Road Safety Update:

...another letter to The Editor
the downside of reading horse magazines, is sometimes it just plain makes me cross!

Dear Jo,

Thank goodness Spring is coming! I can't cope with any more mud!!

Yet another letter appearing in a HORSE magazine by a motorist that provokes me to write. I am beginning to wonder whether you do it on purpose!

And, not unusually, I'm cross…again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alison, whilst your talking about 'respect' like a rap-star, and complaining about the 'snobby' attitude of riders, a gross generalisation by the way,you fail to remember that the law tells you to behave a certain way towards 'vulnerable road users' (which horse riders are according to the law), so stop moaning, and do the right thing.

 

It's certainly true that there are bad folk in every walk of life, but that shouldn't preclude driving safely should it? 

 

What kind of people need recognition and praise before doing the right thing? the safe thing? and operating within the guidelines of the law?

Furthermore, what has a perceived attitude, deciphered in a few seconds by watching riders, to do with driving safety?

The riders that ride 2 abreast do so for safety. It's quite terrifying being the rider on the outside I can tell you, but when you’ve got a young or inexperienced rider or horse, its the correct thing to do.  It's how we all learn. Monkey see, monkey do.

In all likelihood young riders, not old enough to drive will have little appreciation of drivers, they wont twig their needs, and  because they're trying to stay alive on the roads, they're quite busy with their own problems 'selfishly', riding on the roads is terrifying.

My Mum and Dad, enrolled me into the Pony Club road safety course before they were happy for me to take to the roads with my pony Brandy.  And a great service they did too. The Pony Club is how we all learn, at least that was how it was years ago.

Give riders a break, and don't take any risks with other peoples life just because you don’t get a thank-you, a cup of tea and a bun!

We're not at school any more, grow-up!

Special December Horse Edition

FAMOUS:
Tom & Henry, Essex based Trakenhers of extreme gorgeousness :
Tom:Holme Grove Constable
Henry: Holme Grove Gwygion
Bred in Biggleswade.
Kept in the lap of luxury.

TCJpart22 Farriery

FARRIERY:
UPDATE:


February 2012  issue HORSE Magazine:

We need to have experts around us we can trust.  sometimes we need to ask those people to go above and beyond the call of duty, and a good relationship with your 'experts' is vital.

You may notice from this photo (my husband did), that the farrier is being offered a double-decker and a cuppa, this is a good start, but wait until he has finished doing a tricky job eh?

FARRIERY: My message, if your farrier falls short of the expertise you'd expect from him, change him.  An unhappy relationship with someone whose job it is to take care of your beloved horse is just not worth it.

Check out the Worshipfull Company of Farriers: website, there you can find farriers in your area and cross-check them with any reccomendations.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: FARRIERY

January issue 2012

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Hi Jo,

I am writing in response to a letter in January issue ‘missing costs’ regarding farriers.

Fiona Morris obviously doesn’t think her farrier is worth the cost of a set of shoes, but she has forgotten the cost of shoeing isn’t about the raw materials, it’s about having someone very skilled and experienced, with years of apprenticeship and training, looking after your horses feet. 

What she may not realise, because the operation looks so smooth and practised, is that every visit her farrier is checking the balance of her horses feet, watching how he moves, trimming to straighten or correct, shaping the shoe, so he remains sound and rideable.  This is a very skilled job.

Farriery is the one cost I don’t moan about, because a good farrier, like mine, is worth his weight in gold.

Farriers get a lot of criticism from owners, about costs and unreliability, but I have the best farrier in the world and I am happy to pay him what he’s worth.  When he doesn’t turn up or is late, I try to think that that could be my horse he’s taking longer with: requiring speciality bespoke made corrective shoeing or emergency footwork, and my farrier takes the time it takes to do the job right, so he is quickly forgiven.

Steve Taylor, comes out at almost no notice to put shoes back on, he made a shoe specially to relieve a tendon injury my horse had (much to the surprise of my vet who thought he’d be lame for much longer, Steve’s forged on-the-spot, corrective shoe made him sound), and when I had the HORSE Magazine photographer come round, he got out of his sick bed to come out to me to check their shoes were OK for the shoot.

Treat your good farrier well, appreciate his expertise, you’d be lost without him.

 

Thank you

Shelley Rand, Tom & Henry.

TCJpart 12 Road Safety

ROAD SAFETY:
...it's serious

 Tom all kitted out in Hi-viz, looking incredibly handsome and showing his lovely bum xx

 Here, we are meeting lots of traffic, but we're staying calm.

Horse & Cycle Safety Campaign:

Jayne Toyne the photographer for HORSE Magazine, amongst other things, dropped some photos of my boys this week.  Some she took of the morning she spent with us photographing Tom & Henry for the safety feature due in Novembers issue.  here are some of them:

Henry bends, and demonstrates why Trakehners are famous for their gorgeousness.

Henry, wearing his hi-viz neck strap and I am putting his bridle on - I always do the saddle first.

Tom keeping an eye and ear out for possible danger, which may or may not include white flowers and sheep.

Tom is wondering what John is up to....me too xxx

ever wondered what body protectors are for!?

John is usually behind the camera not in front of it.

Try to spot potential hazards ahead, and  look out for safe passing points too.

I go out of my way to give way and let traffic by, especially if they've been patiently waiting behind me, if  you get someone impatient who comes right up behind you and revvs their engine, try to stay calm, In my narrow lane you canm see above, i might ride in the centre of the road to prevent cars trying to squeeze past me, it makes them wait, until I am happy I have found a safe spot for them to pass.  I don't have to do this very often, as you can see from the picture above, people are very nice in WW.

There is so much to keep an eye on on the roads, you can't let your concentration go, I find sometimes it's safer for me to ride down the centre of the lane, this way I can control the situation, and let traffic pass when it's safe.

Jeffrey from our village having a chat, obviously this is only safe if nothing's coming along the road.  Don't antagonise people by deliberately holding them up.

Remember, it's a small world, the chances are you'll meet the same people when your out riding, be pleasant and courteous, they'll remember a rider who's friendly, and slow down for you again - and the chances of them behaving cautiously if you're having a problem, say with white flowers that weren't there yesterday, they're much more likely to stop and wait it out.