LIVERIES NEWSLETTER

I love the horse from hoof to head

From head to hoof and tail to mane

I love the horse as I have said

From head to hoof and back again.

by James Whitcomb Riley

WINTER DRESSAGE SERIES..See fixtures page

CLEAR ROUND JUMPING
Sunday tba 2007 at 2pm
Over our brand new Show Jumps (any size you like!)..BEAUTIFUL Rosettes to all clears!
£10 per horse for 3 rounds

Please contact me either by email or phone for availability of places.
shannonleighstables@hotmail.com

I have some great reflective bomber style riding jackets for sale which are safe if you are hacking to our rallies in the dark! Please see our 'For Sale' page on the left for further details.

Image: Reflective bomber style riding jackets for sale

Click to download Dressage Tests

Click here to check your Flu vacs are in date

Click here to see Katie and Mic winning their first Aff Prelim

NOVEMBER 2007

Click here to see my fav rider Stacey Westfall..look closely !

OCTOBER 2007

SEPTEMBER 2007

Click here for Stacey Westfall again..notice anything?

Click here to see the most funny unbelievable thing lol

Click here to see the equine winner of the Tour de France lol

Click here to watch this for sheer determination!

Click here to see the World High Jump Record..held by a Thoroughbred !!! :-)

Click here for the Best Horse in Europe lol

Click here for Patches the horse.

Click here for a surprise jumper.

AUGUST 2007

Katie and Mic went to the Trailblazers Championship at Stoneleigh.
They came second in the Novice Final!!!!!!
Way to go Katie and Mic..we are so very proud of you both :-)

Alison with Africa won the Prelim Series Dressage Championship at Mount Mascals!
Well Done Alison!!!!

Good news from Cornwall where Cassie is at stud...she has been confirmed in-foal!! Yay!
She is due on the 14th June 2008

Image: Alison and Africa Mount Mascal ODE 24th August 2007

Image: Laura and Grace, 1st Mount Mascal ODE 24th August 2007

Image: Alison and Africa Mount Mascal ODE 24th August 2007

Image: Laura and Grace, 1st Mount Mascal ODE 24th August 2007

Image: Alison and Africa Mount Mascal ODE 24th August 2007

Image: Laura and Grace, 1st Mount Mascal ODE 24th August 2007

Image: Katie and Mic at the Trailblazers ffinal at Stoneleigh August 2007

Image: Katie and Mic at the Trailblazers final at Stoneleigh August 2007

Image: Katie with little niece Ella

JULY 2007
Lots of good news to report this month :-)
First of all I'd like to welcome four new liveries :-) Lucy with Paddy (they have Rachael and Merry's stable who moved to St Albans)Alex with Danny (they have Vicky and Vodkas stable as Vicki sold Vodka to emigrate to Australia) Lee with Tess (they have Jade and Bandit's stable as Jade got a job in Derby)and Alice with Blue :-)
We really miss our friends who have left but I think we have a nice bunch to replace them :-)

Ruth with Eric and Lee with Tess went to Oldencraig Dressage on the 28th..Ruth was very brave and hired a trailer!
Ruth with Erik came 2nd in Prelim 1 with 66.5% and Lee with Tess got 61% and came 3rd in the W&T 2005 test. Well Done girls !
Unfortunately Tess got colic just as they were about to come home, but Oldencraig were really helpful in sorting her out. It turned into a memorable day for all the wrong reasons, but at least the chunk Ruth chopped out of her thumb on the trailer is now completely healed. More importantly Tess seems to have completely recovered, which is a great relief.

Alison with Africa kept up their winning form with another win at Mount Mascals Dressage in the Prelim!..they also came joint second in the the Novice test..Well Done yet again !

Mayling with Vivaldi had there first trip out to Dartford and Districts Riding Club Dressage and did fantastically well to get 3rd place in the Walk Trot Test !...another Well Done you!

Birthday wishes were sent to Dan Dan our Trainer man ! (Dan Baddeley!)who shared his birthday with Maylings Vivaldi on the 28th..Dan was 29 and Vivaldi 5 !

Truly did fabulous at The Royal Show and won her 2yo Hunter filly class..I was sooo proud :-)

Katie with Mic, Sue on Mia and me on Troy went to Felbridge as part of Dartford and District Ridng Clubs Show Jumping Team :-)..we came 5th but didn't qualify this time .

Sammy came back from Germany after her liason with a very handsome American lol...she was scanned in foal on her arrival home and I am thrilled to announce she is definitely 'in-foal' and is due next year on the 9th May.

JUNE 2007
We've had a great June so far :-)
We've all been out and about!
Laura, Katie, Mandy and I went and did the Area 10 British Ridng Clubs Dressage Teams Qualifier at Goudhurst. Mandy and Laura were in one team and Katie and I in our other team.
Mandy on Ben and Laura on Grace did fantastic for their first team event :-)
Katie on Mic and me on Troy were thrilled as our team won and we qualified for the Nat Champs at Lincs in September :-)
Katie and I also did the Pairs Dressage and completely 'gobsmacked' to find out we had won and also qualified for the Nat Champs!
I had a go at the Dressage to Music on Troy and came 5th lol..my music was a little different as I chose Bob Marley lol
Elizabeth on Money, Megan on Tippy, and Alison on Africa went to Felbridge showjumping on the same day..they all did great and got clears!..Elizabeth even got 7th on Money in the intermediate!
I have a photo of my foot that got trodden on while helping load the horses (Alison I promise not to mention Africas name ..OK ? lol)
I stupidly had trainers on as my boots were still wet from bathing Troy the day before.
WARNING TO ALL...DON'T WEAR TRAINERS AROUND THE YARD!
Alison also entered the Dressage at Mount Mascal the night before on Africa and WON her prelim 7!...WELL DONE ALISON :-)
Sammy has been scanned in foal! YAY!.. and should be coming home from Germany soon :-)
Cassie is being a complete tease to the stallion and is having none of it!.. so we are hoping to AI her asap..if that doesn't work I guess we will just have the one baby next year.
We have sad news this month too :-(...our poor old Morse was pts. He was a a big kind old boy was Morsey the horsey. He came here 6 years ago as a livery after having a tough life.I took over his ownership about 3 years ago so that he could retire with people that loved him.
I don't know his history but can only guess he was ridden hard as a youngster as he had the most awful legs I have ever seen on a horse :-(
He had arthritis in all his legs but his hind end gave out on him in the end and we sent him to rainbow bridge to gallop and play with all our other horses gone before him.
RIP Morsey..we all miss you old boy.
To make a happy ending to our newsletter...my little Truly was a star at the East of England show :-).. I entered her in the Performance Horse Loose jumping class. She came 4th out of 11 :-) See her pics on her page to make you smile :-)

Image: Africa 1st Prelim 7 Dressage 16th June 2007

Image: Alison and Africa Felbridge 17th June 2007

Image: Katie on Mic BRC Area 10 Dressage Qualifier 17/6/07

Image: Laura on Grace dartford and District Riding Club Team Dressage Area 10 Qualifier 17th June 2007

Image: Laura on Grace Dartford and District Riding Club Team Dressage Area 10 Qualifier 17th June 2007

Image: Elizabeth and Money Box at Felbridge 17th June 2007

Image: Penny

Image: Ouch! my foot the morning of the Dressage Qualifier

Image: Troy having a wash down in the River Cray at Five Arches 10th June

MAY 2007

Well the show season has began..YIPPEE!!!!
We took six horses over to the Dartford and District Show on the 6th May :-)
Laura on Grace, Sue on Mia, Elizabeth on Money, Rachel on Erik, Jess on Riley and Megan and Sophie shared Tippy.
It certainly was a busy weekend with everyone frantically trying to get ready bathing their horses on the Saturday lol..Sunday morning was 'mayhem'!
They all arrived bright and early at the show and after all the panic (Jess left Rileys girth at the stables ) they all did really well! Everyone got a clear in their jumping classes and Laura won the novice jumping on Grace with a nerve racking jump off..she hit the planks and they bounced up in the air and came back down in the cups!..I was having kittens at the time and think I was actually jumping higher in the air watching her than Grace was actually jumping the jumps lol
She was thrilled at coming first and recieved a Trophy and also won a jump!..she had to take it home in the horsebox as it certainly wouldn't have fitted in my car lol
She also got a 2nd in the Working Hunter and 3rd in the Best Riding Horse :-)
Sue with Mia did really well too :-)..she got a 4th in the Minimus Jumping and 4th in the Novice Jumping and 4th in the Best Riding Horse!
Elizabeth and Money did a fab job at Moneys first show :-)..they jumped double clear in the Minimus and then in the Novice jumped clear then 4 faults in the jump off..they also come 5th in the Best Riding Horse :-)
Megan, Sophie, Jess and Rachel all did brilliantly and jumped clears :-)

I had to rush off mid afternoon as I was taking Truly to her first show of the season.
We left Sunday afternoon to go to The Leicestershire Show.
We stayed overnight and Truly's classes were the next day (Monday)
Truly was a good girl and although she didn't place that great this time I didn't mind as the others were gorgeous .
She came 5th in the Hunter 2yo and was unplaced in a huge 2yo Sporthorse Class.

Belle has got a lovely horse called Pitch on full loan (pics to follow) She is very excited and we wish her lots of fun with him :-)

Cassie and Sammy went off to make babies this month lol
I sent Cassie to a beautiful cremello Welsh Section B stallion down in Cornwall.
I sent some of Cassies tail hair off to a lab to be DNA tested for her colour genes to see what colours the foal would be.
Cassie is a bay and her colour genes are EeAA which basically means that she carries the red gene from her mum Jarva (who is chesnut) and the agouti (bay modifier) gene from both parents.
This means that her foal has a 50% chance of being Palomino and a 50% of being Buckskin (or Dun as us English know it)if she didn't have the red gene carried from Jarva and the agouti gene from both parents the foal could also have been smokey black.
A quick genetic explanation: Horses only have two base coat colours..Black (E)or Red(e)..any other colour is a modifier..a bay horse is a black horse with the Agouti (A) bay gene.
Then there is the Cream gene..which dilutes the base colour.
A Palomino is a red (chesnut) horse with a cream gene, A buckskin is a black with agouti (bay) horse with a cream gene, a smokey Black is a black horse with a cream gene.
A cremello is a red (chesnut) base colour with a double dilute cream gene.
A foal takes a gene from each parent ..so we know Cassies foal will take for certain one cream gene from the sire (because he has two cream genes) but we don't know if Cassies foal will take the black/agouti gene or the red gene from her..if it takes the black/agouti it will be Buckskin..if it takes the red gene it will be palomino.
I hope you understood my explanation as I've spent months trying to figure it all out lol..it's not completely correct but basically the easiest way I could think to write it lol
I've probably bored you to death with all that lol

Our other news is that Sammy has gone to Germany to be put in foal!
That was a **** of a job to sort out all the paperwork lol. First I had to send her passport to Weatherby's to be stamped for broodmare export, then I had to apply to DEFRA for an Export License, Then I had to apply for a Health Certifcate to be sent to my vet which had to be completed within two days of travel.
She was all set to go and the other person sending horses out at the same time hadn't completed their paperwork so I then had to change the dates and rearrange everything with my vet which meant I missed taking Truly to a show because I had to take Sammy to the vets to have her Health certificate completed :-(
Anyway it all worked out and she is safely over in Germany now :-)
I can't wait for them both to come home though.

The weather has been glorious the last half of the month after the much needed rain we had :-)..the grass is growing really well now :-)
It's been really nice to get the horses washed thoroughly ...Jarva had a really good bath today as she has kept her grannie coat on for too long.
Timmy our shetland also had a good bath but Laura seemed to get more water on herself than Timmy lol..he may be small but he is mighty !

Hope everyone has a great Springtime ! :-)

Image: Laura on Grace

Image: Sue and Mia

Image: Elizabeth and Money Box

Image: Rachel on Erik

Image: Jess on Riley, Megan on Tippy and Laura on Grace

APRIL 2007

WOW! we are having the most unbelievable weather :-)
It has been really hot and we are making the most of it..we have been doing all the spring cleaning jobs around the yard..bathing all the horses and thoroughly enjoying it ;-)
Now any other time of year I would be praying for it not to rain but at the moment I am actually praying for rain lol..last month I fertilised and grass seeded all the fields and typically when I need rain it hasn't happened :-(
Luckily the grass 'is' starting to appear and I guess I have the dew to thank for that !
I have a new addition to my family this month :-)..I bought a broodmare :-)..her name is Samba Beat and she is a real sweetie..we call her Sammy.
She is a little chesnut thoroughbred mare..she is smaller than my usually taste in TB's but she has a great pedigree and race record.
She is by Efisio out of a Bustino mare..she is a winner and her siblings are winners also..her full brother has won £105,000 in Greece..so watch this space lol
Everyone is inspired by the weather and are all planning ahead for their first show.

Image: Samba Beat

Image: Bandit 25yo

MARCH 2007
FIRST AID COURSES
We will be running a 'Appointed Person' one day course and a 'First Aid at Work' course over 5 consecutive evenings.
'Perfect First Aid Services Ltd' is an HSE approved training company and will be at Shannon Leigh on the 3rd March 2007.
The one day 'Appointed First Aid' course on the 3rd March 2007 is designed to qualify an appointed person at the work place. The cost is £65 per person (To include training and certificate)
The 'First Aid at Work' course over 5 consecutive evenings is TBA.
Please email Leigh for details and to reserve your place.

FEBRUARY 2007
We will be holding a one day First Aid course on Saturday 3rd March..The price will be £65 per person and will include instruction and certificate..please email me.
Congrats again to Mandy with Ben who won class 2 of our Dressage series this month and HUGE Congrats to Ruth with Erik who finally became the bride after being the bridesmaid so many times in our Dressage series for her brilliant win on Erik in class 3..Well Done girls! :-)
Katie and I took Mic and Troy out to compete for Dartford and District Riding Club in the Area 10 teams at Duckhurst and came 5th ..Yay!..not bad for a couple of Eventers that aren't too great at Show Jumping lol
We have almost finished our clubhouse now :-)
It's been a wee bit cold this month with some snow brrrr!..at least we have somewhere nice and warm to take a coffee break lol

Image:

Image: Our clubhouse nearly finished

Image: Laura and Terry

Image: Very ill looking snowman

JANUARY 2007
Happy New Year everybody!
We've been busy this month decorating the clubhouse.
We've had new steps made for us by Peter so that it is now safe to walk down them into the sand school lol.
Peter has put beading around the windows and it's starting to all come together.
Our Dressage went really good and we had a Shannon Leigh Victory in all four classes...YAY!
Mandy with Ben won classes 1 and 2 and Katis with Mic won classes 3 and 4..Well Done girls..and boys :-)

DECEMBER 2006

Happy Christmas everyone :-)
Alison and Africa came home for Christmas as it was end of term at Hartpury College..it was good to have them home :-)

Image: Alison on Africa at Hartpury

NOVEMBER 2006
We've had a busy month this time and Katie, Ruth, Mandy and I went for a girlie weekend to 'Your Horse' up at Stoneleigh :-) We had a fab weekend and enjoyed lots of shopping and watching the demos..Pippa Funnell was brilliant! and Geoff Billington was very entertaining as usual :-)We stayed at Katie's brothers hotel just outside Stoneleigh which was beautiful and the food superb..it was nice to feel pampered :-)

We had our clear round jumping again which was very well attended even though it got quite cold when the sun went down.

We have a full house now as we had three new liveries arrive this month :-)Nicola with Tornado a lovely grey Dutch gelding, Elizabeth with Molly a lovely liver chesnut ID/TB mare and Mayling with Vivaldi a beautiful Dutch bay gelding who she has just bought after and long hard search for the right horse all summer :-)
They are all lovely people and lovely horses and we are very happy to have them with us :-)

I've just come home from a great time in America visiting horsey friends :-) I went to Massachussetts and Rhode Island. I visited the Equine Affair (which is like our 'Your Horse' but about 4 times bigger lol and stayed with my friend Day in ouir hotel and then at my freinds Lisas and Brendas houses :-)

OCTOBER 2006
Not much to report this month I'm afraid :-(
Still carrying on with finishing the lunging area and the clubhouse.
...oh and it was my birthday..I was 21 again :P

SEPTEMBER 2006
Alison and Africa went off to Hartpury College today! We wish them 'Good luck' and lots of fun :-) We will miss them both but will hopefully see Alison soon when she comes home between terms :-)
Andrea is also off to college but she is going to Warwickshire Argicultural College and we wish her 'All the best' and 'have a great time' too :-)
I'm sooo jealous lol I wish I was 18 again !

Mandy has sold back Zara to her old owner who missed her terribly and has bought a gorgeous ISH chesnut gelding called Ben...he is a lovely boy and we know Mandy has made a great choice and will have lots of fun with him :-)

Viki has bought a new horse called Hennessy ( a brother to Vodka lol) .... he is such a sweetie and already a yard favourite :-) he is a very tall leggy TB at 17.2hh and an absolute stunner to look at ...and he is as gentle as a lamb :-)

Image: Alison and Africa off to Hartpury

AUGUST 2006
Katie and Mic have had a great month :-)
They qualified for the British Ridng Club Novice Horse Trial Championship at Offchurch Bury by winning their section at Ardingly and at the Champs came a very respectable 8th !!!
Well Done Katie and Mic :-) they also came 8th at Aston Le Walls on the 12th and 12th at Sapey on the 15th and on the 19th at Solihull came 4th then on the 27th came 5th at Milton Keynes...Keep up the good work Katie we are very proud of you :-)
Jack has broken his foot after Splodge trod on him..and is doing a 'Rooney' and wearing a air cushioned boot lol..his dad David has taken the reins of Gemma and is doing a very impressive job of keeping her fit for Jack....We think Jack has lost Gemma now as David has formed a great partnership with her :-)

Image: Megan on Harry and Paige on Toby

Image: Katie and Mic 4th Solihull Intro

Image: Katie with her mum Sue getting ready for the roads and tracks

Image: Katie and Mic during the roads and tracks

Image: Katie and Mic steeplechase

Image: YEEHAW go Mic!!!

Image: Katie and Mic X-C

JULY 2006
What a busy month we've had ! We have been painting the stables which is a lot of work when only two of you are doing it plus the other chores we have to do daily :-(
But they are all finished and we are quite proud of ourselves :-)
We all had a night out at Air and Breathe in Dartford for a change :-) it was a Heart Club Classic night so us oldies decided to show the youngters how to do it lol We had a great time and it was needed :-) My Laura and her boyfriend Terry went as did Jack and his dad David, Philip and I went and so did Katie and Sandra (Philips sister)
Katie had a fantastic result with Mic at Brightling Park Horse Trials...she came 3rd in the Intro class :-) Well done Katie and Mic! :-)
Katie is off to the BRC National Horse Trials Champs at Offchurch bury in August and we wish her the best of luck :-)
Truly and Ullie came 3rd and 4th respectively in the Hunter Yearling class at Kent County and were both very well behaved babies :-)They both walked straight up the horsebox there and back both times :-)

Image: Katie on Mic 3rd in the Intro at Brightling Park

Image: Horsey peoples night out lol Terry, Laura, Leigh, Katie, Sandra, Philp

Image: Jack and his dad David

Image: My roses

Image: My flowers

Image: Africa

Image: Painted stables

Image: Mandy and Olivia on Zara

Image: Mandy on Zara

Image: Jack on Splodge

Image: Truly 3rd , Ullie 4th Hunter Yearling Kent County

Image: Laura on Grace

June 2006
I've been really bad at keeping the newsletter up to date :-(
So I had better make amends now :-)
Lots to report...Jack with Gemma passed his driving test last month and is now driving himself about as well as driving us up the wall and round the bend lol
Jack has also bought a beautiful new horse called Splodge :-) he is black with white stockings and a big white face and a white 'splodge' on his tummy :P Jack told me he was 17hh but he is nearer 18hh lol he is by Amerigo Vespucci out of a Demonstrator mare....lots if pics soon....congratulations Jack :-)
Also congratulations to Mandy who after selling Aston has bought a gorgeous dark bay mare called Zanzara..pics to follow shortly too :-)
Rachel did well on Erik at the Joydens Spring show.
Huge congrats go to Katie with Mic who did us all proud when she won her section at the BRC area 10 Novice Horse Trials Qualifier at Ardingly.
Katie and I are members and on the committee of our riding club Dartford and District. Katie went as a Novice team member and I went as an Open Individual on Troy. I fell off in the showjumping lol but Katie won and has qualified for the National Champs at Offchurch Bury in August! Way to go Katie :-)
Probably our biggest news is that we have had a gorgeous new sand school built :-) it is 40 metres x 40 metres and the surface is sand and TurfFloat and it rides beautifully! We are so happy with it and our thanks go to Mark Scott and his team for a fantastic job done :-)
We've bought a new set of showjumps to go in the school too and they are fab :-) bright colours and lots of fillers to practice over!
We've also had all the fencing redone in new post and rail and it looks very smart :-)
The fields have really flourished this year as we fertilised it and seeded it too :-)
Truly has been a star and we took her to her first two shows this weekend.
Herts County was on 27th May and she won her Yearling Sporthorse class and won highest placed filly in the youngstock Championship :-)
Surrey County show was on 29th May and she came 3rd in the Hunter Yearling class :-)
More results for Truly :-) ....South of England Truly came 4th, Royal Norfolk Truly came 2nd and The Royal Show Truly came 3rd :-)
Katie and I yet again were in the teams for our riding club Dartford and District, this time for Dressage. We did the pairs Dressage which was fun and we came 5th. Our team for Dressage came 3rd out of 32 teams and we just missed qualifying, Katie came 6th in her arena and I came 6th in my arena. In the riding test our team came 3rd again and Katie came 2nd in her arena and I came 3rd in my arena..we were happy with our placings :-)
The following weekend Katie and I yet again representing our riding club this time in the Equitation Jumping and the Show Jumping teams. We came 5th as a team in the Showjumping and we won our Equitation Jumping and have qualified for the National Championships at Lincoln in September..YAH!!!

Image: Katie and Mic

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Image: Troy area 10 Dressage teams 25/6/06

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Image: Matt Ryan clinic on Troy 22/6/06

Image: Rachel and Erik

Image: Truly- 1st Sporthorse yearling class- Herts County Show 27/5/06

Image: Jarva age 32yo enjoying some spring grass

Image: Jack is now on the road! BEWARE!!!!

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JULY 2005

We had a lovely day at the Kent County Show at Detling. We took Senna and Ullie again and entered the Hunter Broodmare and Foal class. We didn't do as well as we did at East of England and they both got a 5th each. We took a wrong turn following the horse walk to the ring and ended up going down a busy public route. Ullie and Senna were so good even with cars and people everywhere!
Ullie was very well behaved and walked in and out the horsebox like a seasoned 'pro'!
We had a walkabout later and found my Dad who had been showing sheep at the show too. It seems he had more difficulty than I had leading Ullie with leading his lambs.... they kept lying down or were leaping in the air! LOL
My Dad and stepmum got a few rosettes and were very proud as they are new to showing sheep and have a rare flock of Lleyns.

Image: Laura , Senna , Ullie and me

Image: My Dad and Stepmum's sheep

Image: Some of the sheep had rugs on! LOL

Image: Little piggies at Kent County

Image: American Bald Eagle at the show

JUNE 2005

My local riding club Dartford and District entered for the Area 10 Dressage qualifier this Sunday. Our team members of Emma , Flair , Clare and myself are not known for our Dressage as we prefer to jump lol
It was my first time out since last Summer and was the kick up the backside I needed to get out and compete. Clare and Flair both won their individual tests... how great is that? :-) and Emma and myself came 8th each in our individual tests (there were approx. 24 in each division) and guess what???? we won the teams competition!!! and we've qualified for the National Championships at Lincoln ! Yippee :-)
We also came 2nd in the Riding Test teams and qualified for the champs for that too! :-)

Image: Dartford and Districts winning Dressage Team...Emma, Flair, Clare and me

Image: Troy at Area 10 Dressage qualifier

I'm so excited as we have just got back from the East of England Show at Peterborough where we took Senna and Ullie to do the Hunter Broodmare and foal classes.
Well Senna came 2nd!!! and Ullie came 4th!!!!
Laura led Senna and I led Ullie, they were both so well behaved that you would never think it was the first show ever for both of them. Ullie was quite cocky in fact and was leaping about abit, you'd would never believe it was his first time away from home :-)
We went up on Thursday evening and stabled them over night as our class was at 9am. It's great fun staying over at a county show as there is always so much going on! it's probably to only holiday we get LOL
It's a lovely show and there is just about everything there to see.... cattle, sheep, pigs, steam engines,vintage cars, radio stations and of course lots of tradestands :-)
We didn't manage to get to Surrey County Show as the horsebox had trouble with the power steering but our next show is Kent County so if all's well we'll be there too :-)

Image: Ullie and Senna in the overnight stabling

Image: Very Happy people :-)

Image: Senna 17/6/05

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Image: Senna and Ullie at the East of England Show 17/6/05

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Image: Jarva getting bored with posing

Image: Jarva still moves great

Image: Jarva age 31yo on the lunge

MAY 2005

Wow! have we been busy this month!
We've been doing all those horrid maintenance jobs which never seem to end. And I've been planting flower basket galore around the yard.
My Mum even came down to see me for three days and ended up doing gardening the whole time! LOL
Now I'm told gardening is relaxing! well for me and Mum it was a nightmare! I know nothing about flowers, I just like the pretty colours and I got very confused with what goes where? and which soil they like? and if they need sun or shade? The poor guy in the nursery hides every time I go in there now! LOL he even gave me some free plants the other night just to get rid of me so he could shut shop!!
Now that I had got the flowers , I needed something to hang them on? So I did one of my infamous websearches for something horsey! I came across a great company through ebay called Mandrake Marketing and found the most gorgeous hanging basket brackets! I bought 4 to go around the sand school, one is of a Dressage horse, the others are of a Showjumper, an Eventer and Racehorses! they are gorgeous! and the guy Peter from Mandrake Marketing has been so helpful that he got two of the designs especially made up for me. I liked them so much that I also ordered brackets of a Fox, a Badger and a Squirrel because they live in the woods here. I'm getting very worried as I think this must be a sign of old age as I have never had any interest in gardening. But they do look really lovely!!! and the horses had better not eat them LOL
I've put a link below to Mandrake Marketing and you can have a look at all the wonderful designs they do! :-)
Well as you can guess I've become hooked on ebay and have got some great bargains from there. I got let down badly from an English company that I had ordered some electric fence posts from and was told they actually came from Germany! So I went about a websearch again (Thankyou google lol) and of course the Germans don't call them green electric fence posts and I don't speak German!!! so I found an online translation website and typed in 'fence'! well guess how many German words mean fence?? LOADS... ok so now I type in Pferde (I know that as it means horse he he )and then try each word for fence with pferde until I find a website that matches the words. It links to ebay and I see the photo's of what I want! Great! except I don't speak German remember? I then remember where the same sentences are on the English ebay are and send a message in English hoping that they speak English! Meanwhile I remember that luckily two of my liveries are actually German (Sabine and Rudi) so I ask Sabine to email them and ask as I was very worried that I would end up with a box of Frankfurters or something else LOL
Anyway they are on their way and hopefully by the end of the week I will be able to put the fencing up that I wanted to do at the beginning of the month.
The horses are all in work now and I have a great Australian girl called Yvonne helping me. Unfortunately she is only here for a couple of months but she's a wonderful rider and schools my horses very well.
Dan Baddeley also helps me with the horses and is helping me with Frankie :-) He is a great trainer and I recommend him highly!
We are taking Senna and Uluhan to Surrey County at the end of the month to do the Hunter Broodmare and foal classes and we are excited about that as Ullie is something special :-)
I'll let you know how they get on next month!

Kevin took this fab photo of our Swallows that come back every year! :-)I took the other two of the babies and of my hanging baskets!

Image: Swallow nesting in Prima's stable

Image: Hungry babies

Image: Swallows and babies

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Image: My hanging baskets

Weblink to Mandrake Marketing

APRIL 2005

We had lots of us enter the Joydens Spring Show on the 18th April. Sue did very well and got a double clear on Mia in the starter stakes giving her 3rd place. Natalie on Dream did fantastic and also got a 3rd. Linda with Finn did very well too, as did Hannah on Misty. Little Olivia aged 5yo did her very first show on our Prince and got a well deserved 3rd in the Lead Rein Riding Class and her Mum Mandy did well and got a 5th in the Senior Open Riding on Aston.
I also surprised them all as I was judging the Riding classes and didn't tell any of them LOL

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Image: Olivia and Prince

Image: Mandy, Olivia and Prince

March 2005

YIPPEEEEE! Maddie has had a baby girl! We have named her Truly! 'cos she's truly scrumptious!
She's bay like Mum and was born at 8pm on Saturday 12th March 2005. You can see her on Maddie and Sennas webcam page :-)
Just waiting for Senna to pop now! :-)

Image: Truly

Senna too has had her foal :-) A beautiful big bay boy! He was born a 11pm on March 31st 2005 and Ahmet his proud owner has named him Uluhan (Great Warrior in Turkish)

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Happy 18th Birthday Wishes go to Andrea (with Rosie) for the 13th March xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mum Ruth (with Erik) sent me these great pics of her Birthday Party. Unfortunately Philip and I missed out on the fun as we were on foal watch!

Image: Andreas 18th

Image: February Snow

Image: Snow across the fields

FEBRUARY 2005

Well we've been in a rush trying to get the foaling box ready for Maddie. She's not due to foal until March 13th but I think she will be early.....she is huge!!!!! she's bagged up ready for her baby and we are frantically trying to get the stable ready! We have bought some rubber to put on the walls and we have jet sprayed the stables out, cleaned all the mats thoroughly, disinfected everywhere and are in the middle of fixing the CCTV camera up to get a good view!
She's enjoying her grooms as I think it is like a nice massage for her :-) she's also been a bit grumpy with other people about when they come to see her in her stable, she just likes her 'Mum' in there at the moment :-) she's never grumpy! but it was quite funny to see her put her ears back at Ruth the other day as if to say 'I don't want any visitors, thankyou very much!' Ruth being a mum herself quite understood :-)
Hopefully next month I'll have some photo's of the baby. Senna is due soon too and I'll take some photo's of her too :-)

Image: Maddie again

Image: Halter from Fordfarm in Texas

Image: Mads

Image: Getting the foaling box ready!

Image: The maternity wing.

Image: Ready for baby

Image: Delivery room

Image: Maternity wing

JANUARY 2005

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!!!

Well not much has happened this month, I guess it's typical of January! It's been a very quiet month for us, everyone has been too tired to do anything after the Christmas activities.
Roll on spring time :-)

DECEMBER 2004

Well the cold weather is upon us and the heavyweight rugs are now on. Ever noticed that the horses have snug new warm rugs and their owners go around freezing in an old coat that's years old? LOL

I had a sad start to December :-( I lost my old boy Sammy, he was 26yo and had bad arthritus in his near hind hock. He had been having trouble getting up in the summer and we had to roll him over on his good leg so he could get himself up. he couldn't get up in his stable a couple of weeks ago and we tried for about three hours to no avail. We decided the kindest thing for Sam was to have him put to sleep. He was an absolute gentleman to any horse or human who was lucky enough to meet him. We miss him terribly but know he is happy up at rainbow bridge with all his friends that went before him.

We all had a fantabulous time at Olympia on the 19th :-) We spent the afternoon shopping (I showed remarkable self control this year lol) Linda didn't and spent £200 in the first ten minutes LOL she did get a lovely pair of long leather riding boots though :-) Twenty four of us went and it was a great Christmas get together.

We managed to get to see our families at last over Christmas. The amount of people that asked us what we were doing: were we having all the family over??? were we going away?????........................er, no! we are mucking out!!!!.................ONE DAY we may live like normal families LOL I wish :-)

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and we are all looking forward to a good 2005

See ya all next year! :-)

NOVEMBER 2004

We would like to welcome Amanda with Aston and Nicky and Natalie with Dixon who have joined us this month :-) Aston is a very nice bay Dutch warmblood who Amanda bought in July and Dixon is a pretty chesnut Russian warmblood who Nicky has owned for 6 years and Natalie has loaned him since February this year.

Jack with Gemma will be coming home for the Christmas holidays to us and we have had to squeese them in as we now have a full stable yard. We do still have a couple of pony boxes available but we are very busy at the moment and there never seems to be enough hours in the daytime LOL

Philip has put new floodlights in our manege and it now looks bright enough to play the FA cup final in it. In fact we can see all the way up the fields too LOL

Lionel has done very well with Alfie showjumping this month with a win in the British Novice at Duckhurst and several other placings at Royal Leisure and Crockstead. Well Done Lionel :-)

Sue has been doing very well with Mia and got placed at the Arrow in the Prelim 10 Dressage.
Mia has really built up and Sue has been getting lots of compliments from people about her :-)

OCTOBER 2004

We had another new arrival this month :-) Jake who is a 25yo Roan gelding. I've known Jake for nearly 15 years so it is nice that he is finally here. He is still as active as ever and is owned by Gill and her daughters for the past 7 years. They have all settled in great and Gabi has been joining in the Jumping rallies which Jake enjoys very much.

Joanne Martina has kindley taken over over jumping rally as Psychi can only come up once a week now since her move to her new yard in the Ashdown Forest. We wish Psychi all the best with her new venture and highly recommend her to anyone wanting first class tuition and Full or Training Livery in Sussex. She can be contacted on 07747022213 or visit her website at www.badgerscourtlivery.com

Joanne has proved very popular with her B.S.J.A. approach to jumping that we have now had to divide the rallies in two. 5.30pm to 6.30pm Intermediate Horse/Rider and 6.30pm to 7.30pm Novice Horse/Rider.

Lionel had a fantastic win at Duckhurst this month! Alfie won the Discovery and came 4th in the British Novice. Well Done Lionel, all the schooling has paid off :-)

Rachel on Rosie also did very well at Eaglesfield with a win in the Novice horse class beating all the adults. Well Done trouble !

Sue is doing very well with Mia's progress. The penny has now dropped and Mia is working beautifully and has really built up a topline.

SEPTEMBER 2004

We had a wonderful time at the Molash Charity ride on the 5th. Seventeen of us went for a day out, eight of us rode and the rest stayed at the horseboxes and prepared the Barbeque for our return. The ride went through Challock Forest, Chilham Castle Park and surrounding farmland, it was a scorching hot day and we returned very hot and tired but having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Jack went to the Dartford and District Autumn Show and did very well! We will be sad to see Jack and his horse Gemma leave us this month as they are both going to Hadlow college to study, but we wish them the very best of luck and know it will be a great experience for the both of them. :-)

We also would like to welcome Wendy who has joined us this month. Wendy came to see us three months ago and reserved a stable for her new horse Grace, who is a beautiful dark bay 5 yo Irish Sport Horse mare.

Image: Jack and Gemma at the Dartford and District Autumn Show

AUGUST 2004

We had a new arrival this month. A dear little mini called Annie,. She was bought by Lionel (who owns Alfie) for his wife Carole and son Jack. She is absolutely gorgeous and shares the goat pen with Pru and Sunny, they all get on very well and eat together and even scratch each other. All the horses love her and she even nibbles Rocky's nose :-)
Our sand school has been extended at last, it seems to have taken forever but it has been worth the wait, it is huge! we just have to finish the fencing around it now. :-)

Image: Annie and Laura

Image: Please put your ears forward Annie.

JULY 2004

Congratulations to Ruth!!!! She did fantastic to win the Preliminary Series at the Joydens Riding Club Dressage finals! I was very proud to watch her on Erik who looked immaculate! Ruths husband Mike and myself had tears in our eyes as we watched Ruth receive her Trophies, one which was for the class that night and the other for the Series Champion! WELL DONE RUTH! You deserved it!:-)

More Good News! Sue took Mia to her first competition! She did the walk and Trot Dressage Test for experience! and Mia was very well behaved and came 7th! Well done Sue!

JUNE 2004

Some sad news this month! :-( We were all very sad to lose Becky! She was Sue's much loved mare for the past 13 years. Becky was 25 years old and uptil 6 weeks ago was a picture of health and certainly didn't look or act her age! She suddenly had a very bad sinus infection and a stay at the vets seemed to put her on the road to recovery! but she had lost a lot of weight and just as she seemed to be getting better she had colic and another trip to the vets confirmed that she had tumours inside. After much heartache Sue decided the kindest thing she could do for Becky was have her put to sleep.
She will be much missed by Sue and her family and everyone that knew her here at Shannon Leigh. Our deepest sympathies go to Sue.

On a happier note! Congratulations to Ruth on Erik who came second in her very first Dressage Test (out of 20) with 61%
Jack on Gemma came a creditable 3rd
And Germana on Navana did very well too in her first Dressage Test.
In the next class Jack did very well to be placed 2nd and Lionel on a very spooky Alfie came 6th despite nearly falling off during free walk on a long rein leaving the arena! people clapped when he finished and Alfie shot forward nearly losing Lionel out the back door! Very funny! and everyone was in hysterics, laughing!

Sue and I have been in search for a new horse! The gap Becky has left in Sues life is huge and the best way for Sue to cope is to find another horse to love! We have been viewing horses all over Kent the last couple of days and it's been quite an eye opener! as well as an adventure, it has cheered us both up! We took the wrong road to see one horse and ended up down a very narrow unmade lane with huge pot holes that ran between a golf course! we nearly grounded the car and got some very strange looks from the golfers! Our quest continues and we will write the directions down more clearly next time!:-)

WELL DONE to Jack who did very well at the Joydens show last week ! he came 4th in the Working Hunter and came 1ST !!!! in the Junior Novice Riding Class! Pierluca, in his very first show did fantastic also with a 2ND!!! in the Novice Senior Riding class on Navana!
Rachael did very well to win the overall minimus points Championship at Mount Mascal held over the winter! HOORAY!!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!!!! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU ALL!!!:-)

MAY 2004

Good news! Maddie is in foal! She was only covered the once to Primitive Proposal and I picked her up from the Louella Stud on the 5th May! fingers crossed we will have tiny hoofs running around the fields next year! We have also covered Senna with Rocky and she will be scanned next week to see if she is in foal too!

What a wet few weeks we have had! Everything seems to be cancelled this month because of water logged land! My first One Day Event of the year has been postponed until July, which was quite a relief really as we have been so busy! Fortunately The Dartford and District Riding Club Spring Show went ahead as planned with lovely weather.
As I'm on the committee of the club I had to help set up the show on the Saturday ready for Sunday. As my Laura was taking Misty, when I got home in the evening she wanted me to plait Misty's mane! Laura had spent a long time getting Misty sparkling clean and had lovingly put lots of mane conditioner on! Yes you've guessed it! I had a terrible job trying to plait her as my fingers were just sliding through her mane! Poor Misty had to endure another mane washing session to get the conditioner out so I could actually plait her mane tightly.
On the Sunday we had four horses from Shannon Leigh loaded on the horseboxes ready for a day of fun! : Laura and Misty, Jack and Gemma, Rachael and Merry, and I took my old girl Jarva along to do the veterans in-hand!
I had to steward in the morning so my partner Philip had to look after Jarva for me as well as videoing everything that was going on! Jack did very well in his first show and was placed in the Working Hunter and The Best Riding Horse! Laura got a 4th in The Working Pony and a double clear in the Novice jumping! Rachael did well with Merry and was placed in all her in-hand classes, and Jarva got a 2nd in the Veterans, she was so funny, she was so excited about being at a show again that she was leaping about like a 3 year old not a 30 year old!

Image: Jarva aged 30 came 2nd in the Veterans in-hand

APRIL 2004

We have a new livery join us this week! Heather came to visit us a month ago and reserved a stable, and then went on her quest for a horse! Finty arrived last Monday the 22nd March, she is a pretty 15 hand 6 year old grey mare, she settled in straight away and Heather is looking forward to having lots of fun with her!:-)
I have decided on a stallion for my mare Maddie at last! After visiting several stallions I decide to go for one that had bloodlines close to my youngster Frankie (Maddies last foal) Frankie is by Primitive Rising who died in 2002 and was a very good racehorse who has produced top racehorses and top eventers! so as I couldn't use him again the next best thing was to use one of his sons! I found Primitive Proposal who is only 4y.o. but is starting eventing with one of our countries top young riders Emilie Chandler, his dam is full sister to the great HIS stallion 'Another Hoarwithy'. Maddie is now up at the Louella Stud in Leicestershire and I'm hoping she doesn't take too long to get in foal so she can be back home soon!

MARCH 2004

We would like to congratulate the Chubb family who have got a new addition to their family in Rosie, a beautiful chesnut mare. She will join Erik (who we all love!) and will be sure to have lots of fun with Andrea and Rachel.

We also would like to welcome Cathrine with her lovely grey mare Tilly who is an absolute stunner and a real sweetie!

And last but not least Rupert with his owners Becky and Louise. Becky made her debut here in style when the young Rupert rodeod across the school and slammed on the brakes throwing poor Becky head first into the gate resulting in a broken wrist and a grazed chin! All to our horror! Brave Louise has taken over the reins for the time being, and we are doing some serious education with Rupert, he has to write a hundred lines before feedtime of 'I must not throw the people that love me into the gate and I must not drag them across the school when they lunge me!' I've had a word with Troy and he is going to have a quiet word in his ear, about how he used to buck his mummy off! but then he realised it was more fun to be a good boy, and then mummy would take him to the shows where all the grown up horses go!

Rita with her Welsh Section D pony Lulu has persuaded Lionel to have a change from Show Jumping and have a go at Dressage! with his beautiful Westphalien horse Alfie, while Lionel has persuaded Jack to have a go at Show Jumping as well of Dressage! Now Jack doesn't know which of the two he wants to concentrate on? If they keep this up, by the time the show season starts I might be able to get them to come Eventing with me!!!

My trip to Ireland was fantastic! Something I shall never forget! I visited Scarvagh House Stud in County Down, the home of Alfie Buller. What a magnificent place Scarvagh is! A horse lovers dream come true! Ten thoroughbred stallions stand there and three shetland 'Teasers'! Where ever you look there are quality horses and the place is immaculate! The friendliness I received and their obvious passion for their horses was unique! And I would have no worries at all about sending Maddie there! I still have a couple more stallions to visit over here that I would like to see, but I have the feeling Maddie will be going to Ireland, as I very much liked the look of Runyon a horse by Saddlers Wells!

Not much else to report as yet, but will keep you posted! Hope you are all making the most of the mild weather we are having? Spring is just around the corner now! even my Daffs have come out! :-)

Leigh x