KJB Pony Adventures

We arrived in Wiltshire in the dead of night after a two and half hour drive from London. It always seems to take longer driving to our destination than it does driving back. J stayed awake for the entire journey much to my dismay so I knew he would be extremely tired the following day. He said he wishes he had a Pegasus so that he could fly over all the traffic - that made me smile. Knowing how expensive these events can be I came prepared with a cool box full of goodies to sustain us throughout the day. I knew there would be a lot of walking but I hadn't anticipated quite how much walking there would be. We set off early-ish on the ten minuet dive to Badminton Horse Trials and paid the £14 car park fee. We joked how it was the most expensive fee we have ever had to pay to park in a field. Thank goodness this wasn't held in London as it would be doubly costly. After embarrassingly walking in on a local farmer relieving himself in a porta loo with a broken door we quick

There are a lot of funny pictures of our pets on popular social networks. I have managed to capture a few shots of B looking cute and funny. This one in particular of him last week when I told him I had been poorly, well this was his reaction; Show me your funny faces... KJB xxx

Social media can be a blessing and a curse. I have found it to be my go to place for advice when it comes to anything equine. Though like in the outside world away from technology I have to sift through some of the reasonable responses to the most unreasonable. My recent request for advice came after our yard owner issued a five day grass field turn out notice that came with stern instructions that all horses and ponies must be kept in at the weekends (unless out for a hack or using the school etc). Also that no horses and ponies are to be left out over night without having sought permission beforehand. I fear B may had something to do with this notice though I know he was not in alone. You see while I was away over Easter and then unwell a friend was helping care for him and struggled to get him in after turning him out for a couple of hours on a weekend - this had been allowed prior to said notice due to B's colitis and diarrhoea problem. Alas she had to leave him out in th

I don't generally play the lottery, maybe purchase a scratch card once a year or something, so imagine my surprise when I received an email confirming that I had won a competition I entered on the off chance on facebook! Not just any competition. Oh no. Drum roll please.... I awoke this morning to this amazing email, after spending the last few days in bed with a sickness bug: Hi! We are pleased to advise that you have been selected from a random draw to win a pair of tickets to join our brand ambassador, World Champion eventer Ros Canter for a private Jump 4 Joy xc course walk on Thursday 2nd May at Badminton Horse Trials. A cross country course walk with non other than the amazing, best surname for a horse rider ever, Ros Canter!!!! I mean if I wasn't feeling so weak from being poorly I would be jumping for joy like the company who have organised this amazing opportunity for us. J and I have never been to the Badminton Horse Trials ( @bhorsetrial

I want to wish you all the very best Easter. May it bring you Hope, Joy, Love and gratefulness. We have had the best day as our first Easter as pony owners. I am so thankful to these two boys for making it such a happy day. After a fun filled Easter egg hunt on Saturday at the yard J enjoyed a picnic with his friend and co pony sitters club member and some of the yard cats. They both went for a lovely hack - which I felt at a disadvantage being on two feet! It really got my mind whirring and wondering about another four legged friend lol. It was a glorious and relaxing day. Sadly that evening J came down with a sickness bug but was determined he felt well enough on Easter Sunday lunchtime after a long lie in to travel up to Wiltshire to our friends farm. It was the first Easter Sunday Service we have ever missed. I cherish my church family as dearly as I cherish my own flesh and blood. Tentatively we travelled the two and half hours to our calm and happy plac

Apologies for being MIA of late, have you missed us? Haha we have missed you and updating you all with our goings on so I am going to do I brief catch up now before I share some amazing news in my next post. We have been taking things slowly with B and working on our bond with him. By doing this we have been choosing which advice we listen to and avoiding any negative and toxic comments/opinions some people may have. I feel B has really improved on the ground. Remember when we couldn't even pick his feet up and he wouldn't let us groom him without pawing at the ground? You can read about that here: Question Time - Day 23 Well now he is a diamond and I feel like he knows we are helping him as much as he is helping us by making it easier for us by standing better and not biting us. One time B bit be so badly I almost lost my thumb but it was entirely my fault. Mixing his feed with my hand and then petting him was not a great idea. It has healed nicely now but meant I

I did it! I completed my CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) course Whoop Whoop :-D It feels amazing to not only have completed something but also to know that I will probably always be anxious by nature (it's in my DNA) but with regular self-check-ins I will be perfectly ok to manage it. For I am now my very own therapist - hold the laughter please ;-) There has been a significant shift in my thought process of late which has not gone un-noticed by loved ones. I now see the glass as half full rather than half empty. No matter how many bumps life throws in the road ahead I will take my time and enjoy the journey with smaller manageable goals along the way. One of the biggest causes of my anxiety is when I worry too much about the future. Things that are literally out of my control. Things that may or may not happen but I add it to my day-to-day tasks which overwhelems me and then I let it consume me and take over the more immediate concerns. For example one of my bigges

This week has been a really positive week for the KJB clan :-) Not only is the house starting to take shape - well my bedroom and J's clothes pile thus far. When you have a landlord inspection and throw everything in the wardrobe! Starting to look more organised. Thank you Marie Kondo for sparking joy in my life :-) I have spent time and energy passing on the items which I no longer have use for and now things are staring to look more organised. When talking to my mother about life as a single parent she once laughed and said "how do I expect to have someone move in with me when there isn't even room". Hopefully this is the start of good things to come. It's not only at home that things are moving forward. Things appear to have been improving at the yard too. Schooling Boston twice a week has proved to be just what he needed. Don't get me wrong we are a long way off being where we want him to be but I think we are making a little progre

Since we have hired a friend to help us further Boston's education by schooling him twice a week I haven't felt compelled to write much about the process. I suppose on some level I have felt like I have let myself, Boston and J down in some way shape or form. Even though I positive that we are doing the right thing now. J and I haven't been riding B regularly throughout this process but going forward we will be riding him more often. Particularly focussing on hacking out and letting B realise that it isn't all hard work he can have fun as well as long as he is respectful of us and our safety and visa versa. B doesn't appear to be napping so much into the corners which is a tremendous result. He still has a long way to go especially with him putting his head down etc. Part of my anxiety triggers are when I feel uncertain about situations. It is safe to say that I have felt really uncertain about our future with B and how we can help him settle in more etc. It