DECEMBER / JANUARY SHOWING DIARY

December & January were not overly productive due to the adverse weather conditions. With a terribly snowy week before Christmas & at least two weeks of heavy snow in early January led to more hard work caring for the horses rather than riding them.  WATER, WATER, HAY, HAY......It felt at times as if I was looking after horses 24/7 - no sooner as I'd got home, I was back with the horses again. From de-icing concrete, cars, padlocks, kettles to get hoses and taps working to constant mucking out and haying over 27 horses. The snow is not such a problem for me - I have a 4x4 with excellent off road tyres. However, it was the sub zero temperatures during the daytime which made life very tideous indeed. From a horsecare point of view the water was the biggest problem for me. The continual sub zero temperatures meant that even breaking ice in field troughs ran to an end and it was then down to buckets and water carriers once the trough water had ran out. All our stables are normally automated so getting everyone constant water again in buckets was hard work but in particular lugging water carriers (sometimes 10 per day) to various fields was awful. I was physically exhausted from sliding around in ice to being carted around by naughty underworked horses when turning them out daily.  I recieved a massive blow to my hip bone by an overstabled & non worked horse (not one of mine - a livery i hasten to add!) He double barralled me and I was knocked straight out when I turned him out. I was so lucky to get away with no major injury but it really shook me for a day or so. All the horses were beginning to get sick of the snow and hard ground as they were in more than out, being fed more hay than normal too, as they were in off of snow and ice, and because owners were not up to ride - some got very stupid. I told this owner to leave him out for the night - to RELAX! 

With periods of bad weather, it is terrible for horse owners anyway, but the demand for rock salt, salt, hay and haylage is now so strong that stocks either sold out or prices have soared. Hampshire is almost out of hay and what hay is left is extremely expensive per bale. I cant believe I am paying £4 per bale for a small bale this current week. I use 7-8 bales per day and in snow or frost this goes up to 13 bales per day so its going to cripple me as a business unless I find some cheaper hay soon! I have just bought 400 bales on ebay a little cheaper at £3 per small bale but its still more than I would ever pay normally for a small bale. I pay £2, 2.50 at most normally for a small meadow bale & £3.40 delivered for a large 10 pack bale.  So with the bad weather did i get any riding done i hear you ask? - Yes a little. Well in fact as much as possible. I hacked mine all out in walk during the snow. The sure footed ones were able to do more cantering and schooling in the snow. I spent a week riding in Austria in heavy snow (which I loved) & it was lovely to be doing it again but in this country. The ground was too frozen on some days to use the school & the horsewalker. I just hacked around the Stud everyday with the only livery that I saw for weeks - Tess White. She came up daily and rode her two eventers out with me and we just rode and led as many as we could. When the roads were cleared but the rains came we just hired indoor venues such as my favourite facility, Hoplands Equestrian Centre. We were both aware that competition season is only just around the corner and horses need to be fit, well schooled & ready!

The snow had finally cleared enough and temperatures risen enough to hunt on Boxing Day. The Boxing day meet is a great British tradition & same as last year I hunted with the Hursley Hambledon Hunt who meet at the Buckshead, Meonstoke every Boxing Day. The supporters are tremendous. I was lucky enough to have a ride on 'Mick' a lovely 14.2hh coloured pony for the days fun. Fortunately for me, Mick's owners had gone ski-ing for Xmas break and had lent him to me for the Boxing Day Meet. He was awesome and gave me a lovely ride. Very surefooted and well schooled. 

PHOTO Tess White on 'Nev' & Hattie Hammond on 'Mick 'Boxing Day Hunting 2009.

I have also backed and produced over the last 3 months my gorgeous homebred, Bea. Bea, aka *Littletons Definately Maybe* has been a true delight to back and ride on. She has given it 110% all of the time & has a great attitude to all her work. She is now still only 3, rising 4 & hacking out very well alone and in company, excellent in traffic, going in an outline on the bridle all of the time. She already has her first novice class booked in and a prelim test coming up soon. More about her soon ! She is only 14.2hh so I will eventually have to sell her as Im out of the class. You need a rider under 16 to compete 14.2hh show ponies. She can however, do the Cherif and part bred Arab classes with me in the short term whilst she gains more mileage & experience.   Another young ride, *Littletons Kiss Me Kate* went to Charlotte Springalls for a 4 week hacking blitz in January after being brought back into work after her foal. She was being very crabby and stuffy about working in school but is very green and spooky to put on roads as she is a baby. I knew she needed a lot of hacking to get her mind set working more forwards. Charlotte is based in the New Forest and has offroad hacking so it was perfect. Charlotte backed Bey Sappho for me last year & as is an extremely experienced backer & trainer of horses. Kiss Me Kate had her back done which alleviated some of the crabbyness & is now working nicely in the school and hacking. She will be either now be sold or shown by me as a novice Cherif/hack for showing 2010 or a Dressage prospect. She is by Catherston Humbug and is OIRO £4,500. see my website www.masonsstud.co.uk for more details about her or drop me an email. 

PHOTO/Littletons Kiss me Kate, January 2010 Here photographed in her early schooling. Ridden by Charlotte Springall.

Shows & early competitions kick off for me in February so I'll have lots more photos and new next month, happy riding!

NOVEMBER SHOWING DIARY

The show season drew to a close after Horse of the Year Show for me, so it was time for me to turn my attention to next year and youngsters. It's an exciting time as all my older, more experienced show horses have a rest & just tick away being ridden once per week or once per fortnight for the Winter. I may hunt, showjump or do a little dressage on some of them, but usually I turn my attention to next year's projects.  I backed and am now schooling a 3 yr old homebred filly, Littletons Definately Maybe. She is working nicely & towards an early dressage test / novice show come 2010. She is the most straightforward filly I have ever worked with, a true delight to own, back & have bred. Sadly - for me - she is only going to make full up 14.2hh pony so I'm too big and too old to show her. She will be for sale probably at some point next year or to loan to very experienced dressage, show or event home.

We only had 3 weeks to HOYS when we got her and although we kept her coat perfect, she was very sweaty and in hindsight I should of clipped her as working her in was very important. We had a lovely girl called Alexandra Ahern ride her at HOYS (as sadly im too old for the intermediates!) Alex did a truly sterling job and we sailed through class without doing anything disastarous. She went well enough but was not placed. HOYS this year was not that much fun because of our timings, we arrived late Friday pm, were up until 12.30pm and awake again for 3.30am to plait up for 4.30am. There was never really much time to relax and I was fairly exhausted come the afternoon shopping knowing I still had to drive home & unload everything & do all of yard! We would of liked to stay a second night and relax a bit more, but tickets were few and far between, let alone late stabling. Despite all that, it was yet again inspiring and such good experience for me. I think Im now an expert in stuffing ears with plugs and what plugs for what horse, if nothing else! Only HOYS!!

Whalton Grace & Favour at HOYS

So finally all my shows were finished for 2009. I quickly moved onto backing/selling and getting my youngsters sorted for the rest of October, whilst Grace & Favour, Silver Addiction & Parys White Mischief had a well earned rest. In my next months diary I will be talking about producing my youngsters for 2010 and how backing is going!!

NEXT YEAR I WILL BE SHOWING;
Whalton Grace & Favour - in hacks/intermediates.
Littletons Definately Maybe - Cherifs/novice classses
Littletons Kiss Me Kate - Cherifs/Novice Hacks
Parys White Mischief - Show Cob aiming big in the open working cobs at RIHS & Windsor.
Secret Venture - Small Riding Horse
& Plenty of youngsters Im sure will be showing in hand. We also have 5 foals now due for 2010 which i will tell you about in future Diaries.

SEPTEMBER SHOWING DIARY

September culminates into most of the end of season shows. Locally showing winds down after Romsey Show in the middle of September, but nationally it sees major championships and championship classes that you have qualified for during the Summer Season. First up in September for me was the British Show Horse Association National Championships at Addington Manor, Buckinghamshire. Its over 2 days, with us spending 3 nights away. Its a really fun show with excellent facilities and fun evening performances to be involved with or simply sip champagne and watch!! Its a terrific atmosphere during the evening performances & this year it was fantastic weather - I spent most of my time in shorts and vest it was that warm.The British Show Horse Association is the group you would need to affiliate to if you were showing a Hack, Cob or Riding Horse (so the 3 very popular main stream showing classes). You also need to be affiliated to the Association if you want to qualify for HOYS or the RIHS and pay an extra £15 Levy.  I therefore took my 5 year old Part Bred Arab, Silver Addiction (whom also crosses over into the novice small hack classes) and my 17 yr old Show Cob, Parys White Mischief.I have to say now that both horses excelled both my expectations on both days!! They were awesome both of them and I was delighted to gain such good results. Rarely do both horses go well on the same day let alone both days!!

Here are my results;
1st - BSHA Ridden Cob Mare of the Year 2009 - A class we also won in 2007 with Parys White Mischief and did not enter in 2008. I was thrilled with this as she is 17 !!
2nd - BSHA Novice Working Cobs - Again thrilled, this is at national level and she did a double clear round. The 2nd saw us perform in the Evening Working Championship - Great fun!!
2nd - BSHA Veteran And Silver Addiction gained,
6th - BSHA Young Hacks
9th - BSHA Novice Hacks Which does not sound all that great - but it was! Silver Addiction is not a true to type hack. She did so well on her performance and we were the only person actually moved up during the young hacks immediately after our individual show, which I was thrilled at, given the competition. She executed twice perfect straight rein backs, one handed riding & lots of halt to canter transitions. She was a little schooled star! So all in all a very fun weekend, my thanks go to my wing man - Tess White who expertly rode my Cob for me when classes clashed.

Next show was the Cherif Championships on September 15th once again at Addington Manor, Buckin A series of show which culminates in this September Final for Part Bred Arabs. My Silver Addiction qualified 5 out 5 times for this during 2009, and has already qualfied for 2010. She was well behaved during the final - a class which takes a fair few hours to judge, however, she was quite lazy with the judge and she stuck her head a little off the bridle going into my rein back which cost me at least 1 or 2 marks. Its all based on marks and clearly the ride judge had made his mind up that he preferred her full sister after the ride and had given her quite generous points. The confirmations judge awarded us better marks. Anyway we were placed joint 10th with her sister but she sadly went through to the evening performance not us as the ride judges marks take priority. Oh well, I really think this is a class she will be Top 5, if not top 3 in the future and thats now a real aim. She may of also been tired from the weekend, as it was only a days grace off at home and she is with child! Here are some photos from the Cherifs; 

SILVER ADDICTION competiting at the Cherif Finals 2009 with her full sister. 

AUGUST SHOWING DIARY

Straight from the Royal International, my mare Silver Addiction had a window of 3 weeks in which she did not have a show therefore she went to Rennelles Stud in Essex, home of a much admired stallion, Stanley Grange Royal Appointment.  He is very similar to Silver Addiction, being small
hack/154cm & part bred Arab.  She took to her broodmare duties very well, confirmed in foal and back in time for her next show.

The middle of August saw my homebred 2 year old, Littletons Diamond Geezer (aka Felix) win the 21 strong youngstock class at the local Hampshire Hunt Show at Ropley.  I was so pleased with him, he is so grown up, loads perfectly, shows perfectly, behaves perfectly.  I have high hopes for this chap - the next Tamarillo I think! 

LITTLETONS DIAMOND GEEZER, Winning his very big youngstock class at our
local HH Show, July 2009.

On the 22nd August, I travelled with Silver Addiction once more back to Hickstead!  It was the South East Arab Horse Group Summer Show which was thankfully a lot quieter than the Royal International. I had been worried she had not been travelling so well on the grass turf, but she
proved me wrong and won a strong ridden part bred Arab class. She was a little stuffy in the championship but managed Reserve Champion all the same. I came home with 7 gorgeous rosettes and two trophies so I was very happy.

On the 29th August, I made the tedious journey down to The Hand EC, near Weston Super Mare for the UK National  In hand PBA & Anglo Arab Championships.  It is about 110 miles each way from Winchester, Hampshire and one of those shows you think is nearer than it is!  The M4 seems to be endless.  Silver Addiction was 3rd in the in hand PBA Mare of the Year (I have to say I was extremely disappointed with this, I really think she should of won this class) & the won her ridden PBA class and then went overall ridden champion of the show so that made up for my very dissapointing 3rd.  All in all another good day, and a very pleasing and consisitent performance by Silver Addiction during both ridden sections.

Two days later on the 31st August, It was back to my village and localist show I can do - Littleton Horse Show.  I have not shown here for a few years, mostly due to the fact there are no classes for a part bred Arab, Arab or Hack.  The ground at the new venue is very flinty and although very kind of the owners to offer a venue for free, I cant help feeling the numbers are down considerably on previous years partly to do with the ground and new venue, lack of showjumping & affiliated classes.  It still remains however, an extremely popular show, well run and a show that I really enjoyed this year for seeing soo many horsey folk I have seen at that show for the last 20 years or so.  Past liveries, friends, family & just about everyone I have ever met in horse circles in Winchester is always there!    I did not ride myself, however I took it apon myself to play the producer/owner role!  Therefore I was involved with 2 horses, one of which I do own.

I still managed to be rushing around all day like a maniac!!  A good friend, and accomplished top event rider, Tess White & I joined forces for the day!  She had her own, Summertime Oppostion to show & she would also take my Cob, Parys White Mischief in the Working Hunter for a practice before she competes at the British Show Horse National Championships in September in the Novice Workers.  I had previously given Tess (having only done 1 show class in her life) a crash course in ringcraft, way of going etc & what to wear.  Fortunately we are about the same size, and I just dressed her head to toe in my show clothes!!  I gave her normally workmanlike tack for eventing a bit of 'bling' in the form of a stonking show browband for her horse... which she seemed to love!!  

Her horse, Summertime Opposition, a stunning & smart black event horse with dressage like movement was now re-styled as a large riding horse and good to go.  He behaved and went beautifully to win the ridden veterans & then consequently went ridden Champion of the flat horse
classes.  She won 3 huge cups and a sash and was over the moon.  She then jumped a clear round in the Novice Workers, with my Cob, Parys White Mischief.  She won this class too & once again went onto to take the Working Hunter Champion, again winning 2 lovely cups & a sash. 
Again a wonderful day which we both celebrated with a bottle of Champagne..... 

SILVER ADDICTION winning August 2009 at Hickstead.

JUNE/JULY SHOWING DIARY

I took my Silver Addiction & a horse my boyfriend had bought to a couple of dressage competitions. Silver Addiction had not competed anywhere for over 1 month and I had the Royal International looming at the end of July and I needed her to get out and about again. She is still comparatively green and at this point only shown on grass twice in her life. So any more new experiences were beneficial.I was thrilled with how both horses made their debut at dressage but Silver Addiction winning was truly exciting. Its nice to take a young show horse and win at dressage. It does add another string to her bow. She is such a talented horse. 

Silver Addiction (our 5 year old part bred Arab) winning the Preliminary dressage with 69% at Woodington EC & she was 5th in the Novice dressage with 61%.

The Life of Brian - a 6 year old Holsteiner scoring 67% & 70% in his early preliminary outings

So I then looked for some outdoors/grass shows to show in to get 'on grass' experience for Silver Addiction. June & early July had gone quite quiet with school holidays underway but I did find a local show - The Tedworth PC/Hunt Show which had a ridden part bred Arab Class. We also took my mothers Welsh Section A, Fairmont Mr Bojangles. He is 3 years old and I bought him for mum for mothers day when he was a yearling. This was his first outing to a show and it did him the world of good, as expected he was a very good boy and gained a 3rd in the in hand Mountain & Moorland class.My sister has recently had her first child, Olivia. We are hoping Olivia and Mr Bojangles will get on well together and that Mr Bojangles gains a rider. He is now equipped with a basket saddle for her to get some early practice in. She really enjoys herself and the faster he goes the more she giggles.

I went on holiday then for 10 days, not the best preparation for a major show but it was the only time I could meet up with my boyfriend in 5 months. During this time, I had been offered a free AI cover by a Sadler's Wells TB Stallion. Therefore I put my Bey Sappho pure Arab in foal to him. Also at this time, Bridget my Show Cob was 'investigated' by two of the leading vets in the country up at Newmarket. It turned out she had a scarred cervix and looks unlikely to ever have a foal. So we had to face up to facts that our beloved Cob may never breed. So time for the Royal International at Hickstead. I was really excited about going and hoped she would just go nicely and behave. We were not expecting miracles or any placing as I knew she would be green. In the class itself, she was travelling quietly and looking almost too on the forehand and quiet. I had worked her in a lot and she was a bit too lazy and down looking but I wanted to play it safe. However, the occasion and being overtaken and crowded in the ring proved too much and she put in a few bucks & twists in canter. The ring was so big I got away with the judges seeing too much but they saw enough of her acting like a wally! One poor rider did come off during the cantering really near me and which made me feel a lot better. And another lovely horse got asked to leave the ring as it misbehaved with the judge on. She coped well with the rest of the class & gave the judge a mannerly enough ride & stood beautifully during the presentation. I have never been so content with not being placed and was just relieved to survive so to speak given her bad episode.  I was exhausted and glad to have a G&T that evening where a friend and I went and partied the night away. (Well until we were thrown out the party tents! ) Silver Addiction went directly from the Royal International at Hickstead to Stud in Essex. She had a gap of about 3 weeks before her next show in August so it was a quick visit to the very gorgeous Stanley Grange Royal Appointment. We are yet to know whether she is in foal yet.

MAY / JUNE 2009 SHOWING DIARY

May & June have been fairly erratic for me. I have been very busy with my horses, however I have not had many shows on.

I tend to do most of my bigger shows early and late in season. This allows me to concentrate my spare time on my mares foaling down & getting my mares covered for 2010. The middle part of my main showing season also allows me to take my youngsters out to local shows for experience when they are looking great by May/June.

In this diary Ill fill you in with various things I have been up to since a busy start to the shows… and you will meet some horses I have not mentioned before!!

FOALS FIRST ..
I had 2 homebred foals this year during May & June. I am over the moon with both of them. They both have brilliant confirmations, pretty heads, great movers and outstanding bold temperaments. I have been very blessed. It was not without its complications though for one foal. Alfie, my second foal was hospitalised back in early June with neonatal septicaemia. After a 5 day stint in equine hospital, he made a full recovery and is now a bonnie boy!

Littletons Chantress (Trellech Chantress by VEKAAM my stallion) born May 2009.

Almost certainly I can say now will make a top class show hack and lovely part bred Arab. I will be keeping her and the plan will be to get her out in hand to the National foal show, or certainly next year as a yearling if she does well over the Winter.

So in May and June we had a couple of foals, however my lightweight Cob, Bridget was due in April. After 3 scans confirming she was in foal, a 4th one on her due date confirmed she was not! So she looked so well after all her stud mix, we decided to get her as fit as possible given the time and put her in a few last minute Royal International Qualifiers. She went to Ponies UK South & Stevenage. She went really well, both times but did not qualify. She is now 16 so I was not at all surprised that she did not qualify. It was more wishful thinking.

Ponies UK South Show was held at Newbury Showground. So many classes and makes a great outing for anyone wanting to watch for free some top level showing locally. As is the BSPS Spring Show at Newbury Showground. Both these shows happen in May generally and are perfect for anyone interested in showing or wanting to learn more as the standard is very high and best of all its local & accessible. This is a great way of learning - by watching people better than yourselves. I spend a lot of time admiring and studying professionals in a quest for perfection!

My Silver Addiction competeted in her first hack class at Ponies UK. I wanted to put her in a novice class, but there was not one and so she had to go in head first with a RIHS Qualifier. She went ok, and my rein back was not a complete disaster!! I was in very good company and surrounded by some very famous faces - horses and people . A bit daunting having to do an individual show on a novice 5 year old in front of such experienced & beautifully schooled horses. We will do more hack
classes later in the season, during September at the BSHA National Champs.

During May, I also went to Royal Windsor Horse Show. Sadly just to watch!! Its one of the few shows that does not have a ridden part bred Arab Class & the Cob Classes entries had already closed so too late to enter our Bridget. What terrible weather though - I got soaked watching
& was quite glad not to be competiting.

PROJECT PERUGEE
I am a complete sucker for a horse purchase! I am getting more sensible in my old age… and have got my numbers considerably down over the last few years. I do try and think more with an investment head these days hopefully improving any young or underestimated horse.

BEFORE - Perugee, a young pure bred Arab - a rescue project! These photos were taken the day he arrived at the Stud. So skinny and not yet a show horse! This is his story below.

He was fairly cheap so I took a look out of interest mainly as young Arabs & Anglo Arabs are my interest. I thought he looked thin but very pretty. I also thought just about the last place that an Arab would thrive in is a dealers yard. They are far too sensitive, kind and intelligent to be in certain situations like this one had found himself in.

Anyway, equipped with cash in my pocket, I drove my lorry down to Swindon to this dealers yard the next morning to check 'Perugee' out. I had not counted on what I was about to find. I'm not able to describe too much but let just say I was less than impressed.

Perugee the Arab above was wearing a halter at the back of stable. He was in a stable with a colt larger than him. For the first 20 minutes the man could not even catch him in a stable wearing a head collar! Perugee would 'double barrel' him & come at this man with his teeth showing.

" I thought the advert said he did not bit or kick" I proclaimed!! "Oh he is just being a bit bouncy" he replied.

After several suggestions, He managed to lure this alien looking creature from the back of his box with food. The Colt also flew out the door loose not really helping with the general sale!

Once out in the daylight I was beginning to get upset with how much of a state this young horse looked. "Gorgeous isn't he, He is such a pretty lad" the man announced all proudly. Unfortunately for him I did don't have MUG written all over my forehead and can spot a worm
ridden/emaciated horse a mile off. I answered "He's a very thin! has he ever been wormed?"

It turned out this man had only had Perugee one week and the dealer before him had also only had him a week. The advert said he had been long reined, handled well, lunged etc.. He freely admitted he had done none of those things.

What was also bad about him too was he had approximately 20-30 small cuts, scars, scratches, tares all over him. One was quite large with no hair on it. I was confident however all of these were recent and would grow hair and recover.

There were major plus points too though
1) He had an exquisite head, very typical of an top Arab
2) He moved very straight, and even better, exceptionally well.
3) He had no blemishes or splints etc.. to halt any long term showing or sports career.
4) On phoning the Arab Horse Society on visiting the yard they confirmed he was not stolen! and also that he was registered and had great breeding. They also confirmed he was owned and originally bred by a legendary breeder whom in fact had died 2 years before. That immediately shed some light as to why a nicely bred Arab could of fallen on such hard times.

I was rather miffed at the prospect of actually even paying for a horse at all in this state. My feeling was he should be paying ME to take him… and who else is going to want an unbacked, untouched, unhandled live wire in a terrible state? I therefore offered him less money. "There is the cash, There is my lorry"

The rest is history, Perugee literally jumped into the back of our lorry. Within less than 24 hours of receiving the text I had the half Alien/Half Arab at home!!

Expressing her worry about me potentially leaving Perugee where he was for the sake of a few £100 my mother quite sweetly said on the journey home, "Would you really have not gone up on the price?" "Of course I would of paid the full amount….. he was not going anywhere but home with
us!"We both smiled.

PERUGEE IS POSSIBLY LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME OR HELP WHERE HE IS - CAN YOU
OR ANYONE YOU KNOW HELP? He is now very well, looking not only healthy but in lovely condition. He now needs time, patience and a lot of daily handling then backing. I am looking for a long/short loan home for him or he could be for possible sale in the long-term. He will need a very
experienced person to further his education. He does however have the potential to be a top class in hand or ridden show Arab. He also has the potential of being an excellent endurance or race prospect. Enquiries, Please email, harriet@masonsstud.co.uk Potential for person to help with
him & keep him where he is. Can you help give this hard done by chap a better brighter future?

In a bid to reduce my numbers somewhat, In May I also found our ex racehorse Texas Penny a new and wonderful home where she has been given wonderful time and training.

Texas Penny - after only a few months under saddle is 2nd at the Winchester Riding Club Show in July with her new mother and trainer Samantha Kirby. This partnership will go onto to do great things in the Ex Racehorse classes, I am sure.

For Hattie's April 09 Diary, click HERE

For Hattie's March 09 Diary, click HERE

For Hattie's Jan / Feb 09 Diary, click HERE