Photo Stories

The Charity Ride Coffee Morning

There was lots of activity in the kitchen at Meadowside cottage on Saturday as Samantha had got up very early to start baking lots of goodies for the coffee morning they were going to enjoy after the charity ride. It was all for a good cause - to raise money for the Horse Rescue charity. Samantha was making fancy fruit tarts and a cherry pie was just finished in the oven.

Lucy the assistant instructor and Emily, Samantha's daughter were busy getting all the horses ready for the ride which was due to start at 9.30

Once the baking was finished it was nearly time for the ride to begin.
Samantha was going to ride Rufus the bay hunter, she chatted to Sabrina who was on Roamer the skewbald cob cross. "Let's hope the weather holds out for us." she said.

Erin brought Renae out of the stable. She could be a bit of a plod in the school but became much livelier on a hack. There wasn't a lot of space now everyone had arrived.

Lucy spoke to Emily who was riding Storm the Welsh section C. He was cheeky and could be a bit of a handful.
"Don't let him get away with anything or he's quite likely to turn around and head for home if he thinks he's in charge." she said "You know how strong willed he is."
"Don't worry I'll be fine and if he's near Rowan he won't want to go anywhere, they are nearly joined at the hip!" said Emily

"Okay everyone we are going to head through Bluebell woods and then follow the track up Crinkley fell, we'll go through the village on the other side then head back via Larkham Estate" said Samantha

They all set off over the field that leads to the woods. Emily made sure to keep Storm next to Rowan and Natalie took the rear with Morag the highland pony.

The weather stayed fine and they arrived back after a very enjoyable ride with no mishaps. Once all the horses were seen to, everyone headed to the cottage kitchen to enjoy the goodies which went down a treat and they had a good natter around the table.

Samantha was very pleased with how much they managed to raise for the horse rescue and after everyone had finally left she flopped in the armchair exhausted. She didn't manage to get through all her magazine before nodding off but was sure she would do the same event next year.

Christopher's lesson

When Christopher arrived at the stables Freya and Ava were nearing the end of their lesson in the outdoor school.

It wasn't long ago that Ava had started with lead rein lessons and now she was confident enough to ride over trotting poles on Teaky who could be a bit fast and fizzy.

When their lesson ended Christopher went into the tack room office to find out who he would be riding.
"I've put you on Rowan this morning Christopher." said Samantha the owner.
"YESSS!" thought Christopher. Rowan was lovely to ride and good at jumping.
Lucy brought Rowan out for him, he was all tacked up ready.

She held Rowan while Christopher mounted and once he was on Lucy checked both his stirrups were level.

They went into the school and Storm was not pleased, his partner in crime had left him and he stood at the gate calling loudly for him. Both the ponies were very close to each other and always together in the paddock.
"Come back!!" he neighed loudly "Don't leave me!!"

Samantha went over to him. "What on earth is all this noise about Storm? Rowan will soon be back you silly boy, stop making such a racket."

Meanwhile Christopher was having a great lesson and was able to go over some bigger jumps today.
His lesson flew past. "I hope I get to ride Rowan again next week" he thought.

In the tack room office Natalie had arrived and was looking at all the posters on the walls while she waited for Samantha to come back. There was one announcing a charity ride and coffee morning coming up soon. Natalie had gone on the ride held last year and it was great fun. "I'll definitely put my name down for that again. Wonder if I can ride Morag in it again. Ooh and all those lovely home baked cakes to eat afterwards."

A New Pony at Meadowside

Emily and Freya were very excited to be asked to bring new pony Sonny in from the paddock. As they weren't sure how good he would be to catch, they went armed with a nice juicy carrot.

They needn't have worried as he approached them straight away and stood quietly and patiently while they put on his headcollar

"Hello who's this?" wondered Storm looking out of his stable as they led Sonny into the yard.

The girls led him into his stable where a nice full haynet waited.

Sonny immediately started tucking into the hay and seemed to be very at home already. "Oi! How about some attention for me! Where's my carrot?!" neighed Storm as the girls stood gazing over the stable door at Sonny while completely ignoring poor Storm.

The girls were both too busy wondering who would be allowed to ride him first.

Eventually they both ran off in search of Samantha to see who could find her first and persuade her to let them be the one to ride him in his first lesson.

Sonny peeped out of his stable to say hello to Storm. "Who's that?" he asked as Erin went past with the wheelbarrow. "One of our many slaves here." replied Storm "It's their job to tend to our every need. If ever they are a bit late with our food I threaten them with a poor review on Trip Advisor. And if they are a bit too rough when grooming us I find a quick nip to the bottom helps"

"I think I'm going to like it here..." said Sonny "...a lot."

Lotties Christmas Present

Lottie was very excited as granny had finally taken her to get her "special surprise" present that she'd been promised since Christmas day. "Ooh is it riding lessons?" She asked as they arrived at the stableyard. She'd been asking her parents for lessons for a while." Wait and see," replied granny."

." I think your pressie is over there." She pointed to a stable where owner Samantha was just starting to lead out the most adorable little pony.

"His name is Chester and he's all yours." said granny. "He will live here at the stables and be used for lessons when you are not riding him." Lottie gasped in awe. She was delighted, she stroked his neck and it felt lovely - warm and soft.

After borrowing one of the school hats, Samantha took Lottie for a gentle ride about on him and Granny gave her a wave. "Bye darling! Enjoy yourself!" She called out. "Oh thank you granny, I love him so much! He's the best present ever!"

A Snowy Day

Snow has fallen at Meadowside and the horses are very interested in what all this white stuff is.

Ryan is first to arrive on the yard and looks at the huge job of clearing all the snow. "Hmm might let that wait till the girls get here, they always do a better job than me anyway."

He decides to water and feed the horses instead but when he turns on the tap nothing happens, the pipe is frozen solid. "Wonderful! No running water and just half a bucket of frozen ice because somebody didn't empty it last night. Wonderful! Ah well, merry Christmas"!