NEW ONLINE EQUESTRIAN FORUM AVAILABLE TO KIWIS

Equine Trader, New Zealand's leading online equestrian resource, has launched a brand new forum for horse mad Kiwis. You can check it out here.

There are loads of new discussion areas including General Chat, General Horse Chat, Riding and Training, Horse Health and Care, Equine Breeding and Tack and Rider Wear. There's also an area for showing off pictures of your horses and ponies and a place especially for grumbles! On top of that, there are special areas for all of the disciplines, including Showing, SJ, Dressage, Hacking, Western Riding, Classical Training and more.

It would be great if we could make this into a really buzzy, friendly forum where we can share our successes-whether it is out at competition or our own victories at home-, have constructive discussions and learn from each other.

I'm a forum moderator so if you need any help or have any feedback, feel free to drop me a line, either through the forum or by email. I look forward to seeing you there!

JUNE ISSUE OF SHOW CIRCUIT ON SALE THIS MONDAY


I know a few of you have been suffering Show Circuit withdrawal symptoms so you'll be glad to know the next issue will be hitting the shelves this Monday! You can't miss it with Cindy Rowe's stunning boy, Rubin James, gracing the cover. I'm pretty sure that if Johnny Dep came back as a horse he'd look a little like Rubin....

Those of you that subscribe will get your hands on it a little earlier. If you don't subscribe but want to, go here to subscribe online. It's very easy.

I have a few stories in this month's edition of the magazine. Feel free to email any comments or leave them here as I'm always keen to hear your feedback :)

Happy reading!

EARLIEST MEMORIES OF SHOWING....


I was looking through a box of old photos today and it got me feeling all nostalgic and thinking about the first time I got into showing *insert wavery, dream like transition here*

My first showing experience was when I was ten years old with my first pony, an oversized skewbald Shetland called 'Tullie.' He was ancient but hadn't been ridden for years by the time he came to me. The first three times I got on him, he dumped me on the floor and ran back to his stable. By the time our fourth attempt rolled around, he had relented and deigned to let me sit on him for a little while. We used to jump over milk crates and flower beds and raced my brother around the garden (my brother usually won, Tullie wasn't very fast)

We headed off to our first show that first summer, a buzzy local affair, with horses and ponies of all types, colour and quality. I'd scrubbed him to within an inch of his life and got so many comments on how clean and bright his white bits were. I went in some ridden class and spent most of the time up his neck as the saddle didn't fit his rather broad, barrel like frame.

I don't even remember if I won anything, but I do know I had the most fun ever and have been hooked ever since!

What's your earliest memory of showing? Feel free to either share it with us in the comments below this post or email me and I'll add your memory for you :)

THE BRITISH SHOWIES CAME OUT IN FORCE AT ROYAL WINDSOR


'Loughkeen Dancing Lord' (left)- Winner Heavyweight Hunter at Royal Windsor Show

Seeing as the New Zealand showing season is over for the time being, I have decided to post a few of the British results to keep us all going! It's always interesting to see what bloodlines and types are doing well over there (well, I think it is...although, I am a bit of a geek when it comes to things like that!)

First off are the results from Royal Windsor Horse Show which took place from Wednesday 12th-Sunday 16th May 2010. Royal Windsor is one of the most prestigious horse shows in the country and has been held annually since 1943. It offers qualifying tickets for both the Royal International Horse Show and the Horse of the Year Show which means classes are hotly contested!

128cm Show Pony: Elliot Barnett on Daldorn Victoria Plumb
138cm Show Pony: Daisy Cambray on Wyndham Aristocrat
148cm Show Pony: Jemima Weaver on Rotherwood Pavarotti
First Ridden Pony: Nicole Bowen on Copybush Moon Sprite
(have left out leading rein pony winner as results say Nebo Hebert- pretty sure this is a Welsh D so am imagining the results are wrong!)

Show (Saddle) Hunter Pony 122cm: Georgia Darlington on Wortley Celebration (pictured)
Show Hunter Pony 133cm: Katie Roberts on Rhoden Master Frederick
Show Hunter Pony 143cm: Sophie Court on Braeglen Symphony
Show Hunter Pony 153cm: G Keyward on Thornbank Lancer

Ridden Mountain and Moorlands, Welsh Cs and Ds: Jack Bowlby on Kentchurch Raindrop
Ridden M&M, Welsh As and Bs: Claire Sheehan on Lemonshill Falcon

Small Hack: Katie Davies on Kingsford Silver Spray (pictured)
Large Hack: K Hounsom on Classic Top Totty

Lightweight Hunter: Leon King on Loch Royal
Middleweight Hunter: Oliver Hood on Jenny's Prince
Heavyweight Hunter: Robert Oliver on Loughkeen Dancing Lord

Small Riding Horse: Jayne Webber on Jackson Fair & Square
Large Riding Horse: Jayne Webber on The Philanderer

THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE WAITING FOR THE NEXT SHOW SEASON TO START....

'Sarah knew her new show horse was going to be a star. She hadn't seen any others that could perfect such a beautiful handstand'

Like many others, I am impatient for the next show season to get started. My last competition was Royal Easter in April which seems an eternity ago (yes, yes, I know it was only a month ago but it feels like it has been a very long time!) I don't even know how I coped with not showing for the four years I was at university. Ah yes, I do....bar crawls and vodka shots.

Ummm...moving on. This impatience to get showing again has inspired me to come up with my own list of things to do during the long, cold, winter months. Feel free to share your own!

1) Start sending the local A&Ps emails, letters, text messages and carrier pigeons, hassling them to get their January 2011 schedule up online already. You've had at least a month to get the next show organised- what's taking you so long!

2) Spend hours in the paddock staring at your wild, hairy beast trying to remember what he looked like in his summer coat. Much more entertaining than staying inside and watching America's Next Top Model. Ignore the stares of non-showie horsey types and family members. Of course they wouldn't understand.

3) Spend some time in the kitchen concocting a new kind of show shine, then test it on your hapless equine. I wonder if a combination of olive oil, shoe polish, ginger and margarine would work....? If it doesn't, present it to your friends or partner and pretend it's a dessert you've invented.

4 ) It's very important to browse TradeMe during the boring winter months. There are so many fantastic winter projects for sale, how could you possibly resist? I recommend purchasing horses of the same colour, say bay, so that they all blend together and your partner can't tell whether you have bought any more equines when he peers out at the paddock. This will come in handy when you get fed up of being bucked off previously mentioned winter project and resort to throwing him out into the field until further notice.

5) Clip 'I love New Zealand Showing' into your horse's furry winter coat. Don't pay attention to the sniggers. They're just jealous and envy your superior showie knowledge.

6) Practice some new workout moves to impress your fellow showies with when you hit the show circuit again. Teaching your Park Hack to roll over, spin round or perform a leap into the air on command could really make you stand out from the crowd and will undoubtedly impress the judge. Of course, some of us have ultra-special horses that don't need any training and will execute such awesome moves without our intervention. Getting some practice in while out on hacks or at winter dressage shows never hurts though.

7) If it's raining outside, try mock-cantering around the living room, pretending that you have just won a title at Horse of the Year. Make your partner/children/family cheer and play some suitable music to make it extra authentic. You will appreciate the practice when you win a major prize in 2011 and have already perfected your lap of honour.

IT'S FOAL SHOW TIME IN NEW ZEALAND

The Auckland weather can't seem to make its mind up at the moment. It seems to turn from chilly and overcast, to rainy to warm and sunny all in the space of one day! I've had to take my Irish Draught filly's cover off as she's too warm. Which inevitablly means the temperature will plummet and the heavens will open. Ha!

Despite the unpredictable weather, some brave souls have been out showing.... and yes, I'm jealous. I want it to be next season already!

I hear there was a good turnout at the Canterbury Foal Show. You can read full results here. It was great to see Tracy Crossan (breeder of my filly) doing well with her new colt, Thornfield Richie Mac Finn. He took out the Hunter Type Foal to Mature Over 158cm and Irish Hunter Foal classes. Well done Tracy! You can see photos of Mac Finn and the other Irish foals that competed at the Irish Horse NZ Facebook Page.

Supreme Champion was the Hewson Family's 'Weston Park Tekapo.'

There looked to be some top quality babies at the North Islands All Breeds Foal Show as well. Champion was the sensational palomino derivative 'Graemar Showtime' (bred and owned by the breeder of another of my girls!) and reserve was Regent Park Gossip Girl.

The next show that I know of is the Nelson Youngstock Show on 30th May. Entries are being accepted until the 21st May so get in quick if you want to take your youngster over for an outing. Schedules and entry forms can be obtained by emailing Ryan Teece on at b.v.ponies@hotmail.com

SHOW CIRCUIT SCOOPS TOP PRIZE AT THE NEW ZEALAND SHOWING AWARDS


Fledgling magazine, Show Circuit, pipped other media to the post at the New Zealand Showing Awards last night. This is a great reflection on the magazine and is an apt reward for all the effort and passion that has gone into producing this publication.

I have personally loved being involved in the magazine and hope to be a part of it for a long time to come. It's always so refreshing and inspiring to be around people that want to look at things a little differently and keep upping the bar. I know Show Circuit will keep setting new standards in equestrian media which is really exciting.

Anyway, enough gushing.................!

The New Zealand Showing Awards looked to be a great deal of fun- I wish I could have been there. Maybe next year...although I do feel a tad shy about events like that as I seem to know a lot of horsey New Zealanders through email, phone and Facebook but haven't met an awful lot of them! If, like me, you couldn't make it, check out the results and pictures on either the New Zealand Equestrian Scene Facebook Group or over at the Show Ring Forum.

Kudos to Elizabeth Charleston for organising this, along with everyone who supported her. It's events like this that will keep showing interesting, exciting and will keep attracting new people to the sport :)