retailers are all treated with respect and integrity. Victoria created the "Think Twice" campaign on social media to try and make people think twice before they trash another human being or their business on social media. If you agree please download the T2 banner below right here and share it on your social media. We have to start treating people with consideration and respect people, if we completely lose that what do we have left.

Thanks for listening.

#T2

https://www.facebook.com/safety/bullying/

PRODUCT LAUNCHES AND OTHER JR BUSINESS

I don't usually include any product related stuff in my posts but I want to start adding something related to new and trending products as after all that is what we do here at JRHQ, we sell equestrian products.

This year has seen a huge surge in sales of the Equine Body Bandage which is now being copied by a few companies and produced in China, we are pleased to confirm that we sell the original body bandage made 100% in Italy. Yes, there is a massive difference in quality between the Love Horses Original Body Bandage (Spur Guard) and the versions which are being made in China.

Animo Italia released their new saddle pads last month and I have to say they look absolutely amazing, in terms of quality and appearance they just look so nice. But then again this is Animo we are talking about and so we have come to expect this level of quality from this Italian industry leader.

Our own equestrian arch peak caps have been really popular already this summer, I believe we sold twice that of last years style already. The additional investment we made in terms of style and quality of the product seems to have really paid off.

Finally the big talking point on social media at the moment is our FREE GLOBAL SHIPPING on weekends. We will be running this offer for the duration June and possibly July and so far it has proven very successful with many of our clients taking advantage of the savings. We think this offer is probably our most awesome to date! what do you think?

NEW ARRIVALS IN JUST RIDING

This last month saw the departure of 2 of our staff which was a real shame as we have a family vibe at Just Riding and it was like losing 2 members of the family. Anna who worked on web administration and also Ola who worked in dispatch left the company. One to pursue a career and the other to concentrate on her impending exams.

However, after much interviewing I am so pleased to announce the arrival of Conrad and Kinga. Conrad will be filling the gap in web administration and Kinga will  be working in dispatch but also helping a bit with social media. Kinga also rides horses which is obviously awesome for us Conrad is not a horse rider but never say never, right?

Updates to previous posts -

We never did get our fur trees back and so we are looking at buying some more to replace the 30 that were stolen.

We still don't have a roof on the stable but we are meeting with banks today to try and secure some assistance to get it on and refurbished before we lose the warm weather. If we can't get it done and lose the warm weather we will almost certainly lose the whole building to the harshness of the winter which simply cannot happen.

Crystal and Equador are still really fat, we are working on that with balanced nutrition from HOCOR feeds and supplements. 

Most of you know that we try to source and stock the very best clothing and equipment from around the world, HOCOR is no exception. The product is unique in that unlike ALL of the top supplements on the market they use a patented form of natural yeast which yields particularly high amounts of high quality protein and amino acids. We can not recommend this professional supplement enough. 

If you expect your horse to trot, canter, gallop, jump or perform in any sport he is by definition an athlete, athletes require supplements to be able to maintain health and performance.

We were super excited to receive our marketing packs from HOCOR this week which included branded saddle pads and ears.

Wow... I wanted to write a blog / vlog / thing whatever they are called! (yeah in case you haven't noticed I am a horse rider not a social media guru) around twice a week but have you ever tried to make time to do something like that?!? I mean gathering "inspiration" is bad enough when you are running after two kids under 7, running the business and dealing with missing fur trees and people throwing rabbits. (more on that later) I remember being young and having inspiration and artistic motivation oozing out of me from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to sleep. Where did that go? what happened to my MOJO?!? I blinked and got old and seemed to have miss placed my MOJO!! lol 

Anyway I digress as usual.. so these last 3/4 weeks have been slow, the spring wanted to come then didn't want to come then came again, then didn't... arrrrgggh!! which kind of left me feeling like I had started the race but then realised I had forgotten to take my yard boots off... two steps forward, three steps back if you know what I mean. Finally, this last week has been full of sunshine and we managed to get some things done on the yard and also inherited 2 new additions in the form of a horse and a pony. They are respectively called Equador and Crystal not our choices they had the names when they arrived. So without further a do here they are standing in our brand new paddock which we are super pleased with.

Who ate all the pies, who ate all the pies.... lol Yep, Crystal needs to lay of the grass somewhat. :-)

These lovelies had been staying across the road from us with a local village character who had been enjoying them as pets but didn't ride and also didn't have a lot of time to do anything at all with them. The facilities they were in weren't ideal, the boxes were kind a home made and very deep the horses had to step down about 2 feet to get into them and the drainage not sufficient. Anyway long story short we offered to take them both which we have. Here is a photo below of both Crystal and Equador they have been with us for about a week and a half now and I have them on HOCOR Complete and HOCOR Regen which is literally a miracle supplement and also HOCOR natural feeds which unfortunately are only available in Europe presently. In the 10 or so days they have been with us the improvements are huge and visually noticeable particularly with Equador.

We are thinking due to the current and continued financial pressures of getting a new roof on the stable we might book in some adult riding lessons on Equador as he is very easy and loves mooching around the arena in walk/trot. We already have our own horses contributing to their upkeep in the same way and are thinking that this could be a great way to help with the re build and also to pay for improvements to the facilities so all parties benefit. We shall see and I will keep you updated on what we decided and perhaps if we do go in that direction also upload a few videos to keep things interesting. :-)

On this subject we wanted to give a little shout out to one of our awesome customers Geraldine Fitzgerald who donated to our project to rebuild... we really, really, really, really appreciate it!! 

Now on to "Missing Fur Trees" Have a look at this awesomely professional video "lol" made by me courtesy of samsung mobile phone. Notice anything odd...

 SERIOUSLY THOUGH, someone actually came onto the yard and pulled up 30 of our little fur trees and made off with them. I mean we only paid around £1.50 for each one 2 years ago and at the height they are now they go for around £5 each, that's a £150 ($200) kick in the groin we really didn't need! what is wrong with people?!?

I said I would try to keep you guys up to date on our stable rebuild, I wont go over the whole thing again because most of you have read about it already but if you are here and reading our blog for the first time.. long story short our stable burned down nearly 2 years ago and we got stuffed on the insurance and so we have been trying to get it back to it's former glory bit by bit and with help here and there from friends, family and a Just Riding customer or two. 

Many of our customers contacted me after I posted the video of the fire and were super supportive and so nice. So I said I would try to post little updates here and there when I have a spare few minutes to write something or take a picture or two.

So the update is that we still dont have a roof, although we have had a couple of quotes and have found the best possible price so at least now we have a financial target.

However, we have done some pretty cool "other stuff" on the yard, we put up a big paddock on what we thought was unusable ground for grazing, after 4 years of care, treatment and rest the work we did on it has paid off and the ground is so nice we are really pleased and looking forward to having that extra bit of turn out for the guys and girls. We also managed to replace the small fence around the play area which wasn't in a good way and put down some more bark on the play area itself. Inside we haven't managed to do anything more than when I last posted. We tried to plaster some of the walls but without the roof, even though we now have a good concrete ceiling the plaster became very damp and just fell off.. so we wasted money and time, lesson learned. We will start to repair the inside once the roof is on.

Photo's here below of the little fence.. small steps.. etc. :-)

Well I think that sums up our 2 new additions, missing fur trees and a bit about the build. I will try to get on again in a week or so, knowing me it will probably be 4 weeks again... but hey ho, I will try.

As always my heartfelt thanks to all Just Riding customers for your continued and loyal support for our family run business without you guys we would just be a website with some pretty pictures of clothing... :-) xxx

Extra Update: I'm not sure if any of you read my previous blog post about the little pony who just appeared on our yard one day, well unfortunately despite our best efforts in screening the owner who we released him back to we heard that he has recently been removed from her "care" by the local authorities.

Apparently neighbors had called the authorities when they spotted the lady throwing rabbits around her field! Yeah, you heard correctly... "throwing rabbits" needless to say that lucky (named by us because he wondered into our yard and was treated like royalty for a month) has now been re homed and we are assured that the new owners are not in the least bit interested in using animals as any form of projectile, which is always good we think. :-/ 

Seriously though all joking aside if anyone witnesses anyone doing any such things please report immediately to your local animal welfare office, rspca etc. Thank You. :-)

Star strikers out in force as GCL Madrid Team riders revealed

With just a few days to go until the Global Champions League of Madrid kick starts the European segment of the 2017 Championship, the team riders for Round One can today be revealed. With rivalry and tactics fierce, the 18 teams are calling serious strategy into play for the fourth leg of the Championship.

Scott Brash will join his team Miami Glory among a whole host of other Animo Italia sponsored riders. We of course will be rooting for Scott and any other Animo associated riders this year.

Photo Credit: scottbrashequestrian.com

Reigning Champions Valkenswaard United will bring star striker Marcus Ehning to Spain, with the top German rider bringing a history of success at the gorgeous Club de Campo Villa de Madrid after a Grand Prix win in 2016. Alongside him will be team anchor, top Italian rider Alberto Zorzi, who has competed at every leg of the Championship so far this season. Snapping at their heels in the overall Ranking battle are the London Knights, who bring in U25 Emily Moffitt alongside experienced Mexican rider Enrique Gonzalez, who debuted for the team in Mexico City. St Tropez Pirates will return to a proven combination, with best friends Jérôme Guéry and Simon Delestre re-uniting for this round of action, and hoping to return to form after their gut-wrenching result in Shanghai where they looked set to win the event, until it unravelled in the final round. 

The huge grass arena of Club de Campo Villa de Madrid will throw in a new challenge to the teams, after the tight square Shanghai set up suited the smaller, more agile horses quick on their feet. Galloping distances and wide open spaces mean the teams had to think carefully about which horses and riders would be best suited to the fourth leg of the Championship. With the option to change horses and riders between rounds, all eyes will be on the first round of action to see how the sport plays out, with teams vying for pole position and the advantage of going last in round two.

2016 GCL Madrid winners, the Rome Gladiators will bring back Laura Kraut who was one half of the winning combination last year. This time, the top American rider will be teaming up with Lorenzo de Luca, the young Italian star making a big impression on the show jumping circuit so far. Home team, Madrid in Motion will field their U25 Spanish star, Gonzalo Anon Suarez alongside Dutch Champion Maikel van der Vleuten, with the pair combining forces for the first time on home turf and looking for a strong result in front of their local fans. Tens of thousands of visitors flock to the venue every year to witness their heroes in action, contributing to an electric atmosphere as passionate spectators enjoy top sport and world class entertainment. 

Heavy-weight German riders Ludger Beerbaum and Marco Kutscher will be out in force again for the Cannes Stars, and Miami Glory will field new recruit Denis Lynch alongside team anchor Scott Brash for the first time this season. Local fans will have plenty to cheer for as Spanish rider Sergio Alvarez Moya debuts the GCL for the first time with his team, Chantilly Pegasus, teaming up with U25 American rider Lucy Davis. Another brand new combination will be Vienna Eagles’ Emanuel Andrade and Kerry Mc Cahill, with the pair both taking their first start this season. Consistent duo Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani and Bassem Hassan Mohammed will be back for Doha Fursan Qatar and Cascais Charms follow suit with their winning combination of David Will and Andreas Kreuzer.

Audrey Coulter will also make a return to the Hamburg Diamonds, teaming up with trainer Harrie Smolders, and young Dutch talent Kevin Jochems will be returning to his first CSI5* following serious injury last year, teaming up with Michael Kearins for the Moscow Bears. The Mexico Amigos will continue their strategy, with Christian Ahlmann and Henrik von Eckermann teaming up for their second consecutive event, and Daniel Deusser will unite with U25 rider Alexandra Thornton for the first time this season for the Shanghai Swans.

Fresh from their success in Shanghai, the Paris Panthers will keep Jack Hardin Towell up front for the team, this time adding new U25 star Lillie Keenan into the mix for her first event on the Championship race. The Monaco Aces will also test out new recruit Pieter Devos alongside long-term Ace Daniel Bluman, and the Berlin Lions will be looking fierce with Gerco Schroder and Ales Opatrny taking up the mantle for the team.

The first round of action will take place this Friday 19th May, with the first horse and rider entering the ring at 17:30. The teams will fight for pole position, with faults carried through to Saturday’s final which takes centre stage at 15:30 local time. All the action can be viewed via GCL TV, with expert commentary, in-depth analysis and exclusive studios.

For the full team rider list for GCL Madrid Round One, please click here.

See full list of venues and dates here below:

Article Credit: globalchampionsleague.com

Photos Credits: scottbrashequestrian.com, worldofshowjumping.com

OK so it's not a pony... we cant rescue cute Ponies every week just to satisfy your need for looking at a cuddly, scrummy pony!

So a few months ago we were all working away in our offices at JR HQ when one of the girls shouted Awwwww!! Poor Thing!! Now, as many of you know "Awwwww!! Poor Thing!" is effective code for everyone in the entire office to jump up and run to where he or she thinks the "poor thing" might be. I don't know know if it is horsey people in general but anything involving an animal and the words "Awwww, Poor Thing" and it's like someone lit a fire under them. "What Poor thing? Where is it?!?"

In this case the "poor thing" in question was a little dog absolutely soaked through, shivering cold and wondering around outside the office having been dumped on the roadside. (sadly a common occurrence in our road which backs onto woodland) So I ran outside and called the little guy over, he wasn't keen initially but he came over and I gently picked him up. He was filthy, wet and cold and stunk of something not of this world. He was a little thin but actually not to bad. I looked over at the office window which was by now full of Just Riding staff...OK I said I'm taking him in doors to get warmed up and have something to eat.

OK so I am waffling.. Cue the "poor thing", here he is...

Unfortunately we don't have a photo of him on the actual day we brought him in from outside, we think we might have one somewhere but are rummaging through thousands of images to fine it, If I do I'll post it on here.

So I took him home which is conveniently close to the office and got him clean, dried and fed. He was so good, just stood there while I washed him down in the shower.. ate so much food then passed out.

Bathtime.. we put Bonnie our cavalier in with him for reassurance.

The kids came home that afternoon to find our family plus 1 dog (we already have a rotty who lives out and a cavalier who lives in) I made it quite clear to the kids and other half that I would be looking for a good home for him as we couldn't possibly take another dog on... 

So during the weeks that followed "Stefan" as he was now called started to kind of blend into our life, we had a couple of upsets in the first couple of weeks which our spaniel helped him to sort out. We also took him down to our local vet to have him neutered as we felt this was the "responsible" thing to do for him and it also helps with them not spraying and humping everything in sight. I mean he literally humped everything when we first brought him into our home, lets put it this way.. the cat was not impressed.

Stefan here below post op... all inoculations done, micro-chipped and sorted.

The days and weeks rolled by and I seemed to try less and less to find a home for Stefan the more he seemed to blend into our lives. He is such a clever little boy, Oh I forgot to mention the vet said he was only just over a year old roughly the same as our cavalier.

I have a funny story about the first trip to the vet, I asked my husband to take me and we went into the room to speak with the vet about Stefan. In the days running up to this appointment for some reason my husband had convinced himself that Stefan was some kid of pedigree breed.

He said in an authoritative way (as husbands do) that the under bite he had looked like he was a pedigree of some kind., he was sure if it. So he said to the Vet "Excuse me is he a pedigree of some kind because I noticed his bottom teeth underbite the top row and I have seen this before on a pedigree breed." (I'm thinking British Bull Dog) the vet turns trying to be as gentle as possible.. errrm, No. The underbite is a defect of mixed breeding! I looked at my husband and LOL alot!!

So Stefan is somewhat "special", that's all good he'll fit right into this family.

Months have rolled on an I gave up on finding a home for him, he has become a real part of Just Riding and our family, he is in the office everyday the girls love him and so do my kids. It took a few weeks for Bonnie our Cavalier to accept that she wasn't the princess of the castle anymore and that she had to share her space with this new dog. It was a classic lady and tramp scenario, he tried so hard to win her over and she was having none of it. This is Bonnie below when we told her that Stefan the street dog was staying..

Not Impressed...

Since his arrival they started to get more and more attached and now around 4 months on from when we first found him they are inseparable I actually cant remember our life without him. I think to myself often, who could have dumped such a awesome little dude next to the road.. I can only imagine someone thought they were getting something else and when he started to grow they realised he was a bit of a special mix and dumped him, who knows? but their loss is definitely our gain in this case.

Bonnie and Stefan Below Sharing a bed..

Bonnie - "He is telling the story about when he was a street dog.... AGAIN!"

Treats for the gang, the Cat always wins...

Stefan has turned out to be such an awesome dog, he is very clever and really independent. He is still a bit delicate with raised voices, men and quick movements even at home he will head for the door if someone shouts. But we are getting there slowly but surely.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed our story about Stefan our new addition, I know it's not a Pony or a horse.. maybe next time! :-)

Last photo here is Stefan sleeping with my daughter who he adores, yes they are both actually asleep like this.

I simply had to add this video which was taken a few days ago, my daughter and Stefan in the front garden... Apparently he likes it.

Thanks for reading... I hope you enjoyed it.

Any comments are appreciated below and of course your continued support of our store www.justriding.com 

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Now this is just plain weird! seriously, I was writing the article about the fire at our place and that it had set us back with our plans for the rescue and re-homing side of the business. Anyway, as I stand here before you hand on heart my phone bleeped and I looked down at an incoming whatsapp message I opened it up and there appeared to be a black dog that looked soaked stood in the middle of a field. No, it wasn't a dog and it wasn't any old field. It was a tiny black pony and it was my field!

So I messaged back wth is that? thinking an unauthorized pony purchase had taken place.. on the contrary no one bought him this guy had wondered through a forest which borders our place and into one of the paddocks with my two boys (who crapped their pants) he then proceeded to trot between paddocks under the bottom rail of the fences. 

He was eventually caught and Herbert who works on the yard said he was in a bit of a state with parasites and very bad hooves.. he had apparently crossed a river to get in with the other horses. We separated him off and started to call around the yards we knew, no one literally no one had lost a pony. How odd, in the 30 years I have worked with or been around horses this has never happened.

Later that I went down to the yard and gave him some apples and other norty treats and checked him out, I called my vet straight away as he did need some attention and also I wanted to be on the safe side, I also called the local councils department for strays etc and a welfare place locally. None had received any reports that a pony had gone walkabout. 

That evening the vet came out and powdered him with stuff to get rid of the lice and other nasty things, checked his teeth all the usual stuff, it turned out he is around 2 years old. 

The council and vets said as there was no chip wait around 2 weeks and if no one reports or claims him just chip him and put him on a passport yourself. So we waited and no one has come forward. We chipped him and got him a passport, his new name is LUCKY. (I know not completely original but my 5 year old named him, and lets face it he is lucky wondering onto my place I have sucker for ponies written across my forehead)

So week 3 and he is much better, we cant get to his feet yet to sort them out but he has been treated for everything else, a few trust exercises over the coming weeks and we'll get to his feet and sort them out to.

What a lunatic pony this is, seriously green as anything behave as though he never saw a person before, so funny the first time put him on a lead he just started bucking bronco all around me.. he is so tiny I have a dog bigger than him and when he puts his full stallion attitude on it is rather hilarious.

Week four and he has really settled in we made a miniature paddock but miss judged the little fences and he just jumps out, he is fascinated with show jumping.. when we are training on the big horses he comes running over and watches, so funny. The other horses like him and so do the kids.

Getting to know the human gang.. he is very shy not just head shy but all around shy. But we will work with him and he'll come right. He would make a great little grooming pony for a club or something..

If I rear up surely I'll be as big as you are... ermmm, no.

Week four and I received a phone call today from a lady who I know who says that she knows whose Pony it is, can you believe it 4 weeks after it went walkabouts!! Anyway I said that I would need to speak with her as I had concerns over the Ponies condition when it found ITS OWN WAY to my yard. 

Spoke with the owner and although she had no passport and no chip, after answering several questions I am assured that she is the rightful owner. It is a weird one sometimes when you "rescue" a horse or a pony you want to find either a new home or the rightful home for the animal, but sometimes there is a nagging voice in your head telling it would be better off with you. :-( but I cant keep them all. After a few meetings and some long conversations with this "non horsey" owner of the pony I am confident that he is going to be alright. She paid me back the vet fees which is a bonus..

So that brings this little saga to an end, I look forward to posting details of the next one on our blog for you guys to follow.

Any comments or questions in the sections below.. all are welcome and dont forget you can subscribe by clicking the subscribe link on the right.

Bye Lucky!

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