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We regularly set up grids to work on striding and elasticity. Gymnastic exercises are much more important for horses than scope testing or even jumping courses, they actually give the horses the skills to jump around said courses. This grid is bounce, bounce, two stride.  We find the best striding for bounces is about 3 human strides, not too big or too small, just an easy, natural stride. For a two stride double, we use 11 human strides. As a general rule of thumb, we then ...

I’ve always said no. No, I won’t become a brand ambassador. No, I won’t help you to sell your bits. Or Saddles. Or supplements. Until now!   Why not? The problem is, the horses don’t read the same textbooks that we do. I can read the blurb and think, wow, this is the most amazing bit. This bit is awesome, it’s the key, it’s the answer to every horse’s dream. And, the horse says – uhhh…. No.   Why do you think there ...

It is now recommended industry standard for livery yard owners to have livery contracts in place between themselves and their livery clients. This is whether you offer basic grass livery, or a fully services bespoke full livery package. Not only will this help you keep proper records of your clients, but also help both parties understand the limits of your services, payments and notice periods, and have a clear and concise reference point in the event of any disputes that may arise.

The Longines Royal International Horse Show 2019 by Hesteyri Horses We were lucky enough to have sponsors passes for Ladies day at Hickstead, thanks to our amazing sponsors, Horsemart! It was my first time going to Hickstead so I was ridiculously excited, unfortunately we got caught in bad traffic so missed a lot of the day, but we got there in time to visit The Equine Superstore stand (sister company of Horsemart) and meet our sponsors in person for the first time which was amazing! ...

It is becoming more frequent that we are having heatwaves within the UK and managing our horses is key. We do not want to over heat or dehydrate them. There are many factors to think of and possibly change such as riding workload, turnout/ stabled schedule.  There are many discussions about whether you should bring your horse in during the day or leave out. There is no fixed answer for this, as no yard or horse will be the same. So, there are a few things to take into consideration when...

Running a livery yard is hard, with a lot of responsibility for both running the business and being responsible for the animals in your care. Whether you run a small yard at home, or a large commercial equestrian centre, insurance should be an important consideration. There is a misconception, especially on DIY yards, that insurance is not necessary as clients are on a ‘do it yourself’ basis and should have their own horse insured but this is far from the case. By running a yard a...

Getting outside in the fresh air, walking, moving, playing sport is the of the first steps in ensuring health Are child riders safe with you?  Have you done you Child Safeguarding course, and you are absolutely 100% on the same track, to keep your pupils safe?  How would you deal with grey areas? Part of my reason for being here in the UK this summer has been to update my British Horse Society registration.  And, one of the things that I had to do, was a Child Safeguardin...

June began with more gorgeous arrivals at Little Hesteyri! We welcomed three faces in the first couple of days of the new month! Firstly, a new sales livery, Shadow arrived! He’s a little Blagdon cob, standing at just 12.2hh so another little one but he has a really big heart! Shadow needed bringing back into work so we expected him to take some time but he surprised us by just having the best attitude! He loves to please, adores attention, has proved totally bomb proof with the m...

"I sent my pony to Meg and Lauren to be backed. I was worried about everything! Sent lots of messages asking lots of questions before I sent him and they answered all my worries and concerns and made me feel at ease and I felt 100% sure that they were the right place to send my little blonde boy! Charlie settled quickly with them, I was sent updates on what he was doing and how he was doing. The girls really love the horses like their own and that made me so happy and knew he was in the best han...

Hello everyone, I am going to introduce you to the fantastic elastic San Remo Hitt AKA Bear.  I first set eyes on bear when I was asked to come and help a young gentleman with his horse, I arrived at the stables to give the lesson and help the training with this new client and his lovely big black horse. Well to cut a long story short, most of the lesson was spent with bear  leaping around like a bucking bronco, napping when near the gate, hollering at the other horses and gene...

If you’ve been following us, you would have seen various client horses coming in and out of our gates, with a few of our own sprinkled into our updates here and there. This is a chance for you to get to know our permanent residents!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GePAMyApOoM   Flame   At 30 years old, Flame is our oldest resident here at Little Hesteyri, and really the founding member! He is our mum’s horse, bought as a yearling, and one of the...

As of Saturday the 8th of June, it is now a criminal offence to injure either a police horse or a police dog. The law has been bought into place thanks to Britains Got Talent contestant Dave Wardell and his dog, named Finn. The pair who performed on Britains Got Talent has now made history as ‘Finn’s Law’ has officially been passed. Since the law has been applied this now means that police animals are no longer treated as ‘force property’. Back in 2016, po...

The yard where I kept my first horse, had a sign hanging up in the tack room, saying “The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Maybe they were just warning you to look, before yelling out that you couldn’t find your girth, but that quote has always stuck with me.  When you see something every day, you stop seeing it. Which is why its really vital to ask the question – what is your feedback? Recently I was at...

“On yonder hill there stood a cow It must have moved It’s not there now”. That is a fine bit of poetry, isn’t it?  And, I didn’t even write it. The guy who did write it, was called William Topaz McGonagall (with the middle name of Topaz, how could he be anything but epic?!) He was born in Scotland in March 1825, and for many years was a successful weaver, producing fine fabrics and making a good living out of it.  He was a normal chap, livi...

May was a brilliant month for us, and it is finally starting to feel like summer might show its face! We started the month with a fantastic day out at Badminton thanks to our wonderful sponsors Horsemart. A great time was had walking the course designed by Eric Winter and taking some pictures and videos of the riders we saw along the way. It was brilliant to see so many young and first-time riders having completions, and eventing getting safer without losing any of the thrills. We had a quic...

Hi, This time I’m going to talk about flying changes. Flying changes are an important part of both dressage and show jumping, for dressage they come into play at advanced medium level and for jumping they can be used at any level. In the flying change the horse remains in canter but changes the canter lead during the moment of suspension, when all four feet are off the ground. This can be useful when jumping as when going round a course of fences coming back to trot to change the cant...

As with any business, clients of livery yards come and go. Some horse owners move very rarely and only through necessity, others move more regularly simply because they feel a better offer comes along. Spring and autumn are the most popular times of year for horse owners to start thinking about moving yard. These seasons see a lot of equine movement between yards, with vacancies being advertised and sought. But just because a new yard opens, or your yard owner makes changes to what they offer&he...

Hello, Edward here, This time I thought I would talk about the importance of the warmup when riding and provide some top tips to help perfect yours, The warmup is very important when riding, when done correctly it can have a huge benefit on the horses way of going. Here are my top tips on getting the most out of the warmup: 1. When you first get on try and think about what you have planned and warm up your horse accordingly. As warming up for cross country is going to be different t...

Looking for somewhere to sell your horse? Facebook has cracked down on the advertising of animals for sale on its platform. It has long been a rule that animal sales are prohibited by Facebook/s Commerce Policies but a recent feature has been added with an option to allow people to report animal sales listed on the Marketplace. Luckily there are several sites available to list horses for sale or loan but for animals like chickens, goats or other livestock the options are more limited. Faceb...

Most people have heard the phrase ‘self-produced’ in reference to horses but what does it really mean? Some use the expression because they have been the only one to sit on a horse, some say that they have self-produced their horse after buying it backed, some breed and some ride a horse who’s already at a certain level and ‘produce’ said horse to the next level! Do any of us ever really self-produce our horses and is it necessary to claim that we have? ...