The Pony Pals Family

A quiet little moment warming up before a little Showjumping practice, the best way to reset after the adjustment of heading back to school!

Post ride stretches for the beautiful Mr Blue, keeping his back super strong, they had a fantastic show jumping practice this evening!
We had the most wonderful Small Animal Team Visit this afternoon, one lady was so in love with our Peaches the bunny that an hour was no where near enough time, I felt awful reclaiming our little fellow as the visit drew to a close, that hardest part of the jump- the end of the visit!

It was the most wonderful weekend of racing with lots of fun and games, but the behind the scenes time is something else, especially the mornings when the children aren't busy exploring or whizzing around in the midst of all kinds of adventures, but a gentle calmness takes over.
The quiet mornings, with the children out walking their beloved ponies, letting them stretch their legs after a night in the stables and having a pick of grass, just enjoying that slower pace of life before another day is upon them with the roar of the crowd and the adrenaline boost as they near the start line.
The quiet breakfast for man and beast, as the late summer sun starts to rise up the sky, my favourite time of day to recharge before we head out onto the showground once again.

What happens when you take a bunch of kids aged 8-14yrs with a team of fully fit Shetland ponies to the Wellington International Horse Trials ?
The Shetland Performance Display Team had a whole heap of fun, that's what!
Our little unicorn raced his heart out, but the fun doesn't stay on the track, the jockey's absolutely love to be able to walk around the showground in their silks and hand out stickers to the children whilst fundraising for Bristol and Southampton Children's Hospitals. It was super fun to invite the audience into our arena to join our jockeys for a race on good old Shank's Pony- on their own feet as poor old Shank's didn't have a pony of his own, so he had to walk everywhere!
There was so much to see and do at this event, with top riders showcasing their skills across all three discplines of Dressage, Showjumping and Cross Country.
We had the very best weekend, the show was superbly well run, and the children have come away fully inspired with plans for their equestrian futures!

The Unicorn And His Girl's racing victory!
Our team don't race for rosettes usually, sometimes the event will have a generic rosette awarded at the end of the day, which is a wonderful memento from a fabulous weekend of racing. The team showcase one flat race, followed by two jump race heats with the top three going through to the final jump race. But at Wellington International Horse Trials they had rosettes for us that had placings on them, and this was the one race of the day, out of 6, that the rosettes were allocated for! Verity had her heart set on the red one, and by the looks of it, Blue wasn't settling for a blue one either!
The races that each combination do chops and changes a little as to what we put our jockey and Sheltand forward for, with the more inexperienced jockeys, and/or ponies primarily making up the flat racing team. Verity and Blue have spent the season generally doing the flat race and one jump race, on the odd occasion they have placed in the top three of their jump race heat, getting through to the final jump race, which will then alter their afternoon's racing accordingly, although the little chap sure is rather fit currently!
On Sunday afternoon we opted for just the flat racing as he came out a little slow for the jump race in the morning, but he sure had us all fooled! He came off the start line in fine form and then held a good line in the thick of it at the front of the race. His luck really turned when the leading pony had some cheeky Shetland thoughts and tried to duck out where the other ponies were waiting, in true Shetland style, convincing the other pony to join the fun, well ridden which you don't see on the film but both jockeys got back in the race promptly and pushed on catching up with Bluey. And then a stray dog entered the area at the crucial moment of turning for the centre line, Blue was rock solid as he is so used to hacking with Ozzie running around him, but you can hear the slight panic in my voice as I'm worried if she pulls up for the dog that she would be pulling up right where 5 other ponies are set to come galloping through!!

Blue is one of the smallest on the team, Verity is one of the youngest on the team, but sometimes it isn't about how fast you can run or how much knowledge you have, it just comes down to partnership. Verity knew Blue would hold straight for her when the others ducked out, she knew he'd hold steady with the dog chasing them, she put her trust in her unicorn and he got her over the line to claim that red rosette.

One year ago she did her first race at this event, she gained the 6th place on Presto from the flat race. He was a much easier pony than Blue, and bigger too, but she has put the work in to get Blue on the track, and a year later she took home the red rosette!