A Lesson of Two Halves

On Saturday I had my second lesson with my new trainer, Emma Kinsley (don’t worry, I’m still having regular lessons with my friend Laura, but Emma is a trainer for BD Southern teams, and will hopefully help me to teach Brevan the higher level movements).

The lesson didn’t start off too well, as Brevan has pretty much had the last three weeks off for one reason or another (holiday, lameness and work). I only managed to ride him once last week, and that was hacking, otherwise he’s been lunged or just walked out in hand. All this resulted in Brevan thinking that he was now retired and didn’t have to work again. Cue major strops when I take him into the school and have the audacity to ask him to actually work! God forbid!!!! We had spooks, bucks and reversing at speed (Brevan can manage to go backwards as fast as he can go forwards). We were at the point that even thinking about using my leg or stick resulted in bucks and humping his back. This behaviour had Emma laughing, and me threatening to send him to the zoo!

Eventually we managed to get Brevan past the grumpy attitude, and he settled down and did some really nice work. Emma was really pleased with Brevan’s improvement since our last lesson four weeks ago. Brevan was a lot softer and more accepting of the contact this time, and the trot is starting to get more swing at the back, and more lift at the front.

We did lots of small circles, serpentines, and changes of rein to get Brevan concentrating and thinking. Once he settled into this, we then included shoulder in, leg yield and travers. He really started to step through well and swing from behind. I could feel him starting to really sit and push in the trot.

Our first attempt at canter had Emma laughing again, as it took at least three attempts to get the correct lead (but this was on the right rein which Brevan does find harder). What was making Emma laugh, was the fact that Brevan was giving me the most pathetic, going nowhere canter (on the wrong leg), with a couple of silly, little bucks, all the while having the most innocent, butter wouldn’t melt, expression on his face.

After we’d managed to convince Brevan that he could actually canter on the correct leg and go forwards as well, at the same time, we went back to some more trot and walk work. Emma decided that Brevan was going well enough, to attempt to start teaching him to sit enough for piaffe and passage. So Emma took my stick, asked me to get as collected a walk as possible from Brevan, and lightly tapped him on top of his rump, to encourage him to pick up his hind feet more. He did initially try to swing his bum into Emma, but he did start to understand what we were asking of him. I’m really chuffed to say that we managed to get the odd step of passage, and a couple of half steps of piaffe. I’m just as chuffed that I was actually able to feel the beginnings of the passage and piaffe. Every time Brevan offered even a little bit of what we were asking, he got big pats (or at least vigorous wither scratching) and lots of praise. I now have high hopes of being able to achieve these higher level movements.

We finished off the lesson with a bit more canter work, asking Brevan to carry himself a bit more and lift the shoulders and forehand. He was rather hot and sweaty by this point, so we called it a day and finished there on a good note.

So Brevan managed to go from demon horse to angel horse over the course of the lesson. I’m more than happy to keep the angel horse, but I’d rather see less of the demon horse if possible please!

I’ll be interested to see how we both progress with Emma over the next few months (and hopefully longer), as there was so much improvement between just our first two lessons. Watch this space.

Race for Life

Last Sunday I took part in Race for Life at the event held in Folkestone. Sorry this blog is late (again), but 12 hour night shifts for the last week, really don’t leave enough time to much of anything else.

It was a great day, excellent atmosphere and everybody was extremely supportive. I went round with my friends Laura and Jodi, and we managed to do the 5km course in 46 minutes. My mum did it as well, and was amazing and did it in 70 minutes. None of us were as fit as we’d wanted to be, and hadn’t been able to put in as much training as we may have wished beforehand.

For those of my followers who have no idea what Race for Life is (that’ll be most of my readers outside of the UK), I’ll quickly explain. Race for Life is a series of fun runs held across the country throughout the summer, to raise money for Cancer Research UK. It’s a women only non competitive event, where the taking part is more important than what speed you do. You run, jog or walk the route, either on your own or as a team. When the event first started, it was just a 5km or a 10km run (or walk, whatever works best for you). Now, as well as the original runs, you’ve also got pretty muddy (think glorified obstacle course with lots of added, extra mud), again in either a 5km or 10km format, as well as family runs, marathons and half marathons.

I had originally planned on wanting to run the whole of the 5km (or at least most of it), but I didn’t start training until a month before when I joined the gym. I still didn’t get a huge amount of training done, as I only have time to go to the gym on my days off and mostly do a lot of walking on the treadmill, and not so much running. I actually really struggle to run, as I tend to trip myself up a lot. This is due to one of my legs being squiffy and moving in circles as I run, rather than staying in a straight line like it should do. I intend on attempting this again next year, and hopefully if I can keep on with the gym, then I’d like to think that I’ll be able to rum all, or at least most, of the 5km course.

All in all, it was a great day and we all enjoyed ourselves and raised money for a good cause, one which is close to my heart as my mum has had cancer four times now (technically she’s still undergoing treatment for her last bout of cancer). If any of my followers feel so inclined, donations are still welcome, as I haven’t reached my fundraising goal yet. My Just Giving page is here, and any money received goes straight to the charity.

I look forward to doing this all over again next year.

Product Review – Premier Equine Titan Trio Complete 4 in 1 Turnout Rug

Sorry for the long mouthful of a title, but there’s not much I could do about that I’m afraid.

Anyway, back in December, I was in need of upgrading Brevan’s turnout wardrobe (among other things), as I’d come into a little bit of money, so could afford it. I needed to replace four rugs, due to either damage, not fitting as well as I’d like, age or because I wanted to swap a combo rug for one with a detachable neck (they seem to rug Brevan’s mane less than the combos do). As much as I had some money, I wasn’t really liking the idea of spending £100 plus per rug, that would have worked out at probably over £500 just on turnout rugs.

I’ve always been a bit dubious of all in one rugs, as I wasn’t convinced that the liners would either stay in place properly, or not get sodden wet if the horse rolled in the mud. I decided to bite the bullet, as I’ve always loved the fit of Premier Equine’s rugs (I do have a bit of a love affair with Premier Equine), and it did work out a lot cheaper at £320. That’s still a bit hefty a price tag compared to what I normally like to spend (yes, I’m a skinflint with money, and don’t like having to spend more on a product than I have too, though I still want good quality), but a lot cheaper than the alternative.

When the rug turned up, as usual with Premier Equine, I was more than happy with the fit. The waterproof outer rug is nice and deep (I do hate seeing rugs where half the horse’s belly is visible below the rug) and a good fit round the neck and shoulders. The liners are deep enough to cover Brevan’s belly, but not as deep as the outer, so shouldn’t get too wet and muddy when he rolls. So on initial impressions, I was very happy with it.

Now I’ve had the rug for a few months and gone through the worst of the long winter we’ve just had, I’m still really pleased with the rug. The liners didn’t get sodden or covered in mud (only a little bit of mud on the liner Brevan wore the most), and when they did get a bit soggy, they dried really quickly and easily.

This rug should also save me money on general upkeep as well. Instead of having 4 odd turnout rugs to send off to get washed and reproofed (at about £25 per standard neck rug), I’ve only had the one to send off, and luckily the liners all fitted in the washing machine (not all at the same time mind, just one at a time). This has got to save me at least £75 a year on washing. That may not be a huge amount, but any saving is better than nothing.

All in all, I would definitely recommend these rugs, they are worth the investment. Now we just need to see how long this rug will last Brevan. Our last heavyweight turnout from Premier Equine lasted about eight years.

Laminitis Scare

When I came back from my trip to Paris two weeks ago, I found that Brevan was a bit lame in front. I was told that he’d started showing a touch of lameness while I was away, but as he sometimes gets a bit footy on the stony ground, none of us thought too much of it.

When I mentioned that Brevan was lame on Facebook, I immediately had people yelling at me that it must be laminitis, even though I wasn’t initially convinced on that. Because of the type that he is, I’ve always tried to keep an eye on his weight and always treated him as if he’s lamanitic as I know it wouldn’t take much for him to come down with it.

Knowing that Brevan was going to get a week off while I was away, I dropped his feed right down to just balancer and chaff (molasses and alfalfa free), and he comes in off the grass during the day. He wasn’t (and still isn’t) overweight and he is a fairly fit, well muscled horse.

After the mention of laminitis on Facebook, I got a bit paranoid and googled the symptoms of low grade laminitis, which just increased my paranoia (I really should learn to not look further into things sometimes as I just end up convincing myself of the worst). I promptly dragged Brevan in and put him on box rest and decided to get the vet out on our next zone day.

As Brevan was only a little bit lame, and it was a bank holiday weekend, I didn’t see the point in wasting money calling the vet out immediately. Having seen enough laminitis on various yards I’ve worked on, I knew that if it was laminitis, being only a mild case (Brevan wasn’t doing the typical laminitis stance, and I couldn’t find a digital pulse, so I knew that this wasn’t a severe attack), the vet would just say box rest for a length of time and maybe x-rays to check for any changes in the position of the pedal bone. Therefore Brevan got three days of box rest before the vet came out to see him.

Thankfully, after doing a thorough check, the vet decided that it was highly unlikely to be laminitis, and more likely to be a bruised sole, probably from bouncing on a stone or something. Brevan was only lame in one foot, and the vet said that he’d never encountered a case of laminitis where the horse was only lame on one leg, it always effects either both front feet together, or more rarely both hind feet (obviously a horse can also get it in all four feet at the same time as well).

I was recommended to rest Brevan for another week, either box or field rest, and then trot him up the next Tuesday (which was two days ago now) and see how he was. If it was a bruised sole, the vet was confident that Brevan would easily be sound again by that point. If in the unlikely situation that Brevan was still lame when trotted up, then we might need to get x-rays done to see what was going on inside the foot.

I can happily report that by Monday, Brevan was perfectly sound. I’d turned him out in the arena to trot himself up, and then spent half an hour trying to catch him again! He was prancing, bucking and leaping like a two year old colt. He did the wall of death a few times round the arena, with a few leaps and squeals thrown in for good measure, before finally deciding to show us his trot. There was definitely nothing wrong with him, and he demonstrated that he can actually do an elevated trot with a huge amount of suspension in it when he wants to. Now I just need to work out how to get that trot when he’s ridden!

Safe to say that I’m glad it turned out not to be laminitis in the end. The vet was more than happy that Brevan is in great condition and not fat or overweight at all, which eases a weight off my mind. Now I just need to bring him back into work after his two weeks off.

Yard Vist

Last week I took my mother with me to go and visit and meet the dressage God himself, Mr Carl Hester. We had an early start as the coach was leaving Jenkey Farm at 5.30am, so we planned on leaving the house around 4.15am to get there in time, as I didn’t quite know where Jenkey Farm was. The day very nearly didn’t happen, as somehow I managed to sleep through my alarm. So instead of getting up at 3.30am, mum shook me awake at 4.05am, giving me just ten minutes to get ready and get out of the door. Breakfast on the run hadn’t been quite what I’d planned, but we made it with time to spare thankfully.

Mum had brought lunch for us both, as it was going to be a long day, but I think she might have forgotten that there were only two of us, she’d brought enough to feed the whole coach I think. At least we didn’t go hungry, but healthy eating and the diet went out the window.

The coach was barely half full when we set off, but it was a week day, so a lot of people were probably not able to get the day off. Being such an early start, after the first excited buzz and chatter when we left, most people settled down to snooze away the four and a half hour journey. I was wide awake by this point, so spent a bit of time chatting to the lady behind us, and then just watching the scenery, and trying to stop mum snoring when she dozed off.

We got to Carl’s yard just before 10am, and once Carl had finished schooling the horse he was riding, he explained to us how the morning was going to run. We would watch him teach some of his horses, ranging from the youngsters up to the more mature horses, and he would explain a little about his schooling methods and the horses daily routine. We weren’t allowed to video or take photos of this part, so I apologise for the lack of pics, but I didn’t want to get kicked out.

The first horse that we saw was a lovely looking five year old chestnut gelding called Imhotep (if I’m recalling correctly, there was a lot of information to take in). He was only worked for about twenty minutes, and all they worked on was transitions and circles. Admittedly, lots of transitions, both between paces, and within paces. At the early stages of training, they just try and teach the horses to sit, and to push. Carl explained that when he’s looking at a young horse with a view to buying, he looks at the walk and the canter. These are the two paces that are natural, and can’t be adjusted a huge amount with training, whereas the trot can be adjusted and changed a lot more. If the horse has a good natural walk (good rhythm and cadence) and a good canter, then it has the potential to go far. A good brain, a trainable temperament and a willingness to work are also essential attributes for a grand prix dressage horse (or any ridden competition horse for that matter).

We also saw a six and a seven year old worked, and you could see the change in their way of going and training levels as they got older. Lateral work is introduced, as are changes for the seven year old’s, if their balance and strength is ready for it. I really liked the fact that all the youngsters (up to about seven or so) live out, and only come in to be ridden. All the horses also get hacked regularly as well. Not many high level competition horses (especially in Europe) get turned out or hacked, so it’s nice to see such a well respected rider and trainer like Carl being an advocate of treating a horse like a horse (at least to a degree).

The weekly routine of all the horses (especially the youngsters), is the same. Monday and Tuesday they get schooled, Wednesday they hack, Thursday and Friday they go in the school again, Saturdays they hack again and Sunday they have a day off. Before schooling, the horses all get a 10 to 15 minute hack to warm up, and again after schooling, they go for another short hack to cool off.

As an unexpected treat, we also got to see Charlotte Dujardin school Valegro. Supposedly he doesn’t normally get brought out for these demo days, so we were very lucky to get this. I thought watching him at his retirement ceremony 18 months ago at Olympia was something special, and we were sat over 30 feet away from the arena, this was even better, as we were all sat at the short end of the arena (in the arena), and we literally were touching distance, as Valegro cantered past us (it’s a good thing that he doesn’t kick or buck, as otherwise we could have quite easily had a foot in our faces).

Charlotte also gave us a little talk about the importance of fitness for the rider as well as the horse, and explained her fitness regime at the gym. She said that it was Valegro that first made her start going to the gym to help strengthen her core as she said that he is strong and stiff. This has further strengthened my resolve on what I need to work on at the gym (which I joined a month ago, and will be a whole blog on it’s own). With a strong core, a rider can help their horse a lot more, and not rely on their hands to balance. This in turn will allow a rider to have soft and quiet hands, which in turn will encourage the horse to accept and take a soft contact. I think Brevan and I have got a long way to go before we can say we’re anywhere near that stage, but I’m trying to work on it.

After watching the horses being trained, we were shown round the yard and allowed to pat the horses that were in. At this point we were allowed to take photos. Carl was giving autographs, but I hadn’t thought to bring anything that he could sign, but he did have a pile of Valegro books that that were for sale, so a load of us bought one (including myself), and got Carl to sign that.

I managed to get a cuddle with Uthopia, and he had a good chew on my head. I also met Charlotte’s new rides, Florentina and Mount St John Freestyle. The yard is fabulous, and I’d love to have something like it one day (maybe once I win the lottery or marry a millionaire). Valegro wasn’t in his stable, as he was still being hacked to cool down.

As we were leaving the yard to return to the coach, we were very lucky to catch Valegro being brought back to his stable after his hack and a wash down. So I was very lucky to get some photos of him and with him. Even mum managed to stroke Velegro, and she will probably kill me for putting that photo up as she hates having her photo taken.

All in all, it was a long, but worthwhile day, with plenty to think about and plenty to try and implement into my own training plans if possible. Brevan may not like me much in the coming months.

Get up and go, Got up and Went

After my last show a month ago, I lost my Mojo a bit. Other than the freestyle, our scores were a lot lower than I’d hoped for, and I’ll admit that I got a bit depressed about it. It didn’t help that I had a few none horsey issues happen at around the same time that were causing me a bit of stress as well, so put all together, my confidence and motivation took a major nose dive. So I apologise for my lack of blogging for the last month, and promise to make it up to you all.

So, just a quick over view of what we’ve been up to over the last month, to bring you all up to speed. We found a house we liked, put offer in, offer was accepted, got survey done, results of survey brought up more issues than we could afford to fix, so we pulled out of buying said house. Now we’re back to house hunting again, and there’s very little out there in our price range at the moment in this area.

I’ve joined a new gym and am trying to get fit (I was kinda bullied into it by my friend/instructor Laura, as she’s a now a newly qualified personal trainer based at said gym). I’m trying to get fit enough to try and run my 5km Race for Life in under two weeks time (eek!!).

 

Husband took me to Paris last week to celebrate our first wedding anniversary (anniversary was actually on Monday this week, but he’s away fishing, so that’s why we did it last week instead). It was lovely, we walked loads, ate too much and spent too much money.

I’ve had to postpone my dressage boot camp that was originally to start yesterday, due to lack of funds. It has been rescheduled for over my birthday, so fingers crossed I’ll be able to afford it then (think I may drop hints for this as my birthday present this year to various family members). Instead, I’m going on a yard visit tomorrow to the maestro himself, Carl Hester. I’ll try to avoid too much obvious hero worship, and I will write a full report, with plenty of photos.

Brevan went lame while I was away in Paris, so he’s been on box rest since Sunday (after somebody mentioned the dreaded laminitis and I got paranoid) and the vet came out to see him yesterday. Thankfully the vet doesn’t think it’s laminitis as Brevan is only lame in one foot (it’s very rare supposedly for this to flare up in only one foot), so it’s more likely to be a bruised sole. So box rest for another week and trot up again next Tuesday. If sound, then great, back to work, if still lame, then further investigations may need to take place, including possibly x-rays. Fingers crossed he’s sound on Tuesday.

That’s about it really for us over the last month. Very boring I’m afraid, but hopefully we’ll be back up and doing stuff again soon.

Six Weeks to go

In six weeks time I’m taking part in Race for Life. I will be doing 5km at the Folkestone Leas. Unfortunately I haven’t started training yet, I’m still over half a stone overweight, and I want to be able to run the 5km, not just walk it. This might not go quite according to plan!

I am planning on starting at the gym next week (I’m working nights all this week so I’m not going to have time to go to the gym, do the horse, and get enough sleep this week). Also, the gym is new and doesn’t open until tomorrow. My friend Laura (who is also going to attempt to run 5km at the same event) is now a personal trainer at the new gym, so she is planning on sorting out a fitness plan for me to get me into shape in time for my run. I have a feeling that I’m not going to like this fitness plan!

I’m doing Race for Life for my mother, and every woman who has suffered with breast cancer, as this cancer runs in my family. Because of the high risk I have, I do try to live as healthily as possible in an attempt to reduce the risks as much as possible. I rarely drink, I’m not overweight (clinically at least, though I’d still like to loose a bit more), I’m fairly fit and healthy and take plenty of exercise (horse riding is definitely good for something).

If anyone fancies donating, my page is here. I’d like to try and raise £500 for this worthy cause, and fingers crossed, I will actually be able to run it.

Both my mum and my mother in law, are also taking part in the same event, though they are only planning on walking it, rather than running. As the speed that you do it in is irrelevant, this is a very friendly,  relaxed and encouraging event.

All by Myself

Yesterday we went out to play dressage again. Nothing unusual there, except that we were abandoned for the day, and had no helper or groom. My transport lady normally hangs around and helps out whenever she takes me to dressage, but this weekend she didn’t as she had other things that she needed to get on with. So for the first time ever, I actually drove to Blue Barn, and competed with no assistance (transport lady still took Brevan, and I drove my car over with all my tack and stuff). It was a bit scary having to do it all on my own.

The day started off well enough, Brevan was getting picked up at 9am, and I had him mucked out, groomed, plaited and the car loaded up with time to spare. As the night before was forecast to be wet and cold, most of the horses, including Brevan, stayed in, so that made getting ready for the show easier, as I didn’t have to try and bath him, as well as plait etc first thing in the morning. We all got to the venue in plenty of time, and I managed not to get lost. I beat transport lady there by about ten minutes or so, so I had time to sort out a caller and hand over my music CD before Brevan arrived.

Our first test was our freestyle to music, which is only the second time I’ve competed in this class, and I’ll admit that I hadn’t practised it, or even listened to it since we last used it in January. Oops! Brevan warmed up really nicely, and was relaxed and listening to me. We went in, and rode our socks off. We were off a touch on a couple of our music markers, our trot work should have been a touch more forward, as should our canter work have been. Thankfully the judge doesn’t know where we’re meant to start or finish the different parts of our freestyle. I was so pleased with Brevan, as we managed our best score of 69.16%, coming first.

We had almost an hour and a half before our second test, which was Novice 38, so Brevan got untacked and stood at the trailer happily munching his haylage. I tacked him up again in time for a quick 20 minute warm up session, and again, Brevan went really well while warming up (he decided that the foals in the neighbouring field weren’t horse eating monsters this time). I mostly knew the test, but had arranged for a caller anyway, just in case. Brevan went pretty well in the test, though we were late doing the first canter transition, as Brevan was in his own little world in the trot, and took a few attempts before he woke up and realised that mummy wanted him to actually canter! So the transition was late by over a marker. I also misheard the caller (again) and had learned the test slightly wrong, twice. First, in the canter we had a half circle and return to the track, for some reason I had it in my head that this was a half 10m circle, no, it should have been a half 15m circle (I got it right on the other rein). My second mistake was in the medium trot, I thought that it went from F to E, it was meant to go from F to S, so I got back to the track a marker early. Shoot the pilot, I think I lost us a few easy marks if my accuracy had been a bit better. We still managed to get 61.93% and came 5th.

Our final test of the day was Elementary 59, which was almost two and a half hours after the Novice. This gave Brevan and I time to have some lunch while we were waiting. I don’t think that Brevan was particularly impressed with getting tacked up again after such a long break (I much prefer my tests with only about half an hour or so gap between them). Again, he warmed up well enough, we worked on our transitions, as this was a fiddly test, with lots of transitions and simple changes. He went a bit tense and hollow in the test itself, and in the last canter, he decided to spook at our caller (who we’d already passed I don’t know how many times), so that certainly must have lost us a mark or two. We ended up with a disappointing (but fair) 59.53% and fourth place.

I think that we’re going to have to actually start practising our tests at home, rather than just elements of them. I don’t normally like running through tests at home too much, as Brevan has a tendency to learn them and preempt what’s coming next (or at least he did as a youngster). I’m wondering now if running through the tests at home, may help me actually remember them, and be more relaxed about them when we do them at a show. I will have to try it for our next competition, and see if it makes any difference.

First Aid Kit

Who has a first aid kit for their horse? Or does the yard have a first aid kit for all the liveries? What should be in an equine first aid kit? Have you got a first aid kit for humans, or just an equine one?

It’s always a good idea (in my mind at least), to have a small first aid kit for your horse if nothing else, so that you can treat at least the minor cuts and scratches that horses inevitably seem to get from time to time. If your horse is accident prone (like Brevan can be at times), it might be worth having a more extensive first aid kit to cover a wider range of injuries.

So what should be in your first aid kit, and what’s a waste of money and space? Well everybody is going to have different opinions on this, and I’m certainly not going to to say who’s right and who’s wrong, all I can do is say what I have, and which products I find useful and which ones I don’t. It’s down to you to decide what works best for your horse and your situation.

My go to product for any cuts and scrapes is now RenaSan hypochlorous antiseptic spray. I wouldn’t be without this product now, as it doesn’t sting, and is safe to use anywhere (I’ve even used it for a cut to the eyelid on one of the ponies). It cleans the wound and kills 99.99% of all bacteria, so it leaves me safe in the knowledge that the chances of any wound getting infected after being treated with this stuff is very small.

The next product that I seem to use all the time, is sudocrem. It’s good for use on pretty much any minor wound, mud fever, sweet itch etc. It’s antiseptic, so perfect to put on wounds that you can’t, or don’t want to bandage, as it doesn’t rub off easily. Another plus point, is that it’s dirt cheap and can be bought in most shops and supermarkets. A tub also lasts for ages!!

As well as those two main products, I also have vet wrap (I buy it in bulk from Ebay to make it cheaper), various dressings for small wounds (again I generally go for the human dressings as they work out cheaper, also any wound that needs a large dressing, is normally also going to need the vet anyway), latex gloves, cotton wool, gamgee, animal lintex, and nappies.

Why nappies? You may wonder. Well, they work out cheaper, easier and more cost effective for poulticing feet. Their shape makes them easy to put on and fit a hoof, they do up easily, making poulticing a fidgety horse quick and easy, with a lot less mess and wastage. I then wrap the hoof and the nappy in copious amounts of gaffer tape to help keep it on and to stop it getting wet if the horse is getting turned out.

And that’s pretty much it for my first aid kit for Brevan. The only thing that I haven’t got in my first aid kit that I really should have, is a thermometer. I will get round to getting one eventually.

I will admit that half the products will also get used on myself as well if I hurt myself while it the yard. Nice and multi functional!

What do you have in your horsey first aid kits? Is there anything else that you’d consider essential? I’d love to hear what you’ve all got.

First Impressions

A couple of weeks ago, I saw something advertised on Facebook that I thought sounded perfect for Brevan, but also sounded too good to be true. I decided to email the company with my doubts about their claims on the effectiveness of their product, and low and behold, they decided to send me out a starter pack, for free, so that I could test out the product’s effectiveness myself.

What is this wonder product, and why did I think it could be useful for Brevan, you may ask? The products I thought looked interesting are “3 in 1”, and “itchy stop plus”, by a company called Old Style Horse Remedies. These products are advertised as a sweet itch management, and are currently being sold together, as an “Itch and repel duo”. What made me like the sound of these products, is that they’re made from natural ingredients, rather than being full of nasty chemicals.

Why was I interested in these for Brevan? Well, Brevan had sweet itch when I got him over ten years ago. It has been very well managed in the time I’ve had him, and he’s never shown any signs of it in all this time. To do that though, he’s spent all summer living in various fly and sweet itch rugs. Alongside being rugged and hooded all winter, this has resulted in brevan’s mane becoming rubbed thin along the lower half of his neck. This summer, I’d like for Brevan to not have neck rugs on at least, as I’d really like to try and encourage his mane to grow and thicken at the bottom.

Obviously with his sweet itch, and allergies to bug bites, I didn’t want Brevan being naked, and still rubbing his mane out anyway due to being bitten. This is why these products sounded interesting, but I have never yet found a fly spray that actually lasts and stays effective for the 12 to 14 hours that I need it to last with Brevan out overnight during the summer.

I have now been using the 3 in 1 (fly spray, mane and tail spray and coat shine, all in one product) for a week now, and so far, it seems to be working. It did turn up in a larger box than possibly necessary, but at the moment, it seems to do what it says on the tin (as it were). I love the fact that it doesn’t smell like a normal fly spray, I find them a bit too strong and overpowering at times, and they never seem to last more than a few hours. So far, Brevan hasn’t come in with any bug bits on him (other than the ones he had already collected before I started using the spray. Even out hacking through the woods last week, not a single bug came anywhere near Brevan on our ride, and there were plenty of them about. I also really like the fact that this is a spray, rather than a lotion, as I’ve found lotions in the past to be a bit claggy in his mane, and they may be the most effective product at preventing sweet itch, but they weren’t so helpful at keeping a good quality mane.

On first impressions, so far, I’m really liking this product, and if it works, it may also save me a bit of money, if I don’t need to buy mane and tail spray as well. The only downside to this product, is that I seem to use a lot of it, after only a week, the bottle is half empty already (but it is only a 500ml bottle). I haven’t needed to try the itchy stop plus yet, as Brevan hasn’t been itching, so it may get tried out on the first horse on the yard that does start itching.

I’ll give it another month, and I’ll do a proper, more in depth, review on this product. But so far, I am pleasantly surprised and impressed with it.