Equestrian Blogger of the Year 2017: Roosa's Horsey Life

One month ago today, the Equestrian Blogger of the Year 2017 was announced. Judged by the lovely ladies at Mirror Me PR and Haynet, Roosa's Horsey Life was crowned the winner! In my opinion, a very deserving winner... Not only running a very personable and real blog, Roosa's social media follows her and her gorgeous horses in their daily life in Finland.

As the 2016 winner of the award, I wanted to catch up with Roosa following the winner and ask her a few quick questions about her blog, winning the title and what plans she has for the upcoming months. So, grab that hot drink, curl up and enjoy a quick-fire Q&A with Roosa's Horsey Life!

(& don't forget to head over to Roosa's blog at the end and take a read of my guest Q&A post with her too!!)

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November's Equestrian Blog Hop

The third instalment of the monthly Equestrian Blog Hop! Make sure you take a flick through all of the other bloggers at the bottom of this post also talking about...

What is our riding ambition?

The last near enough three years have taught me that the ambition of just having fun and doing whatever you enjoy with your equine partner is the most important aspect... At the end of the day, most of us are amateurs with very busy lives away from the stable. So why do we all seem to fall into the trap of putting pressure on ourselves?

Dressage Competition Report - 19/11/2017

On a cold but beautiful Sunday morning, we headed up to local venue Alnwick Ford Equestrian for our first dressage outing for a LONG time...since way back in September in fact!!

Enjoying a relaxing hack out the afternoon before in the fading autumnal cool sunshine without the pressure of getting ready the night before was a bonus. With both tests after 12 noon on the Sunday, I decided to wash Louie's socks and tail, and plait on the morning.

With the handy help of hot water, I was able to get Louie's socks & tail fairly white on the morning, before plaiting. I must be VERY out of practice because it seems to take a very long time & unusually I found it really difficult to get tight plaits into the thicker part of his mane... 😳 Still, at least Louie could stand & enjoy a massage with his Equilibrium pad on for longer!

We were soon ready for the off, so away we went...all of us wrapped up like Michelin men!!!

Blogger's Corner: Best Plugins for Wordpress

In the latest instalment of Blogger's Corner, I invited Heather Wallace from Bride & Bone to give her expertise on what plugins have helped her make her blog what it is today through a self-hosted Wordpress blog.

So get cosy, sit back and pick up some of the tips that can help you make all of your already great blogging efforts that little bit better!

Premier Equine Winter Rugs

So, over the last two years, I've become a bit of a fanatic for Premier Equine rugs, especially for the cooler months of the year.

Why do I love Premier Equine rugs?

• Accurate sizing
• Deep cut - around the shoulders & in length
• Quality of product
• Variety of styles, weights & durability 
• Quick delivery

I didn't used to have much loyalty to any particular brand of rug so long as it was a good fit and suited the purpose. Over the last 10 years, I've had many different brands of rugs - Weatherbeeta, Horsewear, Kingshead, Masta... But thanks to a super Premier Equine Black Friday sale in 2015, I took Louie from the twice passed down rugs he was using & upgraded him to a stable, turnout and rug liner.

6 Picks... of Instagram

I ❤️ Instagram!

OK, so who else doesn't enjoy seeing fabulous photos of horses of all breeds, all disciplines, from all over the world?!

I follow almost 1,200 accounts on Instagram across a broad mix of content, but A LOT of them are equestrian related! So I thought I'd pick my top six for you to all enjoy too - hopefully there's some new one for you to enjoy!

October Round Up

October started off with a real 💥BANG💥

We headed out to Alnwick Ford Equestrian in Northumberland to go showjumping. Louie's taken a lot of hard work to find his own confidence with the showjumping, but recently he's been flying. Enjoying the jumping and sticking to his rhythm!

We entered the smallest classes - 50cm & 60cm - as this venue is really good at building mini fences rather than lead rein cross poles. It's up to height with fillers, planks and ladders all included meaning that horses can get used to these elements while building up their confidence.

My aim for the classes was to keep a rhythm and give Louie a confidence giving round. I never expected for it to go so well...